Lightning Ridge trip - Wednesday

Hello again,

Wednesday
We woke this morning to beautiful clear skies. Still a bit cool but very nice.
We had an early start this morning with a 3 hour bus trip showing us the sights and relics of Lightning Ridge.

Our first stop was at a castle which has been under construction for about 30 years. Every stone has been moved by hand and put into place. There are about 90 cats living here.










Another stop was an old hut, which is a typical miners hut. This was owned by an old man who was still digging by hand when he died at 90. There's a photo of him inside the hut. He is wearing 2 pairs of pants - long ones underneath and shorts on top. This is to cover up the holes in his long pants.





Here are some of our group hoping to find their fortune near one of the mine shafts. No luck today.





After Happy Hour this afternoon some of us went to the bowls club for dinner then played carpet bowls. Most of us had never played before but it was a great night with the locals. This isn't a very clear photo but Peter is in the middle ready to bowl his perfect shot. Well he was hoping to!!!



That's all today
Lesley and Peter.




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Lightning Ridge trip - Monday and Tuesday

Hello,

We spent Monday in Moree. It was wet, windy and cold so didn't venture out in the morning. By the afternoon it improved slightly so thought we would check out the places of interest. Unfortunately we didn't really find anything. The artesian pools and the "big plane" appear to be the attractions. I'm not a pool person so wasn't interested in that, so the next option was the big plane, but that wasn't very interesting either. It's a plane that was used in New Guinea and was brought here as a tourist attraction. It's at a tavern so I guess they are hoping people come for a drink and meal while there.


Tuesday
We left Moree for Lightning Ridge which is about a 3 hour trip. We saw kangaroos, emus, goats, sheep and cattle along the way. There were about 6 lots of cattle in the " long paddock" with several hundred cows in each group.



Just after we stopped at the side of the road for morning tea, a group of about 20-30 kangaroos went bounding across the road in front of us. Just as well we weren't moving. Then another group came along then another. They were very lucky no trucks came along at the same time as well.
It is very dry here although they have just had a small amount of rain to settle the dust.



We arrived at Lightning Ridge, famous for the Black Opals.



We met up with the Adria group and gathered for the normal happy hour later in the afternoon. We are staying at the newest caravan park in Lightning Ridge - there are 4 other caravan parks. There are 25 caravans in our group.

I am having trouble sending this in one blog so will try it in 2 parts.

Lesley.





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Lightning Ridge Trip - day 1 and 2

Hello again,

Yes, we are on the road again with Lightning Ridge being our destination this time. We will be meeting up with the Adria caravan club on Tuesday and will be there for a week. We left Saturday morning with some very welcome rain, so hopefully we will have a bit of green grass to mow when we get back home. We headed to Toowoomba with very poor visibility as we drove up the range.







The weather started to improve slightly after Toowoomba. We drove to Millmerran which was our first stop over. The rain started just after we set up and got heavier as the night went on. However we woke this morning to a cloudless sky. They had about 30 mm of rain overnight. There was a cool breeze, so still a bit cool today.




Day 2.
We left Millmerran for Moree this morning. A big contrast to yesterday's weather.


As we headed towards Moree, via Goondiwindi, the clouds started to develop. As we have stayed at Goodiwindi twice in the last couple of years, we didn't stop there this time.




We arrived at Moree about 12.30. We had a bit of look around Moree this afternoon - nothing much happens around town on a Sunday!!!!
Moree is known for its Hot Artesian springs. This area proudly boasts the largest pecan farm in the southern hemisphere, olive groves, a high-quality beef-cattle industry, numerous cotton farms and cereal crops, such as wheat, barley, chickpeas and oats.

We will stay here tomorrow and leave for Lightning Ridge on Tuesday.

Bye for now,
Lesley and Peter.


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Day 23 - heading home

Hello,

We woke this morning to fairly clear skies, although the clouds did start to appear later. We left Grafton for our last leg of our holiday and arrived home by the afternoon.
We had a good trip home. We certainly haven't had the rain here while away like we had down south. The grass is still very dry here. However, I think we must have brought the rain with us as it has started raining here.

These are some of the photos taken today.








The countryside is a lot drier as we drive north-


Having lunch with the wildlife-


Look at the size of the the tyres on this truck. Only 3 tyres would fit on the back of the truck.



That's all for this trip. We have had a lovely relaxing holiday, so I guess it's now time to get back to reality and do some work.

Cheerio and love from Lesley and Peter.


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Day 22 - Grafton

Hi,

We left Hawks Nest this morning for our trip home. With the rain we have had in the past few days everything is looking so fresh and green. There is a lot of road works happening on the Pacific highway, so was a bit slow in places as we were down to 40kph, but can't complain if they are improving the roads. We arrived in Grafton this afternoon and staying here the night. I just hope we don't come across the 4 young jail escapees.

Here are some of the scenery as we drove along today.























We will leave here tomorrow and expect to be home tomorrow night.

That's all for today.
Love from Lesley and Peter.

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Day 21- Hawks Nest

Hello,

There was still some rain around this morning but eased as the morning went on. The recent rain meant that the barefoot bowls had to be cancelled. Peter spent most of the morning trying to work out, with the help of some of the other caravaners, why the fridge wont work on gas. We only need to use it if we free camp, which at this stage doesn't happen very much, but if it was working it gives us the option.
The men trying to work it all out- are three heads better than one?



Whoops - we lost a little screw- (hope it wasn't important!!!)



While Peter was doing this I went for a little a bit of a drive. There is a very narrow spit, which we saw from the ferry trip to Nelson Bay. There are some very nice homes in this area and some lovely water views. The Myall river is on one side and Port Stephens on the other side.







The calm and tranquil Jimmy's Beach -



Tonight we went the the local bowls club for a Chinese banquet. We have had a great time here meeting and getting to know the other members. This is only our second rally we have been to and not everyone gets to each of them, so there have been many members we hadn't met before. It's also a great chance to get ideas from others and help with any problems (like our fridge).

We leave here tomorrow and head towards home.

Till next time,
Cheerio,
Love from Lesley and Peter.






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Day 20 - Hawks Nest

Hello again,

The rain continued during the night but eased off during the day till later in the afternoon and we have had showers on and off tonight.
We decided not to join the heritage walk organized this morning. I was waiting on a phone call from my penfriend (Kaye) hoping to catch up with her today. Kaye and her husband Peter called in to see us this afternoon and I was so pleased to see her after 24 years. We had a lovely couple of hours of nonstop talking and was sad when they had to leave.








A BBQ was organized for tonight, and the men did a good job with the cooking. Of course the ladies made the salads and desserts.




We've had another relaxing day, and unfortunately our holiday is coming to an end. We leave here on Monday to head back home.

That's all for today,
Love from Lesley and Peter.


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