Adventures with Tug’n Joey

  We had an uneventful trip home, using the new highway around Grafton. It will be great when it is complete all the way to Ballina. Lessons learnt from this trip: Buy a second battery for my camera When travelling on dirt roads cover the vents Don’t worry about fiddling with tire pressures... Or Buy a longer cable for the air pump. Watch where you put your fingers! We are already thinking about our next trip, before Xmas, down the coast for a catch up with old friends.

  Saturday The original timing for this trip was the Birdlife Spring camp out at Dorrigo. Although it was cancelled due to Covid, we decided we would use our booking as it was a different way to go down the mountains on our way home. On the way we called in to visit my parents grave in Armidale, but unfortunately were unable to catch up with my last remaining uncle as he was out of town. By the time we arrived in Ebor a drink was called for so we were pleased to see Fusspots Cafe open. The scones were delicious. As we pulled out of Dorrigo the mileage clicked over to 100 000kms. When we passed through this area in January everything was burnt and there was no greenery anywhere so it was pleasing to see such a green landscape and plenty of water in the farm dams. It was a pleasant surprise when we pulled into the van park to find that we were beside 2 birders from Ballina. One of them Lyn, was the woman I travelled to South West Rocks with, for last years Spring Campout. She has a f...

  Friday One of the owners of the van park is quite creative and there were examples of her work scattered around the Park. On the road back to the highway there was a lookout for viewing the Warumbungles from a different perspective. The day was rather hazy as we had strong winds from the north west bringing inland dust. The bronze statue was created to commemorate the centenary of Armistice Day. The soldier is stripping off his army uniform while reaching for the plough signifying his rejection of war in favour of life on the land. From here our journey took us to Gunnedah where we stopped for a walk and lunch, before continuing on to Uralla, our base for tonight. Michael was happy to see a sign for the New England Brewery so once settled in we went for a stroll down the Main Street ending up at the Brewery. He enjoyed a paddle of beer and luckily for me they also served cider. It may look like an alcoholics dream but he claimed each of the 6 glasses was only a mouthful! The van ...

 Wednesday On our way to the Zoo we stopped in at the Tourist Office. As we got out of the car Michael thought the rear tire was looking a little flat. On checking it was only at 20psi, so it was around to the tire shop where they found a nail and fixed it promptly.  We had a great day at the zoo, although having seen many of these animals in the wilds of Kenya a few years back, took the shine off for me. We were both taken with the cuteness of the meerkats, who were a lot smaller than I realised. We did a fair bit of walking before having a snack where Michael demonstrated his bird whispering skills again...although Apostlebirds don’t need a lot of encouragement.  Hearing the lion roar gave us a good understanding of the fear they would strike in the heart on a dark night in the bush. Overall I think the zoo is very well done and it is a great idea to have such a facility outside the big cities. Back on the farm there was time for a wander round the grounds, and watch th...

 Tuesday We had a lovely spot overlooking the river for breakfast before exploring this interesting town. The names of some of the tourist attractions make sense when you realise that Nyngan is in the Bogan Shire! After all most towns wouldn’t want The Big Bogan as one of their drawcards. P ositioned outside the tourist information centre were a replica Cobb & Co coach, as Nyngan was on one of the original routes, as well as a RAAF helicopter. Iroquois helicopters have special  significance for Nyngan. In April 1990, the levee around the town was breached and the entire population had to be airlifted to safety. As with many towns out this way the 1930s appear to have been a boom time as there were many lovely old buildings erected at that time. Overnight we had made the decision to go on to Dubbo as we had never been to the Western Plains Zoo. Michael contacted a couple that we had connected with at a mutual friends celebration last year. They had said if we were ever out ...

Sunday Today was more dirt road on the trip along the Darling to Wilcannia. We had one stop at the Tilpa pub, enjoying a cold beverage to wash away the dust. We saw how things work out this way when an old guy pulled in in his Ute, staggered around to sit on the tailgate and publican brought out his mail etc. As he drove away we noticed a total lack of registration plates! I had discovered another set of podcasts on my phone..The Birders Guide...so we listened to a couple of episodes to pass the time. As we drove in to Wilcannia I could here the strains of Spaghetti Western music playing in my head. The town has some lovely old sandstone buildings ...and not much else.  We had decided, a bit like our last trip, that to visit Broken Hill and Menindee in a rushed way was not what we wanted to do, so they will be on another trip.  Warrawong on the Darling had been recommended by another traveller and it turned out to be a pleasant site but there was trouble ahead. The dirt roads ...

Saturday Our next stopover was another station only 40kms down the road. On the way we stopped in at Dunlop Station for the morning tea/tour conducted by the current owner, Kim. Kim and her daughter bought the property 9years ago and are in the very long process of attempting to restore it. It includes the homestead, a store and a shearing shed, as well as many outlying buildings. The homestead needs a load of work but is a great improvement on what she bought. She hadn’t realised there was a cellar until they removed all the newspapers stacked to the ceiling on one of the Verandas. Originally    Dunlop Station was a pastoral lease  that operated as a  sheep station  and was once the largest sheep station in the world at over 1million acres. Kim’s property is now about 22000 acres and she only runs 100 sheep. Dunlop is significant as the farm with the first mechanised shearing of sheep in a building Kim is hoping to restore to a usable shearing space w...

Friday We decided it was time for a quiet day and Rose Isle was the perfect spot to do just that. In the morning we took the short drive to their riverside camps to check out their non-powered sites. All along this part of the river the banks are very steep and there is no access directly to the water so we were happy with our decision to stay in the powered site area. Michael did find a ‘loo with a view’ which he fortunately didn’t need to use.  Sam, the owner, does a delicious morning tea every day, and also finds time to be creative with lots of bits and pieces around the farm...of which there are plenty! Of course we had to partake of the morning tea but it did mean we skipped One of the highlights of Rose Isle for me were the number of birds which were  easy to find so we both had a wander before Michael went off to check out all the stuff in the front yard while I did a bit more bird watching. I watched a Striated Pardalote for a while as it constructed its nest in the c...