Millmerran part 2

Tractor Pulling

This was interesting and much to my surprise I really enjoyed watching it.

As far as I could work out it is old restored Tractors that compete against each other pulling a weighted sled over a track seeing who can pull the fastest over the longest distance. ( I may be wrong so if you know definitely what they are doing please feel free to correct me.)

Stage  two

This is where they have smaller shows and demonstrations happening I watched a presentation by The Cast Iron Boys on how to use your camp ovens and a cook-off with Paul and Blair from my kitchen rules both were very enjoyable, there were other shows held here but I didn't bother watching them as you can’t fit in everything happening over the weekend so just have to pick what interests you.

Camp Oven Cooking Competitions

These were happening over the whole weekend some were interesting to watch and others a bit boring so we just wander back and forth watching them in between everything else  

Market Stalls

As always there were the usual markets stalls that are part and parcel of a festival so had tastes of lots of yummy food and sips of wine and of course had to buy what I tasted and liked.

There were lots of other things as well that we didn't have time to watch and if I list them all I will be here forever so in summary The Millmerran Camp Oven Festival was a great weekend

Millmerran Camp Oven Festival

Hi have been sitting here for ages trying to decide how best to write my blog about our visit to Millmerran. We had a very enjoyable week here which climaxed with a jam packed and very enjoyable weekend at the Camp Oven Festival.

After much thought have decided to just do it with headings and brief descriptions of each of the things we did.

Millmerran is a lovely little town about 80kms south west of Toowoomba in Queensland. Its main tourist attractions are a selection of Murals that have been painted on buildings around the town and on the Water Reservoir.

They also have a very well presented Museum.

Camp Oven Festival

Displays

Over the 2 days there were continuing displays of Axes,

Hand Shears,

Dog and Rabbit Traps,

Condamine Bells and Egg Beaters as well as demonstrations of Sheep Shearing,

Packing a Packhorse, Blacksmithing, Wheelwrighting, Rope Making and starting a fire using Flint and Steel. Some demonstrations were interesting others not so much.

Main Stage

Both Saturday and Sunday the festivities start off with the Bush Poets Breakfast, as always a great way to start the day as the larikin humor of our bush poets put you in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Over the days and nights there are various artist and bands playing and singing, there were no really big name stars but all I watched and listened too were good, some were artists I knew and others I had never heard of.

Chainsaw Carving

A chap called Rod Sheehan did a few shows over the weekend craving sculptures out of logs of wood. This man was a magician what he could do with a chainsaw. During the show we watched he carved a wombat and at the end of the festival his carvings were auctioned off, not sure if he received the money or it went to the Festival Committee.

as the post is getting a wee bit gone will continue in my next post

Nundle

We camped at Swamp Creek Reserve near Nundle which is a delightful little spot beside the creek in the fossicking area.
I really enjoyed our few days here, its a quiet little village in what used to be a busy gold mining area in the late 1800's so has lots of history and old buildings.

over the couple of days we were here we went scenic driving to Hanging Rock and had a look at Ponderosa Park and Sheba Dam Camping areas they are both nice but a long way from town. We definitely picked the best spot.

We had a picnic lunch at Sheba Dam then drove to Arc-Ciel Trout Farm what a disappointment, the fanciest part of the place is its name. I had planned to shout Fred afternoon tea for Fathers Day but we brought some fresh trout for tomorrows dinner instead as the coffee shop looked very unappetising.

We stopped off in town to do the hertitage walk but it was very short and not much to see.

Next Day

Fred did some fossicking this morning while I went back into Nundle to go the the Wool Factory unfortunately the mill wasn't working today but I had a lovely time amongst the wool, could have spent a fortune.

Went for a walk after lunch we followed the creek thru a farm was a lovely ramble with heaps of flowers they were probably weeds but looked lovely there were also lots of trees in flower I'm guessing they were peach trees.

Watagans National Park

We camped in the Olney State Park for a week so we could explore the Watagans National park so will just use excerpts from my diary for this post.

Monday

We went for a nice walk this morning to the Pines Picnic area

which is about 3 kms from our camp site and did the Pines Walk which winds down around Dora Creek and was very pretty.

Tuesday

Was foggy and drizzling with rain when we got up this morning but decided to risk it and go and check out the Watagans National Park. Our first stop was Boarding House Dam,

it was the site of a logging camp in the 1850’s. The only thing left is the dam wall which was built in 1952. There is a really nice walk along Boarding House Creek.

It crosses the creek and winds thru the forest before recrossing the creek where you walk back beside the creek along the most amazing rock wall covered in moss,

it is so straight and even you would think it was man-made instead of by Mother Nature. The walk was really beautiful with lots of fallen trees and rock outcrops covered in Ferns and Lichens in the most beautiful shades of green.

Back in the truck and onward and upward to a series of lookouts where sadly the only thing we could see was fog and rain as the weather had changed from fine drizzle to torrential downpour.

Decided to call it quits and leave the park and head for home, found some covered picnic tables in the park at Cooranbong so stopped and had lunch before getting fuel and fresh bread and returning to the van

Rain had eased off so Fred decided to light the fire and cook a lamb roast but the rain came back with a vengeance and he struggled to get it cooked. He cracks me up sitting huddled over the fire with an umbrella keeping the coals dry.

By dark the rain was torrential again.

Must say I am over the wet need the sun to shine, everything is getting damp and smelly. Ugg. 

Thursday
Poured all day

Friday

Had blue sky this morning so packed a picnic and headed out to explore the Watagans again.

First stop was Gap Creek Falls,

the walk is medium/hard and as with most waterfalls its fairly easy walking down and a hard slog walking back up and to make todays walk even more fun Fred had one of his funny turns and was giddy for most of the walk back so it was a long and at times worrying trudge back to the car but I did find some nice fungi while he was resting.

Thankfully after a coffee and something to eat he felt ok again.

Back in the car and it was onward and upward back to Monkeyface and The Gap Lookouts which are 5 minutes apart and look down opposite sides of a mountain whose name I have forgotten. We were able to see the views today as it was fine. Then on to Heatons Lookout where we stopped for lunch. The views from here were excellent.

By this time the weather had changed again and it was raining once more so we headed for home.

I did all the driving today

Sunday

Drove down to the Basin Picnic and Camping  Area and did the Rock Lily walk.

It was a really nice walk. The first part of the walk was along a ravine with the rockface on one side and with the valley falling away on the other. There were heaps and heaps of rock lilies growing on the rock face.

The walk will be stunning in a few weeks when they are in flower. The walk eventually wound its way out into open forest and it was then an easy walk back to the car.

Home for lunch then Fred lit the fire and we cooked scones for afternoon tea.

Finally had a fine day and a bit warmer I got down to just a skivy instead of the 3 jumpers that I have been wearing.

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Grand Ocean Drive

The Grand Pacific Drive is 140 kms long from Royal National Park near Sydney south to Kiama. 

We of course did it in reverse started at Shellharbour with our first stop being the Port Kembla Lookout which had really good views of the Port Kembla Harbour and Steelworks

and looking south along the coastline to Shellharbour and Kiama.

The next stop was Flagstaff Point and the harbour in Wollongong. This area was very busy with people everywhere and several tour buses parked.

This point is one of only 2 places in Australia to have 2 lighthouses (can't remember where the other one is). There is a small old one and a large modern one.

Back in the car again and continuing north to Thirroul and lunch, from there the next stop was the Sea Cliff Bridge.

The bridge is built around the cliff-face butting out over the ocean. We stopped and walked across the bridge as that is the best way to appreciate the magnificence of the bridge structure,

but oh Lordy I thought I was going to die it was soooo cold and windy, but me being me we persevered and did the walk. The return walk across the bridge is approximately 2.4 kms.

Next stop was the Lawrence Hargraves Lookout where we stopped and watched heaps of Hang Gliders taking off and landing. There were some really tame Rosellas here that were walking around our feet, guessing they get fed titbits from people all the time and are now reliant on us for food.

From the lookout we entered the Royal National Park. Had a look at Garie Beach and Governor Game Lookout and Wattamolla Beach

and then decided to call it a day as it was getting late and it was a long drive back to Shellharbour.

Nan Tien Temple

While in Shellharbour we went for a drive up to Berkeley to visit the Nan Tien Temple.

It is the largest Buddhist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere. It has been built on a hill and is surrounded with beautiful gardens.

We had a lovely afternoon wandering around and came away feeling very calm and free of stress.

Tapin Tops

Another day of scenic driving, started out from Taree

First stop was Wingham and a walk around the Wingham Brush Nature Reserve.

There is a boardwalk that goes thru the forest looking at the trees and listening to the Grey Headed Flying Foxes.

You can imagine how thrilled Fred was at this stop as he detests Flying Foxes and the fact that they are protected, but on the up side there were heaps of Bush Turkeys scratching around and he loves watching them.

Then in was onward to Tapin Tops National Park. First stop Potoroo Picnic Area and a walk along the edge of the creek with a bit of rock hopping to Potoroo Falls

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The waterfall was only a small drop but the pool under the falls would be fabulous to swim in when its hot.
Back to the truck and on to Dingo Tops Picnic and Camping Grounds.

This area used to be a forestry work camp and is really nicely set out and well kept with some really beautiful trees. There are 2 walks here and we chose to do the Red Cedar Walk, it was quite rough and pretty steep in places but had some really nice Fungi. (for those who don't know I am fascinated by Fungi)

After lunch and a well earned coffee it was back on the road and Rowleys Rock lookout but the road was closed and we didn't fancy the long hike in so gave it a miss and headed for the Blue Knob lookout which is a forestry fire tower, the views were stunning.

The roads in the park are all dirt and in places very steep, narrow and some really sharp corners.

We then left the park and made our way to Ellenborough Falls which is the 2nd highest waterfall in Australia. It has a single drop of 200 metres. The walk to the bottom of the falls isn't for the faint hearted, its 641steps to the bottom and then you have to walk back up, but its well worth the effort as the waterfall is stunning and you don't get the full effect from the viewing platform at the top.

We then headed for home. It was a long but very enjoyable day