More photos

Ouyen pub

It's time to go

The time has has come for these 4 brave souls to expose themselves to the wilds of outback Australia,with the big ford fuelled and ready to go we head west to Brim a small country town in the southern mallee to view the painted silos. The 70 km detour was well worth the effort, with some minor grumblings from the rear section of the car we arrive at this fantastic display of silo art . These paintings were completed by the world famous street artist Guido Van Helton in just over a month. As we point the big ford north and start to put the cool weather behind us , yes we are now officially heading to the Gulf region of northern Queensland.After a quick stop at Ouyen we continue up the Calder highway arriving at Mildura we grab a all day breakfast, we then begin to shop for supplies to take us further up north to our final destination. Beer and wine will also play a big part of our survival so these health drinks are soon loaded aboard. With Broken Hill our next stop we hot foot it for the next 300 kms through the south western NSW to this isolated city , off out for the evening meal at the Demo Club which we all enjoyed. We declare a early night so we can tackle the trip to Tibboburra tomorrow,who knows what lays ahead on these lonely dusty roads.       WADDA

Silo art

Where to from here

With 10 days to go until we begin our heroic journey to the outback things have fallen to s..t . Yes some very heavy rain has fallen on some of our chosen routes making it almost impossible to navigate  into some of the pristine locations we planned to visit. I will continue to monitor the QLD road closure website and try to have a plan B ready just in case some of these roads reopen , otherwise come Easter Sunday this group of hard core adventurers will be off like a dog shot in the arse.Where we go we do not care , this is all about us having fun over a 20 day period. We will be aiming for the Gulf region of Queensland to places like Burketown Karumba and also Cobbold Gorge,if we find the roads are impassible we will explore many other out of the way places. Just hope the 3 other blokes also share my dream to wander through this vast and beautiful country called Australia, more in 10 days when we depart.            WADDA

Tattooing.

Today has been spent on our inefficient public transport system going to and from the Edinburgh tattoo at Empty Head stadium in Melbourne to sunny Seymour. Our journey started with the train to Melbourne being packed to the gunnels . Standing room only till Broadmeadows then the surban to the city,as I say never look back if you are going forward. As we shuffle toward the stadium we all feel the need for food so we drag our selves into some unorganised establishment for a few morsels of I think they call it food. Now we are ready for the big event ,and what a great show it turned out to be. 2 and a half hours later we hit the Mail Exchange hotel for a cool drink before we chance our luck on our return journey. With a on time departure my hopes are high but it is not long before the death rattles start to appear in this dodgy Public Transport System, the train running 1hour ahead of us has had a hissy fit and stopped . Life is not meant to be easy but a little bit of luck would good on the odd occasion, some 55 minutes later snail rail continues to take me towards my final destination slowly. My evening plans with the bride have been shattered so it looks like pizza AGAIN , well enough wingeing it's time to to to forgive and forget this terrible experience and move on .
               WADDA

WADDAS up dates his itinerary for 2016

You guessed it Wadda is putting his skates on for a very busy year ahead, as of Monday the 8 th of February I begin preparing for the Seymour Alternative expo. A job that gives me much pleasure ,it will be hot and  hard but also very therapeutic for this aging old retired steel wheeled cowboy. Then on Easter Sunday we will be venturing to the rugged outback of Australia for Boys trip number 3. This journey will take us through the beautiful Barossa Valley of SA on up through Wilpena Pound onto the now filling Lake Eyre , Birdsville then to Mt Isa as we swing past Camooweal heading onto Gregory Downs as the road still heads on to Burketown ,this will be our most northerly destination.The north bound part of the journey is now complete we strike out in an easterly direction bound for Karumba right in the guts of the Gulf . This is prawn and big fish country, bragging rights begin here,reputation are made and also destroyed in this part of our beautiful country. Cobbold Gorge is our next point of interest,more on that later. From here we begin the journey south taking in Hughenden.... Muttaburra....Ilfacombe. The next couple of days will be spent with a local farmer and his wife on their sheep station at Navvare. As we spiral out of control we head deeper south to  Noccundra then the long lonely road to Broken Hill. By now home is calling our names not before a visit to Menindee Lakes .....Pooncarie and Mungo Station. Our last stop over will be in Mildura in the heart of Sunraysia, our last day as we follow the Murray River  to Robinvale ...Swan Hill we will reflect on another great journey through our big harsh beautiful country


Trip 2 yes there is more to come , the end of July brings my next trip on to the radar, my wife and I will venture back to the old dart again for the wedding of Jake&Steff. This gig is taking place just outside Florence, more on that later. The last 3 weeks will be spent driving through England ....Cornwall.....Wales.......Ireland and Scotland so this time I will be ready for those Pommie drivers and roundabouts .WATCH THIS Space
                                                                    WADDA

Trying to insert photos AGAIN

Hallstatt in Austria

That time of the year is with us again

Yes you guessed right again,Xmas is with us and what a busy year 2015 was . With a bit of OS travel a wedding and a few birthdays for the little people in our family,the festive season arrives with the usual stint hot weather leading up to the summer holidays. With the temperature climbing to the high 30s and to the mid 40s this will surely test our ability to survive . Xmas morning the kids attend to the business of present opening while the oldies organise the day ahead. The temperature is climbing steadily and by mid morning it's pretty darn hot but we still need tables and chairs for the 50 odd people who will attend this annual Xmas feast. This well oiled machine is soon  barking orders to the others , with the tasks almost complete we take a 5 minute break to wash the dust from our throats .The temperature is now in the high 30s as we settle down under a shady tree , with a hot northerly blowing we soon lose interest in the work side of things and settle in for a few cool drinks of our finest Aussie beer. The midday sun is high overhead but our thirst continues as we now await for the lunch is being served call, 2pm the meat is finally done and the carving has begun, 2.45 the lunch is being served call is given. As this orderly mob start to devour this feast fit for a king I reflect on the previous 44 Xmas lunches I have shared with this truely amazing family . Wadda has been kissed on the arse by a fairy to be sharing this very special day with a very special family........WADDA