FROM BRIGHT TO THE SUNSHINE COAST
We managed to leave on the Monday morning at about 8 am which wasn't too bad.
I was traveling in convoy with one other car and we drove to Mount Beauty and then along the Kiewa Valley. Quite picturesque, but much dryer than at the same time last year. We refueled at Tallangatta which is in "the man from Snowy river country"
The trip over the Alps was enjoyable and spectacular and we made a stop at Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. The extreme slope on the roofs of the buildings was interesting. When they are not getting rid of snow they would make great locations for solar panels. There would be enough space to power the whole town I reckon.
We then continued over the rest of the Alps to Cooma that also claims to be "the Man from Snowy River" country.
After Cooma it was a fairly straightforward run to Canberra where I parted company with Tony and Beryl and spent the night at a friends place. Next day it was up and away early to Bathurst via Yass and Cowra. It was good driving with reasonable roads and some interesting towns. At Bathurst of course there was only one place to go. Mount Panorama. The track is phenomenal. I had driven around it 35 years ago, but it has changed considerably since then. Where there were once 3 strand wire fences there are now concrete canyons which makes it all much more claustrophobic over the top portion. The corners are much sharper than they appear on TV and some of the drops mid corner are quite frightening. All in all a very daunting race track.
After visiting the Motor Racing Museum at the track I, continued northwards by sealed but not main roads. I traveled through Sofala, an old gold mining town, Mudgee, Gulgong and on to Gunnedah for the night.
I set off early next day heading north for Goondiwindi on the Qld/NSW border. Some of the towns I went through were Manilla, Barraba, Cobbadah, Bungara, Warialda and Boggabilla. The countryside was dry, but I have seen a lot worse and the stock that I saw were all in good condition. Along the way there were several areas of roadworks where to keep the dust down the dirt had been watered, consequently the poor old car was covered in mud.
From Goondiwindi I went north and then gradually swung east by passing Brisbane and coming out on the Sunshine Coast. After covering 914 Km (a daily record) I arrived at my cousins place where I was to spend a couple of days.
I can't for the life of me work out why Queensland won't adopt daylight saving time like the rest of Australia. It's crazy getting up at 5.30am. I spent a fair while the next day cleaning the car and doing some minor maintenance. The next day I went to Noosa for the day. A nice touristy, holiday place.
The wildlife along the Noosa River was fairly tame as you can see from the photo.