It's time to go north......

but first we have to travel to Bowral for this years '25 Frogs' Reunion.  With just over a week left before we headed off we decided to look at buying another car.  The Jeep has been a great car and (mostly) reliable so it was not an easy decision.  With the authorities clamping down on all the heavy and overweight vehicles on the road we did the sums and decided that we needed a car with a larger payload.  We found a Toyota Landcruiser 76 series for sale in Wangaratta and decided we would go and have a look at it.  It fitted the bill and so we took a big breath in and traded ours in for it.

All the bits and pieces came together and Bill was able to pick the car up on the Wednesday before we had to be in Bowral.  He arrived home after dark so we left the final packing until the next morning and just before lunch finally hit the road for our two day run to Bowral.  Our first stop was back to Wangaratta on the way as the 2nd battery was not connected as it had been the day before.  The guys fixed it on the spot and we continued on stopping at a park in Barnawartha to make and eat our lunch.

We drove on stopping some hours later for our first overnight at Tarcutta.  The next morning we continued on our way stopping at Jugiong for coffee.  A fabulous freecamp here which we'll certainly come back and visit another time.  This rustic sculpture of Sergeant Edward Parry caught our attention.  He was killed on 16th Nov 1864 in a gun battle with the Hall Gang at Black Springs, Jugiong.  The drive along the Hume from Gundagai was a road we had not travelled before and the scenery was beautiful.  Lush green hills and valleys made the otherwise long road a pleasant trip.

From here we drove straight to Bowral arriving around 3.30pm in the rain.  It wasn't long before we were set up at the Mittagong Caravan Park and some of the other 'Frogs' arrived to say hi.  

Soon after we were changed and on our way to the Bowral RSL where our first dinner and drinks were taking place.  As you can imagine there was a lot of noise as everyone caught up with each other.  We girls left the guys to their stories and caught up on each other's families and travel stories.

A long table dinner was lots of fun as we ate, drank and made merry for the next few hours.  Lots more laughs were had and tall stories were told as everyone tried to catch up with everyone else.  Always a challenge on a long straight table.  Still a fun night was had and it was a very weary group that headed back to the caravan park much later on.

We met again on Saturday morning at The Don Bradman Museum for those who wanted to visit.  We did and thoroughly enjoyed our few hours seeing all things cricket and Don Bradman.  It really is a wonderful memorial to a very talented man.

Leaving there we drove a few km back to the Briars, a historic pub, and all enjoyed a lovely lunch.  Not sure how any of us could eat more, but we managed, though there was a notable lack of alcohol during lunch.  

After a coffee at home with Kate, Greg, Cheryl and Shane it was time to head out again for dinner, this time to Bowral Thai.  We enjoyed a lovely banquet and once again it was a noisy group that laughed and talked our way through the next few hours.  

The next morning most of us met again at The Mill where we had breakfast together before everyone said their farewells and made their way home again.  Once again the reunion had been a great success and we say a huge thank you to Helen and Geoff for organizing it.  It was wonderful to catch up with all of our old friends and to meet some new ones as well.

There were four of us left and Helen and Geoff took us to Berrima where we had a walk through this lovely little village.  The guys wandered around the Classic Holden cars on display and we ladies checked out the village shops.  

Afterwards we returned home with Helen and Geoff for coffee and nibbles.  No one wanted lunch!  Glenda and Ian left soon after to drive to Sydney to catch their planes home and we returned home for a short rest.  We did return later to have fish and chips with our hosts and finally finish off a great weekend.

We had been going to leave on Monday but decided we would stay one more day to have a look around Bowral and shop for the trip ahead.  We checked out the main streets of Mittagong and Bowral, shopped, then drove up to the Mount Gibraltar Lookouts.  We found these quite underwhelming as there are no views from the top as the trees have taken over.  Glimpses of Mittagong are as good as it gets I'm afraid.  The drive up and down was lovely though with some amazing properties along the way.

The next morning we hooked up and set off again to begin our next adventure for real, or so we thought.  We had decided to head to Yass and stopped at Gunning to have our lunch.  Here at Barbour Park we found a lovely spot beside the creek and decided to stay for the night.  After lunch we had a walk in the tiny town and returned home to enjoy the sunshine and the water birds.  Lots of other people had the same idea and by nightfall there were about 15 vans here.

We decided to stay put for another day enjoying the quiet after a big weekend and took a bigger walk around town, having coffee and coming back to while away the afternoon with the Dusky Moor Hens, the Coots and this lovely little Azure Kingfisher.

During these last two days Bill had all the signs of a cold coming on so we decided we would just go on to Yass the next day and hope it was better then.  We found a spot beside the Yass River at Joe O'Connor Park.  We popped into Woolworths and then it was so cold here we stayed inside for the rest of the afternoon.  

Unfortunately the next day Bill was far worse, with a full blown head cold, so unable to drive or tolerate light it was another day by the river.

A lot better the next day we walked into town for a quick look before hooking up and making our way towards the west.  With the last few nights at one degree and zero we are now seriously searching for some warmer weather.

We had a pit stop at Harden for lunch and we stopped overnight at a newish campsite at Springdale.  With Bill well again we will now begin our magical mystery tour from here - watch this space!

until next time.......