New camera

I made the dangerous mistake of visiting the Sony shop at Robina, just to see if they had the new A33 in stock. I've been hoping to upgrade to a dslr with my next camera and the reviews of this camera sounded very positive. After being shown the camera by Tim and liking how it felt I went off to do some other shopping, but not before Tim asked what it would take to sell me one today. I went off and had a think while shopping and ended up going back to the Sony store to see if they would match the prices advertised by Ted's camera store. They would so I ended up buying an A33 plus a Sony 18-250 lens for a reasonable price. I'm now waiting for the battery to charge so I can have play.

The battery seemed to take forever to charge up but its ready to go now. The first photo is shown below.

Executive Summary - Desert Trip 2010

Overall I travelled 8078 km in 23 days during this trip, with 6 of these days being just travel days getting to Coober Pedy and then getting home. The fuel economy (13.45 l/100km) wasn't nearly as good as I got on the trip to the Cape (11.25 l/100km) although the car has had a few modifications (suspension raised and more aggressive tyres) and I had more trouble with driving into strong winds and then problems with the MAP sensor. Our longest distance without fuel was Coober Pedy to Ilkurlka Roadhouse (817 km) along probably some of the roughest roads I've driven on for any distance. The fuel economy on this bit of the Anne Beadell highway was 14.9 km/100l meaning I didn't need to touch the spare jerry can of diesel I carried along. Ilkurlka was also the most expensive fuel of the trip, costing $2.49 per litre, meaning this was the most expensive fuel bill I've ever had at $295.

Photos from the trip are on my picasa website.

Highlights

- A couple of days where we basically didn't see any one else.

- The abandoned section of the old Gunbarrel Highway.

- The weather was dry but chilly overnight.

Lowlights

- no fish were caught (a hang over from the trip to the Cape)

- The MAP sensor on the Pajero stuffing up and stranding me in Alice for 6 Days.

Dramas

- Apart from my car problems, the only hassles we had were a few roof rack problems on the Cruisers.

Quote of the Trip (from Brett)

"The night was clear and bright, the damper was dark and stormy."

This was after a particularly good damper prepared by Leon using a can of Bundy Rum Dark & Stormy donated by Brett.

Participants

- Leon and Ryan in a Toyota Landcruiser, Petrol V8

- Brett also in a Toyota Landcruiser, Petrol V8

- Me in my NS SWB Pajero diesel

Day23 - Desert Trip 2010

Another early morning as I left Mitchell just after 7 am. As I got
close to Roma and finally got some Optus phone signal, I got an SMS
from Brett saying they were in Roma. So after getting into Roma and
refueling I contacted Brett and found they had just about packed up
(the wimps had spent the previous couple of nights in cabins) so we
caught up and had some brekky. They refueled and as we were leaving
Roma we had to stop for a Random Breath Test as they were testing all
the cars leaving Roma to the east. Then we had a nice easy drive,
until just east of Dalby we saw Ron heading west in his Jackaroo. Leon
called him up and we stopped for a 15 min chat. Then it was onto
Toowoomba where we stopped for a quick lunch at Maccas. Leon took us
through the back streets of Toowoomba in what was supposed to be a
short cut. Then it was an easy drive in towards Brisbane until the
Logan Motorway where I peeled off to head home to the Gold Coast
leaving Brett, Leon and Ryan to head home to Brissy. I refueled at
Mudgeeraba and got home about 4:30 pm. I took me an hour or two to
unpack the car, then a shower and a quick bite saw me going to bed
pretty early as I had to go to work the next morning.

Day 22 - Desert Trip 2010

Another early start, as I left Boulia at about 7:15 am. The road was
now single lane bitumen but with next to no traffic it was a very easy
drive. I saw a few more eagles and lizards along the way and stopped
off at Cawnpore lookout for a few pictures. I stopped at Winton for
morning tea and then continued on to Longreach where I refueled the
car and myself. The road was excellent for driving and I made time to
Augathella but I couldn't find anywhere suitable to stop for the night
so I continued on as it started to get darker. The kangaroos started
to come out as the sun went down, so I needed to slow down so I could
avoid them. I continued onto Mitchell where I arrived at around 7 pm
and I stayed at the caravan park. This was my biggest driving day with
1186 km. The Mitchell caravan park has great facilities with the
showers and toilets set up like ensuites and the hot water for the
showers was very relaxing. Luckily I arrived as the bush poet was
finishing his routine and set up my tent under a tree as it felt like
it would get pretty chilly overnight. The other problem with the caravan

Day 21 - Desert Trip 2010

Woke up early and was leaving Alice Springs by 7:30 am. I had an easy
drive on bitumen to Gemtree where I fueled up. About 30 kms from
Gemtree I hit gravel road but it was in pretty good nick. The scenery
around the Harts Range was very nice and there was lots of tracks off
the main road for people to go fossicking. Saw a few Wedge Tailed
Eagles beside the road but they wouldn't hang around long enough for a
good photo. There was also quite a few lizards sunning themselves on
the road, luckily I missed them all and one hung around long enough
for a photo. I stopped a the Queensland border for a photo and a bite
to eat and surprisingly the road actually seemed to get better in Qld.
I eventually got to Boulia where I refueled and set up camp for the
night at the local caravan park. All up the trip along the Plenty/
Donohue highways was uneventful with the road being in quite good
condition, with cruising speeds of 90-100 km/hr easily achieved.

Day 20 - Desert Trip 2010

Slept in a bit and then got everything packed up except the tent, in case I could get away in the arvo. It had rained a little bit overnight but only light showers. Went into town for the paper and lunch and then took a short drive to the north of town to try and charge the second battery a bit, as it had finally stopped powering the fridge after about 5 days. Came back to camp for a few hours before heading into the dealer at 3 ish. The sensor hadn't arrived so I walked into town for a coffee and a read of the current days newspaper.

 

Brett rang as they were just getting into Birdsville a day early. Apparently it had been an easy drive because all the rain in the simpson desert had firmed up the track and everything looked very green. Apparently, it had rained heavily the night before and Leon and Ryan found out their swags weren't all that waterproof. Brett was fine as he sets his up on a stretcher under his car awning. Finally got back to the dealers about 4:45 pm expecting the worst but the sensor had turned up and been installed and the guy was just about to ring me.

 

Too late to head off so I went back to camp to get everything organised for an early start the next morning. Put up the car awning over the tent just in case it rained again. Had pretty good lamb shanks at the local tavern for $10 and almost made it out before the country and western guy started but I had to politely sit through a John Denver song before I could leave. Read for awhile and planned the next days trip before going to bed early.

 

Day 19 - Desert Trip 2010

Slept in and had a leisurely brekky before heading into town to get the paper and have lunch. There's a good asian restaurant (thai, indian, malasian, etc) just outside the Woolies mall. Refuelled the car hoping that I could get away the next arvo after the dealer replaced the MAP sensor. The weather was warm not too windy and a bit cloudy.

 

 

Day 18 - Desert Trip 2010

Got up early and got the car to the dealer around 7:30 am. Went and had brekky at Maccas and then walked around town before starting to walk back to camp. Got a call from the dealer that the MAP sensor (manifold pressure) was buggered and a part would have to flown in from Adelaide and wouldn't get here until Thursday arvo. Walked back and got the car before spending another afternoon reading. Went to the Tavern attached to the caravan park and had a steak and chips for $10, a bit tough but for the price it was pretty good. Couldn't take too much of the Country and Western act at the bistro so came home and went to bed.

Day 17 - Desert Trip 2010

Yet another lazy day spent around camp. Helped a backpacker jump start their fairly sick sounding Triton Ute, so hopefully my Karma will be good and my car will be fixed tomorrow. I've got around 1100 km to get to Birdsville to catch up with the boys. This should be three easy days over some rough roads or two days of harder travel, depending on how long my car takes.

Day 16 Desert Trip 2010

Slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. Had a walk into Alice Springs for lunch and to pick up the paper. Took just under an hour each way. Came back to camp for a lazy afternoon.

Day 15 - Desert Trip 2010.

Slept in and had a leisdurely brekky. It was much warmer overnight, but the wind was pretty strong. Went for a slow drive into Alice and up to the Anzac lookout for a photo or two. Then onto the newsagents where I picked up the newspaper and quite a few magazines and a Sudoko book to last me the next few days of not doing much. When I got back to camp I decided to shift my tent to a better spot with a bit of shade. After lunch Brett, Leon and Ryan dropped in on their way to Chambers Pillar and we arranged that if possible I would meet them in Birdsville for the final leg back into civilisation.  Then I spent the afternoon reading.

Day 14 - Desert Trip 2010

Slept in a bit as the tow truck wasn't going to be there until about 11 am. Packed up slowly and brekky at the restaurant and then the boys headed off to explore for the next day or two. The truck arrived early and we had the car on it for the trip back to Alice Springs quickly. The driver was a nice bloke and it took about 4 hours to get back to Alice. He dropped me and the car at the dealers, unfortunately the roadside assist people hadn't called them and they would't even look at the car until Tuesday morning, so I booked it in and limped from the dealership to the camping ground at Heavitree Outback Lodge which I had stayed at previously. Setup camp, had a few bundys and went to bed early.

Day 13 - Desert Trip 2010

We were slow to pack up and leave Yulara as Leon had to go and pick his postal vote up and then do some shopping. Eventually we headed off at about 11 am and stopped at Mt Conner for some photos and a bite to eat. Then continued on a leisurely drive to KingsCanyon Resort, where we arrived about 3ish. We booked in and then setup camp. On the way back to the canyon for some photos one of the warning lights on my Pajero came on. After stopping and then restarting the car that light went off and the Engine warning light came on and the car went into limp mode (it could only do 80 km/hr). I went back to the resort and phoned Mitsubishi's roadside assist and they arranged for a tow truck to come the next day to take me to the Mitsubishi dealer in Alice Springs. Not Happy Jan.

Day 12 - Desert Trip 2010

Slept in a bit after hearing all the eager tourists leaving early to see Uluru at sunrise, it was much too chilly for that. Brett and I decided the have a chill out day and not do much at all. So I fuelled up the car then we went for a walk into the resort are. Leon and Ryan headed off to look at the rock. While at the resort we picked up our voting papers which had arrived and did a bit of shopping for some fruit and veg. After some lunch I spent the afternoon writing up these blog pages and making sure the car was ready for a bit more punishment. We'll go and watch the sunset over the rock and then have dinner and an early night. Tomorrow we head out for King's Canyon, so I won't have any internet for awhile.

Day 11 - Desert trip 2010

We got up early and packed up to go and see the weather ballon released from the Giles weather station. Then back to the roadhouse for a hot greasy brekky. We then headed off to se Surveyor Generals Corner (meeting point between  WA, SA and NT).Then road there was excellent and we stopped off at the local aboriginal community as required before heading of the the corner. We took some photos and then headed north to Docker River on a local road which was pretty slow going but the some scenery was absolutley stunning. After getting to Docker River about 5ish and not liking the look of it we decided to head towards Yulara and see if there was any good looking camping spots. After talking to some other peole it sounds like the best spot was about 5 km west of Docker RIver. We ended up driving into Yulara in the dark and getting there about 9ish. Between the dark, the dust and the gravel road and ever present threat of animals it was not a pleasant drive. It was a shock to see so many people at Yulara, in fact all the cabins and cheapish accommodation had been booked out. Thankful the camping area wasn't full, so we set up for the evening and I think I had the best sleep of the trip.

Day 10 - Desert Trip 2010

Had a leisurely pack up and left the camp site about 10 ish. We stopped a few times for photos lunch, the road wasn'tas good as yesterday but still it wasn't too bad. This was the section of the road we needed to get a Sat phone for and honestly it was some ofthe best road we had driven on. We got into Warakurna Roadhouse about 4'ish where we fuelled up and would stay the night. Then as it was very windy we went for a drive to the Giles weather station to have a look. We came back and setup camp with the cars forming a wind break and then went to sit in the protected camp kitchen while we cooked and ate dinner. It was then an early night because it was cold and windy.

Day 9 - Desert Trip 2010

Had to wait until 9 am WA time to refuel at Warburton and then we headed off to the old abandoned section of the GunBarrel Highway. We made very good time as the road was in great condition and we saw more camels along the way. We had lunch at Mippultjarra Junction and then stopped at the Van der Linden Lakes for some photos. We also stopped and looked at some of Len Beadell's plaques from when he had constructed the road 50-60 years ago. We found a great camp site under some desert Oaks so we setup camp early and Leon cooked one the best tasting Dampers I've ever had. (self raising flour, salt and for liquid some Bundy rum, dark and stormy).

Day 8 - Desert Trip 2010

Had brekky and packed up pretty early to head north along the Connie Sue Highway. The road was not too bad but still had some rough patches. We stoppedforfor photos at a few places along the way, including Point Sandercock, Cooper Hills Bore, HannsTabletop Hill (for lunch) and Harkness Gorge. We didn't see any really good campping sites and the lure of a hot shower and flushing toilet lured us into Warburton. We stayed at the road house which had a locked camp ground.

Day 7 - Desert trip 2010

Another cold night, so we left about 10ish. The road was much better once we crossed the WA border and it made drivingmuch more pleasurable. We came across 14 Citroen C2V's that were going back the way we had come, they were in for a very rough trip. We refuelled at Ilkurlka Roadhouse just over 800 kms after leaving Coober Pedy. I used 120 l of diesel for an economy of 14.9 l/100 km, not too bad considering the roughness of the track. The two V8's economy was a bit higher at around 21 l/100 km. Diesel was $2.48 a litre. We had a late lunch and headed onto Neale's Junction on a well graded dirt road. Saw a bit of wildlife including a couple of Kangaroos, a dingo and our first camel. The camp fire for the evening was pretty spectacular.

Day 6 - Desert Trip 2010

Slept in a bit as it was still pretty cold. Packed up camp and the boys took a bit of time to add some fuel from their jerry cans, so we left a bit late. Stopped at Volkes Hill corner for a bit of lunch and a look. The track is still pretty bad, especially with some black/red gravel which formed the worst corrugations. A one stage A strap on Leon's roof rack snapped butitwas fixed easily. That evening we stopped at a camp site overlooking the Serpentine Lakes just on the WA border in time for a beautiful sunset. If we had known we would have stopped about 10 km later at a more shelteredcamping site that actually had a toilet.

Day 5 - Desert Trip 2010

It had got very cold overnight with the left over dish water freezing overnight. We packed up and got ready to go when Brett found the cause of the thumping noise he had heard the day before - his roof rack bolts were coming undone. This required major surgery to remove the roof rack and tigthen up the bolts. We ended up leaving late and found more horrible corrugations. We stopped to look at the Atomic Bomb test sites and then continued onto to the ruins at Emu for a late lunch. The corrugations were not quite as bad but the bush closed in on the road making it very tight and twisty, I almost lost my UHF antenna a couple of times on bushes that got too close. We stopped for the evening at Annie's Corner and setup camp, luckily the wind died off a bit but it was still pretty cool.

Day 4 - Desert Trip 2010

We slept in a bit in the underground camping site, then packed up and had brekky at the local servo. Brett and I had a look at the Coober Pedy Lookout before returning to the servo for a final fuel up. I included an extra 20 l jerry can of diesel just in case my fuel calculations didn't work out. We left about lunch time and headed to the start of the Anne Beadell highway where we dropped the tyre pressures a bit. The road started out not too bad but the corrugations gtot pretty bad all too soon. We ended up at Tallaringa Well for our first bush camp.

Day 3 - desert trip 2010

We slept in a bit at Port Augusta and after packing up we left the cara park just after 9 am. We did a bit of shopping at the local Woolies and refueld and left around 10ish. The drive to Coober Pedy was pretty flat and easy, fuel economy was much better today as we were generally heading north not west. We stopped off at few places to take photos and have a stretch. Got into town about 3ish in the arvo and after a quick drive down the main street we found the tourist info place. We checked into an underground camping place for the night, which was a couple of km out of town. Then it was back into town for a walk up and down the main street and dinner at the local pizza place. Then back to the camp site for a mine tour and then we went to bed early. The snoring was really resonating through the underground chambers, but it was much warmer than sleeping above ground.

Day 2 - Desert Trip 2010

We decided to change our trip to the great bakeries of Australia, as the sausage rolls from the Cobar bakery were sensational. It was another long days drive, 1050 km made worse by the fact we were driving into a pretty strong wind. Everyones fuel economy was bad but the V8 petrol Cruisers suffered more than my diesel pajero. We made it to Port Augusta for the evening and will head off to Coober Pedy in the morning.

Day 1 finished up at Nyngan

I left the coast at 5 am and met up with brett and leon in Aratula at 7 am. It was wet for most of the morning but cleared up after lunch. The photo is from Narabri where we found a very bakery. We've set up camp in a shed at the caravan park in Nyngan as the ground is pretty wet. We've had dinner at the RSL and we're hoping to watch the rugby soon. I ended up doing just over 1000 kms today and we'll have to do the same tomorrow.

Desert Trip Part 2

As well as generating a GPS route of my upcoming desert trip I'm also testing out a way to keep a daily diary that can then be emailed to my blog when I get into a town with Optus network connectivity. I'll try and write up what happens each day using Outlook Express on my Netbook and choose to send later. Hopefully, then when I get to an Optus area I can then just Send All and they will get emailed out in the order they were written. Otherwise I'll need to save each one as a draft and then send them myself in order, but that would be a bit tedious.I took the .gpx file I generated using Basecamp and converted it into a .kml file suitable for Google Earth and used that to generate this image showing our upcoming trek.

Desert Trip Test 1, html encoding

I spent a bit of time yesterday generating a gps route for my upcoming desert trip in August. I used Basecamp on my mac to plan the route using a combination of two different maps, firstly for the bitumen roads I used Garmin City Navigator and then for the more obscure roads I used shonky maps. Some of tracks can be seen in paper maps (Hema's Great Desert Tracks) but don't show up in the digital maps I had available, so I had to improvise a bit at times. In this post I have attached an image of the final result as displayed in Basecamp.

Ironman awning

I had an awning fitted to the pajero through the week to provide a bit of shade while camping. I went for a bit of a drive to find somewhere a bit isolated so I could try and set it up without embarassing myself too much. All went pretty well, although it is a bit bulky, it would be much easier with two people. After a few weeks of setting it up on my upcoming desert trip, I should have the hang of it. Taking it down and packing it up is much easier than I thought.

Woodgate camp site.

Arrived just before dark last night at the Burrum heads national park - Woodgate section. Here is photo of the camp site and the south from the beach to Harvey Bay. From the beach, about 100 m walk from camp, I get full optus 3G reception, so I've been able to post this to my blog. Who said national parks were in out of the way places. Going to explore the national park today, before heading off to see the oldies tomorrow.

Change of plan.

Carnarvon gorge was great but I'm now going to head to Woodgate and stay at the national park there for a few days. I'm having lunch in Moura, which is the first place I've had optus 3g connection since Roma.

Canvas Print

I just picked up a canvas print, I had ordered through big W's photo
section and it doesn't look too bad. The image is a mosaic, in the
shape of Austrlia, I had made from photos taken during my around Oz
trip in 2005. It turned out quite a bit bigger than I had expected as
I thought their size of 40 by 30 was in cm but it seems to have been
inches. When I ordered it there was a half price special so I am very
happy as it was just less than $100.

Tsunami alert

After the big earthquake in Chili, it was predicted that we may see a small tsunami here on the gold coast a bit after 8am. After brekky I walked down to the beach for a quick look, there was a SES guy there warning people not to go onto the beach so I stuck to the path above the beach and went and got the paper. I sat by the beach and read the paper for awhile before dropping in to chat with Helen at the local cafe. On the walk back home there still doesn't look like anything has happened. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Home

Home at last and its pretty hot. The car is unpacked but it will have to wait to get washed and cleaned.

Indian head camp site

I've got the whole camp site to myself (except for the kangaroos and they are pretty quiet). There was a very pleasant walk around the headlands after I setup camp and I have just refreshed my memory on the delights of the cold outdoor shower. Just the corrugated iron walls, the cement slab floor and the sky and clouds for the ceiling. It was warm enough that the cold water was refreshing and not too chilly.

Crowdy head lighthouse

I'm just about to head into crowdy bay nat park to set up camp. The weather is fine and warm but quite windy, so its not really swimming weather. I'll probably head home tomorrow and be there sometime in the afternoon.

Blue mountains

Once again a slow phone connection so I won't post a photo. Had a look around the blue mtns today and the scenery was pretty nice. It was very busy as the weather was great and a lot of people were out bushwalking. Heading to crowdy bay nat park tomorrow and then maybe home on tues or wed.

The big sheep

I've just got to Goulburn to fuel up and probably stay the night. They have this wonderfully tasteful big sheep just on the outskirts of town. Tomorrow I'll head to Katoomba and have a quick look at the blue mountains.

Lawnmower

I was going to bring this guy home to look after the grass in my backyard, but I didn't think he'd take too kindly to 1300 odd kms in the back of the Pajero. I'm heading north and on the way home. I going to go through Cooma and to the west of Sydney before heading back to the coast above Newcastle. I'll probably take about 4 to 5 days for the trip back.

Fish and chips for lunch

I've just had some nice fish and chips for lunch (battered, they don't seem to do breadcrumbs down this way). I'm in Eden but i'll go a bit further south to Ben Boyd nat park for the night and then decide where to go tomorrow. There are heaps of bell birds around every time I go for a walk in a park there is an almost continuous ringing from them.

Merimbula

Have spent the day driving slowly down the coast to Merimbula, stopping and looking at the nat parks on the way (Mimosa Rocks and Bournda). Tomorrow I'll shift camp to Eden and have alook around there for a few days.

Q. Why did the echidna cross the road ?

A. To get to the other side and have a bloody good scratch.

I saw this little fellow on a road in the Eurobodalla National Park near Moruya Heads. He was in no hurry to get out of the way and didn't seem all that worried about being photographed.

Narooma

Had a good nights sleep at Pebbly Beach and slept in a bit. Slowly moving south and I've just had lunch at Narooma. I'm aiming for Bermagui where I'll stay for a few days and explore the area. Have seen a lot damage from the recent rain down here, mainly where trees have washed down creeks and damaged bridges.

Pebbley Beach

I've set up for the evening at Pebbley Beach. It's not quite how I remembered it from my last visit (about 30 years ago) but it is sheltered from the wind. It was very windy last night and I thought the tent was going to blow away, even though I had it pegged down and tied to the car. The weather is clearing up but Bega has been hit by flooding so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get around too much.

Drying out

Today started out overcast but cleared up nicely. Although i think there may be some rain forecast. Spent the morning driving around Morton nat park, this arvo i will have a look at the beaches around Jervis bay nat park. Tomorrow heading south to a place called pebbly beach.

Wet Currarong

My wireless connection seems a little slow so i won't post a photo. Should have stayed in Kiama where the rain had almost stopped but i tried for Culburra Beach and it has been pouring down. The cara park was flooded so i had to go to plan B.
The people at the park rang ahead to Currarong (about 20 mins away) and they had spots on a hill that wouldn't flood. So that's where i am, the tent is up and dry inside but i'm a tad wet. I've found the fish and chip shop and that's where i'll have dinner later. The rain is supposed to clear up tomorrow if it does there looks like nice walks in the Jervis Bay nat park that i can check out.

The famous Kiama Blow hole in the wet and not blowing.

Well I made it through Sydney pretty easily thanks to google maps pointing me to M2 and M7 motorways. My qld e-tag beeped in all the right spots so hopefully I don't end up with a fine when i get back.
It started raining as I got onto the Hume highway and got worse the closer i got to wollongong. The weather radar suggests it should clear by about 3pm. So i'm heading onto Nowra to find a camp site and hopefully i won't have to put the tent up in the rain. There's no ocean swell here at Kiama so the blow hole is not blowing.

Munmorah SCA

Went for a drive to munmorah state conservation area for the day. The photo is of Frazers beach and there were heaps of people surfing and swimming. I tried to camp here but it was all booked out. Tomorrow I'm off to try and navigate through Sydney to get down around Wollongong for sunday night

Just started raining

Well my good luck couldn't last for the whole holiday. It has started bucketing it down and the ducks outside my tent are loving it. The weather radar for the Newcastle area suggests it shouldn't last too long. At least i'm nice and dry in my tent, unlike the neighbours who are still trying to set up their fly.

Swansea for a few days

Arrived at Swansea about lunch time and setup camp in a nice shady spot at the c'van park. It's bloody hot (about 35 C) and there is supposed to be a big storm tonight.
I'll look around Swansea this arvo and then do a day trip to Munmorah nat. park tomorrow. Then on sunday i'll navigate across sydney(hopefully my gateway tag works on the toll roads here) to somewhere near Wollongong, where i'll stay another few days.

Sandon river

Camped at sandon river in the yuraygir nat park. The view was great. Left early just before the rain came in. Morning tea and shopping in coffs harbour. Heading to somewhere around port stephens for the evening.

Port stephens area

In port stephens area at the moment staying at Anna Bay. The weather has been perfect with lovely sunny days, but the wind comes up in the afternoon and you need to find shelter. This area is a mix of nat. Parks, old fibro beach shacks and million dollar mansions on the beach. I suspect in holiday times it would be almost impossible to go anywhere as there would be so many people. Its also not particularly cheap to stay here.

South east nsw coast expedition

The car is packed and ready to go, so i'm setting off at about 9 am. Probably just a shortish drive to Yuragir nat park.

Bye Jeff.