Sunday, April 28, 2013

Oh so long!

Things have been and gone,its been a while but Ill try to make amends!!
First up,yep I managed to get that drive to the east coast (nearly) and back,took me three days to get there to Cobar where I stayed with SIL,then to Dubbo next day.
Day 1, drove the  8 or so hours to the WA Border,I couldnt have made Ceduna but wild dogs camels and wombats etc wouldnt been healthy for little Kia Rio,as it was when we left(had youngest son with me,14yrs going on 60, next morning we found a lady had wiped out her Ford ute hitting a tricoloured dingo nearly 80 ks out from the Border Village,on further a sad discovery that a cyclist had had a run in with another traveler thank heavens it was being dealt with before I came along























at one of the look outs,
 The walkway to lookout!Unwitting star of pic was fello travelers who also warned us about accident ahead
 Looking back at designated car park
Ben posing,unwillingly,discovered his aversion to being photographed and even worse having them posted on FB
We saw three live dogs and few emus but not the number warned about,a lot of dead wombats unfortunately I wonder if theres many left in the wild in that patch through Ceduna to Kimba.
Second night was at the Poinsettia Motel on the highway through town,perfect location though road noise might be annoying to some on the road side of the complex,they know me well enough now so it was the convenience,old family feel to the place that brings me back there.
A bit late starting next morning (teenagers are hard to move along..)
On the way up into hills toward Peterborough
A very windy track that is scary when you first get there but old hands like me tend to rally drive,oops did I say that?? most corners were 30 to 45km ones,with high rock walls and dead drops on some parts,it was hell going up through there in the Cruiser before towing a heavy trailer! First and second gear but without a turbo or V8 couldnt expect more
No more pics til we arrived in Dubbo,an unwilling passenger to stop and use camera was the most common reason and time,leaving the right time to avoid early animal activity to arriving to a destination that is full of them,was a constant factor.The wild goats coming into Cobar were a huge issue,most just sat there to looked as they mowed down on the grasses along the road side,there was a band of rain just before McCullouchs Range (a few pics of what we saw,dry of course) and into town,so devastatingly dry everywhere else. The high point on that evening was a lone Echidna truddling over the road just on dusk,wished I could have got a pic but he moved a bit fast for me,lol
Cobar the third night,catch up with family and onto Dubbo the next day.
At Trangie we passed a huge group of riders on mostly Teneires,(Yamahas) going on a outback trek,lol,they looked like there was purpose in mind as they literally thindered by,that point in trip remains in my mind as although watching speed etc i think I just over going to the dogs hind leg things road and dont know I got my photo done by Traffic peoples.
We spent a couple of days catching up with family and bit of shopping as Grace BRos there is the only place i can usualy buy very nice underwear,this time?? nothing,very disapointed,not ben he wasnt impressed but after finding the Husband chair left there by staff he was a bit happier,must be embarrassing for a teen to be with Mum on a bra hunt,lol
My main aim this year was getting to the Warrambungles,(Coonbarabran, a day trip,we left at 9.30,spent two hours in park and got home at 6pm)I have a little dream of doing an art project about the devstating fires that roared through there a few months agao,although I was a bit late getting there for the shots I was after,the raw aftermath I did get enough to start,Im hoping prints paintings and mixed media
heres a few pics


 The danger of falling dead trees was very real and even though I know my way around in these sort of areas I didnt take the risk
 The heat must have been really out there, even back in close to town the tops of the trees showed the signs of how this monster fire created a weather zone all on its own.
 White gum lookout,you can see the burnt out valleys and craggy tops
 Bens not good at taking photos but just to say Ive BEEN HERE!!!

Tenacious life!



Grass trees,the reason I went there,got a good number of pics but wont over load Blogger today!
The Telescope
 As we wind our way up the tall hill with Ben complaining its scary,dead drops along side what appeared a bitumen goat track,I questioned whether it was open,no signs blocking our entry to road as other side ones did, but we were lucky,its had been open for two weeks
 And I snuck past the no Visitor signs and scrambled down the hill side,Ben complaining again and prancing around like a collie pup worried Id go bum up!!
Back in Dubbo,this was our last day but we managed to catch up with a few people including a cuz I hadn't seen for more than 20 years and came across another and an Aunty with similar years of invisibility  this time as we waited for coffees at the divine Mr Beans Coffee shop in Macquarie St,I turned and wow, It was instant recognition and smiles all around despite one of them had deliberately distanced herself many years ago,must have over come her disagreeance of my large family having end up with one herself,lol The family has some horrible history and they need to sort it out,being the only sibling left in my own immediate family i hold family to me heart,you never know what may happen.
Unfortunately there was something amis and I didnt catch a few other despite putting out calls to call me,theres always next time!
On the way home we stayed in Cobar again though miss-communication meant a motel stay,a great catch up with family and friends again then off to Port Augusta,then the Border village again,WA/SA border,a pretty non descript trip til we fueled up at Cocklebiddy where we found out we were travelling in famous company,Jon English was heading to Kalgoorlie apparently to visit family then onto Perth for business,I snapped this for fun pretending we were in hot pursuit of an autograph,it was also fun describing to a 14 year old who this famous old Aussie icon was etc...
Well they did say white van.. only down the raod did we actually see him,hed pulled over for a rest,presuming it was hime,anything to alleviate the long drive....
I actually enjoyed the drive,I only find the section this side of Eucla,a 18 stretch that follows a range,flat roo country and another section on either side of Broken hill,roughly an hour or so drive, having a grumpy son who didnt like stopping in the middle of no where for various reason ,we might roll down hill ist getting late etc,did not get the pics I was planning for,theres a bird lookout near Cocklebiddy, theres the pics of the Mucullochs Range for which I was flat to find any for reference on the net for example,I didnt pull into Ceduna this time for lunch of King George Whiting or a look at the sea... as I said theres always next year when it will be me..on my..own...
Oh to add lastly I left in such a disorganized rush I left the knitting bag behind( lucky I had a scarf cowl thingy still on the back seat) and the Windmill painting didn't make it either...sorry Cuz!!

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