solo traveller – Page 7 – Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

Easter Road Trip Day 5 White Cliffs

22 April 2019

White Cliffs is an opal mining community with underground dugouts for accommodation because of the extreme temperatures in this region. Again, I encountered some floodwater and places of mud where the water receded. The colours out here are spectacular contrasts. Red earth and green trees.

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White Cliffs people say “where blue sky meets red earth”. The storm rolling in added other dimensions of colours.

White Cliffs has a population of 150.

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The golf course gives a very different meaning to “green”.

20190422_141101 — White Cliffs golf course Hole 1

While waiting for my hotel room, I went to the local pub with Olivia as the friendly local barmaid keeping everyone watered. Met the local school teacher with 11 students, 4 of which are her children. Met a local who came in to tell the mates he got off with a $1500 fine and didn’t lose his gun licence. It transpired he had gone shopping in town, took his gun out of the boot, placed it on the ground while he packed his groceries in the boot and forgot to put his rifle back in the boot. You try this in the city and you would probably get a $10,000 fine and a stint in jail. Being around city people I realise I only have their perspective on guns in Australia but have not experienced the rural perspective till this trip. In Cobar I noticed there are gun, hunting and “shooters” magazines.

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After Port Arthur, I had forgotten we had a gun culture before but did not realise we still have one and it is not just the Americans who have guns. In the early 1980s I used to make my own ammunition for target shooting and my ex husband’s pig and kangaroo hunting (I only shot targets). When I lived in Brazil we had access to all types of guns. Guns are accepted in rural areas, just city people do not seem to have an understanding of the need for guns in rural areas.

Anyhow, I found the locals very interesting friendly people who have intriguing tales of how they come to be in this remote, small community.

The Underground Hotel was as interesting as I expected. What I did not expect was how sleeping in a “cave” is damp, musty and my allergies flared up. I was glad I was only there one night though, but also glad I had the experience.

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20190422_175844 — roof of the underground hotel

At this hotel I met people whose children had my son as their teacher, people whom I met in Cobar, and 25 Jehovas Witnesses who were travelling around remote areas “spreading their teaching”.

One of the local artists uses rail spikes for his art.

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Finally for White Cliffs, this sign in the local toilet.

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Translation ” Warning. If you keep the toilet lid down there will be less chance of there being a snake in the toilet bowl. Thank you”

Easter Road Trip Day 5 to Wilcannia

22 April 2019

What a fabulous sound rain is on a tin roof!! Cobar had the first significant rain for 2 years. I got ready in the morning to drive to White Cliffs, 3.5 hours of driving. There was a lot of water on the road and I asked the driver of this road train what the condition of the road was to White Cliffs and he suggested I contact Wilcannia Police for an update on road flooding as there were some road closures.

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The Wilcannia Police reassured me the roads were open. However, when I went through my fisrt lot of .2 metre floodwater across the Barrier Highway I was so scared that I turned around to go back to Cobar. Then I watched another car go through the water and decided I would follow him if I could see the water was not too deep. After the third lot of floodwater I encountered a police officer and asked him what level floodwater would be ok with my Corolla hatch. He said “just follow another car. If they get through so will you but perhaps .3 metres will be enough”. That was reassuring. The problem was the care in front of me took off and I didn’t see him go through the floodwater but I decided he did get through so I should be ok. I remember being told to drive through floodwater slowly, do not speed up and do not stop. It was nerve wrecking because I didn’t know how many spots were flooded. Thankfully the rain receded and all I had to worry about then was goats, kanagaroos and emus. There were lots on the side of the road today but none jumped out in front of me.

158km (98miles) later I stopped at a small roadhouse in Emmdale. What would you tink about stopping at a place with bullet holes peppering the sign?

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I was told that the original owner of the roadhouse had a reputation for shooting and that the story goes he shot up the sign.

I am getting into more and more remote Australia. Next stop Wilcannia is a township which looks more abandoned than lived in.

The local police station and post office are a reminder of what the town was like.

Wilcannia Police Station

Wilcannia Post Office

The old bridge is what is left of a time when this town was prosperous with paddlesteamers on the river. But the river has long since dried up.

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One more hour to go to my next stop, White Cliffs.

Easter Road Trip Day 4 The Outback

21 April 2019

Today I have crossed into a part of Australia I have never been to, “The Australian Outback”.

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For my friends around the world, I live in a state (NSW) 809,000sq km (312,000sq miles), it is larger than Texas 695,000sq km (268,000 sq miles). The population of Texas is 28 million and NSW is 7 million. Texas has 3 million more people than all of Australia, yet all of the USA continental states fit inside Australia. You can fit all of Europe in Australia. This gives you an idea of how large Australia is but our population is concentrated along the coast as the centre is mostly desert. The Outback is similar to New Mexico.

This part of the Outback is mining country and I love the pubs along the way.

20190421_114751 — The Imperial Hotel Trangie

The smallest town so far is Nevertire. How cute is the name? Population 103. The road trains in the Outback are huge. They are bigger than anything I saw in the USA. Oh, other than RVs towing, a boat, towing, a car, towing a golf cart.

20190421_122058 — Road train in Nevertire

The trains are not as long as the USA but this is quite impressive.

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Stopped off in Nyngan, in the Bogan Shire, on the Bogan River.

Bogan is also Australian slang to describe an unrefined, unsophisticated person. The “bogan” comes out in me when I go to watch my rugby league team play. Nyngan has a large statue “the Big Bogan” which has caused a bit of controversy, but this falls within the Australian humour and our larrikin (an uncultivated, rowdy but good hearted person) behaviour.

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Cobar has a population 3,800 and is mainly a copper mining town, although there are also gold, silver, lead and zinc mines.

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There is so much controversy about open cut mines and what they do to the landscape but this is awesome. It looks like a piece of art.

20190421_153949 — Fort Mount Bourke gold mine

It is so dry here that I taste dirt, my eyes and nasal passages are very dry. This is the local football field. No grass here. They breed them very tough in Cobar.

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I wasn’t even in Cobar for 2 minutes before I had the red and blue lights flashing. I was so surprised as I have been careful the whole time driving as it is double demerits and I want to be careful not to hit any animals at all, but definitely not going over the speed limit. I realised that this is a small town and I was a new car in town and a new target. They were disappointed as I won’t even have one drink the night before I drive on a roadtrip. Cannot afford to not be 100% alert.

The Great Western Hotel has the longest balcony in the State. It was lovely having dinner on that balcony overlooking the main street of Cobar.

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Cannot go through Cobar without getting a photo of the biggest beer can.

Easter Road Trip Day 4

21 April 2019

The day commenced with a visit to quirky Aladdin’s Cave Bottlehouse. What a magical fairyland Jan and Brian Gilmore have produced in a very dry part of Australia.

The bottles have fascinating messages and treasures as well as their children’s time capsules.

20190421_100202 — Aladdin’s Cave Bottlehouse Duneedoo Road Dubbo

20190421_100231 — Inside Aladdin’s Cave Bottlehouse

20190421_100511 — one of the treasures in Aladdin’s Cave Bottlehouse

The cost to enter this fairyland is $6 for adults $3 for children under 16. Put this on your list for Dubbo.

Easter Road Trip Day 3

20 April 2019

Taronga Western Plains Zoo (Dubbo Zoo) is a 5 hour drive from Sydney (during school holidays you can add 3 hours to that time). I have been to several zoos around the world including the famous San Diego Zoo, which is beautiful and my Taronga Zoo in Sydney, where the animals have the most expensive view in the world. Dubbo Zoo has 5km (3 miles) of tracks which you can drive through, ride your bicycle or you can hire a golf buggy or hire a bicycle.

I was last here 12 years ago when my boys were 13 and 18, we went to Dubbo by train and slept at the zoo in the “roar and snore” program. Now called the Billabong Camp experience. Waking up in the zoo and being a part of the morning feeding regime is a wonderful experience. The animals are so excited first thing in the morning, the noise feels like you are in the middle of the jungle.

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This trip I drove my car in and left it at the first carpark inside the circuit and walked the zoo. It is beautiful to walk as there are lots of trees and shade, spots to have picnics to watch the animals at your leisure. There is a moat between us and them. Before you go, buy your ticket online so you can bypass some of the traffic entering the zoo. I found leaving my car at the start, then after walking the circuit, I got in my car at the end and stopped at the places I wanted another look on the way out. The ticket is valid for 2 days of multiple entries.

Tomorrow I leave Dubbo and enter a part of my state of New South Wales (NSW) I have never been to.

Easter Road Trip Day 2

19 April 2019

Today I drove 290km (180miles) from Leura to the mid western NSW city of Dubbo. I tried to stop off at a few places along the way to capture the changing landscape.

20190419_110652 — Hartley Historic Village NSW

20190419_131253 — Robertson Park Mudgee NSW

Arrived in Dubbo and I was fortunate to find accommodation as I do not book anything until I arrive at my destination or when I stop because I am too tired. Luckily the Tourist Information Office was open on Good Friday and as Dubbo is a country town, they are updated by local hotels when there are last minute cancellations which I was fortunate to snap up. I am staying at the Orana Motel which is very comfortable and close to everything.

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From Leura and more especially going on from Dubbo, I need to be aware of more animals running onto the road. This road kill was not by me luckily.

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Tonight I went to the Dubbo Observatory. I had a very close call when driving 100kph (65mph) when 3 kangaroos jumped out onto the road in front of my car. I am so aware of the danger of driving from dusk that I normally stay within the city limits at night to avoid the possibility of having an accident with animals. As the observatory is an evening event and in the middle of a remote area, I should have expected kangaroos. I can tell you I slowed down to under 60kph when going back to the hotel.

When on my USA road trip I had skunks, snapping turtles, elk, mustangs, turkey, beaver, chickens, deer, pig come onto the road by surprise and saw many of all these animals and many unidentifiable road kill. So far on this road trip I have seen many kangaroos, foxes, wombat and birds. I expect to come across many more as I move into more remote areas of my beautiful country on this trip.

Easter Road Trip Day 1

18 April 2019

My plans for this road trip came about when I was looking at flights to Bali, Thailand, Japan, Cook Island for 10 days, but because I left it so late and it is school and Easter holidays, the prices were so expensive I decided on this roadtrip to Broken Hill. Broken Hill is almost 13 hours from Sydney and close to the NSW and South Australian borders.

First stop, Leura, normally takes 1.5 hours from Sydney but with the holiday traffic it took 2.5 hours. Leura is in the Blue Mountains and I am fortunate I have a few friends in that area who share their beautiful paradise with me.

This is a very gorgeous sight to wake up to.

Australia Day

26 January 2019

Australia Day is the celebration of the founding of our nation in 1788. We have similar celebrations to the USA 4th of July. Last year I celebrated on a ferry competing in the Sydney Ferry Race on the blue Shark team ferry. At $250 for 4 hours a paper box lunch and 2 glasses of wine it was expensive but a fun experience.

This year 5 days after a 13 night cruise to the South Pacific, I as back on another cruise, this time the P & O Escape to enjoy 3 nights of celebrating Australia Day. It was an amazing experience, especially at $550 for the 3 nights. The ship sailed out to sea on the first night, then the next morning we were moored in the middle of Sydney Harbour for the Australia Day celebrations. The ship was decked out with Australiana, including the cruise director dressed as Dame Edna. They played the best Aussie music from every era while I sunbaked on the top deck, watching the boat and ferry races, the sailboat ballet, and the pie eating contest. The highlight for me is when the F18s did the flypast. A QANTAS jet flys low over Sydney Harbour, although they fly lower above my home close to the airport, but it is pretty spectacular with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House as a backdrop.

I look forward to doing it again next year.

End USA Road trip 2018

13 August 2018

I have come full circle. I started my trip in California on 1 March 2018. I have driven 29,850 kilometres/18548 miles, a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska and completed my goal of visiting all 50 USA states. With a slight detour of a Transatlantic cruise to Barcelona from Florida and a drive through two provinces of Canada to meet up with Canadian cousins.

I have very mixed feelings about my Odyssey ending. The beautiful places I have discovered, the interesting, kind and loving people I have met, the memories I have made, the adrenaline, anxiety, excitement, happiness, wonder, awe, sadness leaving people, I feel privileged to have experienced all this and so much more than words can describe.

To everyone who has been part of my journey with me or through my blog, the people who would talk to me on the phone while I was driving to keep me awake, the people who opened their homes family and hearts to me, the people who encouraged me and made me feel I was doing something special, the people who made me feel special, and the people who supported my sons while I was on my journey, I thank you.

Hope to see you all again soon somewhere in the world. My door in Sydney is always open. Just check I am home first 🙂

To the most important people in my life, my gorgeous sons, Dion, thank you for holding the fort at home and Carlos for encouraging me to write this blog. I love you both, as Carlos would say “a thousand times more than the biggest number”.

Let’s see what adventure home has in store for me.

“Happiness is a journey, not a destination. For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin—real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one”.

ALFRED D. SOUZA writer, philosopher

“Your vibe attracts your tribe”.

“Those who wander are not always lost”. JRR Tolkien

Minnesota

14 June 2018

Leaving La Crosse, Wisconsin I crossed the bridge to Minnesota. Again, the changes of scenery astonish me. The speed limit on the road was 80kph (50mph) and I wanted to go slowly to take everything in. To my left there were stunning valleys that met the sky and to my right the majestic Mississippi River.

As this will be the last time on this trip that I will see the Mississippi, I decided to stop at as many towns as possible on the Great River Road.

Winona Minnesota

Wabasha Minnesota

Stockholm Wisconsin

On the road at Maiden Rock Wisconsin I stopped to help this turtle. The speed limit here was 80kph (50mph). I put on my hazard lights as I was on a no overtaking part of the road. I was so worried a vehicle would run it over. Did you think turtles were slow and docile. I got the shock of my life with this aggressive one. I had my jacket I was going to use to pick up the turtle from behind and take it to safety in the scrub. This thing started snapping at me, rearing up like a snake and coming at me, it followed my every move with quick sudden moves as I was trying to get behind it but I didn’t get closer than a metre (3′). It scared me more than the snake yesterday. I was avoiding getting hit by trucks and cars to save this damn animal but I got into my car and drove off feeling a failure and shaky. I found on Google that this species of turtle is appropriately known as a “snapping turtle” and their bite is very painful. I won’t be stopping for one of these again.

After that distressing event, I went on to my final Mississippi town, Red Wing Minnesota.

I went across to the marina (in the photo above) across the bridge back to Trenton, Wisconsin to find someone who might lend me a line so I could go fishing in my favourite river. How many of you can say you have fished in the Mississippi River.

Thank you to Brad from the Harbor Bar Restaurant Marinawho lent me his rod, although I think there was something wrong with it because I didn’t catch anything.

Quirky local man, Kevin, invited me onto the houseboat he has built. The boat has a dragon (because he couldnt find a gargoyle big enough) on his houseboat complete with glowing red eyes. (I did say quirky).

I was very impressed with the amount of travel Kevin has done and also the interesting decor of his floating home.

He has an incinerator toilet!! It burns the waste and once a month he removes the tray below the pan and empties the remains which are ashes.

Kevin doesn’t drink alcohol but he collects wine from every vineyard he has been to around the world.

The bathroom

Kitchen cupboards with collectables.

And collection of pubs.

This is the view from the houseboat on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River looking at Red Wing Minnesota and watching the Canadian Pacific go through to Canada. Click here for video

Kevin has party lights all over the boat, inside and out, with huge speakers facing Minnesota across the river on which he plays music including ACDC cranked up like it’s meant to be. I took this photo of his houseboat from across at Red Wing.

He apparently puts his music on at a set time every night and my visit distracted him and people were shouting across the river reminding him he was late with his music show for the locals. This is what it sounds like across the river.

What an enjoyable day on the Mississippi River. I will miss you Old Man River and hope we meet again soon.