Mannum SA 1st August 2026

 Mannum SA 1st August 2026

Took a scenic route from Renmark down through Swan Reach and even used the vehicular ferry at Walkers Flat. Really nice little car collection at Swan Reach. No swans though, they have flown the coup, about 200 years ago.

Swan Reach SA. August 2026

Swan Reach SA. August 2026

Mannum was a surprise, it’s obviously a weekender destination from Adelaide and is teeming with people and kids.

Also as a surprise, was that the van refused to power up when plugged in. Here we go again. Turns out that the 240 vac inlet socket has disintegrated which means that as you push the plug in, it pushed the pins straight back into the housing. Fortunately a Bunnings is only 24km away at Murray Bridge so we have at lease secured a potential replacement. 

OMG but its cold here overnight!

Anyhow, right after a late breakfast, I jumped in and fixed the damned socket. This is the second time I've had to do this due to a rubbish design on the part of Clipsal. Anyhow the new one is an exact replacement fit and they seem to have modified the design somewhat to overcome this problem.

Went to a nothing market and no more to be said about that.

Went into the Info centre which has a museum out the back. You pay a few dollars and they send you through the back. I've done a heaps of these things and it helps pass the time of day, BUT this one was terrific!  Its all about paddle-wheel steamships of course and is really really well done. You even get to ‘steer’ up the Murray in a virtual paddle-wheel steamer.

You even get to wander around the decks of the PW Marion, which dates from 1897.

Fiddled around with the TV antenna all afternoon and achieved zip, except it now can never work until it shut back in properly. Well at least I now have a new cable from the mast head down to the van. No idea now how to get it into the van. Problem for another day

Went up then for a drink and a nibble at the local Bar and Bistro. Sat in front of a faux fire and sipped wine, until hoarded of kiddies arrived for dinner and we thought it better to go back to the van. 

Tomorrow we go on our river cruise. Let’s see how that pans out.

Renmark SA 1st August 2026

 Renmark SA 1st August 2026

Crossed the line and into South Australia. But first, the quarantine, where they come and poke through every nook and cranny looking for fresh fruit and vegetables. Some question about potatoes but it seems washed potatoes are OK, just not allowed to take anything with dirt across the border. 

We were heading for the Riverbend Caravan Park, not to be confused with the Riverside CP, which happens to be right next door. Getting into and out of the Riverbend is not for the faint-hearted, you have to turn hard right at the immediate end of the dodgiest bridge in Australia. It appears to have been a railway bridge which has had a road lane stuck on either side of it. The railway has of corse long disappeared, so you are left with this bridge that is empty in the middle. Drama is when you come out of the van park and turn want to turn right to go into Renmark, some several kilometres away to the west. Now this is a very busy highway, so you pull up from the lower level of the park and wait at the edge of the east bound roadway. You have good vision to the west but its anyones guess what is coming across the bridge from the east. Luckily they have a small slip lane to turn into, but it's hairy enough in a car, let alone with 7 meters of van hanging out the back.

Anyhow the park was great, just a few folk in, no pretences but not rough. Just our style.

Bridge over the Murray. Renmark August 2026

I managed a Parkrun at Renmark, which involves a 5k stroll along the river's edge. Would be pleasant if one wasn't killing oneself trying to stay around the 46 minute mark.

Murray rive, PW Industry. Renmark, SA August 2026

We drove the 15k south to Berri to go to Bunnings, where I bought the signal strength metre for the TV aerial I should have bought in West Wyaling or Woop woop or wherever I was when I had it in my hands recently.  Anyhow, great idea was able to tune the TV aerial and get a great picture straight up; looks like FWAW viewing on Sunday will be OK.

Midura Vic 30th July 2026

 Midura Vic 30th July 2026

The only reason we are in Mildura is to have the degustation dinner at Stefano's two-hatted restaurant. Our last visit was 15 years ago! We ended up in I what I personally thought was a horrible van park, some way out of town. The clever people have put in these round ensuite buildings, so six vans can back up to them and form the spokes of a big circle. Only trouble is that the place just isn't big enough for the vans and the result is that they are all squashed in and living each other's pockets. We were 'lucky' in that we had a normal powered site but as the van wouldn't fit backed in we ended up parked longways. 

Anyway back to Stefano's. You hype yourself up to expect a brilliant meal by a first class chef using only the very best of fresh available local products. To be frank, I thought it was a bit plain really. The first and dessert courses were really nice, but the second, which was pasta (orrechi - ears) and broccoli was not particularly nice , the third totally forgettable and the main, well the main was roast chicken. I could have had that at the local RSL....  I elected to have a raft of wines chosen by the sommelier and one of them, a Cabernet Sauvignon was brilliant, the others not so much. To cap it off you would like a coffee of course, but you just have to understand that they don't do cappuccino, long black, macchiato or affogato. Perhaps it was beneath their standards, perhaps it was too much trouble... Great way to make a dollar though, few drips of brown sludge in a tiny cup and call it espresso. Or maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough for them.

Stafano's Roast Chicken. Ok so it had a fancy sauce and raw vegetables.
Still, not to the standard I was expecting. Stefano's Mildura Vic July 2026

Coffee? Stefano's Mildura Vic July 2026

Swan Hill Vic, 29th July 2026

 Swan Hill Vic, 29th July 2026

Parked up at the Big 4 Riverside caravan park, Backed in right up to the edge of the river. The wind is fairly howling across the park and it freezing cold. Judy thought she might sit out in the sunshine and read a book, but apart from being too windy and too cold, 10,000 ducks came demanding a feed. We are staying two days, and I feel definitely like I cold do with the break after 4 days on the run. 

There is something odd about this place and it turns out we have been here before, in 2015 and parked in almost exactly the same spot! The ducks almost exactly the same as well!

Here's a view out of my back window, now that I've cleaned it....

Murray River. Swan Hill Vic July 2026

We are right next to the Heritage Village which we've been to at least 3 times and despite e them having align show tonight out across the river we've decided to forego the pleasure this time.

However, back alongtheu road about 15km there is a little place called Lake Boga, a 3.5 x 3 km wide body of water approximately 4 metres deep. Major Mitchell, didn't know when he marched up to it in 1836 that it would be perfect for landing flying boats on. The RAAF and QANTAS did however, and a Flying Boat repair centre was established there for the duration of WWII. It's billed as the Home of the Catalina, and quite rightly as they have one inside, but the base serviced all comers. if you could land it on water, it came here to be fixed.

Home of the Catalina. Lake Boga Vic July 2026

Home of the Catalina. Lake Boga Vic July 2026

Jerilderie NSW 27 July 2026

 Jerilderie NSW 27 July 2026

Passed through Deniliquin and then Narrandera on our way to Jerilderie. Stopped at Narrandera for a coffee and took the opportunity to have a look at the Tiger Moth aeroplane. They are commemoration their involvement in WWII as they were one of the flying schools set up to train thousands of pilots and navigators for service overseas.

Tiger Moth. Narrandera NSW July 2026

Jerilderie is a tiny town with a nice enough caravan park. Drove to petrol station. Drove back. Fixed TV aerial, well temporarily anyway. Went to a really nice restaurant for dinner at the Colony Inn Hotel. The restaurant is attached to the hotels, but quite separate except for a single door. 

Nothing much else. There is however, an army Leopard tank parked in the main street....

Leopard Tank. Jerilderie NSW July 2026

 West Wyalong NSW 26 July 2026

West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Journeyed south from Gilgandra, stopping at Peak Hill to have a look through the old shop on the corner that happens to have the town’s collection of historic records. Apart from a hand made collection of notes and names and photos, they have this awesome set of Town Rates Ledgers from 1911. Absolutely fascinating to read down the columns looking at the names. You are struck straight away by the names that appear to own most of the district. You cant help but wonder what happened to those mini-empires. I am reliably informed that my great-grandmother lived in the Peak Hill area, unfortunately we don't have the time to sit and read through the whole collection.

Passed by / through Dubbo, which looks like its finally getting a Newel Highway bypass. Then on and on towards Parkes, which surprisingly, does have a brand new bypass complete with Golden Arches. Just a bit short on signage to tell you its there, or how to get in and park a caravan.

Finally arrived in West Wyalong, which neither of us can remember having been through before. Its claim to fame was gold mining, “largest amount extracted in the colony”, pretty impressive at 400,000 ounces. The odd thing is, that unlike Bendigo, Ballarat and Bathurst, there are no grand pubic building, not even government ones. The town you drive through seems almost like it is in its original state form many days gone by. You half expect a horse and carriage to come clip-clopping along Main St! 

Replica true Blue mine poppet head.
West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Couldn’t help going into the Paragon for some lunch. What old NSW town doesn't have a Paragon café? PS: Café is high-brow speak for milk-bar.

Paragon Café, West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Down in the park they have a DC3 up on stands. You don't realise how small these work-horses of Australian Aviation were. This one was originally flown by the RAF in 1943 and then the RAN before being decommissioned and sold in 1977.

Douglas DC3. West Wyalong NSW July 2026

Gilgandra NSW 25 July 2026

 Gilgandra NSW 15 July 2026

Fairly easy run down from Moree. Stopped at Coonabarabran for a sandwich in the park.

Made it into the van park early enough, went into town to the one (1) open shop that sold coffee, a ‘greasy spoon’, but decked out in a car motif so not all bad. Grabbed some food at the only other shop open, the IGA, and headed back to the van via the Info centre and the cemetery. Pleased to report all the Mortimers are still in their allotted places.

The van battery indicates that it’s charged but with the temperature sensor plugged in it wont run the load and seems to go awry with it plugged in. I suspect that the ‘new’ battery is kaput, thanks in no small way to my mistreatment of it. Turned the battery charger back into Power Supply mode and we’ll just leave it like that. Right back where we started at Day 1.

Moree NSW 24 July 2026

Moree NSW 24 July 2026

Left Stanthorpe and headed to Moree.

Took a backroad, a ‘C’ road at best. Tedious, bumpy, rough, slow. 80-85 was about it. Stopped at Texas to settle down for a half hour. Coffee and scone. 

Texas. Queensland. July 2026

Back out onto the road and picked up the Bruxner Highway. Who are they kidding? Heaps better than the last goat track, but not fantastic. Turned left and headed to Warialda, another ‘C’ road and worse than the last. It was a toss-up what would break first, me or the van. Finally we arrived at Warialda and we just had to stop again. Found a little park and had a sandwich by the side of the van. From Warialda we picked up the Newell Highway and had an easy run across into Moree.

Now, we have stayed at Moree once before and I swore i’d never come back, but here we are. Fortunately we are in a different park, The G’day park just out of town on the Newell Highway and it's reasonably pleasant. They have a little hot spring so we had a soak. Lovely.

Moree obviously still has a crime problem. The gates are locked at 6pm and there are signs every where to make sure everything is locked at all times.

At least I can now plainly see why the TV doesn’t pick up any channel: the lead-in cable from the aerial is completely severed half way up the mast. Another job for another day.

And yes, the battery is still not solved. It  started to stink of hydrogen during the evening, and now the "Bulk" light is on which is not a good sign and it probably should have the thermal warning lead plugged back in. Turned the whole lot off and hoped the battery would last the night, which it did. 

Braved the zero degrees outside and took part in the Moree Parkrun at 7am. Madness i'm sure.

Moree Parkrun, 7AM. Moree NSW July 2026

Stanthorpe Qld 23 July 2026

Stanthorpe Qld 23 July 2026

Left Tewantin at 845 as planned, traffic was relatively calm down the Mighty Bruce, over the Gateway bridge ($6.57), down onto the Logan Motorway ($4.10) and out and around Ipswich, then Warwick, over the mountains via The Gap and lots of road work, to Stanthorpe. Big deserted van park. We were allocated the “best spot in the park” mostly because it was one of two Ensuite sites and at the top of the hill.
TV is laying up, wont find channels. FWAW finale is coming up soon and I'm under the gun to get it fixed. Basically we had a relaxed day doing not much. Spend a heap of cash! Bought new running shoes and a new headlamp for the car.

Took the TV to the recreation room and plugged it into the TV aerial there. It works fine. Junk aerial I bought from junk shop doesn’t appear to work at all, so a waste of $10 as far as a diagnostic tool was concerned.

it certainly wasn't a waste having coffee and later, lunch, at the   Groove 'n' Grill Diner, downtown, as they say. 

Groove 'n Grill Diner. Stanthorpe Qld July 2026

Groove 'n Grill Diner. Stanthorpe Qld July 2026

Groove 'n Grill Diner. Stanthorpe Qld July 2026 n

Sitting here tonight minding our own business and bam, lights out. In a nutshell the 240V 16A circuit breaker had tripped because we had floor heater on, oven on and then JB turned the kettle on. Anyhow all settled down after a bit of fiddling. But I had to relook at the battery situation again. Nutshell: the battery is overheating and the thermal cutout is cutting out, which means the charger is not charging and then the battery is going flat and the under voltage sensor senses and cuts the load from the battery, hence no lights. The only thing  I could see is that the battery type switch was set halfway between ‘wet’ and ‘agm’ which means the battery may have not been charging properly. On and on it goes….

Spent an hour in  the Museum next to the van park. Extensive collection of locally donated articles, some with attached local history. Actually very well done. Here's a snap.

Museum. Stanthorpe Qld July 2026

Museum. Stanthorpe Qld July 2026

Cold morning light. Checked the battery again. Is  now showing float instead of absorption so thats a good sign. Still sounds like its boiling though. Checked the cells, its old school, and naturally they are all empty. Topped them all up and we’ll see what another night of charging does. And I disconnected hat sensor thing, it seems to be causing the under voltage to trip straight away. On and on…

Tewantin, Qld 15-21 July 2026

 Tewantin, Qld 15-21 July 2026

Oh my, that drive for 2hours 45 minutes from Tweed to Tewantin. Just full on. Motorbikes seemed intent on committing kamikaze under or front wheels, one truck literally fell apart in front of us… A van and car on their sides in a ditch… Glad to be here. Exhausted. Stressed. Why do we do it?

Already been down to Perigean Beach, Coolum, Maroochydore or Mooloolaba or wherever.  Windy, rainy, unpleasant.

Perigian Beach Qld

Car made a particularly weird noise when we pulled out pf the carpark. Not a grinding noise, sounded like cardboard box dragging or something. Odd. Stopped and looked all around. The noise started again as we left but not heard it since. Assume it was something stuck under the car / in the engine? Who knows. Does make you wonder just what you would do if….

Doesn’t bear thinking about.

Saturday. Up early and down to Coolum for a 7am start at Parkrun. Reasonably pleasant trail run around some duck ponds near the industrial area. Quick breakfast and then off to Eumundi for the market. Last few time I have dropped Judy off and then gone to find a car-park. She went on her way and then I spend an hour trying to park, including the pay parking areas, which are all full. They only open up when someone leaves, but just like a spot in the street, you have to be the car on the spot, or around you go again. Finally jagged a spot in the pay parking, $9.14 worth and had just backed in when Judy calls me to say she’s finished. Rats. Went and drank coffee at Berkelouw’s book shop and cafe in the main street to make it seem worthwhile. Returned to Tewantin and went straight to the marina and more or less straight onto a ferry, direct to Noosa itself. The Noosa Concours d’elegance was in full swing. Some really great cars apart from the exotica one always expects to see at these things.

Judy throwing herself into the madding crowd. Bugatti on the right. Noosa Qld July 2026

Next-gen concours judges going through their paces, looking for faults with the F40. Noosa Qld July 2026

They have this program called Next-Gen Judges, where they take young car enthusiasts and train them in the art of judging cars on their merit, not by their drool-value.

Our pick of the bunch. A 1936 Cadillac.  Noosa Qld July 2026

We lasted a couple of hours and jumped a ferry back to Tewantin Marina where it seemed only right that we should have some lunch, given that it was after three o’clock!

The weather is not great. Windy and cloudy. The wind started to alarm us so we put the awing away.

The awning. Did I mention that the remote lock for the release is broken. Didn’t worry me much as I can just as easily operate the lever by hand. Except now the blind roller isn’t under any tension. Either the spring is broke or the end cap has come away and let the spring go. We have a ‘little man’ coming to the van park tomorrow to deal with it.

Tweed Heads NSW, July 7 - 14 2026

 Tweed Heads NSW, July 7 - 14 2026

Moved up from Yamba to Tweed Heads, to the council owned and run park in Dry Dock Road. Probably in our Top 3. 

We forsook the mighty M1 for the more sedate and certainly for us, nostalgic A1, aka Pacifc Highway. Just a pleasant dawdle the 160 of kilometres, mostly because we had to be out of Yamba at 10 and couldn't get into Tweed before 2! Anyhow, stopped at Mooball for lunch. Who wouldn't want to stop at a place called Mooball? Mooball was a bright spot on a one-time tedious journey. It's a tiny place, a fleabite actually, but in its day everything was cow-themed. Telegraph poles, garbage bins, street signs the few buildings. After it was bypassed it could have easily died but by a stroke of luck, the government chose to turn the abandoned railway line that runs right beside it, into a Bike Trail. The clever folk of Mooball turned themselves into Bike hire, Bike picnic, Bike outfitters etc etc. The place is alive and doing well it would seem. We made our contribution by having such at the pub. 

Mooball NSW July 2026

The weather has been 'iffy' at best, so first day in, just drove to the obligatory lookout at Point Danger. We have had quite number of lunches and coffees in a quaint little place right opposite the tower itself, which defines the border between NSW and Qld, and points out NEWS for those that might be in doubt as to which way is which. Much to our surprised "our" DBar was gone and a dirty great big tall edifice stood in its place.

Now you see it....2019....

....and now you don't! 2026

Went out to dinner with Reg at the White Ivory Pub, on the water just over the bridge. Great night.

I went and did a Parkrun at Kingscliff, which is actually a bit further south at a place called 'Salt'. Went back to Kingscliff for breakfast at Choux Box cafe. Really nice. Being a bit bored and seing as we were out and about early, we went driving, as we do. 

First stop was a drive-by of a tiny little town called TumbleGum, right on the Tweed river and it is a delight. We meant to go back there for lunch. If they had a van park we would stay there as well.

Drove up through Murwillumbah and out through to Uki, where we hadn't been for years. Yuk. The Nimbin mob have moved in and turned it into a row of new age alternative rubbish shops. Oh well, might as well go and see the real deal as we are out tat way. Now I don't like Nimbin, never have. It just looks dirty and disheveled and deadheads all over the place. In the space of a walk of two short blocks we were offered 'weed' three times and 'fresh eggs' by a scruffy man that jumped out from behind a large advertising sign. 

Only one thing brightened the scruffy looking place up, and that is this mural of a whale:

SAVE THE WHALE!!! .... Collect the whole set. 
Nimben NSW July 2026

Took a drive up to Mt Tambourine to the little village street that was lined on both side by cafes and art and craft shops. We couldn't find it! Turns out it's now called "Gallery Street", as I suppose some sort of allusion to it being all art galleries. It is anything but and Id sum up by saying we will never bother going back. We tried to find a cafe for lunch and eventually had to settle for Le Chille Cafe, Chilean themed of course. Service was really bad but lunch when it came was first-rate.

Back at the ranch, it seemed the right time for Judy to go and have a fish at a little place down along the Terranora River. here are the snaps:

 

I amused myself by taking sunset photos:

Terranora River. Tweed Heads NSW July 2026

Terranora River. Tweed Heads NSW July 2026