Saturday 5 November 2011

Homeward bound

After leaving Brisbane Sunday 5th Nov at 0615, I had an excellent run out of Brisbane and thus made good time during the day.  I camped at a freecamp just south of Moree in NSW, a distance of 520Km traveled during the day.  The day was quite warm (for me, anyway, at 29 degrees C) and part of the night as well but it cooled off before morning. 

Today (day 2) a distance of 556Km was traveled and I'm camped on Bland Creek, north of West Wyalong.  There were some impressive views so I took a couple of photos to post.  The area passed through is mainly farmland, growing wheat, cotton and I saw some paddocks of corn as well.  On some paddocks harvesters were getting the wheat crop in.

Tomorrow I'll continue to the spot on the Murray River where I spent my first night after crossing Bass Straight in July.  From there, it's through Shepparton (to stock up on canned fruit and other goodies at the SPC Ardmona Outlet to take back to Tassie) and on to the ferry in Melbourne for crossing to Tasmania Tuesday evening.  On arrival, a quick stop in Launceston and on to Hobart and home.

Being able to freecamp has really made this whole trip possible.  I was talking to a couple from WA last night and they were saying there is pressure on from caravan park owners in some areas to close off freecamp sites.  Many campers I talked to said if they couldn't freecamp they wouldn't travel; besides the cost they also like the freedom.  One aim of this trip was to determine the feasibility of freecamping and getting the van set up for it-that has proven successful, so in 2012 I am hoping to "Do the Loop" around Australia.  We shall see.