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November 2013
02 November 2013
"On the road again..."
Yesterday there was a flurry of phone calls and decisions made throughout the day with an outcome that came up on us so quick that we had barely time to take it all in.
The other day we had a site in NSW, 3 in Victoria and 1 in SA as possible places for our next job on the wheat harvest but today the picture became clearer and the end result was that yesterday, with no more wheat to come in, was our last day at Talwood and today our first on the road again as we head towards what appears to be a bin busting harvest at Pinnaroo in South Australia!
We had decided not to go to Bogan Gate in favour of a longer season in either Victoria or South Australia, then as the SA one came through to us first (we still had one to two weeks wait for the Victorian site coordinator to get back to us) we decided to grab it before all the places were filled and we missed out. Talking to the manager at Pinnaroo it seems that they are expecting the sites capacity of 160,000 tonnes to be exceeded and with a crew of newbies coming he was really keen to get us there because of our experience. Start date 11 November, end date - no idea!
So, on returning back to our home behind the Talwood store just after 6pm last night we spent the next 5 hours sitting outside in the cool of the evening with fellow workers and the Assistant Site Manager enjoying a few drinks and each others company. Then this morning (with a slight headache) we sorted the inside of AJ out preparing it for the open road, packed up, paid the bill at the shop and drove out of town.
Arriving in Thallon (where we stopped once before) the first thing we noticed was the opposition had almost no wheat on the ground. We stopped next to the school and area where the workers camp during the harvest for morning tea and that was where we noticed a very nice mural painted on the gate to the oval.
Love the flies buzzing the swaggy's head
Then it was on towards Dirranbandi and Hebel passing through large swathes of land where last years crop had been planted and barely any evidence of this years crop. Where there was some stubble we found Emu's all trying to get a feed and in less than a kilometer we saw what must have been around 100 of them. This area really is parched dry with almost nothing green to be seen.
We had a quick look around Dirranbandi before continuing on over to Hebel, a small town with just a pub, store and caravan park. According to wikicamps the caravan park was only $20 for a powered site and with a free washing machine to top it off we decided to stop there tonight, get the washing (work clothes) and bedding done and then to continue on tomorrow.
03 November 2013
Despite the hot day we only had the fan on overnight and slept quite well, waking early and enjoying the usual Sunday ritual of bacon and eggs on the plate with Macca on the radio before we hit the road.
An uneventful trip saw us arrive in Lightning Ridge where we took a drive around town and then up and through the diggings following the red car door route. The locals have devised three self drive routes around the diggings and so you follow either the red, blue or green car doors that have letters of numbers on them wherever they are leant against a tree or post to see the sights.
Like many other small mine towns the homes and shafts are dotted across a moonscape and in no particular order or pattern and the homes can be anything from a tent to a train carriage to a caravan to a stone monument to a man's grand idea and all of them are surrounded by white mounds of rock and soil testament to the toil that has taken place looking for the opal, especially the black opal that is in the ground here.
You can just image the conversation here when the wife says she wants another room. Wife: We need another room for my shoe collection. Husband: Okay, I'll duck down to town and buy some beer and we can start immediately. But if you want a window I'll have to get some bottles as well!
Up market home complete with finger across the lens :)
The round house complete with solar panels on each of the four corners and one on top where the tin doesn't quite cover the hole.
Moving on from Lightning Ridge as the temperature and the wind speed rose we were passing through more open land where the stubble from the last two years crops were being investigated by more and more Emu's and every now and then the scrub came back to block the side wind somewhat.
We arrived in Walgett and drove around the town for a look, passing what we found out later was the supermarket that had burnt down. So filling up with fuel we left the very un-interesting town and headed off towards Brewarrina.
Arriving in town we decided that with the very hot wind helping the temperature to a sultry 38 degrees that we would pull into the caravan park, plug in and crank up the air con, but on arrival we found only the guard dog there to greet us. A call to the number on the sign revealed that the caravan park was not open for business and that we could avail ourselves of one of the free camps around the town.
So after lunch at the Weir we drove the 6 kilometers out to the 4 mile boat ramp where we set up camp on the only flat(ish) spot as the locals swam in the river, the cloud came over and the wind cranked up its speed some more. So it will either be a swim in the river or a shower at the river water shower block just near us.
Our campsite at the 4 mile boat ramp near Brewarrina
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A slightly bigger view of our campsite
04 November 2013
Yesterday sure was a hot day and we were glad to see the sun go down. The wind remained strong so we had a breeze blowing through our home as we went to bed, albeit a warm one. Halfway through the night the wind had blown all the heat away and we awoke to close up our moon roof and some of the windows and to reach for the doona and by the time we woke up this morning the temperature was noticeably cooler, almost cold. Today's temperature was expected to reach 28 degrees a whole 10 degrees cooler!
We left town and headed off towards Bourke with a strong side/rear wind and arrived in a very nice looking town of around 2,500 people and one with plenty of things to do and see including a visit to the grave of Professor Fed Hollows who perfected his treatment cataracts of the human eye here. The town sits on the banks of the Darling River and was discovered by the explorer Charles Sturt in February 1829 and was a thriving hub serviced by paddle steamers and it was at the replica paddle steamer wharf that we parked and got our first glimpse of another one of Australia's iconic rivers.
The Darling River from the wharf at Bourke.
Leaving Bourke with its historic buildings, purple flowering Jacaranda trees and some history we were headed for Cobar along the Kidman Way. The road turned out to be a fabulous one with a good surface and wide enough to pass trucks with ease, it was just a pity that the wind was a side/head wind which was strong enough to rob us of our fuel economy. The bush through here changed gradually as we left town and it was not far before we noticed that the soil had turned red. The whole area began to take on the very same appearance as in the North of Western Australia, especially along the coast North of Carnarvon complete with large numbers of goats at every turn.
Arriving in Cobar we stopped for lunch at the Cornish Rest Area near the old Cobar brickworks that now has the towns name on it before heading into town for a look. What we found was a larger town (7,000 people) than Bourke and all the usual things that go with that.
A check of the shops, a haircut for Joanne and a top up of the fuel and we went back to the Cornish Rest Area for the night arriving to find a car and caravan from Mandurah parked up for the night.
05 November 2013
Our camp at the rest area on the edge of town was a good one even with a number of trucks coming in during the night. Up early we started the day with a trip up to the lookout for a view over town and the Copper Mine before we headed South towards Mount Hope and Hillston.
There is not much to say about the trip to Mount Hope except the fact that the further South we went the greener the countryside became. Still plenty of goats around but not much else. We arrived in Mount Hope where there is a pub, a small number of houses and not much else. Stopping for morning tea it was still quite cool despite the sun beaming down and so heading off again we enjoyed a very nice road and despite the side wind, good fuel economy.
Leaving Mount Hope we encountered the first wheat paddocks we have seen since Queensland and what we saw was so much better than anything we saw in Queensland, and some of it was under harvest already.
Arriving in Hillston and went to the Lachlan River campsite mentioned in wikicamps to see what it was like. Being only a kilometer out of town, plenty of good spots to be enjoyed and nobody else there, one look told us that we would be camping there tonight. A quick trip back into town to look around and get a few things and then it was time to get back to our camp to enjoy it as much as we could and where we even managed to set the wok up to watch the running of the Melbourne Cup.
Our Campsite on the Lachlan
The Lachlan River as the shadows form. Very pretty for something that is almost all green
06 November 2013
The Lachlan River camp was so quiet and so nice it warranted some night photography but as much as the flies were annoying during the day their mates the mozzies at night were worse and so a retreat to the safety of inside was made.
We awoke after a peaceful sleep and made our way out of town and on to Griffith around 100 kilometers away. Passing more and more wheat both in the paddock and being unloaded at silos we eventually came into the citrus and grape growing areas around town before hitting town itself. Griffith is a large town with a main street full of shops that extends for quite some distance. We managed to find a parking spot at the information centre with a 1941 WWII Navy Fairey Firefly stop a pole complete with propeller that turned according to the strength of the wind.
Shopping over we headed South towards the Murrumbidgee River at Darlington Point and after some searching various campsites in the State Forest settled on one at the Bunyip Hole and just a few metres back from the rivers edge.
The Murrumbidgee River
07 November 2013
Heading off from our river camp we were headed for Finley to catch up with a school friend of Joanne's. We stopped in Jerilderie for morning tea at the site of the stables where Ned Kelly once visited before driving on to Finley. We spent the day there with a walk around town and then some relaxing before heading over to where Glenda, Bernie and their daughters Jamie and Melissa live. The evening was then spent catching up and having a great time with them before falling into bed around 11pm as the empty wine bottles went into the bin.
08 November 2013
Joanne snapped this mornings sunrise over the wheat that grows on Glenda and Bernie's doorstep
Glenda was off to work and we killed two birds with one stone by taking Bernie to pick up his tractor and getting a good look at some Barley and Canola growing in the paddock before heading off towards Deniliquin.
Arriving in Deni as it is affectionately known we found a very nice little town on the banks of the Edward River. Deni famous for its Ute Muster and is the holder of the Guinness Book of Records for the most amount of Ute's in one place. One great looking ute is the one covered in a mosaic.
Leaving Deni we took some very pleasant back roads towards Moulamein. Taking a road recommended by Bernie we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the road as it made its way through sheep station country, turing at one stage into about 10 kilometers of hard packed dirt road and where we threaded the needle across the grids.
The weather began to close in and the wind whipped up as we made our way to Moulamein where we enjoyed lunch by the river before heading onto towards Toolybuc in the rain. Passing through town we thought about stopping at the caravan park but it was full of cabins so we moved on and crossed the Murray River on the old bridge that can be raised in the middle for river craft to pass under and into Victoria where we found a pleasant little rest area on the riverbank. The wind is up and the sun out every now and then but the river view makes up for the lack of warm weather.
Our Murray River Campsite
This bloke kept trying to attack his reflection in our windows because of the tinting and we had to scare him off before he injured himself.
09 November 2013
There was a very stiff cold breeze and after the warmth of Queensland we sure felt the difference. Photography was on the menu for the evenings activities but it only lasted a few minutes around sunset, just enough to grab this shot.
Despite the beauty of the sunset the wind was cutting through to the bone
We did however enjoy a peaceful nights sleep next to the river as the wind howled. We awoke this morning to a cool 10 degrees, a clear sky and a wind that had abated just a little. Having turned AJ around to adjust for the weather just before the sun set last night, a peek out the front this morning gave us a view of a beautiful strand of gum trees behind the old house near where we were parked.
The sun starting to come through the trees
Leaving our camp we made our way towards Pinnaroo, fighting a fairly strong side wind. We stopped in Ouyen (pronounced O-yen) for a look at town and to top up on a few supplies before we continued our way along the road as it passed through paddocks of wheat, barley and canola that stretch to the horizon, the thin strip of Mallee bush along the sides of the road the only greenery to be seen.
Passing through towns and locations with names such as Walpeup, Torrita, Underbool, Linga, Boinka, Tutye and Cowangie we arrived at the South Australian Border and the Quarantine Checkpoint which is directly opposite where we will be working. The Quarantine lady was very nice despite us having some items she thought we should not have. We had obtained a quarantine booklet in Griffith and Joanne had shopped accordingly to ensure we had vegetables we were allowed to carry but it appears that the book Joanne picked up was last years version and some items were not quite legal. She let us keep it all though as we had the book to show why we had them, had the receipts to show we had bought them in Ouyen in a supermarket and as we were stopping in Pinnaroo we were not taking them too far (3.7 km) into the state.
Arriving in Pinnaroo Joanne did some more shopping and then we found out that we as we were a day earlier than we anticipated we could not get into the caravan park, so we drove out of town and found a nice bush camp for the rest of today.
Fields of Gold highlighted by the sun as the weather closes in
10 November 2013
It didn't rain after all and the clouds that looked so threatening yesterday afternoon cleared just before sunset. We left our camp this morning after a nice eggs, bacon and mushroom breakfast and headed into town and into the small caravan park which will be our home for the duration of the harvest.
11 November 2013
A quiet day today with a few small tasks including a complete wash for the motorhome ready for our first day at work tomorrow.
17 November 2013
Starting the working week with an RDO was a pretty good way to do so but Tuesday morning saw us getting stuck into it. The wheat harvest has started slowly because of the cooler weather so we have been kept busy with Barley and Canola coming in.
Our day has been starting at 7am and finishing anytime after 3.30pm. Despite the clear skies and the sun being out there is a cool South Easterly wind blowing which means we have coats and/or sleeveless jackets on until around 10am.
Tomorrow is an RDO again so we will be enjoying some down time and the chance to catch up with some housekeeping.
28 November 2013
Almost the end of another month and the years end is almost upon us as well! Not a great deal has happened since the last entry except that the harvest has been going along steadily now that it has been downgraded from a bumper to an average years harvest. We have had some busy days with over 4,000 tones of wheat, canola and barley coming in to keep us busy on top of the usual tarping and sealing the bunkers, sweeping up the husk, tractor driving and whatever else has needed doing.
The weather has also kept us on our toes with a cold wind most days being replaced every now and then by a stinker of a day. Yesterday was 37 degrees and very, very humid and today was lucky to make 20 degrees and it even rained this afternoon sending us home an hour early and canceling the afternoon shift.
Monday was our RDO again and this week we took a drive through the countryside where all of our grain has been coming from and onto Loxton on the Murray River. We did some shopping and had a look around and then drove back passing through a small town by the name of Paruna. The whole town was badly in need of some residents and some activity and many places were boarded up. The two churches looked like they could be bought and turned into a private residence, the bowls club going by the name of The Browns Well District Club was empty and had lots of large weeds growing on what would have been a nice green, the store was not open and the only place that seemed to have any life was the pub. There was a small camping park/area there where you could have a powered site for $10 a night and where the the worlds smallest Post Office was also located.
The Paruna Post Office
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