May Update
Passed the 10000 Mile mark
DSLH-10450 Miles
Parliament House in the background,
unfortunately the excessive security presence prevented Amanda from taking a photo of the Commer any closer than this.
The travelling pace slowed considerably during late April and into May as we explored Canberra and central Victoria.
Canberra is the country's capital and is truly a beautiful and well organised city. We attended the ANZAC day ceremony and parade at the Australian War Memorial. This is a very moving tribute to service and ex servicemen and women of the Australian and New Zealand defence force and we were very lucky to obtain seating in the main arena.
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| Anzac parade at National War Memorial. |
On the way back to town we watched the moon rise from the top of Mount Stromlo Observatory an optical telescope facility. Needless to say these were pretty interesting places and i would recommend a visit if you are in Canberra.
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| Tony wondering where Julia is, she was supposed to be at the parade as well!. |
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| Rolling out the Tanks |
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| Fly over |
<Entrance to NASA Deep Space Tracking Station near Canberra.
Communication Dish.>
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| REAL MOON ROCK |
<New Commer drivers safety suit/uniform.
From Canberra we headed back into Victoria to Bendigo and Ballarat. We had heard of some large Gold nuggets being found near by and decided to try our luck at prospecting between the two towns. So after a tour of the Bendigo town and equipping ourselves with the necessary maps and a Miners Right "Prospecting licence" we headed into the forest for a week or two of camping out hunting for the elusive yellow.
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| Tram depot Bendigo |
Beautiful Bendigo, full of ornate buildings, statues and Oak trees.
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| First prospecting camp established. |
In between reading comics the hunt for gold is on!
A four year old metal detecting,,,,,don't see that everyday!.
A week later and no Gold, so we packed up and moved closer to Ballarat to explore some of the abandoned Gold mines and the forests in the area. The landscape is littered with shafts "diggings", you need to be careful where you step, especially in the long grass although most shafts are shallow some are 200+ft deep and not fenced or covered. Tailing's piles are usually a good warning of how deep the mines are in the area. Its hard to believe that during the Gold rush in the 1880's people where just picking up large nuggets of the surface and panning massive amounts out of creeks, now it is extremely hard to find any at all and people spend many thousands of dollars on sophisticated metal detectors to increase their chances of success. We have little chance with our antiquated equipment but we have found an enormous assortment of Relics/junk to keep us interested.
Ruins of the once extremely successful Jubillee Gold Mine near Ballarat.
Exploring abandoned tunnels
Yet another bush camp
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| Some pics of the scenic places we prospected. |
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| Typical assortment of articraps found on a gold field. |
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| Our pitifull Gold haul from detecting and panning. Maybe we will do better in Tasmania. |
Most of the main tracks around the goldfields are well used and in reasonable condition but many of the tracks to the abandoned mines are unmaintained and a 4WD vehicle is an advantage.
Slowly and carefully we were able to navigate many of the not to steep tracks but unfortunately the bumps, washouts and rough roads finally took there toll on the Commer and we had our first serious breakdown.
After another 4 days of prospecting we headed into Ballarat to see the attractions, rest and recharge. As we navigated the old Commer over the wash outs and large rocks in the track that led out of the area we had been camping in, we heard a loud thump and the front left hand wheel took on a precarious 45deg lean. We limped a further mile or two to a more reasonable gravel road where i was able to remove the front wheel to find the wishbone suspension mounting had snapped. It was time to try out our RAC Ultimate brake down cover and 15 minutes later a yellow recovery vehicle that just happened to be on a nearby motorway came to our rescue. The Commer was towed to Ballarat and the RAC provided us with a hire car and accommodation for a week while the repairs were carried out. New parts were ordered from Mr Martin Maltas at Yorkshire Classic Campers in the UK and arrived in just 3 days. Unfortunately we had to wait a further 6 days for the garage to fit them. We learned that the suspension pin broke mainly due to lack of grease and metal fatigue. The Commer has 19 grease nipples on the suspension/steering alone which need greasing every 3000Miles. RAC ultimate cover is a lot more expensive than standard roadside assist but the entitlements are excellent and i strongly urge anyone considering a trip like this to have it, even if travelling in a modern vehicle. We have seen many modern cars and 4wd vehicles breakdown, The owner of an new ISUZU 4wd we met down the track told us how his car had only 4000klm on the clock and had to be recovered froma remote location due to an unidentified electrical fault.
All in all we were very lucky to break down here and not out in the remote outback. Ballarat is a great city packed with history, beautiful buildings and plenty to see and do. A true highlight of our trip so far.
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| Botanical gardens Ballarat |
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| Sovereign Hill re-created historic mining town, filled with period shops, steam powered industrial workshops, real mine tours. Its just incredible to see. . |
Kryal Castle also just brilliant 'a must see'
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| Sturt St. Ballarat. |
Double Decker buses, steam trains. Pioneer towns and a massive theme part Castle just some of the attractions we witnessed while 'broken down in Ballarat'.
With the Commer now repaired we headed straight for Melbourne and onto the ferry, The Spirit of Tasmania.
The ferry will take 12 hours to reach Tasmania, an island in the southern ocean and Australia's southern most state.. Parts of Tasmania are untouched by mining or deforestation and remain today beautiful wilderness. We will spend the next 2-3 months exploring Tasmania.
Tasmanian Ferry
Commer, snug in the hold
Onward! to Tasmania!!
