Goulburn

Well we have been here one week and it aint too bad!

I have done 5 shifts at the hospital and am really enjoying it.  I have had a really good orientation to the unit thanks to a couple of awesome midwives - and all the staff that I have met so far have been absolutely awesome!  I even bumped in to a nurse (male) that used to work at the Mater Mothers in Brisbane - how small is this world becoming?   The ward I am on is midwifery and gynae - though we haven't had any gynae so far.  About 350 births a year - but it has been really busy this week apparently.  I haven't had a birth yet but have been immersed in midwifery again which has been really great.

The big news is that Mal has got himself a job!  Just goes to show how word of mouth is the way to go - he went in to the 'employment agencies' in town - they apparently only help those on the unemployment benefit!  He put an ad in the local paper and only got one enquiry - but he had a chat to the others round the camp ground and got a referral from a guy in a caravan behind us who is the site manager for the new Bunnings store being built here - a dump truck driver just quit the other day so Mal trotted across and spoke to the guy and low and behold started work straight away!  He picked me up from work that afternoon absolutely exhausted!  He is doing 9.5 hour days...bit of a shock to his system.  I think I am going to miss having my 'caravan bitch' at my beck and call.....
and here he is 'work ready'

We both had the day off today so took off sightseeing...we went for a drive round Goulburn - there are some fabulous old buildings around - we had a look at what I now know (from researching on the web) was the old St Johns boys orphanage.  Its really run down but apparently is going to be made in to flats soon.  Here is a photo




We also went up to the War Memorial which is a lookout on one of the hills overlooking Goulburn.  Great view from up there but shocking to see all the names of the soldiers on the wall in there.  Here are some photos from up there

As you can see from the photos the weather has been really changeable...we have had thunderstorms and rain the last couple of days in the afternoon following a nice day..and today has been cloudy and stormy looking like this and then the sun will come out!  It cools down here at night to a really comfortable temp for sleeping but isn't cold during the day.

We also went out to the local winery (of course!).  Did a bit of tasting and had a coffee and of course came home with a couple of bottles...

1044 km and we reached Goulburn finally!

We finally arrived at Goulburn on Sunday afternoon.  We had two caravan parks to choose from - looked at both and settled on South Goulburn Caravan Park.  Its a large caravan park on 10 acres and we have set up in a neat little spot at the far end away from all the permanents and most of the other sites.  Its a great set up for Chip as he can run around just out the front without annoying anyone else.  Here are some photos of our set up - yep we make ourselves at home pretty quickly!

We even set the satellite dish up for the TV according to all the coordinates in the book and got a signal first time - amazing!

Just across from the campsite you can see the Giant Merino which is the icon of the town...in the photo below you can see it in the distance and then there is a piccie of me sitting infront of it!

Just round the corner from us is a little shopping area with a service station, McDonalds, cafe, bakery, and an Indian restaurant - so  I think we are going to be quite happy for the next 6 weeks.  There is a bit of industry around too so Mal is going to go door knocking this week and see if he can pick up a bit of work.

I start work tomorrow on a morning shift - is going to be a killer getting up early again!  Drove past the hospital today which is quite dated looking so will be interesting to see what its like inside. 

Muswellbrook to Richmond

We drove to Richmond on Friday - we were a bit worried about driving through Putty Road but I had read blogs which said it was now fully sealed and not too bad..plus Mal had a chat to a couple of people when we were at Lake Liddell that said it was okay.  We were pleasantly surprised...it was a bit windy in patches but much better than the road we took to get to Muswellbrook through the Great Dividing Range.  It even at a cafe halfway through where we stopped off for lunch!

We parked up at the Wanderest Travellers Park in Richmond (Richmond is now considered an outer suburb of Sydney).  An interesting concept - basically a carpark with an area set up for caravanners and motorhomers - its part of the Richmond Club and you have to sign up as a member of the club ($4 for the pleasure) , and if you want a powered site its only $10 a night.  Has good amenities and a great grassed area which was awesome for Chip and good security as we found out last night when a group of drunk teenagers thought they might use the park to drink and be noisy - 3 strapping security guards were there in a heart beat kicking them out!  I have posted a piccie of it below. They even give you a very fancy brochure pack with ideas of the sightseeing stuff to do around the area each day, and vouchers for cheap/free drinks and meals at the Richmond Club.  Mal said the club was massive with different bars and restaurants and a gym - we never ended up going in there for a meal though because we had our very first caravan dinner party on Saturday night!

We invited a couple that Mal knew from his old job..I had met them before at a Xmas party and they live in Sydney.  It was a really nice night and we got to try out our new Thermowave cooker - I cooked a roast chicken and vegies all together in it...turned out very nice! 

Shortly after they left it absolutely bucketed down with rain and continued to rain most of the night.  Was also quite chilly....we are beginning to miss sunny Qld already!!!

Below is the map update showing our travels with rings around where we drove from and where we are heading and our progress to date

Armidale to Muswellbrook

We decided to pack up in Armidale yesterday and travel through to Muswellbrook.  The camp we were in was quite noisy when the workers arrived home and it didn't have a nice feel to it at all.  We had a drive around Armidale in the morning - what a lovely quaint town - very well maintained with some beautiful old buildings and churches.  We have noticed that the little towns in NSW seem to be much better maintained than their counterparts in QLD.

We drove along the New England Highway which was a great road in comparison to the Pacific Highway from Byron Bay to Armidale.  It took us about  3 and half hours drive.  We drove through Tamworth and had a look at the golden guitar - its the country music festival on the 20th so I imagine the town will get booked out around then.  We also drove through Scone - and not one place advertised tea and scones!

We are now parked up at Lake Liddell in Muswellbrook which is a lovely camping spot.  Its a 1133 ha lake which supplies cooling water to 2 nearby power stations.  People do a lot of  watersports, bird watching, canoeing, boating, walking and fishing here.  There are only about 30 campers in a huge area so its been easy to set up and have some privacy.  We are free camping so not hooked up to power or water though we aren't going without anything. At only $5 each a night its great and so much better than being squished in to a caravan park - we are seriously considering either getting solar panels or a generator so we can free camp more - we are converts!  Chip is loving it as he can run around as he pleases - though he hasn't come in contact with the group of huge geese yet - LOL.  Its a warm day today so we might get him in the lake to cool off later.   Below is a photo of our set up and the awesome view from the bedroom window this morning!

And here is the map of where we have travelled so far.  Rings around where we came from today (Armidale) and our destination (Goulbern) - we are slowly getting closer!

Grafton to Armidale

We had a very long and winding drive today across the Great Dividing Range through to Armidale.  Took us about 4-5 hours with a short stop for lunch along the way.  Mal was a bit stressed with the state of the road which had us down to almost one lane at times - with trucks often coming the other way we were lucky to never come across one in these narrow bits!  We saw some interesting scenery, had a large lizard run across in front of us and a very large bull decide to do the same as well!

Once again we weren't well prepared and nearly ended up running out of diesel - fortunately in some little hick settlement was a store cum bottleshop that had one pump with petrol and diesel!

We have parked up in a caravan park for two nights which is okay.  I think we are getting used to the free camping/cheaper camping sites like showgrounds where you have heaps of room and the dog can run around so pulling in to a caravan park feels a bit claustrophobic. 

Armidale seems a pretty little town so we will go sightseeing tomorrow and we also have to plot the rest of our trip to Goulbern. 

Below is an updated map on our progress today with a ring around where we left today (Grafton) and where we are heading (Goulburn)

On the road again 2012 - Ocean Shores to Grafton

We got back from a lovely 2 weeks in NZ enjoying Xmas and New Year with family and friends on Saturday.  Got back to a very warm Brissie day- just lovely.  We picked up our little mate Chip from our friends that had been looking after him - needless to say he was wrapt to see us both.  It has taken a couple of days for him to get back to his usual cuddly self - I think he felt obligated to give us a bit of the 'cold shoulder' for leaving him.

We drove straight through to Ocean Shores in Byron Bay on Saturday night after a lovely dinner with our dog minder friends.  Mal was busy test and tagging his nephews builders electrical equipment yesterday but we still managed to squeeze in some time down the beach - bit windy but just lovely.  They paid us back with the most delicious pork roast we have had in ages - thanks Vick and Stacey!

We headed off around lunch time today (Monday) and have stopped off at the Grafton Showgrounds for the night.  The temp gauge on the car has been showing a consistent 37 degrees all the way but there is a lovely breeze here which is making it bearable.  Infact as I type this the wind is getting up and I wonder if the storm they have been talking about all day might actually eventuate. 

Tomorrow we are heading to Armidale - thats about a 3 hour drive.  We have booked in to a camp ground that has a pool so might stay there for a couple of nights. 

Here is a map showing our travels - I have put a ring around where we were in Warwick and where we are heading Goulbern.  You can see where we travelled today from A to B