Berri - Home

 After a great night cooking our camp oven meal & a camp fire we all decided to have a cooked breakfast at a great Cafe on the riverfront in Berri - River Jack!    The river looked beautiful this morning as we left!

We all enjoyed a good cup of coffee & a cooked breakfast - was a nice way to end our holiday before heading home 🤩

The drive home was uneventful but the country looked beautiful & green with some wild flowers & blossom 😊.  

One last stop at a fruit & veg stand in Glossop to buy some fresh fruit & vegetables & said our final goodbyes 😊 

It has been a great 10 weeks holiday visiting many places but now nice to be home to see family & friends ❤️

Robinvale to Martin’s Bend Berri

 9am start today - river looked beautiful this morning & would have been great to stay another night.   

Lots of trucks today on the road & traffic!   Morning coffee stop in Buronga at a great little bakery - stocked up on fresh bread, rolls & a bun for our lunch & of course our 10 am coffee ☕️

A few more hours drive & we were approaching the Quarantine Station.   It is always hard to know what fruit & vegetables you can bring from state to state as they all differ.   

We had cut up tomatoes, avocados, fruit etc the night before going from NSW to Victoria which was fine but the rules change going from Vic To SA 😵‍💫. It is all very confusing 😱 just as we were thinking about going to a quarantine bin before the inspection point Jude rang to say pull over & get rid of our cut up avocado, tomatoes & we had already eaten our mandarins 🤣.  Lucky we did as Jude & Dean were questioned for quite some time about their old bananas & cut tomatoes 🍅😱

I’ll let her tell that story 😱

After worrying about our fruit & vege it wasn’t long before we arrived at Martins Bend, Berri, a nice camp on the river where we could have our last fire 🔥   Sat in the sun & enjoyed our bakery lunch & then headed over to the river to sit in the sun & have a champagne 🥂

Tony preferred to read the Advertiser on the edge of the river in peace 😊

Back to van to get our camp fire started & hot coals for our stew in the camp oven 🔥

Stew cooking on the coals

Boys checking the stew - smelt great 👍 

Tony had a roaring fire going tonight 🔥

We were kept warm by the fire & had a few wines reminiscing about our holiday waiting for our stew to cook.

The stew was pretty good - think we perfected it this time!   Heated our scones in the fire for dessert with jam & cream.  Jude & I washed them down with a Baileys!  Sat around the fire for awhile until time for bed.   

Weethalle to Robinvale

 After settling into bed last night thinking the rain had stopped we had the loudest clap of thunder I think I have ever heard break straight over our vans - think Jude & I nearly jumped out of bed.   My heart was beating fast for quite sometime thinking another clap of thunder would come but only had a few showers of rain ☔️ We woke to a nice sunny morning. 

On the road by 8 am heading for Robinvale - a lovely camp on the river.   The road was a bit like a roller coaster & lots of trucks seem to be out & about today!   A quick stop for coffee at Hay - Jude & Dean fuel & on our way.   Stopped at a roadside stop to chop fruit & vegetables before going through quarantine.

Set up camp at around 1.30 & had a lovely lunch on the river.   Jude & I made scones in the afternoon for dessert which turned out a treat.

Early fire 🔥 tonight as a little cool.   Had a wine sitting around the fire 🔥 

 Spare ribs & shaslicks for entree, sausage sizzle, scones jam & cream & Baileys around the fire 🔥   No wind tonight & the river calm.  We had a few ducks with their ducklings around us which were very cute 🦆🦆

Early to bed for our last camp at Berri 🤩

Merriwa to Weethalle Showgrounds

 Left Merriwa in fog this morning at 8am!   Unfortunately followed a large truck up & down hills in the fog - not that we could travel very fast anyway.

Deans van in between the truck & a car 😵‍💫

Looking out the kitchen window this morning to discover a lot of fog!

The roads today were not good - lots of potholes & bumpy roads which slowed us down.  Jude & I were constantly watching for potholes 😵‍💫 we drove through fog, sun, beautiful canola, rain, narrow roads in towns.

Beautiful canola on the side of the rain just as it was about to rain ☔️ 

Narrow roads through Gulgong 😱

Monument driving through Yeoval

Rain hit us in Parkes ☔️

Lunch stop in Forbes behind the Petrol Station as it was pouring with rain so sat in our own vans!   Pushed on as it wasn’t worth stopping while it was raining.   

Lots of rain & water still on the sides of the roads as we headed to Weethalle Showgrounds.

Finally arrived at Weethalle Showgrounds - had been lots of rain here & quite muddy so was hard to find a site we could comfortably park our vans together.   We did have power but when we hooked up there was only one socket we could use 😱

Our camp for the night 

Not sure about the mud 👎

Happy hour & dinner in our van - left over spaghetti bolognaise & curry delight 🤣

We did have a nice sunset tonight before the rain came again 🤩

Face timed Andy & Jenny - they are heading home tomorrow.   As I write this it is raining still ☔️ Hope tomorrow is a little brighter.   There has been a lot of rain around this area today but should be clearing tomorrow 🤩

Merriwa - camp at back of RSL Club

 Early start at 8am today as we have at least a four hour drive.   Coffee stop & on our way till we stopped at Jerry’s Plains for lunch. Great grassed area of the main drag!

Drove through some beautiful country today, lots of horses, canola, bridges & rivers!

T

After a rest we were on the road again till we came to Merriwa. Quick fuel stop & off to camp at the back of the RSL club.  Free camping as long as you went into the RSL for a drink or dinner.   Jude & I were happy with that!    Found our spot & had a coffee in the sun followed by 1 glass of wine before we headed over to the RSL club.

As it was cold when the sun down we went over to the club for happy hour!

Lots of locals, basketball players & footy players all enjoying the night - the meal was great & a quick walk back to the van for a coffee & early bed ready to leave at 8am in the morning.

 

Scott’s Head - Surfing & Packing Up

 Hair wash for trip home this morning, over to the butcher for meat & bakery after planning our meals the night before!

Boys went to beach for their last surf 😢 they have both thoroughly enjoyed Scott’s Head & seem to be getting better each day.   Quite a few out this morning as it is the weekend.

Boys are on the wave 🏄‍♀️

Waiting for a wave 🌊 

Panoramic view of the bay 🤩

Our last read in the sun for awhile after lunch & started packing up ready for our trip tomorrow.  The boards are now on the roof racks ready for the trip home & the wetsuit away until next time.

Happy hour around our gas heater & a nice chicken curry for dinner washed down with a few wines.  Early to bed tonight for our trip tomorrow 🤩