After leaving Jimboomba we made our way towards Glen Innes but stopping at Boonah for morning coffee we got to talking to a chap who was walking a couple of dogs and we could have had a house sitting job there and then as some friends of his had some sitters organised but changed their minds, (you never know where opportunities may pop up but we had to refuse!!), we reached Glen Innes and no sooner than we had set up we copped another storm and again the following night but again no damage, we had a look around the local area for a day then moved on to Tamworth, while there we went to the music hall of fame which was ok but not worth the entrance fee because we paid for 2 different displays but found that the 2^nd  one was all about Don Bradman and cricket isn’t in our line of sight when it comes to history (excellent for cricket buffs). We had a couple of night storms but again no damage (we are becoming pretty slick at getting our awning down in a hurry though) after our usual sightseeing we made our way to Mudgee but only stayed a night there but it was a nice little town and I had a short run through the park before leaving.

The next section of our travelling to Goulburn was the most demanding we have encountered so far, one section was low gear going up and down a very steep and narrow pass, we made it safely but we knew that there was another mountain section going to Batemans Bay on the coast, this was steep but the road was much better with bays to pull into to let the faster traffic through, we pulled in to get our discount fuel here but as we were about to fill up the power to the bowsers went off and the people couldn’t find the problem so we decided to have lunch and come back ( we had 15c lit discount so couldn’t pass it up).We finally got our fuel and moved on to Narooma where we stayed for 4 nights because we had some friends there to catch up with, they spent a whole day with us going for a swim and taking us around the area looking at the sights then giving us a meal before we left, the second day I decided to go for a run so got up early and got my gear ready but as I was walking into the van everything just started spinning and I almost collapsed I thought the worst but my pulse and heart rate was ok, I ended up being sick then slowly started improving even able to eat breakfast, we decided that it was a bout of vertigo and Marion went over to the chemist to get something and he said that it was probably a combination of the windy roads, swimming and the hectic pace we have been doing, I have been ok since but we have decided to stay a bit longer in places so our bodies can rest up. The weather at Narooma was cold and overcast most of our stay so we were hoping it would improve as we moved on to Eden our last stop in NSW, our stay here was not much better, cold, wet and windy but we did manage to get a couple of walks in and we toured the whaling museum which was worth the money (hooray!!) and went out to Boydtown which was originally meant to be the capital of our country. The facilities at the park were the best we had experienced anywhere on our travels until we reached Lakes Entrance and found a little park which is across the road from the police station here, the facilities are great and very clean, both parks are in the Top Tourist chain, we even got complimentary vouchers to the local pool and gym so we went for a swim yesterday and have booked into a spin cycle class this arvo and I have also managed to fit a couple of runs in. The rough weather is still chasing us as we had a sudden storm arise last night so we had to get our awning in once again in a hurry (we did count our chickens though after hearing about the huge hail storm that hit Tamworth just after we left).

We did our spin cycle class which was a bit of a shock after a 10yr break but it was great to get a good workout, next we are on our way to Bairnsdale where we will stay at a friend’s house for a night, (we need to give this up because we seem to get too well fed), the next day we were on our to Morwell for another 1 night stay but we made a stop at Stratford to visit a friend we met in the area on the first leg of our trip so after a cuppa and a good chat we were on our way again, this time we had a little difficulty getting our van into their yard but after getting hung up on the gutter once we got our van in, once again we were spoiled with homemade bread and home grown food, we had a walk around the world renown rose gardens in the main street then left and made our way to Leongatha but we weren’t sure where we were staying that night, we made some phone calls to various caravan parks in the area but were all too expensive so here we are at Phillip Island for 4 nights, we did a bike ride from Newhaven to Cowes today about 35k return so our spin class paid dividends, it is raining now so tomorrow we will be doing our sightseeing by car, Phillip Island is a beautiful spot but is very popular and is usually busy even during the off season.

We went to Churchill Island today and did a walk around the foreshore track, the weather was overcast & foggy so the views across the bay were limited, we then went to the chocolate factory and did a tour which is more aimed at kids but we managed to score ourselves some free chocolate, after that we went to the Phillip Island raceway and did a tour of the control tower and pit lane then the museum, we then drove to the Knobbies on the southern end of the island where there are huge seagull rookeries plus penguins and offshore large seal colonies, it rained most of the day so a bit unpleasant (and cold) ,I had to pack up in the rain before we moved on to Pakenham where we will be staying for a week and catching up with family. For Photos Click Here