Aussie Aussie Aussie

Happy Australia Day to all.

Sorry we couldn't be there to share the great day

We managed to round up a few people at the park

for afternoon drinks and BBQ later on,

even though we worked till 11.00.

Had a good afternoon/evening with most having a drink

or two and the couple of kiwis here

joined in also. They were quite receptive when

Les and Gordon, (one of the residents), decided

to put up some aussie flags around

their vans. We also replaced a larger All Blacks

flag at the front of the park which had been flying

since the world cup games.

There is a now a real Australian flag flying.

Below - from left Gordon, Maree, Les

Les and Bryce the kiwi.

Bryce trying to look Ausie till he speaks!

And the crowd grew, we ended up with 17 people.

We haven't worked since Aust Day, back to

the mushies Tuesday.

We have started applying for some other jobs

around here and also other towns, see what

response we get.

We decided to get out and go for a drive to

Parkes the other afternoon.

Whilst in Peak Hill, about half way to Parkes,

we came across this bone yard with heaps

of old cars sitting in this yard.

The photos will give you some idea of

just what is there, couldn't believe  it!

Unfortunately, the man who owns these cars is

not interested in selling any of them

or any part of them apparently.

He used to own/work the local Holden dealership

quite a few years ago and supposedly has an original

 FJ sitting in storage somewhere.

We hear you guys have had considerable rain

over the last week.

We have only had one real rain day and it

has just been overcast, drizzle etc.

Still saying we have rain coming though??

'til next time

Hi again everyone we have had an up and down

week with work. Couple of days 8  and 10 hours, then 3 hour

day and then Thu off, work 4 hours Fri, Sat off

and working for a while Sunday.

We visited the Old Dubbo Gaol on Wed night for a night tour.

Quite interesting evening, learning about the old gaol

opened in 1887 and had quite a checkered past.

It was used not only for prioners, but also

for hanging of some of the locals most dangerous

criminals. The guide was dressed as an original warder

and gave a very authentic look at the way things were.

They had some other actors in a few of the cells also.

we were all locked in the solitary confinement

cell for a few minutes in complete darkness,

the prisoners who were sent there spent 21 days in the cell

Storms have been threatining here for the past three days, Bathurst

and Orange have been getting it all, we have missed out.

Bye for now cheers.

Hello everyone, we have had a couple of bike rides since last post, to Lake Burrendong and around Narromine and Trangie, (smaller towns out from Dubbo).

Average working week, basically been off work since

Thursday after we finished at 7.30am.

We decided to take a bike ride on Mon 9th after work as we finished

earlyish. We went down to Lake Burrendong which is out from Wellington towards Orange. It's about 80ks away.

Very nice set up there, owned and operated by

State Govt, so there is a fee to get in even as a day visitor.

It has all the facilities and is used as a water supply but also

power boats, skiing and fishing are all carried

out on the lake. They have some permanent residents,

cabins, camp sites, kiosk and fuel.

As you can see we found the Burrendong Hotel,

it's at a town called Mumbil, near the lake.

Saturday we went on another ride just to a couple of the local towns,

Narromine and Trangie, not really much at these towns,

but we did find a statue of Glenn McGrath, who was born and bred

at Narromine and been playing cricket there from 7 years old.

Friday night we had dinner at the "Drovers Dog Hotel"

at Eumungerie, which is about 30 k's from Dubbo.

One of the women from work lives up there and invited us up

there for dinner. It's a classic old town country pub.

Meals were $10 each and very nice.

Cam and Amanda know of this town, as some of Cam's

relatives are from there.

There isn't much there that's for sure!

Saturday night we copped a huge storm here, the neighbours' annexe collapsed during the storm. He wasn't around as he is a tanker driver

and is out for days at a time.

We went over and sorted it out Sun morning.

Our van and annexe withstood it all, did very well

There is a constant flow of short term visitors coming through,

being holiday time I guess.

One of the motor homes here has a classic saying

"Jim and Sue, Cruzn, Boozn and Snoozn", love it.

We have finally got around to including some photos of the model car and caravan Amanda and Cam gave us before we left.

We had to name the van "The Snail" of course.

here they sit on the exhaust fan ledge.

Brother Chris also gave us another model car and caravan,

it's an XW panel van and old caravan, they all now live on the ledge

above the exhaust fan. The number plates on them

is "Moff 81". Check the Peter Brock magnet also.

Well that's about it for the week, back to the mushies in the morning.

Happy New Year

Hello everyone, happy new year to all, we are now back in Dubbo, after a very busy two weeks back home.

Apologies to those of you we didn't catch up with.

We did have some great times with our children and

grandkids, as well the newest of them, Bailey.

Prior to leaving Dubbo and the mushroom farm,

the bosses, David and Janelle, gave us a coffee

mug each with the mushroom farm name and our name on.

They were also very generous and included us in

the bonuses given out to everyone.

The trip back to Vic Pt was quite good, only

minimal leftovers of flooding around Moree and out from Goondiwindi.

We had borrowed a tandem trailer from the caravan park

owners, took it home and loaded the

bike on and took it back to Dubbo.

Had a very smooth run back, no dramas and

the bike travelled very well.

So you may ask how do we tow the van and the bike?

Susan is going to tow the van whenever we move around

and I will ride the bike.

The previous tenants on the site we are on planted a small

tomato bush and it has now gone beserk and we have lots of

cherry tomatoes to eat. There is also a capsicum bush and parsley growing in the garden.

That's about all for now, we are back to the mushies tomorrow

and the early starts, so will update again soon.