28/04/15 - Lowood - Woodford Qld

Last night whilst talking to the caretaker he happened to mention that there was a caravan club arriving with about 75-80 vans expected, so we thought it was time to move on!

The drive took us along the Brisbane River and Lockyer Valley through Esk and skirted the very big Wivenhoe Dam.

27/04/15 - Lowood Qld

Had a look around the Lowood area and Jo took the opportunity to use the laundromat to get some washing done.

Nice showground to camp at.

A display of the rescue boat the "The Gig" commemorates the pioneers of the district.  
"The Gig" was a rescue boat built as a response to the February 1893 floods, which the Lowood community raised funds for its purchase.   The boat was used for rescuing flood victims and the transporting of supplies to isolated homes.

Some interesting old war paraphernalia on display, a 3" mortar

and a 500lb High Drag bomb, detonated above ground, as used in Vietnam.

26/04/15 - Toowoomba - Lowood Qld

Moving ever closer to Maleny, left Toowoomba at lunch time today after having done a bit of grocery shopping.

All the shops were closed all day yesterday because of ANZAC Day, a real mark of respect of the retailers in Toowoomba, not sure whether the same was happening elsewhere in Queensland, normally in Victoria they close in the morning and open between 12 - 1 pm.

Only did 80km today, but the descent down the Toowoomba Range was interesting to say the least. Very steep descent, low gears all the way down and some arrester beds for some (mainly trucks) that run out of brakes.

Now camped at Lowood Showground, a very nice camping spot indeed, pictures to come.

25/04/15 - Toowoomba - Qld

Quiet day today, went in to town and visited the main War Memorial Park - East Creek - Toowoomba, it being the 100th Anniversary of the 1915 ANZAC forces landing at Gallipolli.

Took quite a few photos and will add some more at a later date, but this one took me a while to get with so many people visiting the War Memorial I had to wait quite a while to get a shot without people.

 

There was a cross with handmade poppies on each corner of the square around the memorial and there were lots of floral tributes. 

Here I am waiting "patiently" for my chance to take a photo sans people!

Jo was somewhat luckier, spotted this young Navy Officer and his partner walk up to the memorial and stand there for a time in contemplation.

Very moving pictures I think.

 

24/04/15 - Allora - Toowoomba Qld

Big drive today, all 65km of it.

We had ordered a multi-function printer on the internet from JB HiFi for pickup from their Toowoomba store, so that is what we did.

It is a WiFi model so the boss can keep her Ebay sales going while we are on the road.

We are camped in the Toowoomba Showgrounds, right on the edge of a lake, nice private spot with a great view.

Jo took a couple of nice photos.

 

23/04/15 - Allora Qld

Spent a pleasant day in Allora, nice sunny weather, so went for a walk through the town.

The children of the local school had made a lot of poppies for next Saturdays' 100th Gallipoli anniversary.

This fence is right next to the Allora War Memorial Park, where there are memorials for the Boer War

as well as WWI, it is amazing to see the number of men that went to war from this relatively small town, there are multiple names for several families, some as many as 4!

then there is a memorial for WWII, far fewer names and this one also serves for Malaya, Korea and Vietnam.

At the back of this park is another park with a footbridge that goes to the local golf course, all very green, something we don't see in Bendigo this time of the year.

Finished off the day with a nice dinner in the Railway Hotel, roast chicken and vegies, yum!

22/04/15 - Armidale NSW - Allora Qld

Woke to another wet and cold morning in Armidale, packed up and kept going north. Pity as what we saw of Armidale was very attractive, lots of deciduous trees in glorious autumn colours.
Armidale has a good "feel" to it with lots of beautiful old buildings.

The bad weather lasted all the way through Glen Innes and finally started to clear when we approached Tenterfield. Had a (very) brief look at the showground in Tenterfield but decided that even at half the asking price ($25) it would not be worth staying there. Not a level site to be found and all very boggy, so on we moved.

The whole trip up here today was very scenic with lots of deciduous trees to be seen through New England, especially some very tall poplars, lots of farm driveways lined with those.
Definitely worth a return visit, but preferably with better weather.

Stopped in Allora, which has a very nice showground, which is were we decided to stop for a night or 2.

Another cold night, so we had pea and ham soup for dinner.

19/04/15 - Wallabadah - Armidale NSW

Arrived here on the Sunday and that night the weather changed. It blew a gale, had to take the awning in, and we had a lot of rain overnight.

On Monday it was so cold we had to get the electric heater out, this after all those days of mid to high 20s!

Tuesday it was even colder, only got to 10C and again a fair bit of rain.

18/04/15 - Gulgong - Wallabadah NSW

Left Gulgong reluctantly this morning as we really enjoyed our stay here, will be back one day.

Mae a slight detour to Dunedoo, the place where Rob Ingram of Country Style magazine fame lives. We have both been reading Robs' column on the back page of Country Style for years, and funny columns they have been too.

Stopped in Merriwa, had a look at a couple of op shops and a little market (which didn't amount to much!).

Then on to Scone via a fairly narrow and bumpy road.

Filled up with diesel in Scone, saw some very long coal trains along the New England Highway.

Final stop for the day at Wallabadah First Fleet memorial Park,  a free camp that isn't quite, the "suggest a $10 donation. Why not just make it a $10 charge and be done with it, or just ask for an unspecified donation.
Anyway, quite a nice little place to stop for the one night permitted.

17/04/15 - Gulgong - Hill End NSW

Before heading out to Hill End we stopped and had a quick look at the War Memorial in Anzac Memorial Park in Gulgong.

Also a brief look at the statue of Henry Lawson, Gulgong hosts a Henry Lawson Festival every year and there is a Henry Lawson Museum here (which we didn't visit!)

On to Hill End, passing through Hargraves we came upon yet another war memorial, this one had a captured WW1 German Maxim machine gun mounted in it.

There is a very interesting museum in the village, which is run by NPNSW.

There is an extensive collection of old machinery etc outside the building in the grounds of the museum, which can be viewed free of charge, but there is a huge $2.20 entry charge to enter the building!

First a selection of photos of the old machinery.

An old gold battery.

Which of course was steam driven.

 

Various carriages are also on display, including an original Cobb & Co coach.

Another old gold battery, a smaller one this time.

The smithy is right next door.

With an interesting piece of equipment outside, at a guess it was used for bending things.

And this is what Hill End was all about, gold, the largest nugget found here

 

It stood 4'9" tall was 2'2" wide 4" thick and weighed 630lbs, it netted the finders, Holtermann and Beyers, a cool 12000 pound sterling, Don't know what that would be in current dollars, but by all accounts it was a lot!

No Medicare in those days, a visit here would have been expensive.

Some nice old cameras, including a stereo one.

Off for a walk around Hill End, with a lot of the heritage listed buildings still in use.