Tag Archives: New South Wales

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Walking Trails in Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia

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I’ve been a bit slack with the Australia posts haven’t I? I hadn’t realized how long it’s been until I was looking at the pictures on our Flickr account! Holy moly I’m going to get on that right now.

This is from two months ago when we stopped at Gunnedah, New South Wales for a few days. We didn’t know it was going to be a few days but it ended up being it. We figured we’d make the most of it and try to find a live wild koala since Gunnedah is “the koala capital of the world”.

We went up to the walking trails that they have because there is a part where supposedly a lot of koalas live and there’s been koalas spotted.

We started out strong and full of excitement to see a koala.

Spoiler, we didn’t see a koala.

The walk was awesome and the views from the mountain we were on was breathtaking. Duncan had a blast walking the trail because they had made steps out of wood for easy climbing.

Every time we would go up or down or near a step he would yell out “there’s a step!” It was adorable and I was beat from the steps, I don’t see how he lasted so long.

Until he got tired and almost fell asleep in Jamie’s arms. Like I said, we didn’t see any koalas after like two hours of walking buuuuut…

we saw wallabies! From the dang car! Didn’t even have to get out of it. I’m glad we did though, it was a lot of fun hiking and trying to find a koala.

 

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CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope

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On the way to Quirindi, where the truck had to drop off it’s load, we passed by the sign that told you it was the turn off to the CSIRO Parkes radio telescope. Prior to that Jamie had been talking about it and told me he would like to stop and look at it just to say that he has been before. When we saw the sign I said we could probably stop there on the way back, right? Jamie agreed and there we were, looking at a big dish. The size of it is quite impressive, especially when you are standing up close to it. Well, as close as they will let anyone get up to it anyway.

Duncan was more concerned with the birds that were on some benches when we first got to the little area to really have a look at the telescope but then I showed him exactly what we were looking at and we were actually there to see it re-position which was quite awesome.

While we were reading the sign about the telescope, I looked down at Duncan and he was playing in the dirt there. This boy loves anything that has to do with dirt and rocks. There’s a big radio telescope in front of you but, wow look at the dirt, this is awesome! Dirt and birds is what is on this boys mind.

It really is quite cute how kids can find the biggest pleasure in the simplest things, I think that all people should look at life like that and be happy with what they have given to them or what is in front of them. Easier said then done, I know.

Inside of the information center they had a few things to look at like these controls which I just snapped a picture of before going to see what Duncan had found.

Jamie and him had found some fun mirrors which shows him being quite tall and squished but he had a blast looking at himself and then proceeded to bang on it, that is when I had to direct his attention elsewhere.

It seemed to do the job when we showed him the little model of the radio telescope that they had inside which really moved as well.

It was a decent sized model and I enjoyed looking at it, and I think Duncan really liked looking at it because he kept poking at the bubble dome it was in. It was adorable to see him discover different things that he wouldn’t normally see.

 

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Muswellbrook, New South Wales – Rest Area

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One of the rest areas we stopped at was in Muswellbrook, New South Wales and let me tell you, it was not without some drama getting there. It was pretty late so we didn’t feel like cooking dinner, we stopped off at Hungry Jack’s (Australia’s Burger King) and figured we would go look at a rest area we saw a sign for and stay there. Well, Jamie followed the sign and this rest area was nowhere to be found. We even had to cross a stone bridge that was barely big enough for the van (yet had a no passing sign on it, really? Who in their right mind would pass when there is barely room for one car on there, and how would that work?) and to no avail. Jamie remembered a rest area that he saw on the main road coming into so we stayed there.

The views around Muswellbrook are absolutely gorgeous though with the mountains around them, I enjoyed looking around a lot.

The rest area that we stayed at was also a Vietnam Memorial and it was quite pretty. They had a list of names of the deceased and it was just beautifully done.

While we were looking at the different names on the list I noticed that there was a J. Fraser in which I teased Jamie and asked him if he wanted to tell me who he really was and his age.

Jamie and Duncan had a blast running around the memorial and just hamming it up because that is just what Duncan does, ya know.

But Muswellbrook seemed like a really pretty town although we didn’t spend much time there at all and I am just basing it on the drive through and the stay at the rest area.

Oh, and for good measure, here is a spider Jamie found at the rest area. It is disgusting and horrifying.

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Duncan enjoyed Quirindi, New South Wales

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Getting to Quirindi didn’t take long at all, it only took about two days and once Jamie got all his numbers and talked to the truck driver at the end we stopped at a park for Duncan to stretch his legs and also so we could use the restroom. Yep, you needed to know that information. It’s very important to this story!

Actually, I will say that while in the stall with Duncan, he crawled under the door of it and tried to run off. I was in there by myself because well, Jamie can’t go in there. I told him to come back but he just giggled and banged on the door so, I did the only thing I could think of to get him not to run out of the bathroom while I couldn’t grab him. I told him there were birds outside and they were gonna get him. It’s not my proudest parenting moment by far but I had to think of something quick before he ran out the door without me.

I regret nothing!

Back to the playground, there wasn’t a lot there but what was there Duncan enjoyed quite a bit. It could be because he’s a kid and all kids love parks, right? Which during this tripped he said a new phrase that who knows when he learned how to say it but, during the drive we stopped at a rest stop that had a park and playground there. It was quite an awesome and I didn’t know how long we were going to stop so at first I didn’t let him go to it. He was real good about it though and he was just looking at it real sad and saying “I wanna play”. It was clear as day, you know how I know? He told the truck driver he wanted to play and he knew exactly what he said. It was adorable, Duncan saying it, not the truck driver!

Anyway, he particularly loved these big balls that were at this park. What boy doesn’t? Sorry, I had to. Gross, I know! He played with them for quite awhile until he discovered every single other thing and that he could throw the bark around without getting yelled at. Score!

It was kind of cold there though so we didn’t stay for very long, just long enough for Jamie to make a few phone calls, stretch our legs, play Duncan out a bit and then it was back on the road again.

You see these chains? They had something similar but it hung differently and this smart cookie got himself stuck in it by threading his arms through. We all have our blonde moments and he’s quite blonde.

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The Road To Quirindi, New South Wales

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We have been back for about a week now and I have been super slack with updating and more importantly uploading the images from the past two trips that we took. The second one we were only back for about 32 hours before we left again so there was no way to post and so on from that time. We do not have a card reader on the laptop or I would’ve kept up on it.

Anyway, enough about the excuses and on to the first trip we did in which we went from Melbourne to Quirindi, New South Wales. Once again, we got there the night before meeting the truckie at the John Deere place and when Duncan woke up he was able to have his view of toot toots.

The toot toot scene always, always, always perks this boy up and makes his day great. He quite enjoys seeing them anywhere that he can. We decided to be lazy that morning and have McDonalds for breakfast which was good but we think a bit too greasy for Duncan and his tummy isn’t used to that. He ended up throwing it up later on in the trip, poor baby!

We didn’t get an easy start to this trip because the truck driver was having problems with his truck and we almost thought that the job was going to get cancelled but, he got it working and we got out of there a little over an hour later than expected.

The scenery going to Quirindi, NSW was insanely gorgeous and we really enjoyed it. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy looking at these views while driving?

The mountain/hills? Fuggitaboutit! I honestly couldn’t tell you where these were taken either because unfortunately, my camera doesn’t have a tag feature with the location like my cell phone. They need to add that feature into cameras, I think it’d be handy.

 

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Mathoura, New South Wales, Australia

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This gorgeous sunset marked the end of our night and the beginning of our journey on looking for the nearest rest area to spend the night at before Duncan had a break down. About that time he had enough of being in the van and wanted to eat and stretch his legs and we didn’t blame him because we were ready for it as well. Jamie originally wanted to make it a little bit further but we ended up stopping in Mathoura, New South Wales which had a rest area that was nice.

When we woke up we began exploring the rest area a little bit which had this map on the side of the information center which didn’t end up opening while we were there sadly. However, they had a few things in the area that were quite nice. The main thing that you couldn’t miss was the massive redgum log wagon.

If you can read the writing on the sign, it was made in 1926 by a Mr Jim Buchanan at the Gulpa Sawmill, Gulpa. The wagon was so big and heavy that they needed to use 12 horses to pull it. That’s quite impressive and it was known to carry up to 3,500 super feet of red gum.

Here is the actual wagon and if you can’t tell by the picture that it’s huge, then you can tell by Duncan standing next to the wheel alone.

He’s a bit taller than the wagon wheel but not by very much at all. Can you imagine what it would look like while they were hauling the logs a long time ago?

Going around the front of the information building there was a statue of a Drover and Horse. The statue was really well done and I loved it.

As the sign says, the statue is a monument to the overlanders who were integral to the development of the Long Paddock traveling stock route. I would like to see the rest of the statues in the series that this is from, it would be really interesting.

We ended up cooking our food on the BBQs there which they supply the gas for you. I was surprised by that because in the States, you have to supply your own coal and such. I have never seen a park having a BBQ which was already equipped for you. I think that is really neat out here in Australia that they do that. We’ve decided that whenever we can we are going to cook on the parks BBQs so to preserve our own gas!

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Beckom, New South Wales, Australia Rest Area

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On our way back to Jamie’s parents place we stopped at the Beckom rest area in New South Wales for lunch. It was a very quiet rest area that had toilets so it was quite the plus for me! That painting was done on the side of the toilets and it says “Home of the Bunyip”. This is what I grabbed off of Wikipedia about the Bunyip and it was pretty much what Jamie told me when I asked him what the hell a Bunyip was.

The bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. The origin of the word bunyip has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of Aboriginal people of South-Eastern Australia.

So, that’s a Bunyip lesson for you that I bet you didn’t know you needed to know!

While we were at the rest area there was only a few people that passed in and out, really quiet area to make lunch. Make lunch we made indeed, nothing special, just some ground beef and chorizo. Duncan thought it was pretty neat to be able to run around without us pulling him back because there were trucks around or streets. He got up and down from the bench as he pleased and even sat on top of it.

This is the first time he has ever really been “camping” as we are calling it so he is getting all these new experiences that he probably won’t remember much of but we will remember it and have the pictures to tell him that he was all these places. Naturally, he’ll say something like he doesn’t remember it so it never happened.

While lunch was cooking he got a bit thirsty because exploring makes you that way. So, Jamie made him up some milk.

Of course, you can’t make it without the boss supervising you so, he had a bit of help.

Can’t tell that they are father and son, can you?

I think we ended up spending about an hour or so there altogether just chilling out and eating. We had the time to pass so it wasn’t a huge deal which was a bit nice.

Of course you have to do the touristy thing and take pictures in front of the things they had there, and that was two poles (although you only see one) which had the names of places on it. It was hand painted so it was really cute. We thought this rest area was really nice, I’d definitely stop there again.