Condamine - my childhood home

 In 1956 Reg Britton and his young wife Billie (Dad and Mum) brought their first home and some land in Condamine QLD. With them was a toddler (me 😊) and a baby (my sister Donna). I spent all my childhood at Condamine finally leaving in 1970 to go to boarding school in Toowoomba and then permanently in 1971 to join the Navy.

Through hard work and determination Dad established a livestock trucking business and during our childhood years we were what would be considered at the time to be “reasonably well off”. Every school holiday was spent on the Sunshine Coast at Caloundra and when home we had a great ski boat.

Our house

Growing up very small country town was probably the best childhood (I am biased) anyone could ever wish for. Those were the days when children could wander anywhere (as long as they were home by dark) and parents didn’t have to worry about them.

So, it was school, sport, swimming, fishing, shooting, skiing, holidays on the coast and weekends out on my school mates’ farms.

Star pupil in 1966

So, on our wandering around the east coast this trip we decided to spend two nights in Condamine. 

There is not much that is familiar after fifty-five years, but our family home is still occupied and Dad’s truck shed, although falling down, is still recognisable, and some things are familiar close up.

It was good to wander around town and reminisce about my childhood days.

Short video is HERE

Foot Note: Mum and Dad left Condamine late 1971 as well, as increasing competition (every man and his dog were buying a truck and selling services cheap) and the QLD Rail Tax Levy (charged to Trucking Companies who competed with the State-owned Railways) made it unviable to keep the business going.

Inland NSW

 It’s just over 1000 kilometers from the Victorian Border at Mulwala to Goondiwindi in Queensland via the Newal Highway. Our trek took us through some great country towns – from south to north - Narrandera, West Wyalong, Forbes, Parkes, Dubbo, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Narrabri, Moree, and Goondawindi.

My dish

We spent eight nights at various showgrounds, free camps and caravan parks.

Some of the highlights/lowlights of our trip north were:

• The big Dish at Parkes Observatory (highly recommended)

• We dodged the “bomb cyclone” that devastated the coast

Peak Hill Mine

• Walk trail through the now closed Peak Hill Gold mine.

• Met some nice folk – who will be heading west to WA

• After leaving the free camp near Dubbo we got 50 km down the road to Gilgandra and the Pajero automatic transmission over temperature warning light came on. These things always seem to happen on a Sunday – so back to Dubbo caravan park. Luckily a guy at the Park recommended a mechanic next door to the Park and he had us up and going again by late Monday. Turns out that the mechanic at the radiator place in Adelaide decided to bypass the radiator cooling line for the auto transmission which was fine until we hit strong head winds and hills. Don’t think he factored in us towing 2,800Kg of caravan?

• Since leaving Dubbo after the repairs, the car has been running great - up and down a lot of hills, so hopefully now (finally) all good.

Now in Queensland – our fourth state since leaving home in May. Looking forward to some warmer weather, catching up with family and boiled salted peanuts.

The video at the link is a mish mash of photos of our journey north. I am sure that we missed many things, but you will get an idea of how the trip went. Video is HERE

Lake Mulwala

 I have been dreaming about fishing for Murray Cod at Lake Mulwala (Yarrawonga/Mulwala) for months now and it was the primary reason to stack the kayak on top of the car. 

Well – as usual it was a great place to camp with views across the lake, lots of birdlife and plenty of flat grassy camping spots. Very quiet at this time of year with only a few campers even on weekends. BUT – after a good ten hours of paddling round in the yak throwing lures at every tree (and there are thousands of them), log and anything else of interest not a single bump, follow or anything to indicate that there was a fish in the lake (probably because the water was freezing).

Did I mention freezing - we have never been so cold on some of the cloudy days, with a lot of frost in the mornings and everything iced up and wet till at least 10AM. So, to go out in the yak – standing in the water to launch and only being warm in the middle of the day (on days it was sunny) was a real challenge. 

Although after the frosty mornings it was usually a beautiful sunny day with the temperatures soaring to a balmy 14C on some days (did I mention the freezing weather?). 

We no longer clean the caravan just defrost it! Just joking – the new diesel heater has been running almost nonstop and works a treat.

We did cop a few days of strong winds and heavy rain with minor flooding under our awning necessitating some extended trench work to try and drain the excess water.

We were lucky to catch up with some friends from Mandurah who were also meandering their way through the eastern states with caravan in tow. Alan and Sally (and Rosie the hound) camped near us for a few nights and was great to catch up and enjoy some time together.

Not sure if I will ever make it back this way, but if I do it will certainly not be in winter. 

Great place to camp, nice country and towns – unfortunately no fish.

Short Video is HERE