Brisbane Trip - Days 15-17 (The Run Home)

Forgive me for not keeping this up to date.

The last three days have been mainly concentrating on the run home, from Yamba on the coast, through to Tamworth and Parkes in Central New South Wales, and on to Echuca, at the Victorian border, and finally home this afternoon.

Key points on the last few days traveling:

Drought

There appears to be a clear delineation of areas impacted by the drought as opposed to areas where rainfall doesn't appear to be an issue. The demarcation appears to be The Great Dividing Range. Anything inland of the Range still seems to be either suffering from drought or not yet recovered from the drought.

Evidence of this includes:

• The signs at our motel in Tamworth discouraging us of overuse of water with penalties for requiring clean towels ($10 per new towel).
• Conversely, the free drinks that were provided for deciding to use their motel and spending money in Tamworth "still trying to survive during the drought"
• The large number of shops and other commercial facilities closed in the towns we either drove through or stayed in.
• The landscape: Dry with empty creek beds. 
• Dust storms. We saw a number of these between Parkes and Echuca, including this one, near Narrandera (according to the ladies in the bakery at Jerilderie, these are a common occurrence):

Tourism

Armidale: Cafes closed after 2pm.
Tamworth: The self proclaimed home for country music in Australia, including this icon:

but also the greatest collection of Bradman memorabilia in Australia (Closed ANZAC Day)

Parkes: The Australian spiritual home of Elvis Presley. And also this:

Jerilderie: The home of the Kelly Gang, Sir John Monash, and Billy Brownless?

 Echuca: Paddle Steamers, 101 cafes and 102 great shops.

Food

Yeah, I'm going to mention one of the most important parts of travelling.

As a general rule, the local bakery will rarely let you down. They will most likely be open when you need them, their locally made pies wil be tasty, and they will provide service with a smile. I have found this to be the case in most of my travels over the years, but particularly in the last few days. Special mentions to the bakeries at Yamba and Jerilderie.

Apart from bakeries most food business seem to attempt to provide great food and great service.  I had already mentioned the Glasshouse restaurant in Tamworth, but top marks to the Star Hotel in Echuca, the Chinese Restaurant in Parkes and the Gold Club in Yamba. An Encouragement Award to Fusspots of Ebor in the tiny town of Ebor.

Total Km 4,230

Total hours behind the wheel 50

Spotify : Podcasts, podcasts podcasts!

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 14 (Eating)

One of the more involved parts of a family trip involves food; who wants to eat what, do we cook or do we eat out. It's a cost versus convenience versus experience versus indulgence thing.

We have been on the road for 2 weeks (14 days) now. In that time we have cooked the main meal (tea? dinner?) 5 times and have eaten out 9 times. Of those 9 times out, once was at McDonalds (almost not food), and most of the rest has been at the local pub or club.

At least once in every trip I try to enjoy a food experience.

Tonight was that night.

We arrived in Tamworth late this afternoon, however a couple of weeks beforehand I had researched online and had booked for a table for 4 at a place called Glasshouse Restaurant at Goonoo Goonoo Station.

The Glasshouse is about 20 minutes out of Tamworth and is located on an old sheep station that has had a lot of money poured into it over the last 10 years in order for it to be an eating destination. The architectural designs that combine new construction with the historical buildings earned it a swag of awards in 2017. This has then been matched with some glowing food reviews in 2018.

Now it's a Wednesday night, but also during school holidays in New South Wales, and the night before ANZAC Day. I'm glad I booked as there were no spare seats - with total seating for the night at around 100.

The menu is not overly adventurous, nor is it overly complicated. A few things to start with, a few mains and desserts, as well as some meals that can be shared.


We started with Beef  Tartare, to share. This was prepared with mint, watercress and nuoc cham (a Vietnamese Dipping Sauce). We enjoyed this immensely, with the East Asian flavours combined with raw beef.

Main Course saw a split, with Lesley and Nick choosing the duck breast, and Ben and I going for the  rump cap.

Once again the beef was magnificent, cooked to absolute perfection, with a relatively simple combination of carrots, cauliflower puree and asparagus, and additional potatoes cooked in duck fat and a salad.

The duck breast was cooked slightly pink and served with some puff rice and greens. It could not be faulted.

 After a brief period of contemplation, some of us decided to finish with dessert. Lesley had the yoghurt panna cotta. This was well presented, and did not last long on the plate.

Ben and I both chose the butterscotch bombe alaska. Words describing this dish will be replaced by pictures.

Before

After

 It's good to know that great food can be found in restaurants that are hundreds of kilometres away from the main culinary centres in the capital cities.

It think it will be takeaway tomorrow night, in Parkes.

Total Km 3,070

Total hours behind the wheel 39

Spotify : Wil Anderson podcasts

Brisbane Family Trip - Days 13 and 14 (Starting to Head Back)

With the Nationals now over the final phase of the holiday begins.

Monday was about having a bit of a look around a couple of parts of Brisbane, however the mood of the rest of the family is definitely one of looking to the trip back home.

We still have five and a half more days to go!

So, where to go in Brisbane? Our apartment was located in the cultural precinct of Brisbane, which included the museum, concert hall, ABC Studios, Music Conservatory as well as other cultural stuff.

The museum was closest, so first cab off the rank.

Only one happy snap, from the outside:

I'm not sure if you can guess from the photo - the museum had a special exhibit on NASA and space exploration. It not only included NASA, but had a fair bit of history regarding the initial German rocket program in WWII as well as the Soviet space program in the fifties. In also included replicas of a lot of the vehicles that flew to the moon as well as used on the moon.  It was well put together and worth visiting.

Lunch was next, at the The Charming Squire. They mucked up the order (Lesley didn't get her lunch). It was an easy thing to do (we're all only human), and I don't get too upset with these things depending upon how the restaurant reacts to it. They were perfect. Lots of apologies, a fix up of the missed order and some complementary food whist waiting for the food to arrive. I judge a restaurant by how they go about correcting mistakes, and they get top marks for that.

After lunch we decided to board the Big Wheel (sponsored heavily by Channel 7), and see the sights from up high, before then heading back along the riverside and back to the apartment. A few more pics:

Today saw us start the trip back home.

Highlight of the morning (for me) was the visit to Tropical Fruit World, just south of the Queensland border. It is the home of the giant avocado:

I would have liked to have stayed for the tour, however the family are starting to show signs of travel fatigue, so instead opted to try a big plate of tropical fruit. Apart from some watermelon, a blueberry, a pineapple and some mandarin I had no idea what the other fruit was. Dragon fruit? Papaya? There were about 9 or 10 types of fruit, most were new flavours to me and absolutely delicious.

Stopover tonight is at Yamba, a coastal town south of Ballina. I like the vibe here, and want to come back for a longer stay.

Tomorrow, we head inland.

Total Km 2,660

Total hours behind the wheel 34

Spotify :Relistening to Childproof - a live play podcast created by Tony Martin

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 12 (Nationals Reflection)

My memory is a little hazy, however I think this was my twelfth Nationals Campaign. Brief recap here:

1986 (Adelaide) - still in high school, this was the only time I played with St Leos College CBC at a Nationals event. My first Nationals with the legendary John Woods as conductor, and playing trombone, my preferred instrument.

1990 (Melbourne) - my first with Box Hill City Band (then in A grade), and under the baton of the abovementioned John Woods. I think the venue was the Robert Blackwood Hall? No clear memory of most of this event.

1994 (Melbourne) - Melbourne Town was the venue, and I have a very clear memory of being stopped by Barry McKimm, the composer of the piece we had just played (Ash Wednesday) and being accused of playing a wrong note that affected the entire mood of the piece (in my defence the music was hand written by the composer, and had numerous transposition errors).

1998 (Melbourne) - Joe O'Callaghan had taken over the baton from John as musical director. The highlight of this was winning the "Own Choice"section, with a piece called Trittico. The audio tape we received with the adjudicator's comments started with an exclamation of "Holy Moly!" as we dazzled him with the opening bars of the piece.

2002 (Geelong) - I was on the Victorian Bands League organising committee for this Championships, and it was a contest from hell, as infighting combined with a financial disaster saw this to be an experience I did not want to repeat. Musically, we had the opportunity to play at the Frank Costa Hall in Geelong, and I think this was my first Nationals playing an instrument other than trombone (euphonium).

2007 (Melbourne) - I had taken a year off and had returned to a new conductor (David Farrell), and had taken the opportunity to play another instrument for these Championships (Eb Tuba). No great memory of this event.

2009 (Sydney) - My first interstate Championships with Box Hill, just a couple of months after Black Saturday. This trip did not go well. Wrong headspace to be taking part, and would lead to my resignation from the band a couple of months later.

2010 (Hobart) - New band (Footscray-Yarraville City Band (FYCB)) and new conductor (Phillipa Edwards) in the highly competitive "A" Grade. I was playing second baritone, with my sister-in-law on first baritone, and brother playing Eb Tuba. The highlight for me was playing one of my favorite major works for brass band, Extreme Makeover.

2011 (Adelaide) - My contesting pinnacle to date as FYCB came second in A Grade overall. This was a great result achieved after a lot of hard work leading up to the event. That second place did feel earned.

2012 (Melbourne) - After some time off in the latter half of 2011 I returned to FYCB, this time on tenor horn. This is not my favourite instrument and was (will be) my only Nationals playing tenor horn.

2018 (Melbourne) - After resigning from FYCB in 2012 I took a few years off playing to deal with other life issues. However 2016 saw me return to Box Hill City Band to reacquaint myself with brass bands. Simon Brown was the new conductor and I ended up playing first baritone. It was a great re-entry into contesting at a National level.

Which then leads us to 2019 (Brisbane) -
The band conducted an interesting experiment where, instead of having rehearsals all the way up to the Nationals (I know of some bands where they will rehearse nightly in the week leading to the contest), we would have a week or so off. The last rehearsal we had was on Sunday 7th April then had a rehearsal on Thursday night (18th). This was organised to allow people to have some sort of holiday with their families before attending the Nationals. It also allowed the band to come up to Brisbane feeling fresh, rather than tired. This experiment was in keeping with the band's ethos as a social community band rather than a fiercely competitive one.

I think the experiment was a success.

Box Hill City Band came fourth overall (from a total of 16 bands).

We are very pleased with the result.

I am very happy with both how I played, as well as how the band played.

This is the first contest I have had in recent memory (ever?) where I wasn't affected by severe nerves on stage. I see this as a personal win. I feel I have conquered ... something, and is an achievement on par with the band's placing.

Rest day today - will probably do some touristy stuff here in Brisbane, before we start the long road back home tomorrow.

Brisbane Family Trip - Days 10 and 11 (Nationals Midpoint)

I write this at the midpoint of our Nationals campaign.

For those of you blissfully unaware of what the National Band Championships are, let me give you a brief run down, of what it is and why I'm here.

I currently play the position of first baritone for the mighty Box Hill City Band (BHCB). BHCB is a brass band currently graded as B grade. The grading of brass bands is based on many things (I am led to believe), and BHCB has been either a B grade or A grade (being the top grade) band since I was first involved with them back in 1988.

A lot of brass bands do this funny thing in that they compete in contests against each other to determine which is the best band. This is a tradition that has come across from the home of brass bands (the UK). Contests are now held all over the world. The annual pinnacle of this is the European Brass Band Championships which is being held next weekend in Montreux, Switzerland. Sort of like the Eurovision song contest only in that the best of each country play for the crown of European Champions (not the funny costumes, bad acts and parochial voting).

How do you determine which is the best band? Well in Australia, there are four pieces that each band plays that are then adjudicated and allocated points. Add up the points for each piece and the winner is the one that gets the highest overall points.

The four pieces that each band plays are:

Hymn - a piece that is from a church hymnal or a variation thereof. This can go for up to 5 or 6 minutes.(I'm not exactly sure of the time limits imposed here. The National Bands Council of Australia has a rule book that deals with all these things. I cannot be bothered reading it.)

Test Piece - this is a major piece of work that all bands in that grade have to play. The piece can run from about 10 to 20 minutes. Sometimes, as is the case this year, the test piece is music that the organisers have commissioned for the Championships.

Major Work - sort of like the Test piece except it's a work chosen by the band rather than imposed on the band.

March - There's a list somewhere of a bunch of marches that have been written for brass bands over the last century and half. We select a march from that list and play it on stage (not marching).

In addition there is the Parade of Bands. A "showcasing" of bands to the public. In Brisbane this year the Parade is held in the centre of the city. There is also a contest to determine the best marching band, which is separate from the Championships themselves. Most bands would prefer not to march expect for the fact that if you want to win the Championships you have to march in the Parade.

On Friday the band has performed the Hymn - a world premier of a piece titled "... and tears no bitterness" by Queensland composer, and friend of the band, Ralph Hultgren - and Test Piece - The Legend of Pandora by Benjamin Tubb-Hearne. This morning we fulfilled our obligation to march in the Parade.

The band are happy with their performance on Friday and are looking forward to playing the Major Work and March on Sunday. Then it will be time to celebrate (or not), have a couple of drinks, unwind and then look forward to the next contest.

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 9 (Mass Exodus)

After having a bit of a chat with our hosts for the last couple of days (Bruce and Robyn), we bid Ballina farewell and started on the final leg of our journey north to Brisbane.

We had a fair bit of time up our sleeve so I made what I thought would be a quick detour to Byron Bay first.

Big mistake.

Wikipedia has the population of Byron Bay at 9,246. At a zero on to the end of that and that's how many people were either in, or traveling to Byron Bay today. I had forgotten that today was the day before the longest of long weekends. It seems many people were looking to extend the long weekend out by a couple of days. Everyone does it, tries to do it, or wants to do it. It felt as though Byron Bay was the target of all these early holiday makers.  After a half hour of crawling around town, seeing no parking spaces free and getting slightly frustrated, I said Bugger This and got back to the Highway leading in to Brisbane.

From there the trip to the centre of the CBD in Brisbane was actually quite smooth (compared to Sydney and Melbourne, anyway), with not a lot of traffic the way we were heading.  The highway leading out from Brisbane painted a very different picture.

Thousands upon thousands of these early holiday makers stuck in a traffic snarl that stretched for, I reckon, about 20 kilometres. The mass exodus out of Brisbane was quite astounding. Many of us in the sound see Queensland and its capital as a holiday destination, forgetting that those living there cannot wait to leave to rest and relax somewhere else.

The central Brisbane road system makes absolutely no sense. No logical grid formations, as in Melbourne. It feels as though many factors contributed to their layout and that planning was not one of them.

Today marks a change over from phase one of our holiday - the long amble from home to Brisbane, to phase two of our holiday - the primary purpose of Brisbane as the road trip destination; the 2019 Australian Band Championships. More more on that tomorrow.

Brisbane Family Trip - Days 7 & 8

For the two or three of you who are actually reading this blog you will have noticed that I missed the day 7 entry. No big reason for it, just realised at about 10:30 last night that I had forgotten to do it, couldn't be arsed to do it then and then went to bed.

So, yesterday morning, after a very leisurely breakfast at the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club (or Yachtie Restaurant) I set out to find and take a photo of the two other Big Things at Coffs Harbour. They were underwhelming:

Bunch of Bananas - this didn't even originate from Coffs Harbor. This started its life in a town called Sawtell, and moved to Coffs Harbour when Sawtell was bypassed with a highway upgrade,

The Big Windmill - actually the top of a Bavarian Restaurant. Not sure of the connection, other than a very broad - two things in Europe - connection. Sort of like the Eiffel Tower and borscht.

Once we left Coffs Harbour it was a non-stop drive to our destination for the next two nights, Ballina.

Some observations from that trip:

• There is a 120km stretch of highway that is currently undergoing a major upgrade. According to our AirBNB provider (or landlord), the upgrade started about 5 years ago and still has another 2 years to go. Having driven through other parts of the Pacific Highway where the upgrade have recently been completed, these upgrades cannot come too soon enough.
• We are well and truly in a different climate zone. Sugar Cane fields as far as the eye can see and lots of rain (we in the South have forgotten what that is). Lots of leafy green foliage on the side of the road, overgrown grass and mini-jungles.
• As a group, New South Welshmen (and Welshwomen) drivers are (insert your favourite descriptive expletive here) bad drivers. I'm talking about ignoring speed limits, aggressive driving, selective use of lines, the whole lot. I hope this is not something where the further north you go the worse the drivers are.

So we arrived in Ballina yesterday afternoon.

As we are about a week into our trip I have felt a slight change in my outlook, as is mostly always the case. I find that it takes me about a week into any holiday before I start to unwind, and this trip has proved that to be the case. I had a pretty good night's sleep last night and felt a lot more chill about things today. This will change tomorrow as we enter the second phase of the trip, and we enter into the zone that is National Band Championships.

A couple of things about Ballina:

They have some pretty damn fine beaches.

They have a big prawn! (This is how you do it!)

On a per person basis, they must be the hairdressing capital of Australia. A population of 16,500 with over 30 hairdressing salons, barber shops and other clip joints. Or almost a quarter of the shops in the main shopping strip.

They have a great selection of cafes and restaurants.

Looking forward to the final stretch to Brisbane.
 

Total Km2,049

Total hours behind the wheel 27 1/4

Spotify : Tony Martin's Sizzletown Podcasts (continued)

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 6 (Big Things)

Today was essentially a rest day after the traveling yesterday, though "rest day" is a relative term when you are on a holiday.

Late afternoon I felt like getting out and seeing the sights of Coffs Harbour, as we are only a couple of km down the road from it.

I also wanted to visit The Big Banana so it can be ticked off my "Big Things" list.

What's a Big Thing?

According to the plaque in front of the actual The Big Banana (photo below) "Big Things are now a form of artistic expression unique to Australia."

This is also recognised in Wikipedia - "The big things have become something of a cult phenomenon, and are sometimes used as an excuse for a road trip, where many or all big things are visited ..."

Preposterous! (excuse for a road trip, who would come up with such a thing ..)

Anyway, some of the more memorable Big Things I have encountered on previous trips include:

• The Big Lobster - Kingston SE, South Australia (I remember stopping and having lunch with the family one trip quite a few years ago. They were serving lobster on the menu - as well as prawns, crabs, and other crustaceans. Not sure if that restaurant is still open).
• The Big Penguin - Penguin, Tasmania (where else?)
• The Giant Koala - Dadswell's Bridge, Victoria (I think this was actually the first big thing I remember seeing.)
• The Big Pheasant -  at the entrance of Gumbuyah Park (now World), Tynong, Victoria.

This holiday, I have quite a few I want to tick off the list.

• The Big Merino - located in Goulburn, New South Wales (Tick - mentioned in an earlier entry).
• The Big Avocado - at  Tropical Fruit World, Duranbah
• The Big Prawn - Ballina, New South Wales.
• The Big Golden Guitar - Tamworth, New South Wales

 And there are a few located in Coffs Harbor

• The Big Banana
• Big Bunch of Bananas
• The Big Windmill
• The Big Slurpee (unfortunately dismantled in 2009)

So this is why Ben and I found ourselves driving to The Big Banana this afternoon.

The Big Banana itself measures 13 meters by 5 meters, so not hugely big when compared to the Big Merino (15m x 18m) or the big lobster (17m x 15m x 13m), however it's bigger than most of the ones you'd find at your greengrocer.

Proof of Visit

The Big Banana lays claim to it being the first of Australia's Big Things; built in 1964.

Now The Big Banana complex isn't just the oversized fruit. The property covers 45 acres and includes:

• Cheese Making Workshop
• Candy Making Workshop
• Souvenir Shop (obviously!)
• Cafe
• 4D Theatre Experience
• Mini Golf Course
• Laser Tag
• Ice Skating Rink
• 82 Metre Water Slide
• Downhill Toboggan Ride
• Water Park
• Gem Stone/Jewellery shop

 and soon to open  - reptile park.

So you can spend a fair while there.

As the website says - It's a whole BUNCH of FUN!

We had a look around, made commitments for a future visit (sometime), bought a The Big Banana T-shirt, shotglass (2) and fridge magnet, and then headed back for a drink.

We'll be leaving Coffs Harbour tomorrow to head further north, once we've visited Coffs Harbour's other Big Things.

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 5 (On the Road Again)

Today was mostly about driving.

Thoughts for the day:

• The main highway from Sydney to Newcastle is in dire need of either a repair or a serious upgrade.
• School Holidays in New South Wales is one week later than for Victoria. This meant that a lot of New South Welshman decided to leave for their holiday destination today. Or it felt like it.
• Gosford seems to be a popular destination for Sydney-ites(?) looking to take a week off.
• Ditto Terrigal.
• Port Macquarie and Newcastle are places I need to visit. We drove past both cities today.
• Nick can handle unfamiliar, narrow, windy roads like a boss.
• Food at McDonalds is dependably meh.
• It's easier to travel long distances when sharing with two other drivers.

Rest day tomorrow.

Total Km 1,793

Total hours behind the wheel 23 3/4

Spotify : Tony Martin's Sizzletown Podcasts

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 4 (Reckless)

My first visit to Sydney was made almost exactly ten years ago. Easter 2009, only a couple of months after the Black Saturday bushfires had tore through the Kinglake Ranges. The National Band Championships that year were in Sydney and Box Hill City Band decided to head north and try its  luck.  I did not enjoy that trip, for a variety of reasons, except for one afternoon where our bus dropped us off at Manly Wharf. We had a couple of beers and some pizza, then took the ferry back to the city. Seeing the famous Bridge and Opera House from the water was a special moment. I wanted to recreate that moment.

The trip from Katoomba to Manly took almost three hours. A combination of roadworks, a couple of misunderstandings of GPS directions and the notoriously bad Sydney traffic meant we didn’t arrive in Manly until early afternoon. We were thirsty, so found a Bavarian restaurant and ordered a couple of drinks.

The middle glass was lemonade. Lowenbrau on either side.

We then tucked into a shared Munich Brewers platter - sausages, schnitzel, pork knuckle, more pork, cabbage and potatoes. Lesley had fish and chips.

After lunch it was time to board the ferry. At Manly. Heading to the city. At Circular Quay.

I’ll let the photos take over from here.

From Circular Quay we walked over to Opera House, took a few more photos, then boarded another ferry back to Manly. The trip back to Katoomba only took to hours.

It was a good afternoon.

Big day of driving tomorrow.

Total Km 1,161

Total hours behind the wheel 15 1/2

Spotify Playlist of the Day: Your Top Songs 2018

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 3 (Scenic World)

Katoomba was not a place I knew much about when planning for this trip. Part of the reason why I chose this town as a stop was a) it wasn't in Sydney but wasn't far from Sydney b) something about the Blue Mountains and c) Three Sisters (a rock formation?).

When we first entered Katoomba yesterday I saw sign pointing to the lookout for Three Sisters but also saw signs for a place called Scenic World.  This was not a name that initially inspired hope. The name is uninspiring, (Piss Weak World, anyone?). However did a little bit of research on the internet and decided it was worth a visit today.

And Wow!

Basics first. Scenic World is effectively made up of four attractions; Scenic Railway, Scenic Skyway, Scenic Cableway and Scenic Walkway. Or as the sign in the building said:

 Now this was a very popular tourist attraction. Lots of people from all nationalities seemed to be in attendance today. And for one very good reason. The scenery here is absolutely spectacular.I dont think that words will do it justice, nor my amateur photography. However for what it's worth here are some pictures taken during the day:

The Scenic Skyway with the Jamison Valley in the background

Orphan Rock

The tracks for the Scenic Railway. The photo may not show it but that is a steep track!

View from down at the bottom of the Scenic Railway Station.

I forget what this one is called. I liked the photo though, so it;s here.

The Jamison Valley

That's the Three Sisters on the left hand side. Whilst one of the iconic structures of the area, in all honesty it's overtaken by its surroundings.

The Scenic Walkway was also home to an art exhibition - Sculpture at Scenic World 2019. Here are some highlights.

Y? (a pretty obvious title)

I forget this title. Something to do with oil drums being re-imagined as nature.

Yeah, forgot this title as well. Metal in the forest?

Regret

Into the Woods Red Mountain Wood - I found this one a bit creepy.

I forget this one as well, but they looked like Dragon Eggs - sponsored by HBO?

If you find yourself in or around Katoomba I strongly I strongly recommend a trip to Scenic World.

Sydney tomorrow.

No real additions to time or km in the car. Scenic World is less than a couple of minutes from the Katoomba town centre.

No music on play today.

Brisbane Family Trip - Day 2 (To Katoomba)

Day 2 saw us leaving Gundagai without taking any photos of the dog sitting on that tuckerbox (and yes, commenter from yesterday, it is not actually in Gundagai, but about 7km further on.

Lesley would not allow me to stop for photos or souvenirs.  So here is a photo taken when we were last here, a couple of years ago:

Brunch was at Rosie's Cafe in Yass. Yass is not what would be considered a tourist town, but at least the food was nice.

Once we left Yass we entered unchartered territory as we started driving further north than we had  ever been. Congratulations to Nick for the honour of being the driver as we crossed that threshold.

An hour north of Yass and we reached the town of Goulburn. The signs indicated that it was the oldest inland European town, however my interest was in something else:

The Big Merino is over 15 metres high, built with concrete and weighing 97 tonnes. The statue is based on a stud ram called Rambo that was located on a nearby property.

After the obligatory souvenirs (fridge magnet and shot glass), we quickly left Goulburn and started heading north and up, into the Blue Mountains.

We initially passed through kilometres and kilometres of pine plantations. This reminded me of the South West Victorian and Mt Gambier timber regions, only a lot higher. At one point we were at 1355m above sea level; not quite Kosciuszko, but more than twice as high as the peak of Mount Dandenong.

We eventually arrived at the town of Oberon, the regional commercial and industrial centre.

Coffee and cake were purchased at Monkey Bean Cafe. We appreciated their commitment to their logo:

We arrived in Katoomba and our AirBNB housefor the next couple of days shortly before 5.

The view:

A quiet night in before exploring the region tomorrow.

Total Km 925

Total hours behind the wheel 10 1/2

Spotify Playlist of the Day: James Bond Songs