Towards the Grampians National Park

While photographing the Rupanyup silo, a man also taking photos mentioned an enjoyable side trip to the small rural town of Murtoa.

It involved a 15 km detour from our planned route, but we are glad we made it.

The Murtoa 'Stick Shed' is a nationally heritage-listed icon. We arrived just after 10 am and joined a tour with over a dozen other visitors.

The 'Stick Shed' was built as a grain store in 1941, designed to meet grain storage needs during the World War II wheat glut when exports were restricted.

The shed is constructed from 560 unmilled poles, or 'sticks' (56 rows of 10), which support the corrugated iron roof and have a concrete floor.

The shed measures 270 metres long, 60 metres wide, and 20 metres high.

 

From here, we took a minor road towards Stawell before heading south-west towards Pomonal. We spent the next two evenings camping at the Old Man Emu, 7 km from Halls Gap.

On our first day, we travelled to Mackenzie Falls in the Grampians National Park and then descended to the base of the falls to take some photos. My phone app measured the climb back to the car park as the equivalent of ascending 23 storeys.  

From here, we headed to Reed Lookout and the Balconies.

It was just a short drive to Boroka Lookout, offering views down the valley towards Halls Gap and Lake Bellfield in the distance.

A well-earned lunch at one of the local cafés after our morning's exercise...

The following morning began early as we drove to the car park before starting the Pinnacles walk. The round-trip distance is 5.5 km, with an elevation change of 280 metres, and the track is graded as medium to hard. It took us a solid hour to reach the summit, including stops for rest and photos.

Although it took us forty minutes to get back to the car park, we thought the descent was harder on our legs. The phone app measured the climb to the Pinnacles as the equivalent of climbing 70 floors, and it certainly felt like that to us. 

Tracking Australian Silo Art - Victoria

Last September, we spent the evening camping at Thallon in Queensland to photograph the town's beautifully painted silos.

In 2015, the first silo ever painted in Australia was in the small town of Brim, located in the Wimmera-Mallee region of western Victoria.
 
Building on the success of this project, five other silos in the same region have since been painted, creating the first silo art trail that covers 200 kilometres and connects the neighbouring towns of Lascelles, Patchewollock, Brim, and Rupanyup. Additionally, two silos are situated at Rosebery and Sheep Hills.
 
Plans are now underway for further art trails, which will transform these large, dull silos into impressive works of art.
 
Many smaller towns have now experienced the economic benefits of having silos painted. Instead of merely passing through, visitors now spend time viewing them, which boosts local sales of accommodation, food, and fuel.
 
GrainCorp, which owns most of the silos, has made more available for painting across regional Australia. Very few of these silos now store grain; instead, the grain is stored on the ground, covered with large blue tarpaulins.
 
Before starting the silo art trail, we headed south from Cobar to camp just outside Balranald. We spent the night in Yanga National Park, beside the Murrumbidgee River. 

From here, we crossed into Victoria at Tooleybuc, then passed through Ouyen and took a minor road to Patchewollock. It's the most northern painted silo. From this point, we will continue heading south over the next two days, photographing each silo.

 

A local sheep and wheat farmer, Noodle Hulland, from the district, is depicted on this silo. Painted by Fintan Magee, a Brisbane-based street artist, this silo was completed in October 2016.

With the next silo in Lascelles, just 59 km away, we decided to go there and spend the evening. When we arrived, the local RV stop wasn't very welcoming since it was located on the highway, so we took our photos and moved on. Painted by Melbourne street artist Rone, these silos feature the faces of local couple Geoff and Merrilyn Horman. They were painted in June 2017.

A potential campsite on Wiki Camps looked inviting. It was located on the banks of Lake Lascelles at Hopetoun. It costs a gold coin donation to stay here and is quite popular.

Knowing that the silos at Rosebery and Brim faced west, we left just before lunch so we wouldn't be looking into the sun while taking our photos.

The Rosebery silo was painted by artist Kaff-eine. She helped Rone, who painted the Lascelles silo. This silo was finished in October 2017.

The Brim silos were the first to be completed in 2015 by Guido van Helten. This encouraged other artists to paint the remaining five silos that make up this trail.

We were truly impressed by the silos at Sheep Hills. Painted by Adnate, a street artist renowned for his work with Aboriginal communities. The detail and colour were absolutely stunning, especially as we took the photos just after sunrise during the golden hour. 

The silos here are situated away from the main highway, with only a few houses nearby and an old pub that has since closed its doors. This mural was completed in December 2016.

We finished the Silo Trail in Rupanyup. The silo was painted by Russian artist Julia Volchkova and completed in April 2017. She primarily specialises in portraits.

North-West New South Wales

At Armidale, we joined the New England Highway as we headed south towards Tamworth.

 

Leaving Tamworth, we joined the Oxley Highway as we steered west. Our campsite tonight is just off the highway, 12 km east of Gunnedah. It's known as the Redbank camping area and is beside the Namoi River. It's quite a large area with flushing toilets. 

We backed in as far as we could to try and reduce the amount of truck noise during the evening, but Ros, unlike me, is a light sleeper, so she was awake on and off during the night. Once we had both had several hot coffees and breakfast, we left just after 08:30. Passing through Gunnedah just ten minutes later, we were now on our way to Coonabarabran. There are currently severe water restrictions here, with showers limited to two minutes and no watering of gardens, so you can imagine how everything looks.

 

We wanted to photograph the water tower in the small town of Gulargambone, with the most direct route taking us through Warrumbungle National Park. The load limit on the bridge just beyond the national park boundary is far lower than our vehicle's weight, so we took a detour via Gilgandra to get our photo.

We prefer to take minor roads rather than highways, so we travelled cross-country for the next 86 km until we reached Warren.  Here, we joined the Mitchell Highway at Nevertire before reaching Nyngan.
 
It was very sad to witness the impact of the drought on the countryside we have been passing through. The irrigation channels around Warren were dry, and where crops usually grew in the fields, there is now nothing. The strong winds we have been experiencing over the past two days are blowing away what little topsoil remains. 
 
It was still quite early, so we headed north towards Bourke. We found a spot to camp 44 km further north, in the small town of Girilambone. It's listed on Wikicamps, and a gold coin donation is requested for stopping at the local CWA park. They have one flushing toilet and shower.

Even though we didn't use these facilities, we were more than happy to leave $5.00 at the pub to help with maintenance. Over a few beers, the publican told us that the town was nearly out of water. Unfortunately, the town's bore water contains far too much salinity, and the council will now arrange to install tanks at each house and have water trucked in. Of course, there will be a daily usage limit.
 
The camping area, as you can imagine, after many years of drought, has the occasional patch of dead grass. The whole area was covered in prickles, so thongs just weren't suitable.

In the morning, we shared the area with some kangaroos. I'm not sure how they are surviving.

We encountered a B Double on a minor road, and I was forced to move over and hit a large hole on the side of the road. Our chine bar on the near side of our van has cracked.

We had planned to continue to Bourke and complete the upper part of the Darling River Run as far as Wilcannia. However, after seeing the impact of the drought and needing to have our chin bar welded, we turned back to Nyngan and continued west towards Cobar. We are now sheltering in the caravan park with the outside temperature currently at 40 degrees and still rising. Our van's air conditioning is now down to 28 degrees and dropping.

The Waterfall Way

I understand we need rain, but whenever we go away for more than a week, we usually have to leave in the rain and connect somewhere along the way.

This particular trip was no exception.

The "Waterfall Way" runs from just south of Coffs Harbour through Bellingen, Dorrigo, Ebor, and on to Armidale.

It's 30 km to Bellingen from our home in Sawtell. After leaving the Pacific Highway, it's a lovely drive westward, passing many rural properties before reaching Bellingen. Throughout the journey, the Great Dividing Range creates a scenic backdrop as we pass through Thora before beginning the climb up the range towards Dorrigo.

As we headed towards the range after passing Bellingen, we saw the mountains shrouded in mist, a sight that persisted for the next 100 km until just short of the small settlement of Ebor.

The road becomes steep and winding, but this only lasts for about 15 to 20 minutes, until we arrive at the northern tablelands, just east of Dorrigo.

It's usually a very scenic drive, passing through national parks, rainforests, beautiful valleys, lush green rolling hills, and, of course, numerous waterfalls, but today the thick mist completely obscured all these sights. Visibility dropped to under 100 metres, and so did our speed.

One of the most spectacular and easily accessible falls is just outside Ebor.

Here, the Guy Fawkes River plunges 100 metres over two waterfalls. There are viewing platforms offering wonderful views of the falls and the deep gorge carved by the river over the years. 

Yuraygir National Park - Illaroo Campground -

This will be our first trip away in our van for 2019.

 

Over the past three months, the weather has been less than ideal, with very strong northerly winds blowing from early morning and sometimes lasting all day and even into the night.

But now it looks like the weather gods are smiling on us, with the forecast for our week away predicting gentle to moderate winds.

 

The Illaroo campground in Yuraygir National Park lies just 116 km north of our home in Sawtell.

 

It is the largest coastal park in New South Wales, covering 65 km and stretching south from Angourie in the north to just north of Red Rock in the south.

Travel times have been significantly cut due to the ongoing upgrade of the Pacific Highway to a dual carriageway, which is currently underway from Woolgoolga to Ballina.

From the highway turnoff, it is 38 km to the campground. Although this road is paved, it can be quite rough in places, with many twists and turns and limited overtaking opportunities for other vehicles.

The campsite is right on the beach and offers amenities such as eco-toilets, drinking water, picnic tables, and BBQS. There are north and south campgrounds with approximately sixty sites in total, with the northern site being larger.

The camping fees are higher compared to those of national parks in other states. The rate is $12.00 per adult per night. If you don't have a park pass, an extra $8.00 per night is charged for entry.

Owning an annual parks pass like ours means the $8.00 daily entry fee is waived.

We only camp here during the week because we find it too crowded on weekends and school holidays.

By road, the small settlement of Minnie Water is 3 km south of the campground and features a caravan park, along with a lovely takeaway that also offers coffee, alcohol, and fuel. There's a 1 km path leading from the camping area to Minnie Water. The small village of Wooli, located 15 km south, provides additional facilities, including a general store, a bowling club, a hotel and motel, and several outlets that sell coffee, lunch, and takeaways.

All major facilities are just 45 km away in Grafton.

Crowdy Bay National Park

We have just returned home after five days away, camping at one of our favourite spots.
With the nearing completion of the dual carriageway on the Pacific Highway south of Coffs Harbour, our travel times have now significantly shortened. Our stress levels have also decreased since we no longer need to drive on poor-quality, poorly maintained roads.

Crowdy Bay National Park is situated roughly 44 km south of Port Macquarie and has been a favourite of ours since our first visit in 2006.

Leaving the highway at Kew, it’s just 7 km until you pass through Laureiton, before turning south towards the national park boundary. To reach Diamond Head, where fees are payable, involves 10 km of well-maintained dirt road with only minor corrugations.

There are numerous campgrounds here, but we favour Kylies Beach campground. It has fewer facilities than some others, offering just a drop toilet, cold shower, and non-potable water.

It's named after Australian author Kylie Tennant, who lived in Laureiton, and whose writing retreat hut still exists not far from the campground.

 

It's a lovely campground, free from those dreaded bollards, and features large, open grassy areas for camping. 

Being just 200 metres back from the beach, it offers much-needed protection in case the weather turns nasty.

Each afternoon, the kangaroos come out to feed, and if you're lucky, you might see the resident koalas in the gum trees that surround the campsite.

All available services are situated just 13 km north at the town of Laureiton.
 
We only camp here on weekdays because we find it too busy on weekends, especially during school holidays or over the Easter period.