Hengstberger Descendants & Partners

Shoe Box Fred made 

Aunty Pat

Day 9 - First day of the reunion.  Had Moko with Chris and phoned Garry from KJ Homes re our house plans.    Went down to the hall for the reunion about 1pm for lunch and a catch up with everyone.  There were quite a few of the family there.  Some people we had never seen before.  We all had name labels and what branch of the family we belonged to which was good.  Fred's family were the Orange People (sounds like a cult). Pat and Ray were there and Veronica had arrived that morning.  It was lovely to catch up with them again.  Pat is so much like Grandma.  Alicia and John were there too.  Lunch was great with Roast Port, Beef and Lamb and veges and salads.  We were so full after that we went for a walk around the shops in town to try and walk it all down.  Went back to the hall for a while and I think the trip finally caught up with us (as well as the couple of glasses of red wine) so we went home and crashed for the  night.  That was about 7.30pm.

Port Albert

Rest Area at Port Albert

Looking toward jetties at Port Albert

Day 8 - My birthday today.  Left Nev and Jen's early to be able to park in the shopping centre with the van before it got too busy.  Managed to get a couple of trackie pants.  Not a lot to choose from surprisingly.  I thought they would have heaps down here because it gets so cold.  Had a birthday call from Sue Farrelly and Lee Lee so that was lovely and a message from Kirmy to say they were at VRD okay which was good to hear.  We finished shopping, fuelled up and left Bairnsdale heading for Leongatha. We got to Moko time and decided to call into a little place called Port Albert on the coast where there was a rest area.  We are so glad we did.  By now the sun was shining (finally found it) and it was a beautiful day and Port Albert was just lovely.  It was really just a fishing village and there weren't many shops but lots of boats tied up to the jetties and the water was so clear and blue.  It is located in a bay and the water was flat as a tack.  We really don't want to go any further but have to get to Leongatha for the family reunion so we had a cuppa, bought fish pieces and chips for lunch from the pub (birthday lunch) and spent about another hour there before continuing on reluctantly.  We arrived in Leongatha mid afternoon and caught up with Chris.  Dave got home from work a couple of hours later.  Pa helped him take a cupboard down to the hall for the reunion and he caught up with some of the family.  We all went down to the hall for tea and met up with Pat and Ray and more of the family.  Had a lovely dinner and headed home.  That's one more birthday down. Big weekend coming up.

Day 7 - Left Orbost about 8.30 and think we will make it to Leongatha today.  Got a call from Dave telling us that Neville and Jen lived in Bairnsdale which we had to travel through.  Pa called Neville to let him know we were on our way through and he told us to call in so we kept going along the coast through Lakes Entrance.  It was still raining but we could see that this was a town we wanted to come back to and spend a bit of time.  There were heaps of boats moored at jetties along the front and the main part of the town was flat which was a change from what we had been travelling through in the past few days.  Thought it would be good kayak country.  We got to Nev's just before lunch.  They have a lovely home a few kilometres out of town on a few acres.  Nev built the house and it is just beautiful.  The house is made of limestone and there is sandstone flooring right throughout the house. This house is big with a lot of rooms not being used.  Their gardens are just great and they have put so much work in here.  Jen got home from work about 3 so we had a chat and then Pa went with Nev while he finished a small job he had to do.  We also got to meet Milly and Sam, Nev and Jen's dogs.  Sam is getting on a bit but Milly is just a pup. We all had tea together which was nice and it was lovely to catch up with them.  It has been quite a while.  It is really cold here too.  We need to stock up on  more warm clothes so we plan to leave early in the morning and call into the shops in Bairnsdale to get some more trackies and tops.

Day 6 - Left Nelligen at about 8am.  We had rain overnight so we decided we needed to go and find some sun.  We kept going down the Princes Highway through Narooma which had a large river and was very hilly but very nice.  Pa was having a bit of trouble with the van brakes grabbing but worked out that it was just because it was so wet (still raining - where is the sun) and it was still so hilly.  Kept going down through Wallaga Lakes on our way to Bermagui.  We stopped on a hill at Bermagui for Moko but couldn't get many photos as it is still raining quite heavily and is also quite cool.  I have decided not to take many more photos now as they are all turning out foggy because the rain is so heavy.  Bermagui is lovely and we think it would be well worth spending some time there when the weather is nicer.  We phoned Dave and Uncle John while we stopped.  Just wanted to let Dave know where we were and that we think we had finally outrun the floods.  After Moko we kept going down through Tathra Beach and on to Bega.  Came across a place outside Bega called "Frogs Hollow" which I thought was pretty good.  Bega has lots of old buildings and is quite large and of course has lots of dairy cattle. Kept going through Eden and stopped for lunch at Edrom Road Rest Area.  It is still raining and cold so we decided we would have some lovely hot soup and toast for lunch.  At least that warmed us up a bit.  (We are getting a bit sick of the rain by now)  Checked the map and decided to head for Orbost which was only another 160kms and stay in a caravan park there for the night.  We crossed over the NSW - VIC border about 2pm and after that the rain eased.  Passed Genoa Rest Area which was very popular with vans and looked really good.  At least it was off the road a bit which is unusual for the Rest Areas down this way.  They are mostly close to the road and not very big.  Went on through Cann River and on to Orbost.  At least the rain had stopped by then. Found the park there and booked in for the night.  Park was quite good.  By that time it was getting really cold so we were happy to park up and put the heater on.

Day 5 - Got up to a cool morning and after brekky went and checked out the river.  Got some great photos and video of the raging river.  We left camp about 8 and decided we would head for Nelligen which is about 10 kms west of Batemans Bay and stay in the caravan park there.  It was time to catch up with the washing and check our emails and charge our laptops.  It was a lovely scenic drive through to Nelligen.  We drove through the pretty little town of Braidwood and  were still in hilly country but it was like driving through a rainforest with little waterfalls every so often. The towns down here still have so many old historic homes and buildings and lovely old pubs.  You can see this was the first part of Australia to be populated.  Got to the Nelligen caravan park and checked in.  The park looked quite nice with green grass and it was on the banks of a river.  We got set up and I did some washing.  We then decided we would check in with the girls but we were astounded that we didn't have any mobile service.  Pa then checked his internet and again almost nothing, just 1 bar which wasn't enough to download anything even with the aerial sitting right on top of the TV antenna.  No TV either.  What a black hole this was.  It was only 10kms inland from the coast.  Still, we realised we would have to be more careful next time and make sure there was service at the next park we stay in.  We drove into Batemans Bay to get some supplies and make our calls.  We weren't impressed with Batemans Bay.  It was too busy for us and the shops were all over the place.  We had a bit of a drive down the coast but there wasn't any nice beaches that we could find so decided we wouldn't bother with this part of the coast again.  Anyway it was good to catch up on the washing and have a bit of a clean up.

Mendooran Rest Area

River at Mendooran Rest Area

Pa reflecting on life at Mendooran

Day 4 saw us leaving Mandooran Rest Area at 8.30 under beautiful blue skies.  Don't know how long that will last.  Headed on South East and kept listening to the flood reports to decide which way we should go so we didn't get caught in any flooded areas.  (So much for us heading out to the far west to escape the weather.  It obviously had other ideas.)  We went through Dunedoo, Gulgong which was a lovely little town and Mudgee.  Mudgee is beautiful with large rolling green hills with lots of Vineyards and Black Angus cattle. This is certainly a place we want to come back to when we have a bit of time to explore and maybe do a winery tour and check out what else the area has to offer.  We stopped at about 11 o'clock at Capertee for smoko (Moko Pa) and while I was making the coffee Pa had a  visit from some lovely ladies who were Jehovah Witnesses.  He said they really were very nice (aren't they always) and didn't push the religion too much but left him with some light reading material.  After smoko we headed on past a few collieries, Beal Bones, Invincible, Ivanhoe North, Pine Dale, Springvale and a couple of power stations, Mt Piper and Wallerwang.  The power stations were easy to see from the road but weren't anywhere as big as the one at home.  Made it to Lithgow by about 12.30pm and fueled up for $1.42 a litre.  After fuelling up we headed on to Oberon and Goulburn.  I finally remembered to get the camera out of the bag in the back when we were stopped for roadworks before Lithgow and was now able to take some photos of the lovely countryside we were travelling in.We thought we would stay in a caravan park in Goulburn as there aren't very many Rest Areas around.  We soon changed our mind when we pulled into the park.  It was obviously full of permanents and was pretty run down so we drove straight through and headed out to the Big 4 but it was too cramped to get our van into so we decided to keep going to the next rest area out of town.  The Navigator (Ma) got it wrong and ended up on the freeway heading to Sydney which was not the way we  wanted to go. (Certainly really didn't want to go anywhere near Sydney)  We decided we should turn around when we could and head back through Goulburn and go the right way.  (We saw the funny side of it and  realised this would probably not be the only time we'd have a guided tour and end up heading to the wrong place before our big trek is over.)  Anyway we pressed on heading for a Rest Area called Warri Reserve which is beside the Shoalhaven River and only a few hours from Batemans Bay on the coast and just past the turnoff to Queenbean in the ACT.  Our luck with the weather ran out and off in the distance we could see a big band of dark clouds heading our way.  Luckily by the time it got to us we only got the edge of it so only got light rain.  We had been travelling through some lovely countryside but it was getting late and we really had been on the road far too long today.  We reached the Warri Reserve which was just past the bridge that spans the Shoalhaven River just on dusk.  It was a lovely big area and there were already quite a few vans and tents already camped up for the night.  We found a good level spot but boy it was cold there.  Probably our coldest since leaving home.  Couldn't wait to get into the van.  We could hear the river raging under the bridge so it was obviously full and flowing very fast.  We phoned the girls to let them know where we were and we we okay and then warmed up our tea, Honey Curry Chicken, which was one of the freezer meals I had prepared before leaving home.  So glad I did that.  We cleaned up after tea, had our showers and headed for bed and listened to the radio for a while.  Think Pa was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Day 3 - After a quiet but fairly windy night we left Wingadee Reast Area at about 7.10am and headed towards Gilgandra.  After listening to all the flood reports on the radio we decided we would probably have to head back toward the east to get away from the flooding.  We stopped for the day about 40 klms east of Gilgandra at the Mendooran Rest Area.  It was just on the edge of the town of Mendooran and right  beside the Castlereagh River.  The river had been up quite high and had dropped but was still flowing very fast.  The Rest Area was quite big and when we got in there was only 1 other van.  We found a great spot with a view of the river and settled in for the rest of the day.  No mobile service or Internet so we listened to the radio to keep up with the weather reports.  The clouds rolled in late in the afternoon and we started to get a few showers.  We had seen a sign at the Rest Area with a menu for the local pub and Sunday night was Roast night.  We went for a walk downtown to check it out and see what the pub was like.  Looked okay so we decided to go down for tea.  During the afternoon quite a few more vans moved in so we had a bit of fun watching them set up etc. and generally people watching. (How sad is that!!!)  Our own little Happy Hour started about 3pm so we had a couple of nice quiet cold beers while checking our maps and deciding where we would head the next day.  Left about 6pm for the Pub.  We were very lucky as the showers had stopped long enough for us to walk down there.  Tea was roast beef and veges.  Was okay but nothing outstanding.  Certainly wasn't rush hour at the Pub.  We were the only ones in the dining room.  We had just walked back to the van when it started to rain again.  Good timing.  Settled in for the night and went to bed early.

At Chris and Leah's with Levi

Winston waisted on the toilet at Diane's

Chris and Leah

Day 2 - We were greeted this morning by Levi and Sumo (the dog) knocking on the door to let us know breakfast was being served down at the big house.  After Pa gave him a guided tour of the van we dressed and went down for brekkie.  We had a feast of bacon, scrambled eggs, tomato and onion.  After that Levi gave Pa and I a ride on his quad. (Bit scary when I thought he was going to do a doughy on the drive when there really wasn't much to hang onto on the quad.) We both thought how much fun Con would have on one of these.  Chris was giving Gwen instructions how to ride the two wheeler in the paddock.  We all went up to Dianne's cottage.  She was at work but she told us we could have a look through.  Came across Winston totally wasted on the toilet.  He'd been into the Sherry and smokes when Dianne wasn't there.  Naughty bear!!!!!   Anyway we left him there and walked back down for Smoko.  He was going to be in so much trouble when she got home from work. (Would have loved to see her face when she found him)  After Smoko and a bit more of a chat we hit the road again.  It would have been so easy to spend a few more days.  It is so nice there.  The property is so beautiful and Chris and Leah are so welcoming.  We headed out through Warialda and Mooree and on to Walgett.  On the way we had a call from Kirmy and Con.  How good was it to have a chat with him and he actually wanted to stay on the phone and talk but we dropped out of service before we could say goodbye.We were planning to go further out to Bourke but the road was closed.  We then decided we'd stay in Walgett for the night but when we got there we changed our minds very fast.  The town was like a ghost town full of our first settlers.  All the shops were shut and had bars and shutters on them and the whole town looked dead.  We decided to go south and stopped at the Wingadee Rest Area between Walgett and Coonamble.  We were the only ones there but the road was very quiet so had a peaceful night.  There was no mobile service there so we couldn't check in with the family that night.  We'd done 422 klms which wasn't bad considering we didn't leave Chris and Leah's till 12pm.

Well the first day of our big trip around the block finally arrived.  We said a VERY tearful farewell to our little family in Nanango at 8.30 and headed off.  Our target for the day was Inverell to friends Chris, Leah and Levi.  We fuelled up in Toowoomba and then kept going until 12pm when we pulled up for lunch at a siding off the road just before Bringally, between Millmeran and Inglewood.  As we walked past the back of the Cruiser Pa noticed the lead that had originally held the Anderson Plug that was connected to the car had been dragging along the road and we no longer had a coupling.  Being the good Boy Scout he is he had a spare of course.  (Not only 1 spare but 2). Anyway while I organised lunch Pa fixed the coupling and all was good.  We kept going and arrived at Chris and Leah's just after 4.  That was 481 kilometres for the day.  We had a great night with them.  Chris's cousin Gwen was visiting from Uni in Armidale so over some lovely nibblies we girls had Cosmopolitan Cocktails and Pa had a beer or two while we waited for Chris to arrive home from work and Dianne to come down from her little cottage.  When they both got there we had a yummy tea of Thai Yellow Chicken Curry and Choclolate Rice Pudding.  After tea and a few more cocktails and beers and then a few more cocktails and beers a lot of laughs we headed off to bed.