Wet wanderings ...

It was still wet when we woke and started thinking about breakfast. Our first choice was cereal but that was packed in the trailer, whereas bread and eggs were in the cabin so we opted for boiled eggs on toast instead!

There wasn't much to pack up and we were back on the road a bit after 10:00am.  As we looked at all the huge sheets of water along the way, we were very pleased we'd slept in a cabin!

The distance from St George to home is 470km - and it rained heavily most of the way.  We saw many soggy emus and roos but not much else, although we did make a quick detour to Thallon for a glimpse of their painted silos.

It was raining and cold at Thallon.  Bandit was not at all impressed to be called out for a compulsory walk!

We rolled into Goondiwindi for a late lunch, opting for some very good takeaway.  Given all the rain, we ate in the car but crossed into NSW to do so - just for fun!

The trip home was uneventful - lots of water, some wildlife and a few loo stops.

We stretched our legs at Milmerran (during a break in the rain), gave Mr Dog a walk - and admired the lovely bottle trees.

There was another stop at Toowoomba, to buy lunch items cos Vaughan would go back to school in the morning.  Elmer the Gold also had a morning appoint-ment, to be fitted with improved suspension - which would make him taller and more like his predecessor!

St George stop-over

We delayed our original departure date so as to attend the Grand Final spit roast night. It was a lot of fun - even though we aren't football fans!

No one likes packing up and there had been a lot of rain overnight, which made conditions very soggy/more difficult.

Nick tarped the bed before folding up the camper trailer and we did our best with various other gear.

Suitcases rode on the roof-racks, contained within gear bags.  I didn't give a lot of thought to extra water-proofing and a library book arrived home sodden.  We replaced the book and will research upgrades to our roof-rack bags. 

Eventually we were ready to roll out.  I remembered to take a quick photo of Vaughan near Eulo, for the now/then archives.  (In 2010 his head was barely higher than the flood marker)!

We stopped for late lunch at Cunnamulla around 3:30pm.  It rained heavily the rest of the day.

We planned to free camp on the way home but the thought of setting up our wet gear in the rain didn't appeal - and it seemed Erin in her swag might float away during the night!

Given the long weekend and our desire for a pet-friendly cabin, I wasn't sure how successful we'd be.

We reached St George at 7:30pm.  Erin made some calls while we re-fueled at the 24-hour pump.

We just about cheered when we found a Bandit-friendly cabin at a tourist park around the corner!

It was great to be out of the car - and out of the rain. We were hugely relieved not to be camping in the amazingly wet conditions!

The cabin tariff was $100.00 and felt like the best $100.00 we've ever spent!

(Yowah to St George = 450km or almost half-way home).

Bore-ed at Thargomindah!

Visiting the Hydro Power Plant at Thargomindah had been on our wish list for a long time. We lucked out in 2010 due to summer closure (and maintenance).

Our next visit in March 2014 was also unsuccessful - and though we hoped to return before May of that year (when the bore was capped), we didn't manage to make the drive.

We finally saw the Hydro Power Plant this trip - not quite seven years since our first attempted visit!  Good thing we're patient, eh?!

Was it worth the wait?  Vaughan wasn't impressed.  In fact, he seemed ... bored?!  

In fairness it was quite hot and we were all pleased to be travelling back to Yowah in Elmer's air-conditioning.

Yowah-ing!

Those St George nets and buckets proved a great investment!

Fun was had dip-netting the Yowah bore drain for the "bullshit-fast" fish that lived in the water.  Vaughan took us all "fishing" and he discovered a turtle also.

What else did we get up to?  There was rock-stacking on the Bluff, lizard catching and identification, some fossicking, a bit of strolling around town - and generally lots of mooching about, watching the cows and emus go by.

It had been more than three years since our last visit, so we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with friends and checking a few favourite places.

We camped in a friend's backyard but were able to use an inside kitchen and bathroom also, which we definitely appreciated.

The school had closed since Vaughan attended in 2014 but the craft ladies still met on Tuesdays.

Erin and I joined them for a pleasant morning of chatting and crafting.  I sold another owl brooch while there, which would have covered my small attendance fee if I hadn't also bought some leather labels for my stash! Even so, I was only $1.00 behind at the end of the day!

While we were crafting, the boys went yabbying.  They had fun catching (and releasing) a few.

Nick checked on "his" diggings in the fossicking area and tried his luck again along Blackgate Road.  No joy this trip but that's OK.

I was pleased to see the bower still standing in the fossicking area, though we didn't see the bower bird.

We spotted other birds during our stay though and ticked a few more off our Yowah bird list.

We dined on the Bluff a couple of nights - once using the wood BBQ for a sausage sizzle, eating at the picnic table provided.

Another time we took our camping chairs and table to set up closer to the plateau edge. Our thermal-cooked curry and rice was very well received!

Vaughan caught geckoes in the twilight after dinner and we spotted for spiders on the way home also.

Simple stuff.  It was wonderful to kick back, enjoying life at a much slower pace.

Quick Squiz at St George!

We re-fueled at St George, bought a few groceries - as well as a few pair of thongs, two buckets and several scoop nets. Gotta be prepared for critter catching!

Vaughan was keen to have a break by the river when we headed out of town and it was good to stretch our legs for a bit.  Bandit enjoyed a dip in the shallows but had mostly dried before getting back into the car.

We saw many young emu chicks on the way to Cunnamulla, which caused great excitement! We often see adult birds out west but it was novel to see the stripey offspring. It was mid afternoon by the time we rolled into Cunnamulla.

Many emus were gathered on the oval in town, taking advantage of the green grass there. Although we wanted to BBQ near them, the closest BBQs weren't connected so we chose a table further away.

As it happened, the BBQs there weren't working either and we needed to use our dual fuel stove to cook our burgers.

We'd re-fueled on the way into town, so bought a few more groceries on the way out - and then got back on the road to Yowah.

Bungunyah, we're good!

Nick applied for September (school holiday) leave much earlier in the year but his application was rejected, so we had decided to do day-trips from home. When his roster was received though, it showed him as being on leave for the first week of the holidays even though there had been no other approval advice.

The roster for the second school holiday week arrived a bit later and we cheered to see Nick's line again marked as annual leave. Given several medical appointments, we semi-planned for departure at the end of the first week but were still unsure of our destination.

As departure day loomed closer we hadn't achieved much packing, cos we still hadn't chosen where to go. 

On Wednesday afternoon, with map on the table, Nick and I discussed a few ideas. Neither of us were overly keen - until Nick suggested Yowah!  It was a lot further away than our original vague "plan" but we were much more excited about going!

Packing commenced in earnest but even with our best efforts, we didn't hit the road till around 2:00pm the next day - pretty much 24 hours after deciding to go. Bandit packed himself into the car at 10:00am, so was very pleased when we finally left the driveway!

We ate a very late lunch en route and rolled in Bungunyah Rest Area at around 9:00pm. Nick set up a table for our new-to-us three-burner dual fuel stove (purchased earlier in the week), so I could chef an easy dinner.

There had been bacon and cream in the fridge at home, so I bought mushrooms at Toowoomba and then pasta at Goondiwindi (cos I'd forgotten it at the previous stop).  I'd chopped the bacon and an onion before leaving, which streamlined cooking on site.  I'd also sliced strawberries to macerate with sugar as we traveled.    Our late dinner was much appreciated as were our decadent strawberries and ice-cream.  It's a hard life, eh?!

There was no real menu plan this trip.  We packed one Engel as a freezer, stocked with meat from home.  It was stashed in the back of Elmer.  Cold items were packed into two eskies, which travelled in the camper trailer storage box. 

Erin was excited to use her new swag (and a silk sleeping bag liner) for the first time - real camping rather than bedroom floor trial!  She slept very well as did Nick and I with our revised bedding of 4WD mats and latex foam overlay.   The innerspring mattress from the van fit into the trailer but wasn't as comfortable as we hoped.  The lower profile of mats/overlay meant we could stack Erin and Vaughan's mats on our bed during transit for easier set-up on arrival.

We were up early, breakfasted and back on the road by 8:30am.  A great first night/morning effort!  Hooray for us!

Kettle bag ...

Now that Nick has installed the rear drawers, we can re-stock them with various essentials.

Our kettle, small dual-fuel stove and beverage case were some of the first items packed.

Although we used a billy on the little stove initially, we decided a kettle was safer.  Not long after we started carrying the stove inside a billy - and packed the kettle in an old pillowcase.

The other day I cut some pieces of pool noodle to hold the stove inside the billy, so it doesn't rattle in transit (see bottom pic).

That success and my silk sleeping bag project prompted me to think of replacing the old pillowcase (which I had considered a temporary fix).

I stayed up far too late last night, looking for ideas.  I thought a bit more this morning, before heading downstairs to raid the infamous stash.  (The stash has provided fabric and notions for a number of camping projects in the past).

Erin will turn 25 this year.  It was during my pregnancy with her that I attended sewing classes at TAFE.  My sewing teacher helped me make one maternity dress and I cut out another, using a different pattern.

The second dress was never completed and some of that fabric became the lining for today's bag.  (I wanted a darker print because it will be blackened by the kettle).  The outer material was a remnant purchased from an op-shop far more recently.

I followed the drawstring bag method on this tutorial, after deciding on fabric dimensions using calculations from here.  I didn't make a fabric casing but rather used a length of wide twill tape.  The drawstrings are ANZAC ribbon that I also used for my chair bag. I'm very impressed with the end result. It's definitely far more flash than the old pillowcase!