12 hours at Bathurst

Leading you all astray with the header - we spent 4 days at Mt Panorama - watching the motor racing, visiting the museum, checking out the various marques in the pits and socialising with the Winnebago crowd.

It was our first trip away with the Winnebago club and we definitely had a good time. The camping spot was fabulous - on Hell corner at the end of the main straight with a great view of the pits and the track. The company was a good mix of experienced motor home travellers and new recruits, all kept (mostly) in control by the lovely Alannah from Winnebago. The organising was flexible enough to let us do our own thing most days and with a corporate box for the big race Sunday, we had the best seats in the house.

Saturday was great fun at the top of the mountain with some of the FV crowd, watching some very close racing across Skyline and down the hill.

Verdict? A definite change from our usual escapes to uncrowded national parks, but good company, good racing and a nice change to have power to run the air conditioning, it was too hot for comfort the first couple of days and the air con gave us a cool place to recover between races.

Even managed to find something alive to photograph :-) there were lots of these little mantises on the railings.

walking the Warrumbungles

Time to get away again - so we headed inland to the Warrumbungles NP near Coonabarabran. It's in an old shield volcano and has fabulous rock formations such as the breadknife and split rock - and famously clear night skies - the Siding Springs observatory is nearby.

No stargazing when we arrived at the campsite - it bucketed down rain while we set up the awning and found some wine and cheese, but after the storm we were treated to a bright pink sunset and a visit from some of the local kangaroos.

Saturday morning was misty but soon cleared to a spectacular day for walking - everything sparkled in the sun and plenty of recent rains have meant that there's masses of wildflowers on display. We walked the Gould's circuit track instead of the steeper Grand Tops track, but still had a fabulous 360 degree view from the top of Macha Tor.

Disturbed a small lace monitor near the summit, he climbed a tree and checked us out from a safe height - then saw his 'big brother' at the end of the track - who wasn't worried about us at all and wandered off at his own pace.

Also found a spectacular little spider orchid on a steep bank beside the track, definitely made the trek to the top worthwhile.

After lunch we decided on an easy walk up Burbie Canyon. There's plenty of water in the often dry creek bed - sighting a sacred kingfisher in the trees above the water was special, though there are plenty of birds to find - wrens, honeyeaters, silvereyes, tree creepers, currawongs, magpies, kookaburras, mynas and the very loud and cute rufous whistler.

It rained overnight and the ground was already very soft, so we needed some help from a friendly 4WD owner to get the Fiat out of the mud in the morning... the rain wasn't clearing, so we started on the drive home, hoping for some short walks on the way.

White Gum lookout had a sealed track, easy walking in the rain and a surprisingly clear view across the landscape at the end. Came home via Coolah and Merriwa, still wet but a good weekend anyway. Didn't count on next door's dog taking a liking to - and taking one of my Italian leather hiking boots as they were drying in the shed - hope that he's dropped it nearby and not chewed it to pieces...

Sunday July 11 - birds, whales and fire on the water

Up early at Diamond Head for another walk along the beach to watch the sunrise - rewarded by a spectacular fiery display reflected in the shallows as the waves receded. A visual feast and suitable compensation for such an early start. Out at the split rock sun warmed the colours of the east facing cliffs while the west was dark and cold, an interesting contrast.

Heading back to camp we found a newly constructed trail through the coastal heathlands and followed it until it ended at a part-built whale watching platform. I was surprised at the variety of wildflowers scattered amongst the grasses even though it is midwinter. A young magpie watched us carefully as we walked past the paperbark where he was perched and there was the usual cacophony of birdsong as we strolled back for breakfast. Returning to the campsite we came across wallabies chewing on the grass and scratching and stretching - much like their human counterparts who were also starting to get ready for another day.

After donating a few more $ to National Parks, we continued on, stopping at Kylie's beach for a look and then to Crowdy Bay lighthouse. As we drove along the bush tracks we seemed to be herding flocks of friar birds and lorikeets, there were dozens flying beside and in front of us for kilometres.

Crowdy Bay lighthouse crouches at the top of the headland, a squat, rounded shape rather different to the usual tall structures built to house shipping's guiding lights. A surprise sighting of whales blowing and breaching as they travelled up the coast kept us entertained for a while, until the pressure of time sent us on our way south again.

Back on highway 1 the scenery wasn't quite as interesting until we turned inland through the rural paddocks and marsh areas where I could spend time spotting waterbirds. Then the New England highway and the familiar roads back home. Gave the Fiat a quick scrub up and changed the sheets for the handover to the youngsters later this week. It's off to Tassie for the travelling holiday house and we get the 4WD and a tent if we are heading off into the bush again anytime soon.

Saturday July 10 - sunrise, sunset...

Couldn't resist an early morning walk to the point for sunrise - and it was worth the effort. The birds were waking and the banksias were full of early morning noises. We watched the dolphins play in the surf for a while and spotted an early morning fisherman as he risked a cold bath to scramble down the steep rocks to his favourite spot.

Breakfast with a view of the beach - not a bad start to the weekend. The campsite is full of surfers and anglers, most of them look as though they have been coming here since the 70s and we were hoping that we hadn't stopped in anyone's favourite campsite.

The beach offered an easy walk around the bay, so we wandered along, watching the surfers, sanderlings and dolphins and trying to identify myriad small birds that darted in and out of the coastal scrub. Fishermen had boats and nets waiting on the sand for the next school of mullet and a teenager sat huddled against the dunes, having been dropped in the water from a boat about 100m out and told to swim ashore - I can't help but wonder what the story was...

Back at the camp and after coffee and some lemon slice (homemade because we have an abundance of lemons on the tree and absolutely delish if I might say so myself :-) we went back to the headland for some more exploring.

The views were quite different further around the point and we saw lots more birds as we walked. Brown quail and grassbirds, lewins and new holland honeyeaters and little wattlebirds were everywhere. A sea eagle soared above, king parrots and rainbow and scaly breasted lorikeets looked down from the high branches. The bird list would be too long to add here, suffice to say it was hard to remember them all when we got back to camp and I relied on photos to remind me.

Too early for lunch, so we decided to go back to the Melaleuca campsite and walk the big hill track before lunch. This is a great little walk up through coastal rainforest (ugh, had a leech latch on to my leg) and then around the point just in from the cliffs. We came across a kestrel, all fluffed up and sunning him (or her) self on a lichen covered rock at the lookout area. We walked quite close before it flew away. More honeyeaters and lorikeets chatted away to us on the way back down to the camper.

The campsite was closed and we didn't fancy the idea of negotiating the potholes again, so we had lunch at Crescent Head and then drove south down the coast road from Port Macquarie to Crowdy Bay National Park and the Diamond Head campsite.

We arrived in time to set up the camper and have a soothing glass of red before we walked out to the point at split rock just on sunset. A sea eagle watched us and a sooty oystercatcher sat out on the rocks near the shore. No rain tonight so we ate outdoors and enjoyed the cool, calm winter night.

Friday July 9 - heading for the coast

we left after lunch for a trip down the Oxley highway to the coast. I had forgotten how many bends are in that road! It's not really fun once it is dark and raining and the wet weather kept up as we drove to Crescent Head and down to Limeburners Nature Reserve. The road into Point Plomer camping area has LOTS of potholes - enough said. We thought the wet weather may have made it worse than usual, but the old surfers we met the next day say it's always been that way...

Arrived, paid our dues and set up camp just as the heavens opened - thank goodness for instant housing and a pre-cooked meal. It was snug inside and we hoped the weather would improve for the morning... and it did - see above!

on the road again...

So - we've been home for almost a month - it must be time to hit the road again... a weekend away to air out the travelling apartment before the kids take it on a boat ride and a wintertime tour of Tasmania.

The coast sounds enticing as there's been record low temperatures inland, a week or so ago we woke to a front paddock with frost so thick that it looked like a ski field (no photos though, it was too warm in bed!) and there have been snowfalls in the Barrington Tops, so the plan is to head up to Limeburners NP and do some walks in the coastal scrublands. Looking forward to some beaches as well, though not for swimming. Pack camera (tick), beanie, scarf, gloves (tick, tick, tick) dust off the walking boots, find the binoculars, a jug of wine, a loaf of bread...

heading home...

Had a luxurious sleep in till 7am this morning, then went to the fresh food market for breakfast - great choice, it's an interesting deli-style eatery with fresh produce and chocolate covered everything, pots of coffee (the usual mud) and great food. Back at the hotel we packed the car and then headed downtown for a couple of hours. Walked to the capitol building - a copy of Washington's with fabulous stained glass portraits in the chambers, vaulted ceilings, lots of marble and polished brass. There's a marker on the 13th step of the entry noting one mile above sea level.

Denver is a clean and open city, with wide streets and a mall area with restaurants and shops and a free mall transport system that works beautifully. I suppose it's at its best in Summer but we are impressed anyway.

Cute squirrels in the park nearby are burying peanuts (for later consumption I guess) in the grass and clinging to trees as if they were about to leap out at us :-). Interesting Pioneer fountain has a mother with a child in one arm, a shotgun in the other... Couldn't get into doing any shopping, so picked up the car and checked out some RV dealers on the way to the airport (some of those 'trailers' are HUGE, but the USA freeways cope very well with whatever size vehicle you care to own). Thinking that it might be an interesting way to see some more of the states.

Denver airport is spread over many kilometres of the plains and looks like a row of tipis on the plains. Flew over the Grand Canyon on our way to LA - it's just as spectacular as I remember and we get a fabulous view from the left side of the plane. LA is smoggy as we start our descent and the freeways are full of cars. Still, it's a spectaular sight of its own.

'Momzilla' and her family were in the seats in front of ours during the flight. I hope they enjoy their Disneyland vacation, they certainly entertained us on the nearly 2 hour flight from Denver.

Sitting in the Qantas/AA lounge now with a soothing glass of chardonnay and some cheese and crackers. Our Sydney flight leaves later tonight. Home soon and looking forward to Aussie accents and driving on the correct side of the road :-) Have missed everyone at home, though we have had a fantastic 'vacation'. See you all soon.