Port Macquarie & Forster

PORT MACQUARIE

I will start with the usual park information and where we stayed; The park is called the Sundowner Breakwater Tourist Park and for obvious reasons (it sits on the breakwater for the slow thinking folk). It is tagged as a Big 4 and does at this stage carry the Big 4 banner, however the park has been recently acquired by the local council so it offers the Big 4 rates if you are a member but if you ask for a weekly rate it works out cheaper without a membership. The normal rate is $32 p/n or $189 for the week; if you quote your Big 4 membership the rate is $32 x 7 = $224 less 10% = $201.60.

The park is in a prime spot; from our site below you can just make out the rock on the breakwater in the background; the main town beach is approximately 200m from where we were parked. The amenities consisted of 4 blocks and they are average and a little dated and the quality in the 4 blocks varies by how much refurbishment work as been done. The park does have a large and very appealing pool so ideal for the non beach-goer (like me); the park is located right in the heart of town so the car can be left parked if you wish. All (99%) of the sites are grass and some are a reddy type soil so it would be best to pick your own site if possible as if it rains it does become quite messy (we fortunately missed the rain at this park). This park is not pet friendly but there are a couple of other parks that are. 

Above was our site. 

We were at Port Macquarie during the half iron man competition; I did enter and if you look closely you will see thats me in 5^th position. It was a hard race and gruelling race but I managed to take out 4^th spot (better luck next year).

I did find myself a surf board but and angle grinder to remove it was a little harder to locate (no power point to run it either). 

Linda found this big spinning top which proved a little hard to upright and get going; it is actually a “Folly”.

The history is that Windmill Hill was originally known as Gillman's Folly until Major Innes had a windmill built there in 1825 to grind wheat and corn for government contracts. The windmill had large canvas sails driving a hand-milled wooden shaft with a stone grinding wheel. The remains of the windmill were accidentally destroyed by fire in 1900. 

In 1971 the Port Macquarie Conservation campaigned to save the site from development and to turn this vantage point into a reserve. Windmill Hill is one of sixteen sites of heritage significance adopted by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. 

 

Just out of Port Macquarie is a farm (Riccardo’s) that grows hydroponic tomatoes and strawberries; the tomatoes grown here are always in the top 3 winners for all the shows each year. You cannot pick the tomatoes but you can take a container and pick your own strawberries, there is no bending down as they are all grown on upright frames. When you have picked enough they are weighed and you pay for what you have got; I found it much more economical to just eat as many as you could without being sick and pay for bugger all. 

This large reptile was photographed near our site at Port; he was after the baby plovers and was about 1.4mt in length. 

FORSTER – TUNCURRY

What a great place this is and the park again was the pick for location; if anything it was only 100m to the beach and a nice one at that.

We stayed at the Forster Beach Caravan Park which is located on the southern side of the bridge that divides Forster and Tuncurry; price for the park is a flat $25p/n (no weekly rate), the amenities are very good and kept clean, the down side is it has timed showers but you do get plenty of time. The park is right in the Forster main township but if you want Woolies and Coles etc they are about a 5km drive.

The only down side to the sites is they tail down into the gutters quite sharply so with a large van be prepared to lift the front end quite significantly to level off, if your van is low to the ground you may scrape but they do have some boards for laying in the gutters on arrival and departure. Once in it is a great spot and we would definitely revisit here. This is a no pet park but for those with pets the Lakeside Caravan Park is quite nice and situated on the river in Tuncurry; the rate here is $175 a week.

Our site above; the gutters are quite deep. 

A view of the park from Pilot Hill; we are where the little white bubble is. 

Same picture showing more of the park as it looks over the Forster – Tuncurry bridge. 

Same area of Pilot Hill but taken looking north towards Coffs Harbour and also showing Tuncurry beach. 

Linda has been working on (and now completed) a Teddy for our Grandson, Jaxon; it has been made with love by Nanny Stevens so I thought it should be posted up for all to see.

We have been travelling up through the Hunter Valley and stayed at a friends place for a couple of nights at a place called Glendon (near Branxton) and are currently at Tamworth (bloody hot here).

We are leaving here on Wednesday 18^th November and heading up the “Fossickers Trail” so will post that one in a few weeks.

For those that are about in Brisbane we will be at Scarborough for Christmas from the 7^th December to the end of January 2010 (look forward to seeing you).

Love & best wishes – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig

Bexhill - Sawtell - Sth West Rocks

Well we finally left Tweed Heads and made our first stop at Lismore; we wanted to catch up with Robert, Kerry & Luke. We met up again with the rest of the family at a great barby held at Robert & Kerry’s place (thanks to you all for the hospitality & risotto pie recipe).

The Roadrunner Caravan Park has not changed much; the price is now $22 a night or $132 for the week. The 9 tourist sites are very nice and the view form all of these sites is as you see it below; the permanent sites are still pretty rough but all in all the park is the pick of the lot. This is a great place to stay for a period if you want to do the Nimbin, Bangalow and National Park trips. The park does not allow dogs. 

BEXHILL

Bexhill is approximately 15km east of Lismore as you head toward Bangalow; there is an outdoor cathedral which overlooks valleys to the east.

The seating is by way of what can only be described as horizontal telegraph post sections; the views from here are spectacular and is a must see if in the area. 

The sign above is as you first walk toward the cathedral; have a close look at who the caretaker is which is shown on the last line. Also at the site is a visitors book that can be signed and a secure box for donations.

SAWTELL

This place is a must see if you are heading down the coast; the town is situated about 12km south of Coffs Harbour and is a coastal township.

We stayed at the Sawtell Beach Caravan Park which is about a 10min stroll to the surf; the park does have its own private access to one part of the beach but the track was a little steep. The park is situated within a 5 minute walk and is next to the bowls club. This would be the pick of the 2 parks in Sawtell; very good amenities and they are cleaned at the times stated.

The park does not have it’s own pool but next door is the swimming centre; the cost for entry is $3.50 per person but the park will reimburse one admission per day per adult so not a bad deal. Although this is a top tourist and usually you only get discount with a membership card we secured a week here for $185 which is a one night free deal (always worth asking), maybe because it is off peak. The down side is there is only 5 slab sites, the others are all grass (so to speak) and are in some places difficult to level off unless you have ramps. This is a No pets park. 

Our site is shown above; we managed to get a slab as the mass exodus had just taken place with all the NSW schools heading back. 

The above is taken from the Sawtell lookout; the shot is looking north towards Coffs Harbour. 

The above is from the same lookout; the view is to the south and shows the Sawtell township. The area has a population of approximately 15000; the township is very village like and has some boutique type shops and cafes; the pub and the RSL reside in the same street. On leaving Sawtell for the suburb of Toormina (4km away) you come to a Centro shopping centre with the usual Kmart, Coles, Woolies etc. It seems like you move from a small country village to a major suburb in a matter of minutes.  

The birds above are a from a pair that nest in the same spot in the Sawtell main street every time; the day before this picture was taken 4 babies lived here; the day of the picture we were told one had flown the nest. Two days after the picture all of the babies had taken to the skies (or been eaten by a pussy cat); we prefer the “taken to the skies” story. 

On walking the Sawtell beach at the end you come to a timber stairway which leads up to a paved walking track; the track leads to the other side of the lookout to a small inlet. Quite a number of people walk this to swim on the incoming tide; The walk takes about 1.5hrs from the surf beach to the other side and back, some of it is quite steep but is very good exercise and well worth the trip. 

Above is a picture of the main divided street of the Sawtell township; very picturesque. 

We did do an overnight stop at South West Rocks which as you can see by the above shot is right on the beach; the park is called Horseshoe Bay Beach Park. We did want to stay and did book a full week but they messed up the booking; it is a long story but in the end we headed of the next day to Port Macquarie.

This would have to be the pick of the parks in South West Rocks purely for the location; the park is terraced and bigger caravans & 5^th wheelers can accommodate on the upper level (where we were; the picture is from our site). The amenities are average and most of the sites are grass with a few slabs; price is $32p/n or $189 for the week, the park is council owned and is pet friendly.

Be aware if you are going to this park that it is best to get confirmation of your booking; only 27 of the 67 sites have sullage so unless you specify you want sullage for a large van (or motor home) you may end up on a site having to empty a bucket positioned under your drainage point.

We would stay here again if we are down this way for a week or so but would be more aware of the blasé nature of the park management and staff.

We are currently in Port Macquarie and leaving for Forster on Wednesday 4^th November for more sun and sand (lucky me). From there we are then to Hawks Nest (more bloody sand); we will catch the ferry over for a day at Nelson Bay. On leaving here we will pick up the New England Highway heading for Singleton.

We will post up again in a few weeks time; until then hope you all stay well.

Love & regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig 

Winton - July 09

Well this is the last of the catch up posts and hopefully we can keep this updated more regularly; we did have a great few days at Winton which you will read later on but lets start with the van park and other options available.

The caravan park at Winton is the Matilda Country Tourist Park and comes under the Top Tourist banner (you definitely need to book); site fees were $27 per night and they do have everyone by the nuts as it is the only park in town. They tend to cram as many in as possible with some parking on the roadways within the park and a mass of extension leads running all over the place. One of the mornings was quite cool and the amount of heaters tuned on based on the power load available tripped every power head in the park on 2 occasions.

The amenities consisted of about 3 demountable buildings for male and the same for female; the mens had the standard trough, 4 loo's and 3 showers. The showers were the fibreglass base with a shower curtain and then another shower curtain where you got dried; I personally hate these curtains, as soon as you get in the shower it seems the bloody thing wants to eat your legs and part of your arse and they are an absolute mongrel to keep off your body.

The park had a camp kitchen which had some form of entertainment each night (bush poets, solo singers etc); you could also have a roast meal each evening which was as much as you like for about $12; every night you had a choice of beef or beef (it never changes).

Other option are you can free camp at the rear of the Gregory Hotel in town but you have to be quick and lucky to get a spot in here, no power available but water can be obtained by bucket only, you are not allowed to connect your hose for direct supply. There also is a free camp 4km South of Winton called the Long Waterhole, it does take big rigs and phone service is available and dogs are allowed. The other option is a farm stay about 15km West of Winton but they only have 4 powered sites.

Above is the Winton caravan park; plenty of dust here.

Winton boasts a population of approximately 1000 and is part of the dinosaur trail as it has the most concentrated areas of dinosaur finds. If you are keen enough you can trip out to Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackway where they do have the world’s only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede; the drive is 110km from Winton so you will need to be keen on the subject. 

More to the things I like – PUBS; there is what is known as the “Greatest Outback Queensland Pubs” (30 in total) and Winton has 3 of them. These are North Gregory Hotel, Winton Hotel and Tattersalls Hotel; above is one of many unique parts of the hotel walls, they all are adorned with all types of memorabilia.

Above is the old dining room at the Tattersalls Hotel; this is small and cosy, there is plenty of other eating areas in and outside the pub and the food at all the hotels is very good.

 

Above is what is known as Arno’s Wall; this is an architectural marvel (or disaster) either way it is very unique, it stands 2m tall and runs a total of 10m and it has every sort of object built into the concrete. As you can see it has everything from motor bikes, hub caps, sinks and dunny’s; very interesting to look at but it makes you wonder about the mental capacity of the builder who maybe has the IQ of a Wombat (my apologies to the Wombat's).

Above is another free attraction at Winton; yes it is true and yes you can play a tune on it; one section is tensioned between 2 timber posts and in tune should you be musical inclined. There is a bin close by with various sticks and metal objects that can be used to play the fence. 

With me not being that good on the strings close by was a drum set; I bashed the shit out of these whilst Lin struck up a tune on the fence. It’s a good job this attraction is nowhere near any residential properties. 

We found Banjo Paterson situated outside The Waltzing Matilda Centre; this is the only museum in the world dedicated to a song. This is a great place to visit and you can purchase a ticket for here and it also gives you access to other paid town attractions as a package.

All in all Winton was great for a visit and if you wanted to take in all the sites at a relaxed pace it would be best to allow 4 days to a week.

Will try to be a little more regular once we leave Tweed Heads which will be 12th October; the only firm commitment we have is from the 14^th December 2009 to the end of Jan 2010 we will be at Scarborough in Brisbane for the Christmas period.

As always we wish you all well and hope you stay safe.

Will post again soon

Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig

 

Ilfracombe - Longreach July 09

We decided to stay at Ilfracombe rather than going on to Longreach; we had been told by several other travellers that if we were heading west stay at the Ilfracombe park based on their experience and we are so glad we did. Longreach is further west by 27km so it is no big deal in getting to the tourist attractions but my recommendation would be to stay at this family owned park, not just for the great rates ($22 per night during our stay) but for the whole atmosphere of the place, friendliness, and great entertainment late afternoon and evening. The park facilities were spotless and a pleasure to use.

Jesse & Cathryn are the owners and involve themselves in every happy hour; fantastic humorous bush poetry and yarns by Jesse makes the place so welcoming and the family hospitality shown by Cath and the kids tops it off. We also met up with Dennis & Shirley at the park (along with many others), they were great long time friends of Jesse & Cathryn and were helping out on there travels as they often do; in all we had a great time and would stay for longer on our next visit.

The town has a population (according to my research) of approximately 300; if I have got it wrong my apologies to the more knowledgeable, apologies also for any names spelled incorrectly.

Above shows part of the park and our location, the grounds are a typical “welcome to the west” environment; this for us was well received as it was the first slab site we had been on since Gayndah.

Happy hour in the shed; this shot was taken late afternoon (based on my normal bedtime) but it kicked on well into the early evening with heaps of fun for all. 

The pub above sits proudly on the main highway through to Longreach and my understanding is the whole area was originally the Wellshot Station property; the beer was cold and the hospitality was great. 

Ilfracombe boasts several points of interest all of which are free but it is appreciated if a gold coin donation is made to assist in the maintenance and upkeep of some of the displays. The above is what is called the “Machinery Mile” which displays along the main highway some of the oldest and most extensive equipment displays. Most have been donated and moved to site at no charge to maintain the history of the region. 

Above is the “Hiltons Bottles” display; the photo does not really do justice as this would be only 5% of the total collection; there is also a lot of other memorabilia to look at and on entering the gate a small steel container is there if you wish to donate to the upkeep and cleaning of the bottles.

There is a lot of other historical places and must do’s in Ilfracombe (Langenbaker House, Romani Hall, Wellshot Centre, Memorial Park etc) and we would certainly go back for another bash, by the way the cafe and store on the highway is well worth the stop for coffee and food (full on espressos,cappuccinos etc).

Summarising this is a great place to stay for a few days or longer (we would have loved a week or so); the park, staff and management are first class and you would need your head read if you bypass this for Longreach, ring ahead to book as you could be disappointed in just rolling up as the park is well patronised.

ON TO LONGREACH

Headed in to Longreach for the day to take in some of the sights; the town is quite substantial in services and has a population of around 4000, plenty of pups along with an IGA and a Crazy Clarks for those that have the “$2 items” withdrawal syndrome.  We only did the one main tourist venture and we (Linda) decided on the “Hall of Fame”; my choice would have been Qantas but thats for the next trip when we roll back in from Townsville. 

You know what they say about a woman being a perfect height (somewhere to place your stubbie etc) well Linda is just at that right height for the “Ringer” which stands just outside the Hall of Fame. Not sure what she found behind his leg but he seemed to have a smile on his dial. 

The sign is just in front of the ringer. 

One of the exhibits inside the hall of fame; it is a great place to visit but it is fairly dark inside and there is a lot of reading involved. In talking to other visitors it seems to be divided opinions on this tourist venue and Qantas in “bang for your buck”. Entry into the hall of fame is $22.50 each and for an extra $5 each includes a 1 hour show with cattle dogs (highly recommended). Not sure what the Qantas venue was charging but I believe it was a similar amount.

Will post again soon. Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig. 

 

 

Alpha, Jericho & Barcaldine - July 09

We have not stayed overnight at all the places we have visited but we have stopped to take in the small townships and have thoroughly enjoyed some of the local history and atmosphere.

Alpha is a small town which boasts a population of approximately 360 so no K-Mart, Coles or Woolies (most likely to the towns pleasure) but it does have the usual pub, general store and servo etc. Friends of ours (Barry & Anne) did stay overnight at the local caravan park and did make favourable comments so it sounds a good place for an overnight or more stop.

Alpha is known for the murals which decorate some of the private and public buildings which depicts the area;s history, all of these were painted by local and ex local artists.

 Above is on the local butcher & deli business.

The above is painted on the still used railway station.

Our next stop was Jericho (just passed through) which has half the population of Alpha (180) so once again very hard to find a Golden Arches or Hungry Jacks here. Yes we all know the biblical story on the battle of Jericho and the locals are quick to tell the story if you don’t know. The town certainly fits in with the story as it is built on the Jordon River, south of Lake Galilee.

The town has one of Australia's smallest drive-in theatres, it holds 36 cars and can accommodate about 40 walk in people who take to the double deck chair set up. The speakers that Lin has hold of are the old “window puller's” if you forget to take it out before driving off. 

The deck chair set up is positioned both sides of the outdoor projection room; information is that the drive in runs every second Saturday. We looked for the popcorn machine but it must be BYO.

Above is the Jericho feature of the Crystal Trumpeters; the “Crystal Trumpeters” were constructed in memory of the story which involved the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for 6 days then blew their trumpets on the seventh day and watched the walls of the city collapse (a bit like “Ripley’s  – Believe It Or Not”) sounds like a lot of puffing and blowing to me.

Our next stop was Barcaldine where we decided to stay for 3 nights; the reason behind this was it had a population of 1200, plenty of pubs and an IGA supermarket. No fast food chains here but someone in town recommended the local bakery pies; I am still looking for this bloke to punch him out as they were bloody awful after the first bite. Even “Her Indoors” gave it the arse so they must have been crook considering what I've seen Lin eat. STAY AWAY FROM THE PIES; whatever the meat is in them it cannot be found or purchased from any butchers shop I know.

There are some beautifull old pubs in the town which follow the heritage trail signs; they all provide information on how they came to being and the changes they went through. 

The signage runs down the main street and outlines the history of the old town business that go back over a 100 years. 

Above is the “Tree of Knowledge” (did not help me much) but it is now a town memorial; the tree was poisoned in 2006 and this monument was erected as a memorial to one of only seven nationally listed icons in Australia.

We stayed at the Barcaldine showgrounds; these were well kept and as always had plenty of room. The birds above are the Brolga which are quite large standing around the 1.2m mark; they were at the showgrounds every afternoon for a feed from any of the many caravaners. They were quite friendly and had in tow 2 babies (not shown); the babies are about the same height but have not yet got the red hood as on the adults. The birds were happy to take bread from your hand and would always pass it on to the youngsters before feeding themselves. They can be quite daunting to feed as they extend their wings fully as they come towards you and make a terrible hissing noise (a bit like Linda just before breaky). 

Barcaldine like Alpha has plenty of murals painted by a diverse range of artists; the most famous is the mural in Oak Street by Darcy Doyle.

Well I still have Ilfracombe, Longreach, Winton and a few others to put together for the next post but thats for another day (not to far away).

Will post again soon.

Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig

 

Sapphire - July 09

Well we made it to Sapphire in a hope of making a fortune by finding that elusive large gem stone; not to be but we did have a great time looking and finding several smaller stones.

Sapphire has 3 caravan parks and a further 2 are at Rubyvale another 6km down the road; we stayed at the Blue Gem and we were pleased with the park, it amenities and the great social atmosphere of the owners and other campers. We originally booked for 3 nights but extended this to a week, the cost here is $20 p/n or $120 p/w so very good value. The park had activities on most days and in the early evening which made for a very enjoyable stay.

Above shows one area of the park; we are on the left about half way down. No slabs but good grass underfoot.

No, Linda has not shrunk; outside the park is a giant shovel, pick and sieve. The normal sized ones of these are used in abundance in this neck of the woods and it is very tough going. You can buy buckets of wash from the miners and wash and sift for your own stones; it was a heap of fun but can be expensive if you get the bug.

After the sift and washing the remaining stones are tipped onto hessian and the keen eye takes over looking for sapphire's; stories are that the miners keep all the big stuff found and the use the small stones to “salt” the buckets of (dirt) wash. They say it is like sideshow ally for kids; hand over your money and everyone gets a prize even though it maybe only 1 tenth of what you paid (roll-up, roll-up).

 

No chance of getting pissed at this RSL as it is only open 3 days a week on limited hours; there is a bottle shop and pub at Rubyvale. I was going to buy a carton til I saw the price, I decided to get the roast off lay-by instead.

Barry and Anne above were also hot on the trail of gems; they were a little luckier than us as they probably got 12% of their money back.

This is known as the “Thong Tree” just out of Rubyvale and is set amongst some of the hundreds of mining leases; the people who own and mine these are very wary of trespassers and whenever you see the white lease markers it pays to stay out.

A mechanical repairer in Sapphire; not sure how much work he gets mechanically or sexually but the sign says it all.

We are now at Ilfracombe but following this post I will finish and upload Alpha, Jericho and Barcaldine; Alpha & Jericho we passed through but both places have some great history and sights to see and photograph. We stayed at Barcaldine for 3 nights for the “heritage trail”.

We are moving from Ilfracombe tomorrow (13th July) on to Winton for 2 nights before we head to Boulia, we did the Longreach tour from here rather than stay in Longreach itself.

Will post again soon

Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig

On The Way To Boulia - Some Stops

The day or so stops included Kilcoy, Kingaroy, Gayndah, Dululu and Emerald.

23rd June – After being at Hervey Bay we needed to get a window seal fixed in the van, we decided that before we took off out west we would head back to Sunland at Caboolture. We did not get away until 4.00pm on the 24th so we only made it a short distance before camping overnight.

We stayed at the Kilcoy showgrounds and there were plenty of other campers to keep us company; not bad value here at $8 per night which includes power & water to the van and good showers. The grounds are approximately 2km west of Kilcoy and are set about 1km off the main road so it is very quiet with little or no road noise.

The caretaker has a motorhome and enjoys a lonnnnnng chat; on the night we were in he was well involved in happy hour (or 8) and did not get chance to collect everyones camp fees till the morning. The only down side is the caretaker has a bloody big rottweiler (we called him Cujo) that barked off and on during the daylight hours but at night was completely quiet (best arriving late and leaving early).

Us parked at Kilcoy; the polo club had been at the grounds the weekend before so plenty of free horse shit if you wanted some, even if you didn’t it was glued to the bottom of your shoes (at no charge). 

25th June – Next stop was at Kingaroy. Linda has a bad back so we are taking our time, no more sex on the front draw bar for us as the satellite dish tends to get in the way and can easily cause disc bruising.

Kingaroy showgrounds are only a 10 minute walk from town so shopping is easily accessed and the town has a Woolies, IGA etc; the grounds are flat with plenty of power boxes and water connections. The showers are good and the ground managers live on site; price here was $15 per night but well worth the money.

26th June – Arrived in Gayndah to the fruit box and picked up a 5kg bag of mandies for $5; these were straight off the tree and bloody good eating, just shows how much profit is in the supermarkets and no where near the quality of this local produce. 

26th June – The caravan park we are staying at (Mandy Inn) is a little like the Lismore one and in the main has a lot of park owned small vans which are for the seasonal fruit pickers. The park is at the back of a Caltex service station; the amenities are only just and the park is full of back packers & fruit pickers, price is over the top considering the location and services available ($23 per night). I would suggest you give this place a miss unless you are very desperate (or stupid like us).

June 27th – Decided to stay at Dululu which is north of Monto about 30km before the Capricorn Hwy which takes you west; we arrived at around 1.00pm and already 8 vans were in place. This is a free stay rest area run by the progress association but if you want to plug in to power and get a key for the showers it costs $5 per night; yes it is only 5 bucks. They do have a maximum stay of 2 days but it is not enforced; great place to stop over and we had a great arvo session with the other campers who were in the main full time on the road travellers, one couple had been on the road full time for the last 7 years and had recently upgraded to their 3rd van.

28th June – The last stop we made was the Emerald showgrounds; we decided to stay for 3 nights just to take some time out from the day to day set up and relax for a few days. The grounds are good and very quiet; the amenities are okay with plenty of pressure and hot water, at only $15 per night it is good value.

The army arrived on one of the days for an overnight stop; they were in a separate part of the grounds which was fenced off. I was thinking of yelling out “Hello all you Dad’s Army Wankers” but visions of me being taken to Emerald base hospital and a team of surgeons toiling to remove a 5 inch mortar shell from my rear orifice made me keep my mouth shut.

We re off to Sapphire, Rubyvale and Anakie tomorrow (1st July) for a week of R & R and try our luck at gem fossicking; following that we will be off to Jericho, Longreach, Winton and then Boulia. We will post up the gem chipping trip when we move to Longreach.

Will post again soon.

Regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig