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5th May 2021 - 17th May 2021
Well, we know you're all curious about the performance of the newly installed turbo. We are both very impressed with the torque that DABUS now has. It is certainly noticeable going up hills, even the passenger can feel the extra torque that we have and we have even overtaken a Road Train, uphill. As to our fuel consumption we cant tell yet, as we are travelling across hilly areas, but we'll keep you updated.
We travelled east towards Nundle, at Nundle we did the Gold Mine tour and the Woollen Mill. The Nundle Woollen Mill is the only operating mill we have left in Australia. You can go in and see the mill operating which was fantastic.
After Nundle we stopped at Chaffey Dam for a couple of days. The second day was foggy and raining most of the day, so an inside day doing computer work. We have discovered we have picked up a hitch hiker, as signs of mouse poo was discovered, the trap has been set, so hopefully we can turf our hitch hiker out.
With the cheese eaten and no trap going off, we went in search to purchase a new one and some sticky traps in Tamworth, but to no avail. We had done the sites of Tamworth a couple of years again, so we're happy to stock up and have lunch in town. We stayed a night north of Tamworth at a free camp at Attunga, one of us was kept awake with the sound of little feet scarring around under the bed.
After some marketplace research we found a guy selling mice baits, traps and sticking traps, on the side of the road, at Gunnadah. So with approximately a 100km detour, we found the bloke and bought some traps and shopped for an extra plastic tub. The culprit was caught before sunset.
The area we are driving through is a heavily cropped area with wheat, sorghum, barley, maze and sunflowers, which this mice plague would be loving.
Sunday we arrived at Manilla and after setting up at the towns freedom camp, which is maintained and mown by the local mens shed, we set up foxtel to watch the car racing, before going for a walk down the main street. Manilla offers a great campsite beside the river. The weather has been raining, foggy or overcast for the last five days and we are looking forward to some sunshine.
Driving towards Bingara we stopped at Barraba to check out the silo art. This silo art depicts a local water diviner searching for ground water, as back in 2019 the area was in the grips of one of Australias worst droughts.
Last time we drove through Bingara, back in 2019, during the drought, we were driving all day through a massive dust storm and we didn't see the beauty of the town, so one this trip we had decided to stop for a couple of days and get a good feel of the town.
We camped on the local common beside the Gwydir River. Here we relaxed, walked into town, cooked, read books and enjoyed the birdlife and the horses that would graze near DABUS and drank from the river right in front of us.
In Finch Street, the road is lined with an avenue of orange trees, which have an abundance of fruit on them. In late June, the town celebrates the Happy Days Festival and these oranges are picked by the local school children who each have two bags, one for their family and the other bag is shared between the elderly residences of the town. The trees were planted as a living memorial to Bingara's fallen in World Wars 1 and 11.
The downside to this area is the bloody mice, as we walked down the pathways of the town, we had to sidestep for dead mice. Yes, we got another one in DABUS and our nights entertainment was after dinner sitting around the campfire watching them dart here and there and with us stomping our feet only for them to dart off in the opposite direction. We had a beautiful blue wren and his harem come and pay us a visit twice a day; he would even land on the computer whilst I'm working away.
The sun has been shining for the last couple of days and we have loved our stay at Bingara, it's amazing the feel you get from an area depending on the weather. We are glad we went back to this great little town.
From Bingara we headed north, crossing into Queensland at Goondawindi, and stopped at our first gravel pit 30km south of Moonie. Here we are seeing the remnants of the recent flooding in this area. After collecting firewood we drove up to Gil Weir 6km south of Miles. The landscape we have been driving through is mainly crop and cotton country and hence we are still mice plague area. The roads north of Gonndawindi are bumpy due to damage done during the floods and a lot of road works are being conducted.
On arrival at Gil Weir 6k south of Miles we noticed massive puddles and on doing some investigations they had massive rainfall 2 days ago. We discovered our next stop was at the Chinchilla Weir, 60k away was the same were 2 nights ago a massive storm went through and people were getting towed out of this camp site.
On arrival to the Chinchilla Weir the bog marks were everywhere. We stopped here to catch up with Laurie and Linda, who travelled down from Childers. The weekend was spent exploring local sites and we had good banter over fires each night. Sunday we travelled back to Gil Weir and today we parted ways, with Laurie and Linda heading back home and we are moving on Roma and then onto Injune. It was good meeting Linda and catching up with them both.
It was 0 degrees overnight and our diesel heater has decided to throw an error code at us and blowing diesel fumes into DABUS. Another job for Alan to research and fix, but hopefully we'll be past the cold nights very soon.
- comments
Cathryn Rewse We have still have heaps of mice for when you get home...safe travels
Joan Horne Hope you are soon clear of mice and better weather comes your way. Safe travels. 😁
Judy Bereau Sounds like you guys are exploring some lovely places. Not good about the mice thought, fortunately we’ve struck none, they haven’t reach the coast thank goodness. Since speaking to you last, we’ve visited Nimbin, where it rained for a couple of days. Interesting, glad we experienced Nimbin, but don’t have to go back on the way home. Then onto Mullumbimy, we stayed at the local leagues club. Seriously one of the best places to stay, the managers are absolutely wonderful, made us feel very welcome. From there we did a day trip to Broken Head, Byron Bay, then Brunswick Heads, simply spectacular beaches and coastline. Then onto Brisbane Tourist Park for three nights to catchup with a friend. This morning we arrived in Marburg for two nights. We are so enjoying this adventure and the weather is wonderful, when we speak to the kids back in Melbourne and they say it’s only reached 10 degrees all day and rained, we know we are heading in the right direction. Take care and keep safe Best wishes Judy & Bob
Wendy Rossignoli Great to read about your travels so far. I’m feeling anxious about the 🐭 sounds like you have them under control! Hopefully we will be on the road by the end of next week have the car but no van as yet. It’s finished but tyres we want have been an issue, a huge shortage across Australia. Pleased you have found some sun & the rain has stopped for you. Safe travels .... ROSSI’S (our blog name)