Heading East to Jugiong

We've decided to head home and skip our six- to seven-month trip to WA. The main reasons are fuel availability and the constant rise in diesel prices.

After leaving Clare, we ventured cross-country along minor roads, passing through the small towns of Auburn, Saddleworth, Marrabel, and Eudunda. Then we drove through Morgan before heading south to join the Sturt Highway, where we spent two nights camped at Loxton in an RV Park. It's free to camp here, and the grass is the most beautiful, lush green. 

Last night, we camped at Lake Benanee, 16 km east of Euston. If you're here early enough, around midday, you can park near the fence line, where you can enjoy a lovely view of the lake from your van. There's a lower area closer to the lake, but it's quite sandy. The toilets have hand-washing facilities and paper towels. Nine vans were there last night. Site info mentions a donation box, but we couldn't find it—until a man showed up at 7:30 that evening to clean the toilets. I asked about the donation box, and he pointed out where it had been cut from the wall with an angle grinder. If you're a light sleeper, I suggest you sleep elsewhere.

Tuesday, 24 March, finds us camping again at the free camp at Sandy Point Reserve on the outskirts of Hay. We were here 15 days ago, and in that time the diesel price has risen by 89 cents a litre. Back then, there were over fifty vans camped for the night, but tonight, because of the fuel crisis, there are no more than twenty. 

Today, 25 March, we continued further east along the Sturt Highway. The road condition remained about the same as it has over the past few days, with the bitumen cracked and broken up, especially on the shoulders, due to increased truck traffic. I wonder where all the fuel tax the government collects actually goes, as it's certainly not spent on fixing the roads.

We bypassed the turnoff to Darlington Point before reaching Narrendra. The first three service stations we came across were out of diesel, but we found a Liberty outlet in town with some diesel. 

From here, we headed north for 20 km before turning off the Newell Highway and camping behind the Royal Hotel in Grong Grong. Dinner at the hotel was a shared bucket of onion rings, and Ros enjoyed her BLT, while my steak sandwich with the lot was huge. The chef told me I wasn't allowed to use a knife and fork. Yeah right!

Next morning, we continued along the Canola Way through Ganmain and Coolamon, then headed south-east towards Wagga Wagga. Here, we were unable to get fuel without blocking main roads, as each garage I visited already had vans lined up, waiting for their turn to fill up. 

So, we headed for the Hume Highway and filled up at a truck stop in Gundagai for $3.16 cpl before heading further north to camp at Jugiong for three days. A donation is appreciated, and there's potable water, a dump point, and toilets for those who need them. 

On the afternoon of our arrival in Jugiong, the forecast rain set in and was quite heavy on and off throughout the day. 

Friday morning, 27 March, we woke to a very cold 8 degrees, so we turned on the diesel heater. Now, at 10 am, the outside temperature hasn't risen much and remains at 8.5 degrees, while our inside temperature is 16 degrees.

The Long Track Pantry is well worth a visit with wines, condiments, and lovely coffee and cakes. They also make frozen meals, and we can recommend them; on our last visit, we bought their butter chicken, which was fantastic. 

The Sir George Hotel also serves amazing meals. Today, we enjoyed lunch at the Sir George in Jugiong despite the chilly 10-degree weather and showers. No photos of our capricciosa pizza and Lerida Estate Lake George pinot noir, as we were in a rush to warm ourselves up.

If the inside temperature drops at all, the diesel heater will be switched on again. We have another overcast day with more rain expected, but for lunch, we'll head over to the Sir George Hotel to lift our spirits on this gloomy day. We enjoyed lunch at the Sir George in Jugiong despite the chilly 10-degree weather and showers. No photos of our capricciosa pizza and Lerida Estate Lake George pinot noir, as we were in a rush to warm ourselves up.

The diesel heater was turned on for much of the remainder of the day as the inside vans' temperature kept dropping.