12/5/22 Lane Cove NP

 

    After spending some days in Wollongong with friends , catching up with other family members and staying out of the rain , we head to Sydney - and it's raining again ! Rain followed us up the mountain and nearly to Campbelltown before it stopped - thankfully - for our run into Lane Cove .

   Getting set up on site was interesting , I thought we were going to sink into the mud . The rain eased , then stopped so we went for a walk around the park . Fortunately for us there was bitumen roads throughout the park .

   We had a visit from my niece Melissa , David & Ethan , an enjoyable morning was had by all . After lunch we headed out for another walk , this time into the National Park . This photo is looking over the Lane Cove River .

                                     We like Scribbly Gum , and there's plenty here .

  

                                                    Plenty of rainbow lorikeets as well

    Still plenty of water lying around on the tracks .

      Wattle is starting to flower .

     Sydney Redgums & scribbly gums are prolific here - it's a beautiful section of the park .

    Moss is growing well on the rocks .

    The colours of the trees are beautiful as well .

   I like this silhouette , but it's a shame that it's a Privet bush .

          Vines are growing well , making a contrast with the other ferns & plants .

                                            Tree ferns are about 8m tall and 5-6m wide .

    Sunday came and we attended a birthday party at North Ryde - about 10mins away . Colin turned 80 during the week , and we were invited to celebrate with about 50 others . It was another opportunity to catch up with some of the people we have met with Colin & Suzie over the years , a big thank you to them for our invitation . 

    Monday rolled around and we headed north , making our way to Maitland for a couple of days to catch up with my uncle , then heading further up the road to do more catching up with family & friends . 

   That's it for the moment , more to come , Cheers .

5/5/22 Moss Vale & Mittagong

 

    Leaving Gunning , we head back toward Goulburn , stopping at Marulan for fuel before heading toward Moss Vale . We were amazed at how green & lush it was around Goulburn & Marulan - we'd never seen it like that before . 

  We stopped at Penrose Pine Forest Rest Area - we were thinking of camping out there for the night , but it was muddy & wet . Hmmm okay , Plan B , off to Berrima to check out that campsite , Hmmm also wet & muddy , no sun for the solar , okay Plan C , ring up the Showgrounds in Moss Vale and see if we can get in a day early - yes Plan C was working !! Going through town , playing in the traffic we arrived at the showgrounds and started to park the van on the site given to us , Hmmm , 4wd required to get it on site , it was extremely soft underfoot , but we got it in place and didn't have to move for a few days - hopefully it dries out . Here's a view of the main arena , how green is that !

   Autumn can be cold & miserable & colourful , here's some of the colour .

  Leighton Gardens in the main street also showing off .

   Time for some aerial shots above the Showgrounds .

   This is looking to the east 

  This is the high school , with a heap of new houses in what was a farm left centre of photo .

   Time has been spent catching up with some friends & doctors check ups & drying things out .

   Next , we move to Mittagong for a couple of days - Moss Vale couldn't give us any more time , and we catch up with some more family & friends . We did manage to get a walk in at Lake Alexandra , it was wet , but we still  headed off down 40 ft Falls walk - somewhere we've never been in all those years living in Moss Vale . Trees in the park were also showing plenty of colour .

Here's the lake and water spout .

    Water was coming out of the ground everywhere as we wandered down the track , the creek was flowing well .

    There were some flowers out , ferns were going berserk .

                                                                The odd banksia as well .

   This is a bridge over the creek , ferns aplenty.

   More colourful trees around the lake .

 

   With limited time in the highlands we could only catch up with a few of our friends - there's never enough time .

    There were a few road closures due to landslides - Macquarie Pass and the road down to Kangaroo Valley , whilst other roads are not in the best condition due to potholes and water damage . Everywhere is extremely wet at the moment .

   We came to the conclusion very quickly , that we don't like the cold - the bitter cold and lazy winds that won't go around you , but rather go straight through you . You could say we're getting soft - nothing wrong with soft and WARM !!!

   Here's a map link : - https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1JDbJL86Jztl-KGCvKsJ6MpjfftwhBxtM&usp=sharing

2/5/22 To & at Gunning

 

     Awaking to a sea of fog , we took our time , waiting for it to clear before packing up . So out onto the highway we go , fog still sitting in valleys around the place , and it was 10:30am !

   We pulled up at a rest area for a toilet stop and a leg stretch , and got a great surprise , one of our friends from Moss Vale just happened to stop at the same time on his way back to Moss Vale . He has moved to a property near Young , and was returning a borrowed trailer . We chatted for an hour or so , it was great to catch up with Brooke .

   Arriving at Gunning Showgrounds , we picked a spot and set up before going for a walk around town . As we were leaving the showgrounds , we found this tree - covered in fruit , yellow & orange . The yellow ones were firm & obviously not ripe , but the orange ones were very soft - the parrots were enjoying them.

   This was the tree - don't know what variety it is though ???

   Gunning Shire Office .

  Baileys garage - may have been a Holden Dealer once upon a time ?

   Caxton House 

 Caxton Cottage

   Telegraph Hotel

   An interesting building - different architecture .

   Baileys Garage - still serving petrol out the front .

   Now for some autumn colour .

   We were a little surprised with the road noise here , it was good during the day - we knew there were plenty of vehicles on the highway , but as the day ended , the traffic noise seemed to increase to a point where there was a contrast drone of vehicles - cars & trucks - all night !!!

    We left Gunning and took the old road through Breadalbane , misty fog was still hanging around , and another surprise was a wedge tail eagle sitting on one of the railway communication poles just off the road - there wasn't enough room for us to stop & get a photo unfortunately . 

   Stopping about a kilometre later , I got the drone out for a bit of a look and wasn't disappointed . The railway runs adjacent to the old road , the poplar tree shadows crossed over the road and there were some interesting patterns in the field on the left .

     Looking back toward Gunning you can see some wind turbines - last time we came through this area , I think there were less than 10 turbines - many more now though ! 

   And that's our 24 hours in Gunning , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ir3jHOf1EGZRTqm7MQEzot42LxN-ezIo&usp=sharing

   Onwards to the Highlands !!

1/5/22 Jugiong

 

   After having a little chat to the stand in hosts ( about an hours worth ) we left Coolac and headed to Jugiong - not very far up the road , but that's where we'll stay tonight . If you look closely at this aerial shot , you'll see a lot of cars in and around the streets - it is a Sunday and must be a favourite spot for a Sunday Drive , the winery and hotel were flat out !

   Making our way into the Showgrounds , we found a quiet spot right down the end , set up and had some lunch . The Murrumbidgee River flows alongside town and the highway isn't too far away either . The bridge over the river is in the process of being replaced , a new bridge is being started beside the old one .

     Jugiong is a small village with a large Showground , and it gets quite a few travellers using the grounds, and spending a lot of cash in town . There would have been at least 50 vans & campers there overnight !

   The opposite side of the river is used for crops & grazing .

    After a walk around the grounds we sat back & watched the world go by , jets leaving jet trails caught my eye - there was a jet every 3 to 4 minutes - I guess they were from Melbourne & heading to Sydney or Brisbane .

   That's it for today , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1DgBeZyDHFuAMfGfTWmDYdsTlUedFKuK4&usp=sharing

29/4/22 Cootamundra Drive

 

   Another day arrives , and we head over to Cootamundra - about 38klms away . We weren't sure what we'd do , but we'd have a look about anyway . Starting off , we headed around to there big attraction for cricket lovers , Don Bradman's birth place - and here is that piece of hallowed Cootamundra .

    A bit further along is Bradman Oval , giant stumps & bat as well !!

    Then the Captains Walk - all the captains of Australian Test Teams are here , well their heads on columns for all to see , names and statistics on each one - some memorable , some recognisable , and some not so !

   A little bit of shopping was done before we headed off down another gravel road for an alternative way back to the van . This road took us through ploughed fields , planted fields and burnt fields , and was great to go another direction . The roads look just like a track through someones property , the adjacent properties showing the results of the recent rains .

    The burnt wheat stubble rows caught my eye , so we went aerial for a few photos .

   Beautiful country .

   Here's our little track through the farms , we did have to get off the track to allow a tractor & seeder to get past .

   We were lucky enough to get another nice day .

   Back closer to Muttawa , we found an interesting contrast in colours - fresh green crop and black , burnt wheat stubble , mix in a little orange track and here you go .

   The wider view of the same fields .

   The green was almost glowing .

    And that was our day out , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1aIyVDjCBUUGN1DPL4l-KTpZQMglxlf-_&usp=sharing