Dubbo

Dubbo was a busy place. We spent the day cruising round the zoo in the comfort of airconditioning as it was so very very hot outside.  All those people on bikes, crazy they were!  At the end of the day you could see the heat had taken its toll on the bike riders :-)

Lots of animals you don't normally see in an Australian zoo.....like giraffes, zebras, hippos and rhinos. Didn't see the cheetahs, he was hiding or not even there when we went to look at him :-(

We went to the dubbo gaol. Kids reckon that the gaol was better than the zoo. Lots of information about criminals trying to escape and how through such efforts, they had to redesign certain aspects of the gaol.  There was a very dark (pitch black) room. Solitary confinement! No wonder they went crazy in there. Tried out the stocks, and wouldn't you know it, I needed to scratch my nose while I was in them. That would drive you crazy too if you couldn't get out of them. Fortunately I could scratch my nose......lol!

Mannum, west of Adelaide

Our first free camp (well, $10 anyway).  On the Murray river. Wrong had to cross the Murray river with the caravan. So we boarded the ferry and away we went.

The camp we are staying at is right on the river next to the ferry. Town is on the other side.

Kids found a rope swing into the water. They tried it and quickly got changed as its a very low 23º today. Surprisingly cold. Another hot one tomorrow.

Bathurst

Arrived day before yesterday (sat). Took a drive around mount panorama. Kids enjoyed that. So much so, we had to do it again after dinner.  Wonderful view from the top.

Checked out the Australian fossil and mineral museum yesterday.  Very interesting to learn which minerals are in which products we use on a regular basis.  And the different stages of life cycles for dinosaurs and the like.

For new years eve, we went to Victoria park. Bathurst goes all out when they have a function. There were rides for $1 , bargain!  Face painting, free!  Food, balloons, music and fireworks. It was a smoke free zone instead of an alcohol free zone......bizarre!

To top our visit of Bathurst off, I caught up with my friend, Karen. Whom I have not seen in at least 12 years. It was a great place to visit. So far, I think Bathurst is a place I could live. Relaxing lifestyle with all that u need.

Blackheath Glen tourist park

We had a two night stay at Blackheath Glen tourist park, the park was very nice although no water parks or pools. Not that we spend much time in the park anyway.

When we got here we headed straight back out to check out the three sisters. We thought about going on the cable cars and the train, but it was late when we lined up for our tickets.  It was 4:50 and the place closed at 5:00. The queue was still a mile long so we gave it a miss. Much to the disappointment of Declan. 

On Friday, we met up with deanne, zaf and the kids at the jenolan caves and had a wonderful day walking through a cave, learning about stalictites and stalicmites. We did the jenolan river walk, played in the rock pools and successfully completed the 3km walk without too many whinging kids :-)

On the way back to the van, along the very curvy single lane road, Paul moved to the side of the road and stopped to let oncoming traffic past. Then a car ran up the back of our car. Our car is pretty much ok, but the other car copped the brunt of our tow bar in their grill. Big job to fix it.

We are off to Bathurst tomorrow for 4 nights. Will be there for New year's eve.

By the way, our microwave blew again! Not happy Jan!

Sydney lakeside holiday park

Spent the Xmas week in Narabeen, just north of Sydney, with family.

On Christmas eve, I had a not so good day! First of all, I asked Jenna to go to the shop to get some change for the washing machines. She was a long time coming back, so I went to the office only to discover it had just opened and she was nowhere to be seen.

I panicked.

She must have gone all the way to woolies at Narabeen, 2km away. I told Paul to get in the car and go see if he could found her. He found her walking back from Narabeen!

I can't believe she went that far by herself! We are so lucky nothing happened to her!

Xmas day was an exhausting day trying to catch up with everyone but we managed it and had a really good time. It was really good catching up with everyone ;-)

Weather hasn't been the best. It's been very windy and cold, good job I packed some winter woolies ;-)

Got inflatable kayak and rowing boat for Xmas, tried them out yesterday, when in the cold. It was fun :D

On our way to blackheath now, not far from katoomba. Plan on checking out the the sisters and the jenolan caves while we are there.

Bonny hills, NSW

On the way out of Yamba, Paul saw a turtle crossing the road. Have promptly stopped the car and we all ran to save the poor little turtle from getting run over.

Yamba @ Big 4

Well our first visit on our trip around Australia was to Yamba.  We stayed at the Big4 @ Yamba.  The kids loved it.  There was a water park with water slides and huge buckets that tip water onto your head. I was brave enough on the second day to get wet, but as it was after 4pm when we arrived on the first day, it was a might bit chilly for me to try it.......brrrrr!

We have been to Yamba before so we didn't really venture out of the park.  The kids did the waterpark thing.  There was a flying fox, playground and jumping pillow.  They were there all of 2 hours before they had made some klingon friends.....you know the kind - the ones that never leave our campsite.   Paul and I just tried to sort out internet issues and relax.

 When we left Yamba, we almost ran over a turtle.  Paul stopped the car and we all ran over to the slowly moving turtle trying to cross the road.  We picked him/her up and moved him/her to the side of the road.  The kids had a little pat before we let it lose.  Of course, they all wanted a turtle for a pet after rescuing it and even begged to keep it .......lol!