12/1/26 Wingham , Taree & Forster

 

     Hi there , we're back , finally made it down the mountains to the coast . Stopped overnight in Grafton , catching up with Mark & Wendy in Grafton , we had a great afternoon evening with them . Dinner was at the Crown Hotel , it was quite good but exxy , due to the public holiday rates . 

   Next day we headed down to Stuarts Point and caught up with Meredith for a few days , before ending up at Taree Showgrounds for a week to catch up with Maree & Kevin and collect the parcels that were building up . Alan & Di were another couple of catch ups , as well as Joe & Tracey . Plenty of eating out seems to be happening , but we did get out & about a little . The Manning River flooded last year during Winter and caused a lot of damage - there are still visible clues to show how high the water was at Taree - logs on top of the concrete piers !

     This is an old farmhouse that was removed from its foundations - you can see that the water was nearly to the top of the door and windows .

    This is Bays Hill Lookout , looking back toward Wingham .

    Over at Wingham the damage bill was enormous , this is the Bight Bridge and 4 sections of the roadway have been swept away - you can see them in the water and partially covered in gravel . This bridge has been here for a long time and withstood many , many floods - but nothing like the ferocity of last years event .

    Another day was absorbed with catching up with Matt & Mel - an old workmate from Mittagong , who just happened to be holidaying at Forster . After a few hours of chatting , we headed of for a bite to eat at 2nd Head Lookout . These rocks are on the way down to Pebbly Beach .

    This is Bennets Head and is a great viewpoint over the water , really good for spotting some of the resident dolphins as well . That's Rocky Beach where the people are swimming .

     This is the broader view from 2nd Head LO .

    Down at Pebbly Beach 

     On the way back to Taree , we went out to Old Bar & Wallaby Point for a look . Wow haven't things changed out here since our last visit , hundreds of new houses , people & cars . This is just the beach .

      We continued on our drive down the coast , concerned about how busy getting through Sydney would be . Another Wow , getting down to Newcastle and seeing all the new work around Raymond Terrace - it will be a great improvement !!

   Inching closer to Sydney , we were surprised to see the fuel filter light coming on , we pulled over at Cowan and changed it - it would've been fine to continue on , but the last thing I wanted was to be pulled over on the side of the motorway or tunnel , it gave us a small break before hitting the major traffic . 

  Back onto the highway , we were at Hornsby in no time , with Google giving us directions on where to go . Next minute we were in the North Connex tunnel , shortly after we were on the M2 -Wow , how easy was that !!!! M7 next and then across Picton Rd and down to our friends John & Leonie for a few days . It was an expensive way to go , but worth every cent - we crossed Sydney and never saw a traffic light !! Going down the Hume hwy was an eye opener , so much building has happened in the last 3 years since our last visit , especially in Menangle and Wilton . 

   More to come 👍

23/11/25 Macintyre Falls

 

     We headed north of Inverell to Kwiambal National Park to Macintyre Falls , it's about 120klms . The drive took us through rolling hills & plains through cropping country . Stopping briefly at Ashford for a toilet break before finding a couple of different ways to get to the falls from town . Picked one road and travelled out of town , then onto gravel roads for the rest of the way . Arriving at the carpark & picnic area above the falls , we hopped out and stretched the legs a little to the lookout above the falls . The gorge has been carved out of nearly solid rock , the water still carving its way through the stone in places . You can see the levels of water that flow through this gorge by the colour of the rock , caused by flooding . The falls aren't high - maybe about 10 metres , but there was plenty of water flowing .

    After the obligatory photo's , we returned to the carpark and grabbed our lunch and consumed it under one of the shelters . There are several shelters , some with Bbq's and are reasonably new . After lunch we took another track that takes you to the pool below the falls , it was a good track till you get to the end of the steps , then ut disappears and you make your own way .

     Similar photo to the last one , but you can see all the drift wood at the bottom of the photo . This was deposited there by the last flood event - it was about 8m above the current water level !!

    Back up to the ute and off for another drive to 2 campgrounds . This is the Severn River near the Lemon Tree Flat campground .

     The campground is a well looked after grassy area with ample shade trees and shelters - a bit of a gem out in the bush !

One of the locals keeping guard at the Bbq shelter

    The Macintyre River flows through Inverell and out to here . It joins the Severn River about 3klm from the falls . After wandering around both campgrounds , we started the drive back . The weather was starting to get active , clouds growing skywards , threatening to dump rain and storms upon us . This is our campsite at Tingha Gems CP .

     That's all it did , we didn't get much of anything out of it except for a lightning show , all the rain fell on the northern slopes and in Queensland .

    That's another day down , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1qmnJRgnPdH9VW3dseHfQixCE4H42ksc&usp=sharing

18/11/25 Copeton Dam & Lake Inverell

 

     Leaving Collarenerbri , we stopped at Moree for some fuel before continuing to Warialda , stopping for some lunch before going to Inverell . Inverell is a pretty town nestled into the Macintyre River valley with hill/ mountains to the south , east and west . It's a large regional hub and has lot's of sporting facilities for the locals to utilise - and they do - touch football almost every night of the week , basketball that's also 7 days a week . 

 Next day we headed up to Gilgai and Howell before making our way to the eastern side of Copeton Dam - there's a free camping area beside the lake . It's a bit steep , but all bitumen road down lakes edge . The drone went up for a look , this is some of the camping area , there were tracks everywhere and vans and tents in all different spots .

    This is an island not too far out from the edge - if you look closely , you can see rings of trees caused by the water level at the time they sprouted and came to life . The dam wall is over the far side - top middle of photo .

    We had lunch at the lake before going to Tingha to surprise Lyn's Uncle .

 

    Next day we headed out to the lookout on the western side of town . It provided us with views across to the great dividing range towards Glen Innes . Inverell is a large town with quite a large shopping precinct - 3 supermarkets , Big W , Hardly Normal and many others . There's also an industrial area ( that we've become familiar with ) .

     From the lookout we headed out to Lake Inverell - on the eastern side of town . There's a dam wall on the river that creates the lake , there's picnic facilities , toilets and lots of walking tracks going around the lake .

     There's also an elevated walkway that runs alongside the lake .

     No shortage of birdlife either , with black swans flying past , pelicans and water fowl seemed to be all over the place as well .

 

Here's the spillway & dam wall .

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1DVc17DZPB2gewzUx_d4oKOlIe9hd14o&usp=sharing

12/11/25 Bourke

    From Wilcannia , we drove to a spot we've stopped at before - Noona rest area - and set up for the night. Next morning we headed into Cobar with our brakes heating up AGAIN . We had some lunch before going around to see someone about them . They heard my dilemma , and basically said "It'll be fine , and we're booked out , and can't fit you in " , so we headed off and found another free camp for the night - the brakes were happy to have a rest and a cool down !! Another day down , and more checks on the brakes & wiring and anything else we could think of , before we headed off to Bourke . Bourke is a large town perched on the side of the Darling River . It was serviced by paddle steamers travelling up & down the river back in the day . This is the Back of Bourke tourist centre , there are sculptures outside in the grounds , here's some of them .

They are large sculptures standing over 2m tall 

Rather large metal flowers 

Something from indigenous culture 

 The biggest Willie Wagtail we've ever seen .

Some different ones on a great sandstone block

 And another 

    Down to the old jetty for a look , but unfortunately the lower decks were closed off , so this is your view of the river from on top .

Here's the dock 

     We always seem to learn something everywhere we go , today was about a high jumper that came from Bourke - Percy Hobson -an aboriginal with a small stature , but with the ability to high jump . He was good enough to win the gold medal at the 1962 Commonwealth Games . His image is recorded on the water tower in town .

 The tanks is painted right around and worth a look if you're ever here .

     We took a drive out to the weir on the river , plenty of milky brown water was flowing over .

     We stayed at Kidman's Camp - a caravan park in North Bourke - unbeknown to us , the Jandra does cruises up & down the river for paying guests . We discovered the morning cruise was already running , so we booked for the afternoon cruise . This is the Jandra paddlesteamer which has been operating on the river for a long time . 

   We came back for the afternoon cruise and found that there was only us and 2 others , which was a contrast to the earlier cruise that had a couple of small busloads of school kids on it !!

     There's a common thing along the river , the lifting bridges appear to be very similar , here's the old & the new . The last flood was just below the decking of the new bridge .

 Mud swallows like to live here as well , there were plenty of nests below the new road bridge .

Views of the river were good from the upper deck .

       The Jandra cruises up the river at the staggering speed of 6 knots and the cruise takes about an hour all up , so you don't go very far down & back up the river . It was pleasant trip which we enjoyed .

   Next day we headed off again , travelling down roads we haven't been on before . Driving through he towns of Brewarrina , Walgett and then Collarenebri , where we ended up staying for the night . There is a terrific campground that the local council has done . There's showers & toilets , it's beside the local footy / cricket ground and there's access to the river as well , and there's no charge !

    Storms have been occurring in the northern areas of NSW and we found one on our way to Walgett . It certainly dumped some rain .

This is the Barwon River near Walgett

    Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1I1QuhbZtsU0lk2DJk87uHdO1_462dUw&usp=sharing

 

9/11/25 Wilcannia

     Finally we drive away from Broken Hill , stopping to check the brakes again , with one wheel overheating - a quick adjust and away we go again , all good for several hours driving , happy days .

   We stopped at Wilcannia for lunch , and checked out the Darling River and the old lifting bridge .

    There's some great buildings in Wilcannia .

    The Police Station

     The Courthouse .

      The Post Office

     We carry on toward Cobar and find a free camp for the night . Thousands of goats inhabit all the areas we've driven through - some are actually being farmed , but there's lots that are feral as well .

 

8/11/25 Broken Hill Racecourse

 

      A short one for you .

             Here's a photo of an interesting building / old pub probably - one of the many .

This mural adorns a wall in the shopping centre , and has many features found in Broken Hill.

Here's the racecourse where we were camping , and two old grandstands .

There's a functions building that has a great rose garden .

There we are in the background .

     Beautiful scented roses as well . That's it short & sweet .