First up , our drive from Coober Pedy to Moss Vale - 1,964 klms in 4 days - a few long days and a short one . The drive from Coober Pedy to Port Augusta was windy , fortunately it was a cross tail wind , so didn't hinder us too much . The countryside on this leg of the drive was stoney desert and various salt lakes , till you get closer to Port Augusta where you can see the Flinders Ranges - quite impressive after all the time spent in the desert .
The 2nd days drive took us to Peterborough , an old railway town with some stunning old pubs & stone buildings . The main reason for the stopover in Peterborough was to meet Frank & Margaret - they also own a 5th wheeler like ours , and we'd already been talking over the phone . We had a great day with them and we spent the night parked in their driveway - a very chilly one - it got down to 3.5 degrees !!!!!
Next day we headed off again , driving toward Burra , then on to Renmark , Mildura , and finally stopping at Euston - a small town on the Murray River in NSW . We visited 3 states today - SA , Victoria & NSW !!
The valleys and agricultural areas around Burra were amazing , lush green grass , wheat fields in various states of growth . Old derelict houses dotted some of the outlying areas , here's one .
Patterson's Curse is a weed , but makes for spectacular scenery !!
At Euston , we wandered down to the river - we'd been here a few years ago - the river was about 2-3m higher than normal - we sat on these stairs when we were there last time - you have a wet backside if you were sitting in the same place .
From here it was on to Wagga Wagga , via Balranald , Hay , and Narrandera , across the Hay Plain . I have never seen this area in flood before , and it's quite different . The water doesn't flow quickly , it just spreads out slowly . Again the growth of grass is staggering . Probably the most amazing thing we saw today between Balranald and Hay , was the amount of emu's - we would have seen over 200 of them - some right beside the road , others up to 100m away - more than we've seen in all the time we've been away .
You normally can't see water from the road as you are driving , it was everywhere !!
We stopped at a rest area between Hay and Darlington Point , the water was right beside us and had been up where we were parked .
A night in Wagga Wagga was called for and we headed to Moss Vale the next day . The rain and flooding had caused problems for the farmers - they weren't able to harvest their Canola crops , so they were left to die off in the fields , no doubt the wheat harvest will also be severely downgraded as well . Graziers further out toward Gundagai and further north however will be rubbing their hands together , with all the countryside green and lush - again we have never seen it looking this good !!!
Making it into Moss Vale , we set up in the Showgrounds again , and set about visiting people .
The funeral was on Friday and although a sad occasion , it was also a lovely celebration of his life . We got to catch up with a lot of people that we hadn't expected to see - old work mates that had moved to other areas , and others from closer depots . It also reinforced my decision to retire when I did - we are really happy with that life choice !!
Out of Moss Vale , we headed to Lismore to get some things done to the van - just another 900 klms to add to the tally of nearly 3,000 klms for the last 2 weeks !!
We had the joy of catching up with a lovely couple who we met in WA , Rick & Marcia were on their way back home in Qld from a trip down to Mittagong , and had stopped in Urunga for a few days - we decided it would be a nice surprise to meet them there , so we made that a stopover and had a wonderful catch up with them .
We are now in Lismore and will be here for a week or 2 while we do some work on the van . The blog will be happening , just slowly - stay tuned !!
Here's a map link for our small drive :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HrOo0c-q_xQHMW3mr_SWVHcLfQs&usp=sharing
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