Have-van-will-travel: FAREWELL TO CANBERRA

January 2nd and it is time to farewell the family at Canberra and continue on the next leg of our journey. Before I start the posting I omitted to mention on my previous posting of a gathering of all my family on Thursday 30th December.

My humblest apologies to the other half of the Keane family!!!

David and Tiffany arrived on Thursday about the same time as the Italian connection and we all got together for our regular Christmas gathering and of course the infamous Weber!!

We sat around for the afternoon and evening while the kids ran around the house both inside and out completely tiring themselves out.

Just prior to dinner we sat around the tree and opened presents and just enjoyed another Christmas gathering together. Unfortunately we did not take any photos of the event and when I was putting my last posting together I forgot all about it, although I did mention the weber - as I rarely forget those!!!!! Anyway humblest apologies!!!

So here are recent photos of the Campbelltown Keane's from Jacqueline's Year 6 formal just prior to Christmas.

Of course we can't forget Caleb. This was taken a couple of years ago.

So we left Canberra on Sunday 2nd and headed back through Yass towards Naranderra. When we hit the Hume highway we turned left and headed South.

We passed through Bookham, Jugiong and Coolac and then onto Gundagai. We travelled past the "dog on the tucker box" five miles short of Gundagai (or there about as I think that it was moved from its original spot) and then onwards to our destination.

The Hume Highway actually by-passes the township of Gundagai which is sad in a way but for the traveller it is a magnificent road all the way to Victoria.

We pass through Tumblong and some distance further on, just prior to reaching Tarcutta, the road to Naranderra swings off to the right and heads along the Sturt Highway towards Wagga Wagga. We passed through Wagga Wagga and headed towards Narranderra.

We arrived at Naranderra at around 2:00pm and noticed on the way into the town the effects of the recent flooding which had cut the town off at it's peak. The roads were damaged right through town including the highway.

We set up the van in the caravan park and as it was so hot we decided that it would be a good time for a swim so we promptly headed for the pool.

We are not sure if the pool was heated or not but when we jumped into it it was so warm that it reminded us of a trip we had done many years ago in the Northern Territory and more specific Mataranka.

Mataranka has warm thermal pools and the temperature of the water in the pool at Naranderra was a very similar temperature to the natural springs at Mataranka.

There was no evidence of the pool being a heated pool so we assume that it was naturally warmed by the constant amount of heat from the sun.

Because of the temperature of the water and the temperature outside the water and the warm westerly breeze that was blowing when you popped up out of the water it felt like you were in a cold climate as the breeze hit you and you near froze. It was eerie!!!

Out of the pool and into the shower and then a nice relaxing nap prior to ordering a taxi and heading to the local watering hole, we were about 5k out of town, a couple of stimulants, a nice dinner and back home for a well earned rest.

It was interesting during the cab ride into town as we noticed all the flood damage and there was a contra flow for the traffic. in the main street, as the repair crews were repairing the main road which had been damaged and also pumping out a lot of water which was surrounding it.

Monday 3rd January and boy is the time flying, it will be Christmas before we know it. All the oldies reading this blog will know what I mean.

We pack up the van and onto the next leg of the journey - Balranald - and a week with the in-laws!! Oh Joy!!!! Just kidding. Heading out of Naranderra we commence the trip across the Hay Plains which are on the Newell Highway and it is as desolate as the name infers.

Balranald is 303km further West and the only town it passes through is Hay and you rarely see anything else except the odd homestead way off in the distance to the left or right of the road and of course lots of traffic in both directions.

We arrived at Hay about 2 hours later which is slightly over half way and drove up and down the main street which took about 10 minutes (not a large town) and then decided that we would drive a short distance out of town and take a break.

We stopped at an intersection 19km out of Hay and had a drink and a snack.

I took photos of what was ahead of us and what was behind us so that I could put into perspective what the Hay plains is all about.

As you can see it is just desolate in every direction and these photos are very indicative of what the Newell Highway is for hundreds of kilometres towards South Australia.

Only 118km left to our destination at Narranderra so we headed off after a short break and a change of drivers and at the speed we drive about 1 and 1/2 hours left.

Narranderra at last and home for the next 6 days. We pulled into the Caravan Park that Maree's brother and Sister-in-Law manage and the traditional greetings all round.

Put the van in it's parking spot for the stay and started the unpacking and setup process.

We picked the best site in the park as it is not what you know these days is it? Great view alongside the Murrumbidgee river, which as you can see is very high due to the recent floods.

Maree's father has been living in his caravan at the park for some time and he also is well set up next to the main house as you can see above.

First things first as it was getting late so we needed to get out the refreshments and sit by the river and catch up on the gossip and stuff.

Thats the 'old boy' - Maree's father, sitting in his "I can't walk very far anymore" jalopy which he uses to get to and from town about 1km away.

It's now a case of "I can't drive my jalopy very fast anymore as I spilt a beer on the dashboard". That was pretty good for it as it does not go as fast as it used to now.

Anyway had a good gossip session and when the "bloody mossies" and the "mosseys" (sorry people thats an in joke) got too bad we headed into the main house for dinner and a nice BBQ.

When night fell the Christmas lights around the park were lit up so we went out and had look at them. I promise that these are the last photos of Christmas lights until next Christmas.

Tuesday was a nice weather day and as it turned out saw us a part of a history making event - more shortly. We pottered around the van finalising the setup process and by then the morning was nearly over. It was time for a swim in the park pool.

Well if Naranderra was like the Thermal pools at Mataranka the park pool could probably compared to a sub-arctic pool as it was freezing despite the fact that they had reasonably high temperatures.

Anyway we suffered it and spent an hour or so in it and cooled right down. A quick shower and then lunch and a relaxing afternoon sitting by the river and watching it flow whilst dozing and talking and stuff.

But then it happened!!

We were talking away and in the distance we heard a loud whistle which made us very curious and the conversation turned to what the noise could have been.

After a short period the whistle blew a long blast again only this time it was closer and more pronounced and Jim said that it sounded like a boat. Within a couple of minutes along with the whistle we could hear a flapping noise and it was also getting closer and closer until finally around the bend of the river we saw a paddle steamer heading up river.

Maybe not such a big deal to most people except that from the locals point of view there had not been a paddle steamer up the Murrumbidgee river since 1956 as it was too shallow.

Because of all the recent rains the river was up 8 metres and it allowed the paddle steamer, which had come from the Murray River a long way away, to get up to Balranald.

I raced into get my camera and below are the photos of it approaching and of it leaving our area and heading back down to moor for the night prior to going back down to the Murray. It may take another 55 years before one can make it up this far again - Who knows!!!!

Wednesday and I getup early as usual, as Maree sleeps in most days, and it gives me the chance to check the emails, work on the blog and make a cup of coffee.

Whenever we come to Balranald and stay at the park I always like to do a bit around the place to help Jim as it is such a big place to maintain.

So I decide that I will mow the lawn for him. Pretty simple job huh!!! - which is probably why it took me three mornings to mow it on the ride on. It is a big place.

After the mowing on Wednesday we had lunch, a rest and then off to the local watering hole for a top up and ended up staying for dinner as it was a lot cooler inside than outside.

Thursday was much of the same things as Wednesday except that we did not go to the local watering hole just sat by the river in the cool evening breeze.

Friday night, after a tough day at the office once again, we all headed down to the RSL and of course the Friday night raffles. No luck though!!!

We had booked a table in the dining room for dinner and all of us gathered around the table for a nice family meal together.

Our last day at Balranald was Saturday and we made it a day of rest and did absolutely nothing except rest and vegetate. We had a fun night in the evening and ended up having home made Pizzas for dinner which Jim cooked beautifully.

There are a number of characters around Balranald none more so than the four river brothers for whom Jim has setup a monument area near the entrance to the park.