A Newspaper Article

 I didn't know this existed, but came up in a search of my fathers friend , Frank Tisdale.

Farewell Aunty Wyn

 

Preparation for Travel - Houdini Proofing

Before we can go away there are some tasks needed to be completed 

One is to fully dog proof the property to allow for the possibly for a house sitter to manage our older two dogs, Mac and Cody who are not good travellers. 

Mac has always been uncomfortable traveling, unhappy with vehicle motion. 

Cody is now partially blind and becoming quite deaf. 

Our last trip Cody was under the opinion that the Motorhome was in its parking spot at home and would become disoriented at night when he found out otherwise.

Buffy and Bambi love to travel!

There is a gap under the downhill side fence to the adjoining property

Some treated pine logs 150mm x 2.4M works well.
Gap be gone!

The missing panel in our front gates and fence was small dog sized.

The concept drawing.

Some progress shots of the reality. The paint is still wet here and the colour is not a match. Should be Colorbond Pale Eucalyptus. A trip to Bunnings in the future will fix that.

A tad noticeable. At least it wasn't this colour! 

This is a real colour!

Then the last bit

A heavy rubber flap added to the gap on the gate.
It was a battle between the green ants, wind and the odd brief shower but we won in the end. 

Now we can get rid of the ugly rusty portable dog fencing!

Now to have a major sort inside

More to come.....

The Hayshed Concert at Largs

Within walking distance - A great afternoon and evening for all age groups. Talented musicians supporting the headline "Ukulele Death Squad". A truly memorable time! By the end everyone was up and dancing!

The Granddaughters

 A visit to Sydney to catch up.

Aubree, Abigail and Amber 

Our Trip to Victoria - Day 2

Day 2 - A morning coffee and back on the Putty Road

The winding Putty Rd, Colo NSW

 

The 168-kilometre (104 mi) Putty Road is very historic, closely following the Bulga Road (named after the Bulga Creek), first explored by John Howe, Chief Constable of Windsor, being the first road to link Sydney to the Hunter Valley. It was opened in 1823 and was initially a popular cattle-duffing (an Australian term for cattle-rustling) route.

Putty road was used by truck drivers back when it was the only viable route and later by those who were stretching the rules. Many lives were lost due to accidents on a very challenging road -  A Truck Drivers Memorial has been established to honour the 140+ truck drivers killed.

Today, the road is fully sealed and from north to south, after leaving Singleton, passes through the settlements of Bulga, Colo, Milbrodale, Putty and on to Windsor. 

The Putty Road is bounded to the west and east by protected national parks – the Wollemi National Park to the west, and the Yengo National Park to the east – both part of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Greater Blue Mountains Area. The road is narrow and winding in places and very scenic. It may be hazardous during wet weather. The road is popular with tourists, motorcyclists and cyclists.

Towards the end of Putty Road is the Colo River

Colo River is a bit high!

T

A WWII Honour Roll white marble tablet and below a similar tablet for 'the Great War'. It is on a sandstone cliff, just up from the Colo River Park, beside Colo River, and below the Putty Road bridge.

Bambi and Buffy made good use of the park 

A local council triuc turned up and emptied the bins and using a bucket of river water cleaned the public toilets.

We decided to move on and have breakfast elsewhere.

We made our way through some moderate traffic through Windsor avoiding Sydney as much as possible, following the road to Penrith and on to "The Northern Road" heading to Campbeltown.

We gave in and have a coffee and food break at  Luddenham NSW. The dust in the distance is the construction of Sydney's second airport - Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) Airport.

Eventually Sydney is well behind us and we are $63 and a lot less traffic angst better off. Our Motorhome weighs 4950kg fully laden, 7.1M long and is driven on a standard car licence. Our motorhome is not eligible for the cashback and although the NSW government have been lobbied by motorhome groups to correct this, they are not budging! 

Hume Motorway traveling south, Berrima NSW

Looking East - Hume Motorway, Sutton Forest NSW 2577

We made quick progress to Goulburn a small regional city 200 km (120 miles) south-west of Sydney, Australia. With a population of 24,000, Goulburn is one of the largest cities in the region and a rural hub for surrounding agriculture. Goulburn lays claim to be Australia's first inland city to be settled. 

A settlement was established on a site chosen in 1818 by the explorer Hamilton Hume and was originally named Goulburn Plains after Henry Goulburn, then undersecretary of state for the colonies.

Goulburn is a railhead on the Main Southern line, a service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry, and popular stopover for those travelling on the Hume Highway. It has a central park and many historic buildings. It is also home to the monument the Big Merino, a sculpture that is the world's largest concrete-constructed sheep!

Teslas charging away at the Goulburn Visitors Center. We did the same and had a rest.

A brief walk found this Weighbridge which was once used by NSW Railways. Unfortunately it isn't operational, otherwise we could weigh the motorhome. 😁

Through the fence - 81 class locomotives idling away. 

Goulburn Visitor Information Centre

Next stop Badcoe VC Rest Area, Lake George, on the way to Canberra on the Federal Highway.

Badcoe VC Rest Area, Lake George, on the way to Canberra on the Federal Highway. Lake George is one of the most studied lakes in Australia. unexplainably dries up and reappears.

On the other side of Lake George is the Capital Wind Farm near Bungendore, the largest wind farm in New South Wales.

Michelago is a tiny settlement just off the Monaro Highway, 54 km south of Canberra and 340 km south of Sydney, on the main route from Sydney to the Snowy Mountains. Now little more than a few houses, a service station and a motel it is a cold and isolated location which was first settled in the 1820s when an ex-convict couple, Emmanuel and Catherine Elliot, took up land at the edge of the official limits of settlement. By the 1830s there was a sly grog shop and a short time later it became a stopping point for the mail which was passing through to Cooma and Bunyan.

By the 1860s settlers had arrived in sufficient numbers to lead to the establishment of a police station (with a lockup), the Hiberian Inn, a store, post office and two churches.

In 1866 the Clarke bushranger gang which operated in the area arrived in town, stole supplies from the store and got drunk in the pub, before heading off. They were captured a year later. The railway arrived in 1887 and the Bombala Line closed in February 1976.

Michelago railway station looking north

Michelago railway station opened on 8 December 1887. It officially closed on 8 February 1976. The buildings are Heritage Listed. The line to Cooma saw 100 years of rail services, until the line was closed by flood damage to the bridge over the Numeralla River. During its life, the line was used to convey tourists to the ski fields in the winter and many recreational fishermen and women for trout fishing in the warmer months. Freight was profitable in the day and Cooma railway yard was very busy with freight arriving for the Snowy Hydro Scheme, and plenty of wool-laden wagons heading back to Sydney.

Across from the Michelago Railway station. No trains or traffic to keep us awake and we had a pleasant nights sleep.

Our Dining Room.

Across from the Michelago Railway station.

The view from our dining table at Michelago.

Buffy is loving the motorhome.

Day 3 Next

Our Trip to Victoria - Day 1

Heather and I had made plans to travel down to Victoria to attend a Amateur Radio weekend called Antennapalooza, described as "A social and technical symposium. A fun weekend promoting inter-club activities" now in its seventh year. http://www.antennapalooza.net.au

A loose plan was made;

• Spend five days sightseeing on the way down.
• Free camp whenever possible. We are self contained. See here.
• Spend six days sightseeing on the way home.
• Avoid Sydney and Melbourne at all costs!
• No more than 4 to 5 hours driving.
• Have Fun! 😊

We also had decided to only take two dogs with us this time to make it easier. Bambi who seems to be permanently attached to me and Buffy. Mac and Cody along with our elderly cat Chappie stayed with Kip https://kip.com.au/locations/hunter-valley/ where they get spoilt rotten. 😁

As this blog does not happen in real time, here is a map of our trip from our home in Largs, Hunter Valley, NSW down to Drouin West, West Gippsland Vic.

The Red Circles mark where we stayed overnight and we free camped with the exception of Mallacoota.

Day 1 

A week or so before we left on our trip there was some heavy rains up in the catchment of the Hunter and Paterson Rivers and the level of the Hunter river was close to 10 Meters at Belmore Bridge at Maitland.

Hunter River at Flat Road Lorn

         Belmore Bridge and the Hunter River getting closer to the levee bank

The river peaked the next day.

New England Highway near Whittingham NSW 2330. We are saving $63.18 on outrageous road tolls and avoiding Sydney traffic by traveling south on the Putty Road to Windsor, then on to Campbelltown to join the Hume Motorway.

A view from Range Road railway overpass of the New England Highway. The Intersection of the New England Highway and The Golden Highway was closed to traffic with roadworks.

Bulga Tavern Putty Rd, Bulga NSW 2330

Our first overnight Stop at the Grey Gum Café "The oasis on the Putty" https://greyguminternationalcafe.com

Excited Fur Children! Bambi and Buffy are adapting to motorhome life very quickly!

Left over from the Remembrance Day gathering. The Grey Gum is very popular with motorbike riders and their clubs.

The accommodation are a cabin and a couple of swags under a marquee.

 

Conflicting signs - was closed.

Overnight Stop at the Grey Gum Café "The oasis on the Putty"

A popular spot with motorcycle clubs, but very quiet on a Sunday night.

Overnight Stop at the Grey Gum Café "The oasis on the Putty" 

Watching the wallabies from our bed.

Next Day 2

Goodbye Dad

 

Our family would like to thank you for being here today to say farewell to my dad, Thomas Cresswell Anslow, or as we all know him: Tom.

Whilst his passing was not unexpected with his illness over the last few weeks, it is still difficult to come to terms with losing a father and a grandfather.

As you know, my dad after much convincing and after a setback in August last year, moved with us to our new home in Largs. 

While resistant to change, once here dad, Heather and I were looking forward to spending more years together as a family. 

The time he spent with us were happy, filled with sport, music and watching the magpies.

This is quite a different lifestyle to the one dad was born into. 

Dad was born at home in 1929 in a two up two down terrace house in Walsall Wood, a small mining village in the Midlands. His mum Annie was the village midwife. It was a tough life with low income to barely make do after his father died of ‘black lung’ from mining, when Tom was six. Tom however thought it was one of the best times of his life.  It was a simple life with minimal school attendance and tagging along after his older brother Dennis, scrumping for apples from the ministers yard, football and roaming the village and surrounds. 

Speaking of football, Dad’s favourite team is Wolverhampton Wanderers so dad was thrilled last year when his team finally made it back into the First Division / Premier League and almost to the semi-finals, after so many years. He definitely made a point to see that game! 

Dad absolutely loved most sports, football, soccer, cricket and motor racing so he had his entertainment covered for the entire year. Whilst these were not always popular with mum, he did seem to find time for them. 

His love of sports however was completely overshadowed by his passion for classical music. He was introduced to classical music by my mum’s father Norman, whilst dad was waiting for my mum to get ready for their date. 

Well…..when I say introduced, it was more like “you are not leaving here until you listen to this…” type of introduction. Suffice it to say, the way to a future father-in-laws’ approval is paying attention to the music.

Not only did this courting lead to mum, it led to a life-long passion for classical music with Beethoven and Liszt being among dad’s favourite composers. The music selected today came from dad’s collection. 

I know it was dad’s great passion and he wanted to share his love for music with those around him. In fact, I can imagine him saying, “Do you really want to speak? Can’t we replace this with another piece of music?” 

My childhood memories are of a father who was devoted to his family. The centre of his life was my mother, Ann, to whom he was married for 62 years. During this time, we emigrated from the swinging 60’s in Lichfield England to late the 1940’s in Launceston Tasmania. 

It was a real culture shock for both mum and dad and is one of dad’s favourite recollections. The Tasmanian people had strange accents and strange ways such as the women wearing a hat, gloves and ball gowns to work functions. Dad was not one to conform or be dictated to.  Instead he encouraged mum to wear a provocative ankle-length dress slit down the side and stood up to those who would criticise. Whilst what mum wore is conservative by todays’ standards, it really was something shocking to those ladies wearing tiara’s and furs. 

There was a lot of pressure on dad at Repco when he first joined as the company culture was for the men to spend each afternoon at the pub instead of going home. There was no way my dad was going to leave his young family at home to adhere to peer pressure. 

In today’s world where only the common or popular opinion is believed to be the correct opinion, where differences are to be criticised and ridiculed, I prefer to look to dad’s example in not following the crowd. They are not always right as he repeatedly demonstrated throughout my life. 

The last 4 years since mum’s passing have been the hardest for dad. Mum was the centre of his world and his hobby was to make life easier and happier. They rarely spent time apart. Not a day went by when he did not mention her. In his last days he was dreaming of her. So, while it is such a difficult thing to have to say goodbye to dad, it my great hope and belief that he is now where he will be happiest; in heaven with mum and enjoying his music. 

We will miss you dad.