Our first stop was Euroa, in central Victoria, for morning tea. Euroa is around 145 km from home and is famous for a number of things – some of them Kelly related.
So the (new) Kelly Gang gathered for hugs, kisses, coffee and biscuits – and the obligatory “loo” stop. However we were missing from the celebrations as we had a faulty fuse that needed to be found and fixed before we hit the road.
This is the start of our journey to the Tamworth Music Festival, in the central New South Wales city of Tamworth. To provide a guide as to the size of the festival – the festival guide is 300+ A4 pages.
There are five couples in the Kelly Gang, four of them in caravans. The trip is just under 1200 km to Tamworth and we plan to take three days to get there. An item is about to be crossed off a number of Bucket lists.
In alphabetical order, Bev, Chris, Jan, David, David,
Shirley, Stuart and Wendy, are ready for music, sun, fun and laughter. Towards the end of the week Heather and
Robert join us. The first few days in
Tamworth are forecast to be hot – maybe all of them.
The following map shows our planned route to Tamworth (blue line), with one overnight stop at both Holbrook and Wellington.
We all met up in convoy between Wangaratta and Wodonga, and duly stopped for lunch at a "service centre". The bacon & egg roll with coffee for $7 was popular.
We were checking in at Holbrook Motor Village before 3pm and the obligatory walk was bypassed in favour of an early happy hour.
We planned our time in Tamworth in more detail and booked tickets to a number of shows including The MyClymonts, John Williamson, The Hillbilly Goats and (or course) the Rodeo. This was in addition to the existing tickets of Troy Cassar-Daley and the Golden Guitar Awards.
Around 6pm we adjourned to the camp kitchen where the guys cooked dinner (after driving all day). The ladies did the salads and relaxed.
It was a fun dinner before a reasonably early night. We had travelled around 375 km.
Day 2 - Holbrook to Wellington
All of us agreed that the countryside is very pretty and a joy to drive though. However a couple of us were mystified by the sign that indicated a "Deformed Road". It truly was.
Shirley and I had morning tea at Dunedoo as the others wandered along other roads. There was a lot of local art on display.
We drove though Coolah, another Aussie home of the black stump. I chuckled at a local sign (note the great English).
We all met up at Werris Creek for lunch before the last 45 km in to Tamworth. We gradually set up camp, had a coffee then something colder. It was a lovely place to camp for nearly two weeks.
We easily filled in a couple of hours then strolled over to a grassy area for a gold-coin-donation-to-charity BBQ and free concert. The man/woman duo were excellent and provided some great entertainment.
Around 9:30 we wandered back to our campsite and dissected the day. All were in agreement that the event had started on a very positive note. The only slightly disappointed member of the group was the "Chad Morgan" fan - who was not happy that we had not yet booked tickets for any of his events.
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The following map shows our planned route to Tamworth (blue line), with one overnight stop at both Holbrook and Wellington.
We all met up in convoy between Wangaratta and Wodonga, and duly stopped for lunch at a "service centre". The bacon & egg roll with coffee for $7 was popular.
We were checking in at Holbrook Motor Village before 3pm and the obligatory walk was bypassed in favour of an early happy hour.
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| Four Caravans & Eight Friends |
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| Location of Happy Hour |
Around 6pm we adjourned to the camp kitchen where the guys cooked dinner (after driving all day). The ladies did the salads and relaxed.
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| The Ladies Watching Dinner being Cooked |
Day 2 - Holbrook to Wellington
A few of us were up at the same time (around 6:30) and met on the way to the amenities block. Although the sunrise was clear there was no good photo to be had.
The start was a bit like a Tour de France time trial, with all parties leaving at intervals and travelling at their own speed - although not necessarily at their best speed.
Our first stop was for a look at the submarine (HMAS Otway) which is now a resident in a local park. It was an Oberon class submarine and was 90 metres long.
Morning teas were had at various spots at various times.
We turned off the beautiful Hume Freeway and headed north towards Cootamundra. The winding road left a lot to be desired. We all noticed the many trees that were in a less-vertical position, thanks to a recent storm. One had made a huge mess of a lovely old home in Cootamundra.
Cootamundra is noted as the birth place of Don Bradman, and we took a photo of his birth-home.
We left Cootamundra and headed more northerly towards Young, another lovely Riverina city. Soon we were in Cowra, noted for its role in WW2 and the Japanese role in that history - plus its lovely Japanese gardens. We parked the caravans near the bank of the Lachlan river and had lunch.
The speed trial was again evident as caravans departed at various intervals and headed towards Wellington.
As the clock ticked passed 4pm four caravans drifted in to the caravan park - all having trouble finding the place. Just before arrival one of our group nearly "T Boned" a NSW highway patrol police car as the latter did a sudden "U" turn on the highway. To make it worse the patrol car reversed across the highway and was nearly collected by the second of our group in the convoy. The first part of the incident was collected on dash-cam, complete with colourful language by the driver.
We established camp and moved in to happy hour. The Kelly family fulfilled their earlier commitment of spaghetti and damper for dinner - even though the temperature was moving in to the mid 30's.
The caravan park is owned by a sheep-shearing contractor who uses the park accommodation for his shearers and other shearing staff. Most of the residents were showing symptoms of living a hard life (workwise and socially). Dogs were common.
It was a grand evening, after a drive of around 460 km.
Day 3 - Wellington to Tamworth
Again we were up by 7am and started to move around. Again it was a staggered start as we all headed north. It was a lovely drive for the 310 km to Tamworth. One amazing thing was the fact that all of us used a GPS for direction, and all four cars took a different route to Tamworth. The start was a bit like a Tour de France time trial, with all parties leaving at intervals and travelling at their own speed - although not necessarily at their best speed.
Our first stop was for a look at the submarine (HMAS Otway) which is now a resident in a local park. It was an Oberon class submarine and was 90 metres long.
 |
| HMAS Otway |
Morning teas were had at various spots at various times.
We turned off the beautiful Hume Freeway and headed north towards Cootamundra. The winding road left a lot to be desired. We all noticed the many trees that were in a less-vertical position, thanks to a recent storm. One had made a huge mess of a lovely old home in Cootamundra.
Cootamundra is noted as the birth place of Don Bradman, and we took a photo of his birth-home.
 |
| Don Bradman's First Home |
We left Cootamundra and headed more northerly towards Young, another lovely Riverina city. Soon we were in Cowra, noted for its role in WW2 and the Japanese role in that history - plus its lovely Japanese gardens. We parked the caravans near the bank of the Lachlan river and had lunch.
The speed trial was again evident as caravans departed at various intervals and headed towards Wellington.
As the clock ticked passed 4pm four caravans drifted in to the caravan park - all having trouble finding the place. Just before arrival one of our group nearly "T Boned" a NSW highway patrol police car as the latter did a sudden "U" turn on the highway. To make it worse the patrol car reversed across the highway and was nearly collected by the second of our group in the convoy. The first part of the incident was collected on dash-cam, complete with colourful language by the driver.
We established camp and moved in to happy hour. The Kelly family fulfilled their earlier commitment of spaghetti and damper for dinner - even though the temperature was moving in to the mid 30's.
 |
| Chris Preparing Damper |
The caravan park is owned by a sheep-shearing contractor who uses the park accommodation for his shearers and other shearing staff. Most of the residents were showing symptoms of living a hard life (workwise and socially). Dogs were common.
It was a grand evening, after a drive of around 460 km.
Day 3 - Wellington to Tamworth
All of us agreed that the countryside is very pretty and a joy to drive though. However a couple of us were mystified by the sign that indicated a "Deformed Road". It truly was.
Shirley and I had morning tea at Dunedoo as the others wandered along other roads. There was a lot of local art on display.
 |
| Dunedoo Art |
We drove though Coolah, another Aussie home of the black stump. I chuckled at a local sign (note the great English).
 |
| Coolah Sign |
We all met up at Werris Creek for lunch before the last 45 km in to Tamworth. We gradually set up camp, had a coffee then something colder. It was a lovely place to camp for nearly two weeks.
We easily filled in a couple of hours then strolled over to a grassy area for a gold-coin-donation-to-charity BBQ and free concert. The man/woman duo were excellent and provided some great entertainment.
 |
| Steve & Kathryn |
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| The Gang Listening to Steve & Kathryn |
Around 9:30 we wandered back to our campsite and dissected the day. All were in agreement that the event had started on a very positive note. The only slightly disappointed member of the group was the "Chad Morgan" fan - who was not happy that we had not yet booked tickets for any of his events.
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Great blog. Kepp it coming.
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