Where's Hervey now: 21 Feb to 6 March

21 Feb today we ventured to Jenolan Caves. Got there fairly late so a lot of the tours had already started so we had a walk around some of the ones that you didn’t have to pay for or wait for another few hours to get into. The initial cavern is huge and dwarfed Hervey as we drove through it and out the other side to the old hotel and post office. We took a walk around the lake at the entrance to the main cavern and saw all the old workings and the dam wall that had been constructed last century. We walked up to the top of the cavern and saw the old school house that used to be there and then came down the road where we picked up Hervey and went back to camp.

Matty Liam Jenolan Caves

Matty at Jenolan Caves

Hervey coming thru Jenolan cave

Hervey at Jenolan caves

Scenic Railway at Katoomba

Old carraige of Scenic Railway

Matty at Katoomba

Liam at Katoomba

Waterfall at Katoomba fromSkyway

View thru Katoomba Skyway car floor

Three Sisters

Blue Mts from Katoomba Skycar

22 Feb We left the lovely Megalong Valley after the long drive back up the tortuous mountain again with Hervey and Bay working hard to the top. We made our way to Katoomba where we went on the three main attractions there – Railway , Cable car and Skyway. We opted for the 2 x of all rides giving us the optimum enjoyment of the area. We first went on the Railway which travels downhill at about 45 degrees. I can confidently say that I was a bit reluctant to go on this but had to put on a brave face for Liam who although saying he would look after me on the ride woosed out at the penultimate moment of getting on the train ( and I can’t say that I blame him) and needed some gentle persuasion to get on and take the terrifying ride to the bottom. We got there in the end and had a wander around the track that gave some insight into the early mining days that they did down in the valley. We returned via the railway ( much to Liam’s disgust) and proceeded on the cablecar to the bottom of the valley and without much fanfare returned to the top . The last trip was across on the Skycar which I wasn’t much looking forward to and rightly so – I think the words from the attendant’s mouth were “ If you look down to the valley below through the glass floor of the skycar it would take you about six seconds to fall to the valley floor”. Encouraging words I thought - not. Anyway we all survived and had a good look around on the other side of the valley with lots of photos of the three sisters and the Blue mountains and countryside. It was a pretty spectacular spot. We continued on our way after this little visit and made or way to Tracy’s lifelong friend’s place Loretta and Andy’s at Shellharbour south of Wollongong.

Tracy and boys at Katoomba with Skycar in background

Blue Mtns

Katoomba - can't remember this ones name

Tracy at Katoomba

Liam,Ben,Brooke,Matty,Tom at Carrington falls

23 Feb – 25 Feb Spent some relaxing days at the Shell where Andy took us on some tours around the area . We went to Carrington falls west of Shellharbour where we had dinner superbly cooked by the kids.

Liam Matty at Carrington falls

Lol,Brooke,Tony,Andy,Tom,Matty,Liam - Carrington Falls

Lol Tracy - Carrington Falls

Matty walking on air , Ben - Carrington Falls

Lol , Tracy - ShellHarbour

Andy , Tony - Shell Harbour

Hervey & Bay departing Shell Harbour

26 Feb We left Lol and Andy’s with many tears and kisses and hugs and made our way towards Canberra. Not surprisingly Tracy had another relative on the way (I think she breeds them) Aunty Jude and Uncle Noel at a place just north of Goulburn. We caught up with Judy at work in Goulburn and then followed her through a meandering country road towards Crookwell to the property that they looked after , a mere several thousand acre place ( I cant remember exactly how much but it was pretty big).We had all good intentions of having a quick cuppa and then back on the road but we ended staying the night after a few mechanical discussions about Hervey with Noel. It was a great stop as we had a chance to look around the farm and shearing sheds and the boys had a great time playing with Kristy’s kids – Zac , Ryan and Leah

Matty , Liam , Leah , Zac , Ryan - Goulbourn

Tony,Matty,Tracy,Liam,Noel,Leah,Judy,Zac,Ryan - Goulburn

Zac , Liam - Goulburn

Merino at Goulburn

Matty at the business end of the Merino

Lake George outside Canberra

Lake George

27 Feb We left Goulbourn and headed towards Canberra . On the way we passed Lake George where we had a few photo opportunities of the flat area that it encompasses. Lots of sheep on the flat that they would have to move if the place was to get a lot of water.

Hervey & Bay at Canberra Info centre

Tony , Matty , Liam - Parliment House

Parliment House

Old Parliment House & War Memorial behind

Hervey & Bay with Centurion tank at War Memorial - Canberra

Old Parliment House with New Parliment House behind

Dixie tin art - War Memorial

Trench weapon - War Memorial

Wire cutter on 303 rifle - War Museum

3 types of soldier - War Memorial

German vehicle - War Memorial

Landy used in East Timor that got mined

Vietnam exhibit - War Memorial

War Memorial

We got to parliament house and had wander around there looking at all the things that you look at in parliament house . The city itself was well laid out and we visited Tracy’s old house where she became a Bower. We stopped at the War museum which was enthralling. The exhibitions were fantastic. It’s a place where you could easily spend a day or two just wandering around looking at things. We got to Andy and Dan’s place in the late arvo and spent the night in their lovely house.

28 Feb Following day we went to Questacon for a look see. It’s a place that has lots of funfilled scientific activities. The drop slide is something to make you nervous and the rollercoaster simulator is very realistic. Spent the night again at Andy and Dan’s.

Leaking welsh plug on Hervey

1 Mar – 5 Mar Left Canberra behind after having a welsh plug fixed in the side of Hervey’s motor - $165- . Stopped at the Yass info centre where we spoke to the helpful bloke at the place. We then headed off to Wee Jasper and Micalong campground where we spent the next few days doing buggerall. We drove around Lake Burrenjuck and got to a magnificent campground by a very cold creek. We were the only ones there the first night but were joined the next by a young couple from Brisbane who had driven the1500k’s that day to get back to the fellas childhood camping spot.We tried our hand at fishing to no avail and had a few bushwalks while we were there. Lol and Andy and the kids joined us in a tag team affair with Andy arriving on Thursday and Loretta on Friday. It’s a very lovely place with flushing toilets and cold showers. Rates 9/10 on the Bauer scale of camp sites.

Rafts in the creek at Wee Jasper

Cricket at Wee Jasper

Campsite at Wee Jasper

Andy and Tracy at Wee Jasper

Who the #%$^&^&^ ? Wee Jasper

Wee Jasper

Matty Liam Wee Jasper

6 Mar Left Micalong Wee Jasper behind after a slow drive back to Yass where we farewelled Lol and the kids and went our separate ways.We then made our way to Brawlin. We followed Tracy’s Uncle Tom’s instructions – ‘Hit the dirt road , go past the million dollar house and over the cattlegrid. If you get to the shut gate you’ve gone to far’. After about 20 k or so on the dirt road through open hilly country we started to look at each other and around the place for houses. Tracy tried to contact a farm on the UHF station they had on a gate sign to no avail. We decided that the next house we saw we should duck in and ask if we were heading in the right direction. We did this and came across a bloke by the name of James in his shearing shed who ,after having a quick chat about Bay , pointed through a stand of tress about 500 yards away said ‘Yeah Tom and Margaret’s place is right through those trees , just over the cattle grid’. We should never have doubted Tom’s directions. I don’t know what Tracy was thinking.