Charleville to Melton

We left Charleville and travelled just 100kms to our next campspot.   On this 100km stretch we saw more than 200 dead kangaroos, some with joeys,  and a few dead feral pigs.   We even saw 3 little piglets all run over.  The amount of roos saddened us both.   Why? here? we wondered.    A fantastic campspot, in the tiny ntown of Wyandra, saw us sitting around a campfire with other travellers, as night fell, kangaroos started to arrive and by the time we ended up in bed we were surrounded by more than a couple of hundred, happily grazing around the camp.   By morning they were gone, just their droppings left behind.   Our next prob. 100kms of highway saw almost the same amount of roadkill.   We could now understand why there are so many dead, obviously its a highly populated part of Qld.    Next stop was the Nindigully Pub and a happy hour was spent with the Frenchies who
were also camping overnight.    Happy Hour at the pub - $3 pots and wine.  The wine was so bad, we abandoned it after 1 glass and headed to the bus to continue.

From here we headed down to Hickey Falls, a favourite overnight stop for us in NSW.   We have camped when there has no water at all, when the falls have been torrential and this time when it was just a small flow but the rock pool was very inviting.  In Qld. 60% has been declared in drought.   Crossing over into NSW, the crops were green and lush everywhere we drove.  Obviously they are having a bumper year.

Rick spied these cars and we had to head off the bitumen to check thepaddocks out.  In the middle of nowhere. Not sure if they were burnt before being dumped or whether a fire has come thru.   Lots of scrap metal and a cars.   Nothing we wanted though.

Next stop was the town of Eubalong West.  We had heard of a wrecker out there that may have some parts for Ricks ute. The wrecker is the only thing in town.  Rick got himself an ashtray and a radio.   Pretty pleased with himself.   We were told of a really nice drive to do from Eubalong to Mt. Hope to Hillston and we were so pleased we did it.    They have had lots of rain recently and the roadsides were lush and green, lots of different species of trees, and there were wildflowers everywhere.   Lots of lizards/goannas crossing our paths and we slowed down everytime to just watch them.    So glad we did the drive.   Then off to Hillston, another small town, but it was very pretty.   We, once again, heard about some old cars, but sadly it turned out to be a disappointment.      Bumped into Ron & Jean, our Chapter friends who visited us in Birdsville, in Hay, NSW.  They were doing laundry and we were just browsing.    A chat and then we were off.    Had a really lovely campspot for our last night on the banks of the Campaspe River in Vic.    Of course, the sun was shining, we were drinking, happy/sad about our last night out.   Along came a reporter from the local newspaper who took our pics and did an interview with us on where we have been etc.   Cant remember  which paper she represented.!!!!!!!!!!!   Just started cooking tea, the heavens opened up, the wind howled and YES we were back in Vic.    The next morning, the long pants came out.   It was a bugger of a trip home.   The wind was really strong and the rain was so heavy we couldnt see where we were going.   Oh how we were happy ???????????????    So we arrived home.   The gardens look amazing. Emptied the bus of almost everything that we could wash.   Did 7 loads of washing.   This is what a lot of our clothes looked like when they came out of the bus.   Ricks good black jeans turned grey.

Caught up with Justin, Rachel and baby Xavier, which was wonderful.   Taken my mum out, ironed all the washing, did some housework, spent a day in the garden, the sun is shining, Rick is playing in the shed and guess what  ????   Have we ever been away???????    The holiday feels like a distant memory already.   But next week we have to start on pulling the bus apart, taking out everything that we can, and start to clean it.    It is so dirty.    In one way, Im looking forward to the challenge and in another, I know as soon as I start, Ill wish I hadnt.    

Its been a fantastic journey, not always what we hoped, but friendships made, happy hours, laughs and grumbles shared, make all the difference.

We are totally in love with the Outback, the colors, the ever changing landscape, the wildlife and the surprises along the way.   BUT we hope to never do another dirt road again.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!