August 29th, 2009
HAVE you heard of Fossickers Way? If not, you don’t know what you are missing. Heading off from Bathurst, we stick to the main highway and head for Tamworth. Just 60km (40 miles) out of Tamworth, you will find Nundle, a tiny, quaint little village positioned at the beginning of the Fossickers Way.
So, what is Fossickers Way, you ask? Well it is over 200km of area where you can indulge some time in fossicking for gems! And, boy, did we find them. Gold, rubies, sapphires … you name it. After all the years of trying to find opals in [...]
August 26th, 2009
Now here is some very sound advice. Advice I wish I had been given earlier!
We left Nelligen, bound for Bathurst, and we let our trusty Tom Tom do the talking … really, really bad idea. We went to Bathurst on a “long cut”, via the goat tracks of southern NSW. I swear these roads had not been used for many, many, many months (see attached picture). We were on this particular road for four hours, so a five-hour trip turned into an eight-hour trip. I guess the scenery was spectacular and it did give us an insight into a [...]
August 22nd, 2009
LEAVING behind the arty town of Quenbeayan, we head east out to the coast to a little village called Nelligen. Now, it’s important to remember that when you leave Quenbeayan, be very, very careful. The road down to the coast is very, very steep. I had to go down in first gear the whole 18kms. It’s very steep and in places you feel as if you are going to get out of control.
But we made it and were greeted by the outstanding BIG 4 Nelligen Holiday Park. What a place! Built on an old footy oval, it’s almost entirely [...]
August 20th, 2009
A Guide to … Hybrid Cars… what makes a Hybrid tick and where do we go from here? NRMA offer some insight on this and what we can expect
We are witnessing what the industry calls the gradual electrification of the motor car.
That is, petrol engines are going to get smaller and electric motors will get bigger as battery technology and public recharge points improve … Until, eventually, the petrol engine can disappear from some city cars altogether.
The first stepping stone on this path is the hybrid car. For those who aren’t familiar with how they work it’s [...]
August 7th, 2009
A Guide to … Ethanol and Biodiesel….NRMA unravels some of the mysteries of Ethanol fuel alternatives and changes we’ll see at the Australian Fuel Pump
Ethanol-blended fuel is being touted as an antidote to rising petrol prices and diminishing oil supplies. While it has its merits in some applications it is by no means a magic solution to the car world’s energy woes.
Most ethanol produced in Australia is derived from the waste of sugar cane, corn and grain crops. There are also studies underway to try to make ethanol from municipal waste which, if successful, could reduce the [...]
August 5th, 2009
The great thing about cruising in a campervan to Coffs Harbour is that you can either do it from Brisbane or Sydney, therefore offering two very different journeys to enjoy. For us, we chose the Sydney option and while it would take about seven hours maximum with no stops, we spent five days negotiating the route along the Pacific Highway, a great option for some diverse stop-overs along the way.
Newcastle
First port of call was Newcastle after a leisurely two hour cruise. This city is one of extremes – a rougher element stemming from its early days as a [...]
