On the Run ............. from the kids

[bobt]

We are escaping the kids............. based on the phone calls we got last night I think they discovered we had left home...

Started Sunday...

Drove up the highway. Stopped in Shepparton took a look down the main street..



This is what we are traveling in. One day it will grow up and be a classic...

_{Had to open the back door to let some air inside the car.. spilled a litre of milk on the back seat last weekend. steam cleaned it, think I musta missed some. it gets a bit on the nose after awhile..........}


Saw lots of this.



Drove to Narrandera stayed the night.

No Optus internet from the caravan park. So I played solitaire all night.

Saw this in the Morning.... ;D

{imagine a picture of a tandem Axel classic in this spot here.. photobucket is playing tricks on me}

The owners are restoring it But at the moment they are heading to out back Qld

Found this at Peak Hill





Well I have seen pics before and had to find it for myself..

and finally for today and just for kiwijim. NSW in full bloom ;D



All I gotta do now is find somewhere warmer. ;D

bobt

[bobt]

found it.....



The Classic heading to places more remote and warmer

[kiwijim]

Bobt,

Are you sure that you are still in N.S.W. ? ? ?

That field of Bloom sure looks like it's the same paddock we saw

on our Wild Flower trip up in the North-West, back in 08......


kiwijim.

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bob
That is one laaaaarge van
No problems towing it with a cruiser though

So this is your travel log.... forget my comment on the other thread.

In 2007 about September I went through outback Qld and NSW on my way to Newcastle
To pick up the Olympic.

The difference in country side was marked.
Qld was dry and poor country...... looked like it wouldn't run a bandicoot to the acre.

NSW was farmed and all grain fields.... a real pleasure to look at.

Keep the photos coming
It just makes me want to travel moooooooore.....
As if I need more incentive. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

All the best
Atog

[bobt]

Hi Ya Kiwijim

We over here on the east coast call it 'canola' it is growing everywhere in NSW, _{well almost}..

Amazed at the number of 'classic' vans on the road. All heading south. Sorry no photos, swmbo refused to take picies while busy sitting in the passenger seat watching the scenery go by

We did a little bit of a count of the vehicles travelling south. Got to 51 caravans inside of about an hour, of these 14 were towed by conventional cars(mostly falcons) the remainder were being towed by 4x4's, not all of these were big caravans. But there are some real big ones out there..

Stopped at Goondiwindi last night, they have had a bit of rain. Ground was real soft under foot..



Seeing we are looking for some natural warmth. checked out the BoM site to see where we would go today. Read the flood warnings for rivers including the Macintyre River So this morning thought it was a good thing to go check the river level.

Saw this...



I guess it will be awhile before it is a problem. But I spotted this so took a photo for the heck of it..

Horses anyone?


"Gunsynd - The Goondiwindi Grey" This is not the type of horse I have an interest in. They usually bite me or throw me so I stay away from em..

Atog, the fields either side of the highway between Goondiwindi and Warwick were well and truly water logged.

A lot of the creeks and dams had water in them, very different to what we saw last year..

We are now settled into the Broadwater Tourist Park at Southport Took a little walk around the park and spotted some classics. Have to work on getting some pictures for the next edition.

All I want now is some of the famous Qld Sunshine...

[bobt]

It is absolutely amazing the size of some of the caravans that are in this park.

One that arrived today was on three axles. I stood at the front of it and had to use my binoculars to see where the bumper bar was. Glad I am not towing it or trying to store it at home. I shudder to think how hard it would be to wash the roof.



There are a couple of classics in this park. A Traveller, a couple of Franklins and a Millard. People look at you funny when you run round with a camera taking photos I am sure they think you are up to no good. It is always best to talk to the owner first.

So I did.

It is their first caravan. They took 12 months to renovate it. Still have some plans for it. But for the time being they are out using it and enjoying themselves

Chassis pick



Sorry Al I asked what year it was and they did not know. But they do know the original owners of Millard carvans


The inside was gutted and has been totally rebuilt to suit their needs. It contains a shower/toilet cubical in the front corner opposite the entry door. Across the front a 2 seater couch with a fold up table.



Kitchen on the wall opposite the door.



Double bed across the rear. Cupboard next to the door.



It has a BBQ accessible from the outside.

The pop top roof was enlarged to give more head room inside and the curtain was made by the owners.

They tow it behind a Honda CRV and they love it. . They have done a really nice job with the inside. My photos do not do justice.



The proud owners

For those living in the southern states, it is beautiful up here…

[bobt]

;)saw a pair of meter maids....swmbo...was not impressed when I pulled the camera out...

[millard1399]

Hey there bobt, don't you worry about us southerners sitting at home on the weekend while it's raining and windy.
You just go ahead and soak up all that sunshine up there. ;D

That little Millard sure is a very, very nice looking little restoration. You get full marks for taking a photo of the chassis number! I'm trying to educate ALL people to do the same, so we can collect evidence of how old the van might be. That number of MM013 means it's the 13th poptop built after they were introduced in 1976, so it's darn close to the start of them! You would think it's almost in the class of "collectable items", sorta like finding a 1932 Penny and knowing you are only two years away from the big 1930 Penny fortune. Hope No.13 is lucky for the owners...seems like it is so far!

How on earth were they able to fit a shower/toilet cubicle into a poptop that looks like it's about 12ft length?? How do they have a shower...on their knees??
Good idea to extend the length of the roof. One of the drawbacks to our Millard is the constant drip-drip-drip (read: tap tap tap) noise when the water runs off the corners of the poptop roof onto the cabin roof underneath. Like Chinese water torture after a while.

I've encountered similar reactions to you when I trot around caravan parks photographing old vans. People are suspicious of your motives, until you explain your interest in old vans, and point to the one you've restored - the blue and white poptop just over there. Then they lighten up and are only too happy to talk about them and have you take whatever photographs you like. So, yep, I always find it's best to introduce myself, and tell them I study old vans, and would they mind if I took a few photos.

Wouldn't mind being out on the road again, (especially away from this crappy weather ), so I'll get my thrills from reading your updates, bobt.
Keep 'em coming!! ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[bobt]

Hi All

Well I have been busy doing nothing but sitting around with my feet up on a fence railing next to the Gold Coast Hwy in South Port waiting for a Rocketrods creation to cruise past… Aint seen it yet.. ;D ;D

In the mean time I thought I might share a couple of picies with you all

Sunset shot taken from within the caravan park we are staying at. I like to collect em but don’t seem to have been very successful on this trip….



I think I mentioned earlier that there is a vast variety of rec vehicles in this park. From old to the most newest. Small to large. There are 3 of these settled in here…




Promised wife that I would take her on the Whales Watching tour so we did it on Saturday. We were warned that it was a bit rough out on the water, but swmbo insisted we go ….

The wee little boat we went out on…..



No matter how hard I tried I could never catch them at the right time. I took about 60 photos including a couple of the boats deck. This was the best I could achieve.



Despite how the water looks it was real rough out there. Half the passengers were sick… Including swmbo. The crew did a marvelous job looking after the sickies. My hat goes off to them.

I have been out in rough water in power boats 16 foot types and been in them as they have jumped and banged their way over waves. Never have I done it in a boat of this size. A bit of a thrill seeking experience. Yep I would do it again.

Surfers from the boat on the way back .



Parked across the way from us is an Viscount Aerolite. A 1980’s solution to the high fuel costs. These caravans were very light for there time. You don’t see to many of these around anymore as they were not very durable.



This one looks to be in pristine condition. Hopefully I will catch up with its elderly owners before I head south..

Al you might notice the ground is wet. Yep the joys of owning a pop top is that drip drip of water from the pop roof to the body of the van. I am listening to it now………..


Absolutely love being on the road............. just have to wait till I can afford to retire.........

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bob
Love the photos
Glad to see you are out and about spruiking up the Classic Caravans ;D ;D ;D ;D

Keep us posted

That wet stuff falling out of the sky is called liquid sunshine....
Soak it up it's good for you

Though there are some in Shepparton that would disagree with me at the moment

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

Hi ya all...

Rain loverly stuff. Its drizzly outside at the moment. But thats fine as its dark and I am comfortably seated inside..

We moved camp a couple of days ago.... bit further south. Staying at Sawtell. Nice park. Nice people. This is our first time. We will stay again in the future.

Friends took us for a little drive today. All the way to Bellingen and Dorrigo. Drank lots of coffee in different coffee shops, hunted for bargains in the antiqueee shops. Had swmbo so kept my hands in my pockets.

Stumbled upon the "Smallest Motor Cycle Museum in the World" Had totally forgotten all about it till I was walking down the main street of Dorrigo and looked up..

Found a very interesting second hand/antiquee shop in the main street. Really needed a truck to take home the bits I wanted.

A couple of photos to wet the appetite..



Our friends talked about a Rail Museum and took us for a little cruise around the back of the Dorrigo

then I saw it.............................

It would have to be the biggest collection of rail carriages and trains I have ever seen in my life....

I took heaps of photos but most have come out too dark.. Will endeavor to get better ones next time we go past.

Here are some of the steam engines we could see from the road.




They claim to have 66 locomotives 280 carriages and wagons.

There web site... www.dsrm.org.au/

With my jaw sitting on the floor we left and headed off to see some National Park stuff.

THE Wife thought this was most appropriate given my passion for old mechanical things



And finally one of the spectacular spots in the area.

Dangar Falls..



bobt

[millard1399]

G'day bobt,

Doesn't look like there's any water restrictions happening in those waterfalls.

And it looks like a "little boys" paradise at the old train museum! Wonder how they find time to restore an old caravan when they've got all those trains to work on??

Looks like I'll be adding Dorrigo to my list of places worth a visit. Nothing like a few photos to get the feet itchy again. Keep 'em coming! ;D

cheers,
Al.

[atouchofglass]

Gidday Mate

Just had a look at the map of Sawtell
Your half way down the NSW coast
Ok maybe not ;D ;D

Man on the move, is our Bobt
;D ;D ;D

Seems a real nice area, will have to check it out for myself some time in the future.

Keep the photos coming as they are always good for future references.....
You know .....
When we eventually get on the road.
;D ;D ;D ;D


Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

Hi All

After checking out the falls we drove on to Dorrigo National Park. This is a 'peak' of the view from on the airwalk.


This is the time for national parks and high bits. The view looking towards the Pacific from Bruxner Park



The Clog barn - minature village..

Bit of the wild life at the Sawtell Caravan Park...



It is about 7 foot long. Yep kept my distance...

Caravans .. yep plenty of them, they all seem to be modern and large............... I have not seen anything of interest yet....

hey millard1399, I have a tow chain. seems we will have to go to cairns and drag atog. out of his paradise...

[atouchofglass]

Sept 12, 2010 22:43:44 GMT 10 bobt said:

Hi All

hey millard1399, I have a tow chain. seems we will have to go to cairns and drag atog. out of his paradise...

Mate if I had the cash you wouldn't see me for dust.
I would be on the road now.
Am champing at the bit to go......
It is only cash and the daughter that holds me back at the moment.
And if the cash was there we'd take the daughter with us.

Ever since the trip to Bowen I've been restless
Look at the van in the front yard and sigh...... you poor thing..... don't worry....... we will use you again...... soon ....... I hope.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Cheers
Atog

[bobt]

Hi ya Atog

Patence my friend your time will come.

Think we will just have to come to your place for fivies.... ;D

We head toward home tomorrow. Shall download some more pics to keep you all entertained.

bobt

[bobt]

The Beach at Sawtell, had to take a walk... Not a sole in sight... May be because it was a little cool ;D


Friends we meet up with took us for a cooks tour round the area. This one is of the Marina at Coffs Harbour.



I will make any excuse I can to avoid heading home via Sydney, So . We took the Water Fall Way to get on to the Newell Hwy. This road involved some serious climbing and some real narrow roads. Very unnerving when the edge of the road involves a 12 inch + drop into a gravel rut.



We stumbled upon this when we pulled off the road for a caffeine intake... Ebor Falls



A restorers delight...


Newell Hwy Near Narandera. Looks like they have had a little rain.



Almost home.. Its getting colder... gotta go back to work to pay off the visa card.........

[atouchofglass]

Hey Bobt
Have enjoyed your escape from the kids and work and hum drum routine and ......
Keep the photies coming

It gives us something to aspire to

Cheers
Atog

[mike]

Greetings Bobt, ;D

Thanks for the piccies.

Some very interesting places to see in the future.

Cheers
mike ;D ;D ;D