January 2013 - - 2wander-yonder

January 2013

14 January 2013

Its been quite a while since we posted last so here is a catch up.

We enjoyed Christmas with parents and siblings before heading over to family at Carrajung (Vic) for a couple of days and to see the 2013 in. We thoroughly enjoyed the quietness and slow speed pace and it was hard to tear ourselves away from it, but, we had a job to go to. With views out to Bass Strait there was plenty to admire, and here is a small sample.

Carrajung

Meals and spending time on the verandah were such a delight

Summer Lane

The road in

We are in Drouin Victoria and from Monday to Friday we stay ( parked on the front lawn) with one of Joanne's sisters, and from 8 to 5 each weekday we are climbing up and down ladders throwing apples off of trees at a local orchard as we thin them out prior to their being picked. It's a good job and it is giving us some exercise at the same time.

Each weekend we will be taking off to explore around the place and to see the sights. This last weekend we finished work, cleaned up and took off for Cowwarr Weir, where there is an RV (self contained only) campsite next to the weir and opposite the day visitors area. With only two other RV's in it was a very pleasant visit.

Cowwarr View

The view from our camp

Cowwarr

Leaving the weir we made our way to Heyfield where we used the dump point and investigated the campsite which is at the towns old sports oval. Moving on we were headed for a small town called Licola which is up in the hills.

Up hills and down dale we passed through some very pleasant countryside with many views of the McAlister River as it passed through the hills.

Leaving the river flats we climbed up and up and up, AJ's engine and steering getting a good workout on the way. Then it was a case of what goes up, must come down and so did we, arriving at Cheyenne's Bridge where we inspected a nice bush camp.

Cheyennes Bridge

Cheyennes Bridge Campground on the McAlister River

As tempting as it was to stop at the river we had one more hill to climb. Aptly named we arrived at Devils Elbow on the top of Big Hill. Turning off and taking a narrow dirt track we hugged the rock face as we crept along keeping an eye on the sheer drop off just outside the passenger window.

Stopping to admire the view we were surprised to see a large event down on the river flat. Seems that some of the traffic we had encountered was in fact some of those attending the cattleman's get together. Whip cracking was on at the time we were looking over the site and horses and riders could be seen around the place.

Cattlemen

Must be a couple of thousand cattlemen down there

Down the hill and onto Licola we arrived at the small hamlet to find some cabin accommodation, a general store and almost every four wheel enthusiast in creation. We stopped for a look and then lunch next to the river before heading back up and down the hills (click here for a small video) until we arrived in Heyfield and our camp for the night.

Sunday was a pleasant drive back, coffee with Mum and Dad and then we were back on the front lawn ready to terrorise the apple trees again the next day.

25 January 2013

We are still in Drouin and continue to work at the orchard thinning (killing) apples. I say killing because once we pick them off the tree and they hit the ground, that is where they stay and rot. We have recently been joined by three French backpackers who are thinning with us, and will remain to pick and pack the apples in a few weeks.

Joane up the ladder Andrew thinning apples

The thinning is almost over and before long the picking will commence. We won't be picking though as we have another job to go to.

Its funy how these things happen...there we were up the ladder killing apples when the phone rings, it was one of the managers at GrainFlow who was asking us if we would go back to Queensland (to Jondaryn) for the upcoming Sorghum harvest. And it is funny how this came now because there we were in the process of making plans to take on another job in Tasmania re-stocking hardware stores after they have been re-vamped or constructed, but as things turned out they were not quite ready to start the job, so its back to Queensland for the moment and if all of the planets align right Tasmania should be ready by the time we are finished at Jondaryn.

So, with four days work to gonext week we will be hitting the road and taking a leisurely trip North to Jondaryn. It's around 1,700 kilometers and will allow us to check out a few new places along the way.