Day 5.....Charleville

Today was spent looking at the sights of Charleville.
First stop was to the Distance education Centre....once school of the air. It was really interesting.
We watched a teacher give an English lesson to year 2 students. She had 2 computers...on one she had info about which group of children she was teaching and their names, on the other was the lesson, along with scanned compositions they had written. The children read their stories for everyone in the group to read, then there was discussion by all of each story. It was a lot more peaceful than giving a similar lesson to a class of 30 or so....no disruptions!
Following the school, we went to The Royal Flying Doctor Centre, where we saw quite a bit of history of the RFDS....an amazing service.

We

Day 4 - Bourke to Charleville

Packed up Rosie in Bourke. Just finished and heavy rain came...not what I was expecting in Bourke!!

Weren't able to go out to Goolring Station this morning, because the heavy rain had made roads to all properties impasssable. I spoke to the manager at the station, and she said that the homestead that was there when my grandparents and mum were there in 1929, was the old one down near the river, and it would be impossible to get there. However, we did drive through Enngonia, the nearest town to Goolring. I don't know what made them move there from England for 2 years!!! The roads would have all been dirt, and there wouldn't have been many home comforts. I took a few photos of Enngonia. Grandpa mentioned in his notebook how he went into Enngonia for tobacco and sweets.
We continued north to Cunnamulla for a picnic lunch. The statue was near the information centre. After lunch we drove up to Charleville. It's a lovely town....lots of interesting things to see and do.

Tonight we went to the Cosmos Experience. It was great. They had huge telescopes to look at the sky. There were 4 main things we looked at, the first being Saturn. It was amazing...you could see the rings around it.

Day 3... Moree to Bourke

Today we drove from Moree to Bourke. We went through a lot of cotton, wheat and merino country. Collarenabri, Walgett and Brewarrina were a real eye-opener. They reminded me very much of Wilcannia....high security!!! steel shutters and screens on all shop and business windows and doors....pretty grubby towns....seemed like too much alcohol, no jobs and generally nothing to do but cause mischief. This afternoon in Moree, we saw kids, about 10 year-olds, throwing stones at cars in the IGA carpark....thankfully we weren't shopping there! A few minutes later we saw the police talking to them!

I kinda liked the sign on the door at the coffee shop in Collarenabri...

It was pretty obviously a screen door!!!

At Brewarrina we went and had a look at the old aboriginal fish traps. There were lots of beautiful birds at the bottom of the weir waiting to catch fish.

These kids were kicking footballs around, just a block from where the others were throwing stones.

Day 2, Wallangarra to Moree

Left Wally this morning and headed for Moree. Stopped at Inverell for a comfort stop....very hi-tech loos out there! You press a button to open the door. Once inside, and seated, music starts.....press another button for paper....when finished, hold hands under tap and water comes to basin, plus toilet flushes.....press button to exit. If you don't exit before 10 mins, the door will automatically open!!
Arrived at Moree about 3pm and checked in at caravan park. Just as well we arrived reasonably early, as the place is pretty full now.
It was really good to get everything packed away, cook tea and relax with a nice glass of wine.

Dave has just gone for a dip in the hot spring pool...I wimped out...it's pretty breezy outside!

Day 1, Grafton to Wallangarra

Left Grafton and drove to Wally. It was great to relax for a night after all the preparations  over  the last couple of weeks. Rosie is freshly painted inside and out with cables repaired and supplies packed.

Rosie Around Australia

Rosie Around Australia
Next Monday, 9th July, 2012, we leave Grafton for our trip around Australia.
The proposed route is marked in pink .
We will be spending the first night at Wallangarra, then heading for Moree the next day.
From there we will travel west to Bourke.
North of Bourke is a town called Enngonia.
 My mum and her parents lived there for a couple of years when she was 10 years old, on a sheep station....Goolring Station.
 I contacted the current managers, and we will be calling there on Thursday 14th July.
From Enngonia we will travel north into Queensland, then gradually make our way up to Darwin.
 In Darwin we'll catch up with an old friend who is on holidays there.
After Darwin we'll pretty much take it as it comes.
We'll be towing Rosie (our old, renovated, retro, Jayco Dove camper trailer) and will sometimes stay at caravan parks,
 and other times in budget roadside camp stops.
We'll add pics and info whenever we can....no doubt there will be times we'll be out of range,
 so the blog will only be added to when signal is available.