There was movement at the station....

Hello from the banks of the Snowy River!

Since Eden we had a short hop to Bournda NP. Not much to report because there were no fish in either the sea or the lake! The camp site was pretty ritzy tho with hot showers and good facilities. We also were rudely awakened during the night by a possum who had broken into the annex for a sticky beak. From Bournda we headed for the hills to a midpoint to break up the drive to a place called Numeralla. Again not much to report, we got to the mighty Numeralla River and it was dirty and ridden with carp.

So now we are into day 3 of a stint in the hills. Only one small trout bagged by Bronson to report at this stage but we have another day or so here to add to the tally. The country is magnificent and one can see why you would be tempted to launch into reciting bush poetry. Again some fire struck areas that were hit hard in 2003 but the bush is doing what it does best and coming back strong. The water is very cold on the tootsies when wet wading, not suprising really seeing there is still snow on the peaks. Think we will have to leave the climbing of the summit of Kosciusko for a return trip. This has been the highlight of our trip so far, although Lulu is labouring up the hills and is inclined to disagree with us!

We did come across the national park's nudist colony this afternoon. Upon returning to our camp site from the first night we mounted the hill to be confronted by an elderly couple enjoying a spot of fishing in the nude! Upon reflection Bronson thinks he has figured out why our fishing tally is low for this leg of the trip...apparently we have been using the wrong tackle!

Must be time for another Bacardi, over and out for now!

Over the border we go.

Well we finally made it through Victoria and into NSW. After Shipwreck Creek we spent a couple of nights in the Ben Boyd national park at Bittangabee Bay. It was when we arrived here after traveling along 35km of gravel road that we discovered the back door on Lulu wasn't shut properly. You should have seen the dust inside the van! And we're still finding it! We didn't get to do a whole lot of fishing here, just a quick couple of casts from the rocks where I managed a small kelp fish. Probably akin to catching a parrot fish back home. Still, it's another one for the species count. On our second day there we went for a bit of a stroll out to Green Cape to the light house which was about 7km each way. It was a very nice spot, perched up on the cliffs with the swells smashing against the rocks. We saw a couple of enormous whales just out to sea and a few seals frolicking in close. We decided then and there that we'd very much like to become lighthouse keepers for our next jobs (Later that night we reviewed this decision when the fog rolled in and the fog horn started up!). On the walk back we came across an echidna nosing around who was a little nervous having us there. I think he could smell us which was no surprise given that we hadn't had a shower for a couple of days. We shared our campsite with an assortment of roos and swamp wallabies and even a couple of lyre birds. We left Bittangabee on the Monday after having pancakes for breakfast (a substitute for a birthday cake!) and made our way to Eden. Given the lack of sun over the past few days the solar panel was struggling to keep up with the fridge so we have settled in a caravan park for a couple of nights to hopefully recharge a bit. This also allowed us to do some washing, including ourselves! Still the sun isn't playing ball so we're not out of the woods yet. At least we were able to let someone else worry about the washing up last night when Ruth took me out to tea. As for where next? We're not quite sure, so many places to see. Might even head up into Kosciusko for a look which could mean trout fishing. It could also mean cold! We'll see.
Anyways, enough ramblings from me, we hope you're all well and being good. Love from us!

Cicada Melodies

From Lake Tyers we travelled to Mueller Inlet near Tamboon (but not if you believed our Navman!). A couple of nights camped on the bank of the inlet gave us the opportunity for surf fishing, fly fishing and a bit of bait fishing in the inlet too. The species count has been broadened somewhat with the addition of bream, mullet and puffer fish. A brim and mullet were caught on the dry fly when we happened across a hatch. The mullet was still a bit green when it hit the bank as it was so small it got pulled out of the water on the first strike! Whilst peacefully reading and fishing on the beach we were interrupted by a F1-11 flying sideways just in-front of the breaking waves, didn't hear it coming, it was almost past us before we noticed it!

From Mullers we went to Mallacoota, restocked the fridge with some supplies and went back to Shipwreck Creek. A tall forested area with only a couple of campsites so it was nice and quiet. A bit of a trudge down to the beach but very pretty all the same. Serenity was some what compromised by the continual chorus of cicadas. We thought we were going nuts and was convinced we could still hear them long after they went to bed, think they were ringing in our ears. Shipwreck creek saw the advent of our first live wombat and even a whale splashing about off in the distance. The area had been ravaged by bushfires not that long ago but it was great to see the xanthoreas coming back and flowering on mass. Night fishing paid off the best here, Brons even managed to land an eating sized salmon. It was lovely encrusted with dukka and a little lime!

We'll cross the boarder today and head to Wonboyn. For a little more of same - fishing and sunshine (we hope!). Then maybe a night in the big smoke of Eden for Bronson's birthday on Monday.

Apologies for slack reply to phone messages - we are getting off the beaten track a bit and reception is not that great.

Love to you all

Can I catch fish or what?!

Greetings from Lake Tyers, where I managed our first fish for the trip. And what a corker! Check out the trip photos for a picture of said monster. We're just a little north east of Lake's Entrance where there happened to be no free camping. We've been here for a night and will stay for one more before we head somewhere else. Possibly Malacoota. After Thailand we stayed with Ruth's Aunt Liz (Thanks Liz!) for a few nights and then made our way to Golden Beach for 2 nights. It wasn't a bad spot but was windy and the mozzies nearly carried us away. Not to mention a few yobbos that turned up and subjected us to Casey Chambers which is torture in itself. We spent an afternoon on the beach digging up pippies for bait but when the wind refused to abate we ended up cooking the pippies for tea. They were pretty bloody good too! We have our current campsite to ourselves apart from a 5 foot lace monitor that we just spotted. We've been warned that these things will wander into camp sites and steal food directly from your bbq. This one was being hassled by a magpie and didn't seem to like us much as we tried to get closer for some photos! We also spotted a young seal clambering up the beach as we were fishing this morning. He also wasn't keen on us trying to get a pic. Maybe we smell? Anyways, I'm off to laze around in the sun for a bit. Cheers!

Bronson

We're baaaaack!

Wow, where do I begin? Well we flew back into Aus yesterday morning after what seemed like a pretty hectic trip. And let me say that if I never travel on another bus it'll be too soon. Most of our commuting was done in small buses often crammed with tourists. Our trip down to Phi Phi involved 14 hour bus rides there and back which were no fun at all, not to mention having all our gear rifled through whilst it was "safely" stored under the bus. A couple of the other tourists on our trip lost money and even a passport. Luckily we had all our valuables with us in our seats. Phi Phi itself was great tho. It's about 1 1/2 hours on the ferry from Krabi or Phuket depending which way you go and we stayed in a little beach side bungalow which was very relaxing. Our trip to the river Kwai was also fantastic. We stayed on in a floating house for a night which was kinda cool except you could hear everything going from the toilet straight into the river. We tried not to think about this too much the next morning when we were swimming downstream... with elephants! That's right, we got to bathe with the elephants which was amazing. You simply jumped on and hung on for dear life as they submerged themselves in the river. We also got to visit the bridge over the river Kwai and walk part of the death railway including Hellfire Pass which was a very sobering moment when you take into account the atrocities involved in constructing the railway and all those who died doing so. Back in Bangkok we took a stroll around the grand Palace, the National Museum and the Medical Museum which was just bizarre. All manner of preserved body parts displaying deformities and injuries were on display including complete preserved bodies of convicted murderers put to death. Not a place for those with a weak stomach. We think we may have seen the King (of Thailand, not Elvis!) driving through the city. We were at a huge intersection with Police everywhere stopping all traffic and telling us to stay where we were, when a huge motorcade passed through. There had to be at least 50 vehicles, mostly police and security forces with one or two rolls royces somewhere in the middle. It took several minutes for them to all come through and they were travelling at a pretty good pace. All in all the trip was pretty cool, great food and mostly great people. And cheap too. The heat did knock us around at times but sitting here in Ballarat in 13 degrees almost makes me want to go back! So the plan now is to regroup here in Ballarat for another night or two, get some washing done and prepare to take off again. We're thinking about heading across to Lake's Entrance but we're not entirely sure just yet. We will try to post up a couple of pictures from our Thai adventure a bit later too. Anyways, I'm well overdue for a shower so I'll sign out and we'll catch you all later! Be good!

Bronson and Ruth xx