30 August, Day 5, Toowoomba

On the road again today. After a very restful night in Narrabri we set off at 08:50 and continued up the Newell Highway. Passed through Moree and had lunch in a park in Goondiwindi, which is just on the Queensland side of the border. At this point the weather was still fine, but as we approached the Darling Downs, some very dark clouds became apparent and as we rolled into the outskirts of Toowoomba we encountered heavy rain and lightning, the first bad weather on our trip. We were dreading the thought of unhitching the van and setting up camp in the rain, but by the time we arrived at our caravan park the rain had just about stopped. We're planning to spend a rest day here and visit some of our favourite spots from a previous trip, including the Valetta Cafe. It will be interesting to see if there are any signs of the terrible floods they had here earlier in the year. On Thursday we will complete the final 270 km to Gympie to catch up with Saskia, Peter and Lexi.

29 August Day 4, Narrabri NSW

After two glorious days in Forbes, we drove 430 km. to Narrabri where we are overnighting. On the way we passed The Dish at Parkes and travelled through Dubbo. It's interesting pulling into a caravan park anywhere along the Newell Highway. We tend to arrive fairly early, around 2:30, and the parks are almost empty. Then, over the next few hours it gradually fills up with travellers bedding down for the night. In most cases you don't need to unhook the van. Just pull up, connect the power and water, unpack the easy chairs and open a beer. Within minutes someone will be over to have a chat and swap stories. Tomorrow is our last long haul for a while. It will take us to Toowoomba where we will spend a couple of nights, and from there it will be a short run to Gympie on Thursday.

28 August - Day 3 - Forbes NSW

Left Tocumwal at 10:00 yesterday, after replacing the mixer tap of the kitchen sink - one of the hose fittings had started to leak and the simplest thing with limited tools was to replace the whole unit. Fortunately there was a hardware shop next to the caravan park. Drove up the Newell Highway and arrived in Forbes at 3pm yesterday. The Newell Highway is definitely the road of choice of caravanners travelling to and from Queensland, we must have seen hundreds during the day. Forbes is a very pretty town and like most towns which had a gold rush has a legacy of attractive historic buildings. Had dinner at a very good Thai restaurant last night called Spice of Life, a great meal. Today we went on a self guided walking tour of the town, a good way to see the place. The photo is of the Town Hall which dates back to the 1890's. The weather continues to be brilliant and we've spent the afternoon soaking up the sun. We're off again tomorrow and heading for Narrabri.

26 August - Day 1 - Tocumwal NSW

Left Traralgon at 8:05 this morning. A bit overcast but fairly mild. Turned off the Princes Highway at Pakenham and made our way to the Yarra Valley via Cockatoo and Yarra Glen. From there to Yea where we stopped for coffee and lunch. After a nice break we then turned towards Seymour and Shepparton, arriving in Tocumwal at 2:45pm. It's a pretty little town located on the NSW side of the Murray, which has plenty of water in it at the moment. The afternoon was warm and sunny and we really enjoyed a beer and a champagne sitting in the sun outside the caravan. A great start to the trip.