1 Year Later

1 Year On and Where Are We?

Well it is just over 12 months since we departed the -5deg temperatures of Canberra and headed off on our No Boundaries Australia 2011 Adventure.  Our trip is still a great memory, nearly every day we make comment about where we were and the great places we visited.  In the time we have been home work has become a priority, our caravan has only been out on the road twice and we have updated our great Falcon XR6 for an AWD diesel Ford Territory. 

The New Tow Vehicle - Ford Territory

To celebrate the 1 Year Anniversary of our departure we did what was only natural for a caravaner was hook the van on and take off for the weekend.   The planning started a week earlier when friends, Don & Patti, who we meet in Denham WA and later in Bunbury dropped in for the weekend so we could show of our great city, Canberra.  At the end of the weekend they headed off to Wagga and Junee and suggested that we should meet them in Bathurst the following weekend and travel the western NSW districts with them.  So the trip was on, the van was un- covered, packed and ready to go, with plenty of cold weather gear and heaters on board.

Canberra to Bathurst - Friday 29 June 2012

With all the cold weather gear on board we left home about 8ish and headed to Goulburn for morning tea with family and friends. We then headed north to Bathurst via Taralga, Abercrombie Rive, Shooters Hill and Oberon.  The last time I was on this road it was mainly dirt, the road is now sealed all the way, narrow and very windy not the easiest road to travel to Bathurst from Canberra, but a nice drive.  We arrived Bathurst mid-afternoon and met up with Don and Patti. After setting up camp we headed off to do our “Hot Laps” of Bathurst race track, something very familiar as my son and I normally spend the 2^nd weekend in October camped at the track soaking up the action. We didn’t set any lap records today but enjoyed the drive.

Bathurst Big 4 Caravan Park

Bathurst to Parkes – Saturday 30 June 2012

We woke to a slight frost, not to cold, it was also birthday day, my last birthday we celebrated in Tweed Heads. After packing up we headed off to Orange for a birthday morning tea.  What a nice drive the sun was shining, with pockets of cloud in the valley’s very specky. 

Early Morning Bathurst

Low Cloud through the Valley

Orange is a great regional centre and town, we walked the main street had a great coffee then headed off to Forbes for lunch.  We stopped in the main park for lunch and were lucky enough to be present at a local wedding in the park and of course supported the volunteers at the ‘Stop Revive’ rest stop area.  After a look around town we headed up the road to Parkes for the night, once again a great town with lots to offer the community.  Because these towns are on the Newell Highway, the most direct route between the southern capital cities and Brisbane they are always busy and well supported.  That night Marlene cooked a great birthday roast dinner and Don & Patti provided a tasty birthday cake, what can be better than spending your birthday in your caravan out on the road.

Lunch Forbes

Parkes Caravan Park

Birthday Dinner with Marlene, Don & Partti

Parkes to Dubbo – 1 July 2012

Another cool start to the day, but remember it is winter, we packed and headed off to Dubbo.  First stop the Elvis Presley , Vintage Car and Henry Parkes History Museum, we spent a couple of hours checking out all the bits and pieces.  We left here and headed out to the Parkes Dish, (Radio Telescope) of course we had a great coffee and look around the dish, all very interesting.  We arrived Dubbo early afternoon and set up camp at the Dubbo Big 4 Parkland Caravan Park, then went and visited town and the historical Dubbo Gaol, not a place you would have wanted to stay in.

Elvis Museum

Parkes Museum

Parkes Dish



Mighty Elvis

 Dubbo – Monday 2 July 2012

A day in Dubbo today to visit the Zoo, and it is the coldest bleakest day while we’ve been away, but we soldiered on to the zoo all rugged up.  The zoo is always good getting close up to the Giraffes, Hippos and Elephants is always good fun.  We spent most of the day here then back to the van to settle in for the night as it was a real winter’s day.

Dubbo Big 4

Dubbo Gaol

Dubbo Zoo - Giraffe

A trip to the Dentist isa required

Big and Beautiful

Dubbo – Gordon (Home) – Tuesday 3 July 2012

Our little trip is over, it was a great deal of fun seeing the western slopes of NSW again and spending some nice time with Don & Patti.  We headed of home via Wellington, Molong, Cudal then onto Canowindra for lunch with Allison, Mitchel, Haley and Toby, friends that live in the area it was nice to see all the kids smiling faces. After a break we headed to Cowra, Yass then home by mid-afternoon to unpack the van, wash it, put it away and get ready for a day’s work the next day.

All in all it was a great few days away, a really nice way to celebrate our 12 month anniversary and time with good friends.  The new Ford Territory was great, it towed the van with ease and returned a very credible 13.2 l/100k fuel economy.  Very happy with it all.  Everything is now all tucked away for a few months, next outing will be back to Bathurst for the races in October.