“Take me home, country roads”
That’s what John Denver sang … just before he died from massive multiple blunt force trauma in a fatal (plane) crash after his vehicle ran out of fuel.
Our only goal for the day was to achieve the first bit of that story (getting home), while avoiding the second bit (multiple blunt force trauma). Although JD’s plane running out of fuel and Elsie running out of fuel are two quite different scenarios.
It goes without saying that Stanthorpe in the middle of winter is going to be cold, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. When the sun is shining and you are in Queensland, everything just feels warmer. Seriously!
And the fact that the sun had risen over the yardarm some hours earlier probably took the edge off the cold too.
There didn’t appear to be any particular set of rules associated with departure time at the Top of the Town Tourist Park (aka TotTTP), but 10.00am is a reasonable time to pull up stumps and set sail. Sorry about the mixed metaphors.
The nice lady in the office told us that the markets were on at the showgrounds this morning. The more observant of you will realise that they were the very same showgrounds that we were supposed to stay at last night, but the caretakers had to go away.
No time for campers, but all of the time in the world for markets.
And MBW does like markets.
Ironically, the showgrounds were next door to the TotTTP, so it was only a short hobble (for MBW) and we were there in a jiffy.
No charge for entry. We have been there to these markets once before on our last trip to Warwick and Stanthorpe in the middle of COVID, and the experience – from memory – was underwhelming. And that wasn’t COVID’s fault.
It turns out that – for once – my memory was correct. Underwhelming again. We had a poke around, looked at some overpriced handcrafts, and were walking back out the door about 10 minutes later.
Let’s play a quick game of ”Where’s Wally MBW?” Can you spot her in the picture below?
Percy was all ready to go, but he just needed to be unplugged from the power and water and hooked up to Elsie. We were out of the park and on the road well before 10.00am.
Just look at those blue Queensland skies!!
While I have to say that travelling all over the countryside with Percy on the back is my happy place, the closer we get to ”civilisation” (and I use that term loosely), the more anxious I feel. Other drivers on the road are far less courteous and considerate, and I constantly feel at risk of being in a serious accident.
And having our trip end the same way as John Denver’s is not in my immediate forward planning just now.
There was one particular overtaking lane between Stanthorpe and Warwick where some moron in a poo-brown Tesla (which is probably all that you need to know about the guy to judge his decision-making ability) very nearly ran me off the road at just under 100km/h when I ran out of ”slow vehicle lane” and he just HAD to get past me.
Turkey.
The roads were pretty good, considering that we were on a major highway back to Brisbane, but I have to say that some of our national highways/roads are a national disgrace.
Uneven, potholes, patching on patching on patching, and rough. And with Percy on the back you feel every bump and bang a second time when the van hits it. Although they do have plenty of overtaking lanes so that the clueless and desperate can go roaring past you to get where they need to be.
To be fair, many of the other drivers on the road are pretty pragmatic and considerate. There is only a select few that just need a bit more chlorine in their gene pool.
Anyhow, we arrived safely in Warwick, saw a coffee shop and purchased take-away caffeinated beverages, and we were back on the road again.
Past a Hipcamp that we have stayed at previously near Maryvale (we must go back there some time), and over Cunningham’s Gap. Maryvale (population 303) is a delightful little township just off the highway with a cute little pub and the best pork ribs I’ve had in a long time … but that is a whole other story for another time.
It felt as though Percy was resisting me dragging him home. He just felt heavy and sluggish and I wondered more than once if I’d forgotten to release the handbrake before we left … yet we got the best fuel economy on that trip than we got on any other tank of fuel for the whole roadtrip – about 16.5 litres/100km average – despite going up and over Cunningham’s Gap.
Home not long after 1.00pm and unpacked.
Elsie and Percy are both so dirty that I don’t know whether to wash them or plant potatoes.
This is what today looks like.
All up, we (MBW, Elsie and Myself) did about 4,080km total. Percy didn’t do quite that many because we left him parked a few times and went on day trips.
OK, so here is the answer to the ”Where’s Wally MBW?” question.
Thanks for tagging along.
Ciao
#RoadTripNSW2023