Rising early, we packed Wherearwee,
atteched the Suzuki & set off for Albert, a village of some 70 people. it
was only 2 hours away & it's main claim to fame is the 'Rabbit Trap Hotel'.
As soon as we settled it was time for a long cool schooner & then a quiet
afternoon, I say quiet as there is no phone, no TV, & no internet. Apart
from the pub there is a fuel depot & a couple of dozen houses, that's it!
Dinner was great with large servings as you
expect from a country pub, a few rounds of the brown stuff & it was back to
the van & bed. Toilets & hot showers were provided free.
Next day we continued on our journey,
retracing our steps from the outward journey as our Tasmanian had not been this
way before. We stopped at Merriwa for a pie & then a stop at Dunnedoo for
fuel & a look around. We only travelled another 40K's afterwards &
stopped at Uarbry for the night. We stayed in a large grassed are behind the
community Hall (a large corrugated iron shed) & apart from this there was
only two houses & a few more iron sheds, but it did have a nice cemetary
dating back to the mid 1800's.
It was a short trip next day as we were
only travelling to Denman, 100K's away. It was a nice roadside stop with views
of the Hunter River. Fay had met up with us again on the way so there were 3
for the night. While there 5 other vans stopped for the night & Telarney,
who only lives 20 mins away at Muswellbrook arrived to spend a few hours with
us. She said that she had never seen anyone stopping at this spot before.
Before pushing on Thursday morning we did all our washing as water was
available right where we were stopped.
Thursday morning, Libby got a message
saying that the club needed her as a volunteer (she had applied but was told
she wasn't needed) & that she had to be on site at Salamander Bay 9:00 Friday morning. As Tomago, where we were
staying at the 'Club Tomago' for the
night was only 121K's away, it was only a 2 hour drive. Arriving at lunch time
we went to the club for lunch just sat around for the rest of the day. There
was no grass here only long thorned burrs which were a nightmare for Lulu.
Leaving at 8:00 AM on Friday we arrived at the rally site at 9. Getting sited
took another 30 mins before Libby could register. She spent most of the day
learning what her job was going to be, getting a volunteer shirt & hat
& meeting other volunteers. That evening there was a BBQ for all put on by
the club.
Saturday Libby returned home for a
celebration they were holding for her mother. I spent the day relaxing. taking
Lulu for long walks & meeting up with our fellow traveller who had been
allowed in although the rally didn't start till Monday.
Sunday we did some shopping in the morning
& then Libby worked for the afternoon setting up the main marquee for the
entertainment.
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| At Albert |
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| Most of the volunteers |
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| BBQ for volunteers & partners |
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| Libby in volunteers uniform |
