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Tonzozlap
Phone: +61 436 190 499
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25.01.2022 Some of the beautiful Sunsets I have experienced so far...
24.01.2022 Currently visiting Jervis Bay in NSW and sharing space in the caravan park with a couple of locals..!! Also visited Hyams Beach.. beautiful white sand... didnt brave the water though...
24.01.2022 They say time flies when youre having fun...!!
23.01.2022 I spent 3 days last week in the Kakadu National Park.. I stayed at a Caravan Park which was part of a Lodge at Cooinda, some 300kms from Darwin, where I met up with a couple of friends. We visited some of the local tourist attractions including some aboriginal rock art, Cahills Crossing, and did the yellow river cruise.
23.01.2022 First time I have been south of Cairns since the end of May... I have now done 7000kms since I left Brisbane on the 15th May, 4500 of those were travelled from Cairns north, including Cooktown, Cape York Peninsula, & Daintree Rainforest..about 2000kms were on dirt roads..!! Anyway..slightly SW of Cairns now in a small town called Ravenshoe, up on the Atherton Tablelands. Drove here via the Gillies Range which is a fairly narrow winding road which rises 900mtrs up onto the ta...blelands .. pretty daunting, especially in the rain & mist.. The tablelands are host to dairy farming amongst other industry. Scenery is similar to NZ, as is the climate at the moment..!! Thank goodness for the diesel heater I had fitted to the caravan I spent yesterday replacing the taillights on the caravan as the old ones had started to fail due to water ingress in what is meant to be a sealed LED unit.. Today I visited 5 waterfalls within a 30km radius of my camp. Received a good physical workout climbing up and down some of the steep & muddy tracks See more
23.01.2022 Its been a couple of weeks since Ive posted anything - Ive been in a small town called Kununurra for most of this time... and Im here for a few more days whilst waiting for some new bushes for the suspension on my Caravan - the thousands of kilometers on dirt roads have taken their toll.. Im happily settled into a small caravan park at the local Showgrounds. Its the longest I have stayed in one place and has had the advantage of getting back into a routine of riding my bike and swimming daily. Temperatures have been 33-37 every day & I havent seen rainfor a couple of months..! I do have to leave here by Thursday as I need to be in Derby, about 900kms away, for my next booked overnight adventure..
22.01.2022 Some other inhabitants at the Croc Park
22.01.2022 I’m currently in the town of Mallacoota in Victoria & near the border of NSW. This is the town that hit the news late December when fire forced residents to head down to the beaches to escape. The fire started on 28/12/19. It was caused by a lightning strike. At the time there were about 10,000 people in Mallacoota - this included 2000 residents. People were given a small window of time to evacuate, but an estimated 3000 were trapped. On the 30/12 the fire had built up a fro...nt of about 10km and was heading toward the seaside town. At one stage there was an estimated 300 people sheltering on about 50 boats in the harbour. Approx 1500 people were evacuated over the following 3 days by navy boats and later by aircraft. A total of 135 homes were destroyed .. I have driven around the area today and am overwhelmed by the scale of the fire, but also how random it was. For example I would see a house burnt to the ground and then 2 or 3 next to it untouched and then another 2 completely burnt. I have taken a few pictures to try and capture some of the devastation See more
22.01.2022 Day 135 - with my brother Geoff and his wife Tyrena now traveling with me until we get to Perth on the 12th October, we visited the Karijini National Park, which is approx 270kms inland from Port Hedland in West Australia ...
21.01.2022 A bit of fun crossing a small creek in the Litchfield NP
20.01.2022 I have just spent a couple of days in Albany in the SW of Western Australia. This is another lovely WA town which has a large protected harbour and some special significance to NZ in that it was the Port from where the Australian and NZ troops (ANZACs) met and departed for Europe during WW1. There is a large Anzac Commemorative Centre on a hill overlooking the harbour ..
19.01.2022 29/1/20..Day268..30,700kms travelled, 6000ltrs of diesel Gosh, only 3 months to go.. time is definitely flying by now.. Since my last post I have driven from Marion Bay on the South Australian York Peninsula to Adelaide, with Tanya. We spent a few days sightseeing and catching up with good friends. Unfortunately we couldnt get to Kangaroo Island due to the fires there. I returned to NZ for a few days to attend my nephews wedding. Tanya then travelled to Queensland and I sta...rted making my way East again. I stayed at Robe & Millicent, before crossing the border into Victoria and stayed in Nelson and then in Portland for a couple of days where I caught up with Sally & Milton Cross, friends of mine from the 70s when I lived in Rotorua. I hadnt seen them for about 20yrs..!! They showed us around their hood and were great hosts - even enjoyed a lovely venison dinner..!! From there we went to Warrnambool and then started our journey along the Great Ocean Road. Due to school holidays and the upcoming Australia Day weekend, this area was very busy. Caravan Parks were booked out and were charging up to $95 per night for a site that would normally be around $50..! We still managed to enjoy most of the sights which included:Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs, Grotto, London Bridge, The Arch, 12 Apostles, Cape Otway Lighthouse, & Apollo Bay. Unfortunately it was also very windy with some rain. We even paid $25 to park in a farmers paddock for a night at Apollo Bay. From there we drove on to Lorne, stopped to have a look at Bells Beach, the famous surf beach, then on to Torquay before spending a night at the Geelong Showgrounds ... From here we went up to Ballarat, about an hour NW of Melbourne and stayed a couple of nights at Lake Learmonth and then came down to the suburb of Rockbank which is about 30mins from Melbourne CBD. Ill stay here for about 10 days to get maintenance done on the car & caravan, catch up with friends and do some sightseeing. See more
17.01.2022 Sorry , wrong one before... try this one....!!!
16.01.2022 Currently at Karumba a lovely little community on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria and the mouth of the Norman River about 750kms West of Cairns..
16.01.2022 The sun setting in Derby tonight behind a sculpture made by a well known local artist, Mark Norval, whom I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of days ago ...
15.01.2022 A video of us going through the falls..exhilarating...!!
13.01.2022 Yours Truly zip lining in the Daintree Rain Forest some 40 off the ground, upside down, and trying to operate the GoPro - what a mess..., but good fun...
13.01.2022 1/11/19, Day 171.. I have neglected my blog duties in recent weeks... my apologies.. I am currently overnighting in a small town in the South west of WA called Augusta.. it is probably better known for its lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin which is the point where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. The weather currently is the worst I have experienced on the whole trip with winds up to 40+kts, rain, and temps ranging from 7-14.. Thank goodness for the diesel heater in the caravan......!! Prior to this I did a relatively quick trip down the coast from Broome to Fremantle in just over 2 weeks driving 3200kms. Luckily I had brother Geoff & his wife Tyrena with me to share the driving... we visited Port Hedland, Karijini NP, point Samson, Cossack, Karratha, Dampier ( Red Dog country ..!), Exmouth, Ningaloo reef, Coral Bay, Carnarvon, Hamelin Pool Station, Denham, & Geraldton.. I stopped at Fremantle for 2 weeks to catch my breath, try and shake an annoying dry cough, get a mole checked out and catch up with some old friends.. I lived in Perth for a year in 1981..! We even found our old flat... On leaving Perth I travelled to Mandurah and stayed 6 nights with old friends Len & Sandy Berryman . As usual their hospitality was amazing & I was treated to some great home cooking, even slept in a big bed..!, and went canal cruising.. also watched our world rugby cup demise at a local bar.. I Also caught up with old friend Jo Sullivan and newer friends Gary Howell & Fran Garvey.. loved their brand new Dodge Ram..!! I am now about half way through my adventure, having travelled approx. 22,000kms to date.. From here I will travel around the bottom of WA to Albany & Esperance, then up to Kalgoorlie. Then across the Nullarbor into South Australia and into my 4th time zone in this great Country.. Some photos to follow.... See more
13.01.2022 Yep, we had to do it....!!! 14kg Olive Python known as Mr Giggles...!!
11.01.2022 Now in Broome... staying with friends.. and out fishing a crabbing.. Fresh fish and mud crab curry for dinner tonight...
09.01.2022 Day 103, 13,700kms so far... just entered WA and into my 3rd time zone in Australia..!! Still enjoying 30+ degrees everyday, havent see rain for about 6 weeks..!!
09.01.2022 Managed to locate Ex All Black, Keith Murdochs grave in Carnarvon today..
09.01.2022 Yesterday afternoon , I began a 20hr adventure which would have to be the highlight of the trip thus far...it began by meeting up with 9 other people and flying by seaplane to a water based houseboat complex in one of the large bays in the North Kimberley. Ill try & keep it brief.... We were on our way to visit the Horizontal Falls which are created by the large tides, 8+ meters at the moment, filling and then emptying 2 large bays. The water builds up to a max of 5 mtrs a...s it tries to enter then leave the bays through one tiny entrance through the rocks into each bay. We went through one of these entrances in a boat powered with 4x 300hp outboard motors.. we stopped half way through and held the boat stationery with the motors as the water was flowing underneath us at 13knts.. We were supplied an evening meal of Barramundi & salad and slept the night on the houseboat . At 0600hrs the next morning three of us went for a helicopter ride in a R44 over the falls and surrounding area. We then had another ride in the boat through the falls before flying back to Derby by seaplane .!! See more
07.01.2022 I think I got photo - bombed when I was taking a photo of the koala walking along outside our camp this evening... so disappointed...!!
07.01.2022 16/11/19.. Day 186..!! 23,400kms travelled ....Just over halfway and still a lot to see.. I have just spent the last 9 days in and around Esperance in the SW of WA... yet another beautiful spot with beaches there claiming to have the whitest sand in Australia. Furthermore the water is so clear, but not so warm as it is part of the Southern Ocean.. the area is also known for the amount of wind it receives.. I think the business community will be pleased I stopped by as I ...had the car serviced, then discovered I needed two new car batteries, and also needed to replace my windscreen - again.... the 2nd one in a month..!! Temps were around the mid 20s, but reached a max of 37.. Today I travelled 400kms to Kalgoorlie where the temperature reached 40 this afternoon. Ill spend a couple of days here before starting my journey East across the Nullarbor . See more
06.01.2022 What else does one do on a wet day in Bathurst..??
05.01.2022 22/12/19-Day 220....its been about 3 weeks since my last post. At that stage I was in Streaky Bay near the Western Border of SA.. Since then I continued south down the Eyre Peninsula to Port Lincoln, the seafood capital of Australia..., and via Coffin Bay, the home of the famous Coffin Bay oysters. It was wet, windy, & cold during my 3 day visit, but I did find time to do a tour of the local fish processing factory, and visit the port/ marina which is home to the largest com...mercial fishing fleet in Australia. From here I travelled north to Cowell, and then on to Whyalla. I stayed here for 3 days to give the local chiropractor time to relieve a pinching nerve in my back... From here I started to travel toward Adelaide, stopping at Port Wakefield for a couple of nights on the way. Another old town, now relatively deserted, but has some beautiful old stone buildings, built in the late 1800s, early 1900s. I finally arrived in Adelaide on the 9/12 and set up camp in a CP in Windsor Gardens in NE Adelaide to await the arrival of my daughter, Tanya. In the meantime I caught up with friends I had previously made in Darwin. Tanya arrived on 11/12 and we spent the next couple of days shopping, and generally settling in. Tanya met a lovely Irish lady, Tina,on her flight, so she joined us to do some sightseeing which inevitably included a couple of Hotel visits. Really enjoyed her sense of humour and accent, of course.. We visited Hahndorf, a quaint village of GERMAN Lutheran roots, the Barossa Valley, home to some great SA vineyards, and spent some time in Adelaide city. Temperatures over those last few days ranged from 24-38. Had a close call in Adelaide when a truck travelling beside me took out my passengers wing mirror. Thank goodness only the glass broken and thank goodness I had some spare towing mirrors I could use in the meantime, whilst waiting for the new mirror glass to arrive. On 17/12 we headed for Marion Bay on the Yorke Peninsula. We spent the day travelling and stopped to visit numerous small towns on the way, including: Clinton, Ardrossan, Port Vincent, Stansbury, Coobowie, Edithburgh, Yorketown, and Warooka. We are booked in to Marion Bay CP until 27/12, so will enjoy Christmas together here. Since being here we met another girl of similar age to Tanya, who was travelling alone with two dogs. We spent a couple of days together on various lovely desolate beaches before she moved on. Yesterday we spent some time in the Innes National Park, again visiting beaches, checking out rock pools, spotting Emus, and shingle back lizards... Temps have been as high as 42 and it has been quite windy..The wind has carried the smoke and smell of bushfires from Adelaide and Kangaroo Island See more
05.01.2022 Some photos of our last few days in Litchfield NP just south of Darwin
05.01.2022 My brother Geoff & his wife Tyrena Bartholomew have now joined me for 3 weeks on my leg to Perth.. We leave Broome tomorrow, but went for a drive up to Cape Leveque yesterday- 480km round trip, 180kms on dirt roads..., but what a beautiful place...the contrasting colours of red rock, white sand, azure coloured sea, and blue clear sky, with a touch of green vegetation here and there is amazing.... we went swimming in the crystal clear and warm sea...
05.01.2022 A rather large road train parked at the Auski Roadhouse near Karijini NP. We camped here for a couple of nights
05.01.2022 30/11/19..Since my last post, Ive travelled from Esperance to Kalgoorlie where I viewed the huge open cast mine on the outskirts of town - photos to follow. I also experienced one of their hotter days in recent times - 44.7c...!! I then headed East across the Nullarbor plains to South Australia. During the 3 day trip I drove 1200kms and temperatures reached 47C ..! Coupled with strong head winds it was an interesting trip... Upon arrival in SA, I stayed at Streaky Bay where... I caught up with friends Len & Sandy Berryman who were camping there with two other couples. Streaky Bay is known for its seafood - oysters and prawns...!! Both of which I managed to sample on several occasions .. along with fresh fish and blue crabs caught by friends at the camp.. I stayed there for 9 days and had a wonderful time with great company.. unfortunately the weather was a lot cooler and quite windy ..Also whilst there we went to the first rodeo held there in 30yrs-a great spectacular .. Today I have travelled to Port Lincoln which is at the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula and boasts to have Australias largest fishing fleet ..oh well, more prawns and oysters I guess..! See more
04.01.2022 Currently camping at Zebra Rock Mine which is 54kms from Kununurra near the WA border. A very interesting stopover
03.01.2022 Im currently in the town of Mallacoota in Victoria & near the border of NSW. This is the town that hit the news late December when fire forced residents to head down to the beaches to escape. The fire started on 28/12/19. It was caused by a lightning strike. At the time there were about 10,000 people in Mallacoota - this included 2000 residents. People were given a small window of time to evacuate, but an estimated 3000 were trapped. On the 30/12 the fire had built up a fro...nt of about 10km and was heading toward the seaside town. At one stage there was an estimated 300 people sheltering on about 50 boats in the harbour. Approx 1500 people were evacuated over the following 3 days by navy boats and later by aircraft. A total of 135 homes were destroyed .. I have driven around the area today and am overwhelmed by the scale of the fire, but also how random it was. For example I would see a house burnt to the ground and then 2 or 3 next to it untouched and then another 2 completely burnt. I have taken a few pictures to try and capture some of the devastation See more
03.01.2022 Im currently at Daly Waters, a small historical community about 600kms south of Darwin and 2000kms West of Cairns... Daly Waters boosts the fact that it is the site of Australias first international airport, even though that was back in 1929...!!! Temps at the moment are around 30c during the days and dropping to 12-14 at night.. The Caravan Park behind the pub hosts up to 100 caravans at night and by 10am in the morning most have gone, then is full again by 4:00pm.. this happens everyday at this time of the year.. Im now in my 10th week of travels and have done 10,000kms.. over 2000 of these on corrugated dirt roads...!
