We left home at approx 8am and went via Nepean Hwy to South Rd to Beach Rd over West Gate Bridge and then onto the Western Ring Rd.Stopped at Service Centre for a Macca's breakky and a quick check of the rig. Turned left onto Hume Hwy then headed towards Seymour, stopped for another rest on the Nagambi, then filled up with diesel at Jerilderie and also stopped near the Lake for lunch. We arrived at Narrandera Oz park at 3:20pm.

As we left Melbourne, it was raining but as we got over the Great Divide, the clouds cleared and it was mostly sunny the whole way, but still bloody cold. We setup camp at Ozjohn's Narrandera Oz Parks CP, only connected the power and water, I couldn't bother setting up the Sat Dish, as it was too cold. We could only get channel 10, so we are using our Western Digital TV Player watching the Caravan and Motorhome videos. I converted the DVDs to AVI files.

Tomorrow, we head for Leightons at Peak Hill for scones and jam.

We left Narrandera about 8:30am, no need to rush only 320kms to Leighton's.

When we awoke this morning, after a great night sleep, we both used our sleeping bags and were as 'snug as a bug in a rug', that's pretty warm. It was cold (-2.2° ) and very foggy. We drove at about 75 - 80 kph due to the fog, visiblity was probably 200 - 300 meters. At one stage I was talking to a truckie who was about 100 meters behind and we were discussing where it was safe to pass me, but he stopped at a Rest Area. Another time I had 4 cars appear out of the fog, and I just happened to be approaching a Rest Area, so I pulled into the Rest Area and they all went past, but generally they was bugger all traffic and probably by mid morning the fog had lifted. We stopped at West Wyalong for a pitstop and then at Hardly Normals at Parkes, because Marg had forgotten her mouse, so we bought a new one.

We arrived at Leighton's sat 1:30pm and setup camp, this time I also setup the Sat Dish, as I need to tape Underbelly - Final Episode tonight. It's currently 4:30pm and Leighton was here before delivering Pauline's World Famous scones. They were yumma, as usual.

Marg and I are going to the Peak Hill RSL about 5pm so Marg can play the pokies, I can have a beer of three, and we can both have a beautiful meal for dinner.

Back from the RSL, the beer was beautiful, I spoke to Cec who is the town celebrity, he has been a barber for 75 years he is 92 this year, a magic guy. During easter 2009, we stayed at Leighton's and Pat and I went to Cec for a haircut. He charged $7 a haircut, he told me tonight he had to raise his prices, he now charges $8. Marg lost on the pokies, I had a beer or three and dinner was yumma. I had the mixed grill and Marg had fish and chips. We are now back in the fiver and Marg is watching 'Dancing with the stars', not my scene. It is a beautiful night, very starry and I guarantee it will be cold.

Tomorrow, we head for Moree for an overnight and might even meet Steve (Cruiserman), We will see.

We left Peak Hill about 8:00am and arrived at Moree at 2:45pm.

It got down to minus 5.5° as we awoke this morning, after another great night sleep tucked up in our sleeping bags. The mighty Navara was covered in ice, I had to warm water to melt the ice and again just before we left, as it had hardened again.
We said our goodbyes to Leighton and Pauline before leaving, we were actually the first guests to leave Leighton's this morning, in contrast to our last stay, when we were last to leave.
Driving in beautiful clear, sunny skies, I set the cruise control to 95kph and away we went. We had a 10 minute stop at road works, somewhere, but that was our only holdup. We had lunch in the carpark behind the Info Centre in Narrabri and also stopped at a couple of rest areas along the way.

We arrived at Gwydir CP at 2:45pm and Marg and I were in the thermal pools by 3pm, by 4:30pm ish, it was time to get out, we both looked like prunes, but it was beautiful and warm. One little hiccup, I noticed today, I think that our gas regulator is stuffed, because no gas is getting to the hot plates or hot water service, so tomorrow, we will check out a place in Moree and take it from there.

Tomorrow, we head for Glen Innes, but first, we will go into Moree and see if we can get our gas problem fixed.

Before we left Moree, I tried the gas again, and sure enough, everything is working properly. When we arrived at Glen Innes, the gas started again correctly. I called into Jack the gasman to arrange a check of our gas system. He was out, but will ring whenever. I hope.

As we only had 203kms to travel, we didn't leave until 9:15am, by this time, the ice had melted and the sun was shining beautifully. The scenery between Moree and Glen Innes was absolutely stunning, so much, that we are going to go for drive later without the fiver, just to take some photos. The Gwydir hwy to Glen Innes isn't upto the standard of the Newell but it was ok, with some rough patches. We stopped in Inverell for diesel and the couple that run the service station were lovely he washed my windscreen and we chatted for a few minutes, as he also had a silver Navara, the same as ours.

We arrived at Oz Park Glen Rest TP, Glen Innes about 1pm, and were told to pick whichever site we wanted, so we did. It is a nice, tidy, small park probably about 40 sites. After selecting our site, it has sun from morning to mid afternoon, Marg and I drove into town and had Maccas for lunch and went into the Info Centre and then visited Woollies for some shopping. Back at camp, Marg bought a bag of sapphire wash and found a couple of tiny sapphires.

Rumour has it that tonight it should drop to minus 10°, currently, it is minus 3.9° at 7:10pm.

Tomorrow, we are meeting the fossicking group at 9am, should be fun.

This morning at Glen Rest CP, my outside sensor showed MINUS 10.8, we have never in our lives seen that temperature. It was a tad cool. We were going on a gem fossicking Tag-Along-Tour with John from the Baptist Church and also a member of the Aussie Lapidiary Forum. We met John at the Baptist Church at 8:45 for a 9am departure. Colin and Carol and their 3 teenage boys were the other crazies in this group. We followed John to a small creek about 30kms from town, where John parted with some of his wisdom, if I tell you, naturally, I will have to kill you. We walked down through the bush and John showed us a nice gravel spot to 'play in'. I cannot buy gumboots to fit me, so I wore runners in the stream, did I tell you that it was bloody freezing, some of the water was ice and even walking over it you couldn't break it, that's how cold it was.
What I go through to keep Marg happy.
We got some clear quartz, small sapphires (no cutters). Marg and I left John and the others about 1:15pm.

Back at camp, I had a magnificent high pressure HOT shower, Marg had a sleep and I went on the internet. I managed to have a chilled refresher or two, it's never too cold for that.
We are both buggered from our adventure, so I will be in bed early tonight ,Marg probably will be later as she did sleep for awhile.

Tomorrow, we plan to check out downtown Glen Innes and to take some photos of the brilliant scenery.

This morning at Glen Rest CP, my outside sensor showed MINUS 5.7, it was positively balmy compared with the previous night.
Due to the overcast weather, the photography session was abandoned until March 2011, but we did sneak in a few photos. We had a quiet morning until 11am ish, when we drove to downtown Glen Innes, and walked along the main street window shopping. We visited the camping and fishing shop looking for gumboots or waders, no go, their size 12 were too small and they didn't have any waders but told me that waders are usually made to measure and probably cost of $200 min. We called into Smeaton Bakery and had pies and coffee for lunch. They were yumma. We called into the Hardware shop and, lo and behold, they had size 13 gumboots, but apart from being tight, I think that I can put up with the tightness, I now have $30 gumboots that fit. I also bought a pair of elbow length PVC gloves and a long handle shovel, so our gem fossicking equipment is slowly growing.

We had an appointment at 1pm to visit Andrew and Leah who own the Aussie Sapphire forum and Online shop, their property is about 10kms from Glen Innes. Andrew showed us around his business, it was quite impressive. We couldn't leave without buying something, Marg bought some earring blanks, so she can make earrings using her sapphires, and I bought an Aquamarine crystal and a Tourmaline crystal.

After we left Andrew and Leah's place, we drove towards Grafton to found a fossicking area which John had told us about. We found it and tomorrow, if the weather is suitable we will try it. On the return journey we visited Raspberry Lookout and Boundary Falls about 50kms east of Glen Innes.
Back in town, we stopped at the Glen Innes Services Club for pokies, beer and dinner. Marg had lamb cutlets and I had a rump steak, the food was beautiful and the beer was cold. We got back to camp about 6:30pm and the van was cold, but the heater soon had heated it to 24°. Very warm and cosy.

Tomorrow, as said above, we plan to go fossicking.

This morning at Glen Rest CP, my outside sensor showed MINUS 2.9 and it was raining, so no fossicking today. A big bummer, as I wanted to try out my new gumboots.
We had a quiet morning until 11am ish, when we drove in the rain to downtown Glen Innes and visited the NAB. We called into Smeaton Bakery again for lunch and had pies and coffee for lunch. They were yumma as usual. The cold really doesn't give you any great desire to do anything constructive.

We spent the rest of the day until 4pm back in the warmth of our fiver, then we left for the Glen Innes Services Club for dinner. Marg had lamb shanks and I had a fillet steak, the food was beautiful and the beer was cold. We got back to camp about 6:30pm to a cold van which quickly warmed up. We watched a couple of episodes of Bones.

Tomorrow, we pack up and drive all of 70kms to Inverell.