Judy & Brian Tour Oz

 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 could 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  them having a light show tonight out across the river we've decided to forego the pleasure this time. However, back along the road about 15km there is a little place...

Bowen Qld Sunday 21 August 2022 435km Longish trip today, but each year the Bruce gets a bit more done to it and the drive gets a bit easier. As mentioned on the way up, the section through Townsville is pretty awful despite being a new superhighway, basically top speed 80kmh, lots and lots of traffic, and it lasts for 40km. We had stopped for coffee at Ingham, where as luck would have it, a big long parking spot was available right outside Maccas. We took a break at Ayr and found a lovely park one street back from the highway. We had sandwiches and cold drinks for lunch and a bit of a rest before heading out on the last leg to Bowen. The wind had sprung up by now and was pushing me about a bit, which apart from making the drive a lot more demanding, it was using up fuel at an alarming rate. We were down to the 80km warning sign and 60km to go when out of the blue, in the middle of nowhere, a service station popped up. Naturally we pulled in and topped up. Surprise! Cheapest fuel ...

First I have to say that the state of the road, the dreaded Bruce, from Townsville to Airlie Beach, is much improved on previous years and made for a pleasant enough drive down the coast. We were a bit apprehensive about going to Airlie Beach, it having copped a belting from Cyclone Debbie at Easter this year. We shouldn't have worried, the debris has largely been cleared away, the most substantial damage having been done to the vegetation, and some of the older, non-cyclone proof buildings. The first surprise to us was that our caravan park, The Big4 Whitsunday Adventure at Cannonvale, just up the road from Airlie Beach, seemed a lot lighter and brighter than in previous years. They tell us that they carted away 300 trucks's worth of mulched vegetation. Having been here heaps of times, we haven't been doing much in particular, and once again have resisted temptation to spend vast amounts of money to visit Whitehaven Beach and other sites. Even though the pool is pa...