Greendale around Australia

Sunday 17th April 2011:

Today is the start of our retirement travels. We are heading west with no real plan and no timeframe, our only stipulation is to Have Fun!

We left home and travelled to the little country town of Kilkivan. We pulled into the Kilkivan Bush Camp on Rossmore Road and spent a couple of nights there, just taking it easy and doing a few short day trips.

Monday 18th April 2011:

Went for a bike ride this morning and a drive up to the Mount Clara Chimney. This chimney is the remains of a disused copper mine that was in use in 1872-1875 and the only reason it stopped was that it was too far to carry the timber to keep the furnace burning.

Tuesday 19th April 2011:

Left Kilkivan and stayed at a family farm near Nanango for the night.

Wednesday 20th April 2011:

Left the family farm and stopped in Nanango for a look around before heading for the "Timber Town" of Yarraman. We stayed at Yarraman for a week and spent most days going somewhere in the district and discovering some of the local history. There is so much to see and do in the Yarraman district.

Wednesday 27th April 2011:

Today we headed for Peachtrees Camping ground in the Jimna State Forest but when we arrived at Peachtrees there was a 4ton load limit on the bridge at the entrance which was less than the weight of our car and van. We walked in, had some lunch and then returned to Kilcoy for a couple of nights where we camped in the showgrounds.

Monday 2nd May 2011:

We packed up and headed from Kilcoy down to Lake Sommerset. We stayed at the lake for 3 nights and it was very enjoyable as most of the weekend crowds had left.

Thursday 5th May 2011:

Today we traveled from Lake Sommerset to the Jondaryan Woolshed via Toowoomba. Jondaryan Woolshed is a working museum situated at Jondaryan, half way between Oakey and Dalby on the Darling Downs. We spent 5 nights here and did quite a few day trips using Jondaryan as our base camp. One day was spent in Oakey visiting the Army Airwing Museum. This museum is well worth a visit. Another day was spent looking through the Jondaryan Woolshed displays. We also went down to Cecil Plains and into Dalby. The rest of our time camped at Jondaryan was spent relaxing.

Tuesday 10th May 2011:

We packed up this morning and drove west to Dalby and then south to Lake Broadwater. Lake Broadwater is a conservation park and is on the banks of the largest natural lake in the Darling Downs. We stayed 2 nights in this great camping spot. There is no power but very good amenities and heaps of grassed areas and covered tables with wood Bar B Qs. We went for walks, bike rides and bird watching as there is thousands of Corella's in the camp area and surrounds. All in all a very relaxing place to spend some time.

Thursday 12th May 2011:

Spent a night in Dalby to restock the van and catch up with washing. Went for a walk along the river walkway.

Friday 13th May 2011:

Travelled to Chinchilla Weir for the night. This is a free camp with power (donation at the tourist info centre)

Saturday 14th May 2011:

Travelled to Miles today and camped about 20klms out of Miles at Possum Park. Possum Park is an ex RAAF ammunitions store depot with all the original bunkers still there with some converted to accomodation and others converted to rooms such as a games room, library and TV room. It is a little oasis with very friendly staff. We stayed here for 2 nights. Miles has an excellent historical village that is well worth a visit.

Monday 16th May 2011:

Made our way to Roma today where we booked into the Top Tourist Park opposite The Big Rig Oil & Gas Museum. We went for a walk into town and then along the river walkway. Tonight we went to the night show at The Big Rig. We stayed in Roma for 2 nights and while we were at Roma we went to the Roma Cattle sale, the biggest in Australia.

Wednesday 18th May 2011:

Made our way from Roma to Mitchell today and set up camp at the Neil Turner Weir just on the outskirts of town. We camped here for 3 nights. While in Mitchell we went for a drive to visit local historical sites.

Saturday 21st May 2011:

Today we back tracked a bit and traveled from Mitchell to Surat. We camped at the free camp beside the Balone River for 2 nights. Walked up to the town and along the river walkway, we also went to the Cobb & Co. Museum before leaving for St. George.

Monday 23rd May 2011:

We packed up in the rain today and left Surat and headed for St.George. The road to St.George had had a lot of maintenance done to it and therefore both the car and van were a nice shade of red by the time we reached St.George. We stayed at the Pelican Rest Caravan Park on the outskirts of town. The park is very roomy with excellent amenities and great hosts. We stayed at St.George for 3 nights. During our stay we went to the local winery, an Emu egg display and several nice town walks.

Thursday 26th May 2011:

We left St.George and traveled a grand total of 49Klms before reaching our next stop. Tonights stop was at the free camp at the Nindigully Pub. This pub has the long running licence for serving alcohol, it was issued in 1856 and is still in use. The historic pub was originally used by Cobb & Co. as a changing station where the horses were changed and the travelers were given time to refresh before continuing on their travels. The Nindigully Pub lies on the banks of the Moonie River.

Friday 27th May 2011:

We left the Nindigully Pub and continued to head east to Goondiwindi where we stayed for the night.

Saturday 28th May 2011:

After going for a walk around Goondiwindi we left and traveled to the border town of Texas on the Dumaresq River. We camped for 3 nights in the free camp on the river banks just outside of town. While at Texas we played golf and enjoyed the hospitality of a very friendly country town. We also went for several drives around the area visiting the Lookout and Silver Spur. We found Texas to be a very neat and tidy town with very friendly people.

Tuesday 31st May 2011:

We left Texas this morning and made our way to the NSW town of Tenterfield. We stayed at the show grounds in Tenterfield for 4 nights and during our stay we discovered the some of the surrounding area and some of the local attractions. We drove to the Bushranger Thunderbolt's Hideout and then on to the World War 2 Tank Traps. These tank traps were put in place to stop the advancing Japanese tanks if they ever got this far. These tank traps formed part of the defensive line known as "The Brisbane Line". Continuing on we went to the Boonoo Boonoo Falls in the Boonoo Boonoo National Park and then to the Bald Rock National Park where we walked and climbed Bald Rock. Back in Tenterfield we visited the famous Tenterfield Saddlery and the static historical train display at the old Tenterfield Train Station.

Saturday 4th June 2011:

After a very cold and frosty start to the day we packed up and left Tenterfield and traveled up and over The Great Dividing Range until we arrived at Casino where we made our base at The Casino RV Village. The Casino RV Village is a park that has a residential section where a cottage can be purchased and used as a base while you travel. The park also has all the amenities required for the over 50's traveler. While in Casino we took several day trips around the surrounding areas including Kyogle, Nimbin, Lismore & Evans Head, Ballina and Lennox Head on the coast. We played and enjoyed a round of golf at the very challenging Casino 18 hole course.

Wednesday 15th June 2011:

We have now spent a week and a half at Casino and the last couple of days we were confined to the van due to some pretty ordinary weather in the whole of the north east of NSW. Once the weather cleared we headed for the coast and found a nice caravan park at Brunswick Heads where we set up for a week. During the week at Brunswick Heads we went for walks and push bike rides along the beach and played golf at Mullumbimby, we also went for some day trips up the coast to Pottsville and Hastings Point. We had a very enjoyable time at the coast and Brunswick Heads is a good spot to relax.

Tuesday 21st June 2011:

Today we bid the coast farewell and headed north to home where we will regroup, restock the van and decide where to go next.

About to leave home. 17-04-2011