billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

[Gladiator]

The Abarth looks great BB. I personally liked the SE in either white or red. Not a fan of silver. On that note, how about Metalic Brown for the SE?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[billybunter]

ready to roll...complete with the optional paint protection kit!

[93_Clubman]

Looks quite feline as it watches all the feather power nearby

[billybunter]

at the moment I am under a bit of pressure. a few days back I received a very important delivery...…….pressure here!

Good Morning Bunter –Your mission should you decide to accept it – take the Abarth on a good long road trip throughout western NSW/Qld. No border-pass required! You may use your own $$$ to cover accommodation use only. Anything else such as Petrol/ Food/ and the odd bit of sightseeing will require on your behalf – a more ingenious methods to cover your trip expenses.
no moda are allowed to the vehicle. ...and the tuning box must stay on the car. … besides you might need that added extra 32hp to avoid grey/red jumper strikes. you may black out the front end in plasti-dip to avoid stone chips.
Your odometer reading has been logged in at 5,820 and a tracking device fitted to the vehicle. Should you fail your mission then all info will be wiped from the mx5cartalk records…………..all 120 plus pages and without photos too.
This tape will blow the crap out of anything within a range of 15 centimeter......with a timer set at a very low and healthy 5 seconds too

Good Luck Bunter!

[billybunter]

just checked! scary!

[billybunter]

so I was doing a bit of





came up with the plan





I will convert these to $$$$





,,,and do them on the fly.....





plus get rid of a few extra prior to leaving

[93_Clubman]

102 uses for a bag of sugar

[billybunter]

ROAD WORK AHEAD! ......... How I love to hate those words.
Only 15 minutes into the Qld trip and our first major road works pops up. Not a small affair either –this one runs for roughly 6 odd kilometers. I drop the gear shifter back to 4th and sit in dead on 60 kph. Ready for another 6 minutes of life to pass me by.




Half way through the boring road works I hit the main construction area – a 40 klm zone and in doing so run smack into the local highway patrol car coming in the opposite direction. Lucky for me this time……I was running it legal. Seconds earlier I ‘d only said to the wife –if I were a copper I’d patrol this area several times a day!...LOL





Once through the small township of Molong it was back to the legal 100kph cruise. About half an hour further down the road - you guessed it - more frigg’in road works pop up. This time the main drag had been totally ripped up and they were busy watering it down…WTF!
So you could say the clean up on the Abarth prior to leaving was now classed as a totally useless venture


Once through Wellington NSW thankfully the speed limit shot up to a more respectable 110 kph and that’s roughly a 3,000 rpm fifth gear cruise speed. As expected the little Abarth just played about at that speed. Only real drawback is the gas pedal sits high and places the power foot on a rather steep angle.

Out near Trangie I’d caught up with an older guy doing 90 in the 110 zone with a twin can ute towing a pretty large and very empty trailer. Being third in line is a bad place to be with a stone chucker in front of you and one of the main reasons that I plasti-dipped the front end on the Abarth.

So sitting back in the line of fire a decision was made and I had to get passed the three mobile units so off I went. Unfortunately half way through the pass …I had another car coming in the opposite direction. A quick downshift to 4th and with foot to the floor I was finally passed them all. Speed alert chiming away and the digital read out sitting on the old scale magic ton mark. Bit on the close call too!
Afterwards I had plenty of time to reflect on the incident and if I’d been in my old SE there would have been no or very little drama at all. On this trip I am running roughly 180 hp at the crank –not like in the old girl at 300 at the wheels After that incident I re-grouped and took it more carefully from then on.
Pulled up at the Trangie Cotton Ginn to take a few pic’s on the cotton bales. Last time I visited the area I recall they were the older style square bales. Now they have moved with the times and have switched to round type bales and in choices of colour too….Yellow and Pink!




We decided to stay the night at Nyngan Caravan Park in one of their nicer en-suite cabin. Price being @ $120 a night. It was very well appointed and nicely set up – fresh and clean and right on the banks of the river. I ventured down to take a look but apart from a lone Willy Wag-Tail catching dragon flies above the water. then bashing it's wings off then down the hatch. it was too darn windy and pretty cold to stay any longer. Although not quite as cold as Orange but it was pretty cold just the same.
















After we had unpacked or I should say the wife did – we took a quick run back into town. I filled the car at the local servo and it took just 20.5 litres for roughly 300 klm. Over-all it is extremely good on petrol compared to the SE and the SE is pretty good at the pump too. The trip to the local store had a trouble free cash run with the fluffy pink stuff with end result $80 in the hand.





I purchased a Nikon Coolpix B700 camera days earlier to do the trip. These are roughly $500 -$600 each on Ebay depending on your colour choice. So far it appears to be not a bad camera at all and very quick on hitting the focus points. Compared to what I usually had to play with it’s probably rubbish but I am only taking photos not trying to sell photos

[billybunter]

Cunnamulla …Or Bust!
Overnight the wife made the required amount of Cotton Candy that we could carry/sell and we were both up nice and early the next morning say 9.30 am to hit the road again. Well up early when compared to the start off day for the trip.
Things had not gone well there. Whilst loading the car I was looking for some fishing stuff and pricked both fingers on a pretty dirty and very rusty saw blade. I thought about what the local Dr had said roughly 10 years back…….this will be your last tetanus injection and you will never require another one again..WTF! So I said to him…Do you think I am running out of time! He got a bit of a laugh out of that especially when you consider….I thought he lacked any style of humor for a DR!
Heeding his advice I decided to book in anyway and get the Tetanus shot regardless. Over the years I’ve know two guys that actually got tetanus. One it killed outright and the other was in a Coma for quite some times and months and months of recovery.
So I got the needle and ended up with a bit of a sore arm but apart from that – still kicking fine!
Back on the road and it appeared a repeat on the previous day’s drive. Roughly 30 minutes into the trip –ROAD WORKS - again . I pulled up at the stop sign and the worker came over. Better cut your motor as there will be a short delay.
“What sort of car is that.” He asked. I replied a Fiat Abarth.
Strange look’in car He said with a smile. Never seen one before!
Well I was in Deliverance Country!











Probably a good 15 minutes passed before we got sight of the first of the on-coming traffic. First in line was a triple decker road train and these can be a good 50 metres in length. Followed right behind that monster was an assortment of car and 4wd’s. Once passed the lights soon turned green and we were off again along the just freshly watered muddy terrain.. Thankfully that was the first and last of the road work for that today.
A couple of years back we had travelled this very same road and pretty close to the same month too and it was pretty green with water pooled in the table drains plus the odd patch of wildflowers thrown in. Not so today and it was just a pretty dry inhospitable place to be. More like what you’d expect in the month of January ..not in the depths of winter or early June!






By the time we hit the township of Byrock and it’s more just a Pub and fuel fill we had only sighted a couple of Roo’s on the whole stretch of sealed and no feral goats what-so-ever. On previous runs the goats had been either along or near the road in various areas and in great numbers. Either the drought was at play here or the goats had been rounded up and sold to the meat market.
The last 30 klm into Bourke on the dead flat country you could see how dry and barren the place really was. Once in Bourke we pulled over near a corner store to photograph several Emu’s in front of the water tower. There were probably 6 or 8 just pecking about on the green grass. Not a care in the world as it appeared that was the only green patch of turf for miles. So it was a bit of a hotspot for the native fauna













While taking the photos a Ute came around the corner followed by the paddy wagon and about 100 metres from us the law lite up their pull me over lights. Meanwhile the Emu’s only metres away just carried on pecking away.
In sales mode I tried a couple of the local stores and in doing so sold roughly 20 bags of floss. Not good but not a write off either. Actually three stores in total were tried with two knockbacks and a sale. The other two just didn’t know they were on to a good thing. An hour or so later when we were further up the road - the original buyer phoned and wanted another 50 bags as he had just 4 bags left. Nothing we could do about it and a return run was out of the question as we were too far away. We bought along a bit of a bit of a picnic treat from town and decided to eat it further out the road.



As we motored through North Bourke I saw a sight that will haunt me forever. Right inside the town limits and just metres from a couple of the town dwelling a large Roo was laying by the side of the road gasping for breath. Pretty close I thought to the final curtain it was kicking about in outright distress. Remember too –this is within the town limits and as we passed I could see by the worn ground – it had been there for several hours too. Too weak to move and just….waiting for its time to go…..blank!
I thought about giving it a drink –well I actually thought a bit more than that. I would have liked to have gone over with a stick and finished the poor bustard off BUT it was within the town limits and I bet I would have been reported and the coppers or some-one else would have shown up. I’d been in some strife for sure.
Either way you look at it – not something you want tourist to see when they pass through your town. I think the local council has a duty of care and I will be sending their local paper and council my thoughts on the disgusting matter. Overall it was a very distasteful and highly degrading sight for any-one to see especially when tourist are on the move daily through your town.
While I am at it……..Yes I know it’s a drought and things die. After-all I had 30 years shooting animals but no longer. I actually had either 9 or 11 firearms once but I would never leave an animal in this type of distress. The point is – it was laying half or near dead inside the township of Bourke and in full view to all who passed by.
Now If the old Roo had been further out the road and not within the town limit speed zones …………..that’s life and it’s a drought and I would have finished him off! He was a bit unlucky there. I didn’t bother to grab a photo- Rather not think about that.
Further along the road to Cunnamulla it too had changed dramatically from my past inland runs. Two seasons back I saw large herds of goats from roughly the 50 klm signage on –This trip nothing. Plus I didn’t see a single Roo either. …well live one. Apart from the road kills and that pathetic sight back in Bourke. Over-all road kill wise it appeared to me - no worse than previous trips.
In places It was just a barren landscape for kilometers. All the visible grasses just appeared as a parched brown and all the goodness had been sucked from them many months back.
Finally it was good to pull over at a quaint roadside rest area and take a bit of a break and get a bite to eat.
Back in the car and on the road it was pretty plain sailing till I was roughly 25 klm out from Cunnamulla and the dreaded fuel light came on. I had not experience this before so dropped back to a 100 kph cruise to arrive safely in Cunnamulla and the first available gas station for a top up.
At the bowser the Fiat took 33.5 litres to do the fill at the first click for a 35 litre tank so I guess you could say that I was heading in the direction of probably a pretty close to a walk to the petrol station…LOL
Accommodation in Cunnamulla was not to the much higher standard that we experienced in Nyngan. The cabins although neat and tidy were OLD! I think more tired looking cabins from their founder days 20 or 30 years back. Although they looked fine from the outside – it was more like looking at a first release car model and then checking it out 10 years later. Price was $105 per night
While in Cunnamulla I decided to try a bit of fishing. I had no worms on hand so I had to buy some. The local sports shop owner said –“How many tubs sir.”
“How much a tub.” I asked.
$12..came a rather speedy reply.
All I thought was twelve fu///n dollars for bloody worms.
“One tub …thanks!”
We took the run down to the local weir which was situated about 5 kilometres out of town. Naturally there was no water running over the top and I’d say none had been over the top of it for years…LOL. I’d been told earlier at the van park they had been catching Yellowbelly and the odd Cod below the wall.







I’ve done inland fishing on and off for many years and as looked over the playing field……an immediate no confidence vote set in. It was more a dirty muddy stagnant hole. Anyway always look on the bright side so I went down and baited two lines and tossed them in.
Well surprisingly I got a bit within 5 minutes and pulled in a fish barely 10 centimeters in length. I guess it was some sort of brim but not sure exactly what type. Best of all it wasn’t a European Carp. Anyway I removed the hook and tossed it back in the drink. During the next 30 minutes or so that pattern repeated itself three or four times.
About an hour into the fishing a 4WD pulled up and a Fisho arrive with a few rods and was positioned right across from me. Say 40 metres max. Splitting conversation over the airways he had been in the same spot the day before and caught 2 Yellowbelly on the bait Crawfish. Yellowbelly love Crawfish so I could see how he managed to score a
feed.








Turned out he was a water tank driver for the local shire too and said he loved his job and the pay was $300 a day. I didn’t want to disappoint him or cut his dream but that figure to me meant nothing! Just like the day fishing…..nothing there either!....LOL
So after a good hour of nothing worth keeping I packed up waved him goodbye and pissed off back into town. Best of all I didn’t have to buy an Inland Fishing License for Qld unlike NSW where only a very foolish person would risk fishing without one…so I guess I was one up there….LOL
Back in town I cruised past the local oval and much to my surprise it have close on 50 Roo’s feeding. I pulled over and took a few photos too. We not only me two other party of travelers joined in. Just goes to show you –BOURKE NSW couldn’t give a stuff and CUNNAMULLA QLD tries to help them out.









You might think –who cares about Roo’s but it’s a totally different story when you’re on the road. Back at one of our Floss sale shops the owner told my wife – the Grey Jumpers bounce around the streets at night and they are very popular here with the tourists.
So I’d say they the bouncers attract attention and in doing so the tourist/travelers might stay overnight or look about the place and spend a few $$$$$ Overall I found Cunnamulla a far better place to walk around than Bourke!
The day ended far better than it started. Although I like catching fish I don’t really care that much about eating them. So I caught this steak and eggs meal instead and that’s very hard to catch in a dirty muddy river!...LOL

[billybunter]

When on the road unlike the local motels where most travelers keep to themselves, a caravan park is always a much friendlier proposition and a great source for first hand advice. Road conditions and places of interest are by far the key points and usually the talk of the day.
This park was no exception and overall a pretty friendly place to be. I got into a bit of a chin wag with a few of the travelers/grey nomads…LOL where I mentioned that I might go up as far as Long Reach and then swing inland to Emerald and work my way down to St George,
All agreed that it was a pretty dry desolate place that I was heading for and apart from large death counts on the native animals plus plenty of livestock on the roads –there was very little of interest to see! Well I had already seen that part of it way back at Bourke and should I wish to go ahead –like the old boy scouting saying goes –be prepared!
In the midst of a lengthy conversation with the travelers the wife’s mobile rang and a local wanted to order a very large quantity of floss…LOL I had no choice but say my goodnights and head off in the direction of the cabin to help spin up the sugary web!
While this process took place I mentioned to the wife about second thoughts about going up further North to Long Reach. After-all we had been there twice in the past three years and it was a pretty boring run in nice wintery conditions – let alone a full blown drought.
I decided that it might be best to re-group and think it over and maybe stay an extra day here. Over-all it was a pretty nice and clean friendly town and the people we did met greeted you well. Maybe they know who is new in town and liable to spend a few $$$. Which-ever way you look at it the closest town to match in size was roughly 250/300 klm in either direction. No short stroll out here!



Next day we were up sort of early and had a quick breakfast pre-booked the extra night and dropped off the floss delivery. All by 10am too. The rest of the day was more a bit of a look around and maybe later in the day go back to the weir and try my luck on a possible Yellowbelly strike.
Like all small towns the prices on food etc were much higher than what you would expect to pay if situated in any of the larger population towns. We had a pretty good food and drink supply on hand and past trips and past experiences had helped me out a lot there.



Time sort of slows down and drags along in this quirky little outback towns too. Actually must be a very hard time for the younger ones to pick up a job and if so –what would they do? Strolling down towards the park area several caravans had pulled over to the curb and with ipads high in the sky and cameras in roll’in motion it was …….Grey Nomads, Roo territory and smile!
We stood by and watched the whole event unfold before our very eyes for a good 15 minutes or so. After-all I had been there and done that …yesterday! Caravans and motor homes arrived in town –sighted the large population of Roo’s and immediately pull over to take a few happy snaps. In reality it’s the only real main event to capture for the whole boring 460 klm run from Bourke…LOL But it breaks the monotony of a boring drive…that break!
Phone rings again and my first thoughts –one of the daughter’s again. Wrong! It’s a customer on line ready to place another order and from a different shop too. Not a big order compared to the previous night but good enough to easily fill a 35 litre tank on 98RON – free and trouble free. So we said our farewells to the local Roo population and back in the Abarth to the local Caravan Park cabin to fill the new order.
Back in the cabin another Floss spin was in process and bagged and sealed for the quick up town delivery. I actually got into the groove a bit more and made lunch while the wife did the drop off.
Near 4pm in the afternoon we set off again to the local weir with the fishing gear in tow. Passed by the huge mob of grey Roo’s which had a pretty pleasing crowd of onlookers on hand – maybe 6 or 8 parked vehicles with windows down and the usual touristy thing just gawking away. Very popular those guys and of course….the Roo’s too
Not a cold winter day by our standard as the digital dash in the Abarth show a 21C outside temp unlike the home temp in NSW at a very chilly 4C Although unfortunately for me it doesn’t register/show wind speed and once at the Weir and out of the car it was definitely jumper material.



I parked on the high side of a deep wash so I could keep a bit of an eye on the car. You never really know your luck when you’re deeply involved in fishing and some-one may be deeply involved with what you might have in your car. It’s happened before but quite a few years ago but hopefully won’t happen again……or not on this trip.
So the car is on high ground and I am back in the guts of the creek on low land and the wife is running about or running about faster than me because she is a lot younger taking the odd photo or two. On the other hand I am not really slow or she just trips a lot…LOL



Well I put in another frigg’in hour and a half and I could say I caught a couple of Yellowbelly and you wouldn’t know any better. If I said that I’d be just fool’in myself and I caught absolutely frigg’in nothing. The same worms which hit the drink were the very same worms pulled back out. I actually think that other guy from the night before caught the only two good fish in the hole. Plus I only have his word and a photo would have sealed the deal.



While I was sitting on the bank eating a mandarin which may have been crossed with a lemon to add taste – purchased in my home town too- wife was actually eating a banana so I had a bit of trouble concentrating. I actually laughed and said…could you eat that thing elsewhere! I mentioned that Long Reach Qld was out of the running. No reason to drive there. So St George was the new hot spot. Also know on Google as the fishing capital of Qld. Plus I still had an abundant supply of worms on hand to do the deed..
It’s not quite as much fun on the trips anymore since she joined that stupid singing channel smule. You pull up somewhere and she breaks into song and that selfie pose and later files it to her channel so her USA mates can take a look BUT let’s be honest here 9000 friggin songs in 3 years. It hard to believe but once I use to like music! Well good music.
Even though she can sing alright …………………..you listen to 9000 songs and I think you answer may differ. Plus the complete costume changes thrown in. I actually told her –no singing in the cabins. I don’t want to be asked to leave early…LOL
Look-in back she didn’t do any singing many years back when I first met her at aged 20. I guess over the year’s things change or maybe these days she has something to sing about! Don’t know but I do know I don’t like singing.
Packed up and back in the car I thought about the aboriginal meaning Cunnamulla. Well apparently it’s meaning is – Long stretch of water. I’d like to add my thoughts too. I’d say it’s more like – Long stretch of water with no fish!....LOL
Dinner was a better proposition!

[Okibi]

Love reading your adventures (and seeing the photographs), who woulda thought a fairy floss financed feast, fiat fuel and fish famine. Safe travels.

[billybunter]

yes...….you could say living the dream

[billybunter]

By 10am we had all our gear packed in the Abarth and the rental cabin looking pretty clean and tidy. It was time to get a move on and back on the road again. My very next overnight stop St George Qld the fishing capital of the Northern State and situated 300 klm to the East. Bring it on! Earlier I asked the Caravan Park owner about the road conditions. He told me that there were a few rough patches in the first half of the stint….what an understatement that turned out to be!





Only ten minutes into the trip and had just passed a huge stationary road train when the mobile phone rang. Not another call for a possible floss sale I thought. Not this time though–it was the daughter.
So I put her on loudspeaker via Bluey and me and asked if there was a problem. “It’s been pretty cold here.” she said. “I’ve found six birds dead on the floor in the past two days.”
I wanted to see for myself so I asked her to send the photos through.

Photo’s came through within seconds and no risk about that – they looked pretty dead alright. So I told her to check if any of the inmates were rung. Good news back…only one out of the six casualties sported a ring. To cut a long story short $2000 down the gurgler. Easy come and easy go! That’s bird breeding but overall would make very little to nil impact on my sale stock.

Back to the local road conditions and I didn’t like what lay ahead. The whole road had been totally re- surfaced and not that long ago. It also had a fair dusting of the smaller blue metal across its entire surface. Some patches had pooled to the edges and looked more like mini mounds of gravel and sat a good fifty millimeters deep. Stuffed if I know –why don’t they sweep the bloody new work and do it properly.

So I drove gingerly over this never ending patch of loose fill. I must have travelled a good 40 klm or more and still the same scenario…….A freshly sealed surface, extremely rough to drive on and blue metal in all bloody directions
Ahead a car with headlights ablaze was heading towards me at a pretty whopping pace. All went well and it passed by drama free. A few minutes pass and along trots a 4WD. As it draws near I notice it is towing a frigg’in trailer……..Too late!






The sound of a shotgun type explosion inside the cabin was apart from pretty deafening an indication of a direct hit to the screen. Two rounds of ammo/blue metal hit the windscreen smack in the guts. WTF! I actually thought I’d lost the screen as the wife looked about and pointed to the windscreen hits.
Two words uttered …….F.C……LOL
Talk about idiots who tow trailers without mud flaps fitted. If it was up to me I’d make them compulsory for trailers or no registration on the trailer. Either way I’m covered by windscreen protection in my insurance policy by it was a pretty smart move using the plasti-dip on the front end. I definitely would have a slather of bad chips for sure.






This area of Qld was pretty well more drought affected than the Bourke side too. It was pretty flat open country with little to no shade trees and the appearance of the land was more a charred like effect of a lunar landscape. Dark thoughts aside, not the ideal place where one would like to experience a break down or a flat. The Fiat actually comes with no spare wheel for a tyre change but they do throw in a can of compressed sealant. That alone gives any outback driver….. Re-assurance? Well, I doubt it.
A few more cars pass by drama free. The road narrows quite a bit. Not that much wider than a single lane affair. Then I look way up the road and here comes the train….a huge road train! I thought this being a BCDE or any other lower grade road not classified –Road trains would be prohibited….But here it comes and it’s close.

I set the Fiat up very close to the edge of the road. While at it I will mention the edges. It’s not the normal edges you’d expect to see but jagged bits of tar poking out with a couple of inches drop off! No doubt in my mind tyre crunching material or rim busters for sure.
I drop to a low 40 kph and brace myself for stray shrapnel. The train passes and NOTHING! Not a hit! How’s that for luck!
This road is without doubt one of the worst I’d dríven on. Nothing appears to be repaired correctly – just widen the edges in area say 60 cm either side or re-coat over the old work. Don’t forget boys – DON’T SWEEP THE WORK! Two big hauls interstate in the SE and never encountered a road this bad. Plus that choppy ride over all the corrugation in the repair work. I thought a toilet break or a throw up!
I’m lucky I have the standard suspension set up in the ABARTH or it would be the classic ride from hell! I’d hate to be on this road in the SE with factory suspension. I would have reversed engine for sure. Just 150 klm of pure pressure and I don’t recall ever driving 150klm on a sh*t house of a road like that in what is really a pretty good car.
We finally made it to Bollon- the Koala capital of the Wild West. I had read the night earlier that there was a large koala bear colony situated along the creek area –free camping site-source Google! Well I was pretty happy and excited about that. I’d never actually sited a koala or any Koala in the wild. Nor had I sited Bear!
According to what I had read-just drive past the take-away shop in Bollon and the free camping area is on the right hand side…….found it! We head down a 200 metres stretch of rough dirt and pull up next to a new camper home. So I get out and start look’in into the adjacent tree tops for the Bears.
This guy who owns the camper came crawling out from under it’s mid-section so I asked……”Have you seen any Koala Bears.” He replied in an English accent. NO! Later I thought more about this. I bet his real answer to my question was something like……….This one’s a F///wit for sure!....LOL
I’ve been here roughly three times in the past 10 years…Never saw one!”
So I replied. “ I read last night on Google that there is a large colony about. No reply!
“That’s not a bad camper you have there?” I said. Which it did look pretty good too or I couldn’t have given a stuff about his mobile home.
“I just bought it three weeks ago. The choice was either this Ford Trader or a Fiat. No offence on the Fiat but they have reliabity issues. This was the far better option to me.”
“None taken, “ I replied. I thought about months earlier and my sale experience with the SE so I just shut up!....LOL
“Anyway enjoy your stay” and we headed off along the creek walk!
So walking our way along that great little cement path which I may add lead directly to the take-away food store and was especially put in for the Nomads. We passed by a block of the newer style toilets and shower amnesties too. Mind you still looking high in the tree tops for the drop Bears.
A few houses bank onto the grey nomad pathway. One woman was out back so I asked “Could you point us in the direction of the Koalas.”
She replied. “Koalas?“ I have not seen a Koala here for 30 years.”
“30 years?”I replied….and thought F!
I’m not sure it could be right or maybe not……..L could have started crying or just clearing dust from my eyes. After-all I’ve missed great fishing spots by a few days, yesterday or last week BUT I had never missed anything I can recall as important as this……by 30 frigg’in years!
I bet in that time span those bloody Koala all went on a road trip and walked around Australia! Never to return to Bollon again.




Back at the car the English guy was talking to another husband and wife team. To eat in peace I moved the car roughly 100 metres upstream. A salad roll was the order of the day and it was then time to roll on To St George and the happy dragon.



The remaining stretch of tar to ST George was pretty good compared to the first part of today’s journey The road was a lot wider with no-where near the amount of that choppy ride syndrome. St George dead ahead.
Once in St George the wife ran her mobile to direct me to the Caravan Park. Whilst under her guidance/instructions I noted a few hotspots where I’d try for the odd floss sale pitch




Once at Park reception the choice was deluxe cabin for $118 or Spa cabin for $138. Well being tight the wife ran the cheaper mode of rest. The cabins were again neat and tidy with roughly five in row banking onto the main drag.
I was smiling to myself too. When I opened the cabin door to go through to the watering hole…Bingo! A Spa. How’s that for luck. They must have either made an error or decided to throw it in free!
That night to get in the mood I said to the wife. “Let’s give the Spa a workout!”
So she filled the tub up and got in. All was quiet for a while then she yelled…..”How do I turn it on?”
Looking about I noted that I have to have a key to engage the Spa motor. So I tried all the keys- three in total and none would bloody fit in the slot. Then it dawned on me…..all the bloody cabins were the same. They probably all had spa baths fitted too. The only difference between them was $20 and a master Key….LOL
“Don’t worry about it.” I said. “We can just blow our own bubbles orally,”……..and I will leave it at that…LOL

[billybunter]

Another day and fuel for thought. I thought there were 3 possible floss sale sites on hand so time to hit a few of the local stores. The wife usually handles the sale side so I let her get into it and see what she could round up. Here first two ports of call were a total disaster and she was totally knocked backed. There was another store I noticed when we first drove into the town so I’d try that one myself.
Once at the store I noticed a fair hive of activity. Quite a few customers were entering so I thought that it was a store with good potential. Bag of Floss in hand I strolled in and asked the shop assistant could I talk to the manager.
She replied sternly. “I am the manager!”
“Hmmmmm!” I thought. That’s not good…LOL and she appeared like a hard nut to crack! We all know decisions are made within seconds of contact!
So I gave her the usual sales pitch followed by a not at all interested reply of “No Thanks.”
That was short, sweet and to the point so I thanked her for her time.
But as the story goes…It not over till the lady sings……You fill it in!
Several kids were within grasp of the check-out counter. So I gently tossed them over the bag of floss followed by a”Here…Catch!” and then turned towards the entrance door.
Within seconds that bag was literally ripped apart, shared and near consumed.
As I exited the store the manager had a new lease on life and was almost at my heels like a red cattle dog.
“I think I might give it a try.” She said. “Can you supply 100 bags.
Over the years I had done that very same move countless times and it had a far better strike rate than my fishing…LOL so the day ended very sweet indeed. Wife doesn’t like that move BUT over the years I’ve sold plenty of big $$ items and you must take advantage of the situation.
That deal was enough to get us easily back home and put the Floss idea to rest for the remains of the trip. Happy about that idea too as really……. it’s a PITA!
Next stop the local Tourist Info Centre. I’m at the counter and grabbed the first assistant. Told her I’d like to do some fishing and where are the best spots. Hard to believe and even I find it hard to believe now. I am in the great inland fish capital St George Qld and 80 metres from the river –
The assistant asks her supervisor …Are there fish in the river……LOL The reply came back…I think so. People do catch fish there!
It reminded me of going into an auto parts store and you hit a female assistant. You know it’s not going to work out well! You might get the part or might not but with a bloke –you have a better chance. Just like if I worked in a Boutique – You know my chances of selling you the right dress is not good!....LOL Plus my thoughts would be …….Well it doesn’t really matter.
Anyway the wife took over and just got the usual tourist stuff and we swung back to the cabin. Spent the next hour or so filling the order and back to the shop.




On our way I decided to pull in for some gas and pulled up at the 98RON pump.I told the wife to bring out the camera and a bag of floss to the fuel filler cap so that I could get a SWEET photo. So I am lining up the shot and the wife is pouring cotton candy into the fuel tank and the Indian is looking out the service bay window and probably thinking…Oh golly dear…WTF!
A Station wagon pulls up opposite and a guy with wife or partner – hard to tell these days (not too many married) and a couple of kids in the back. He’s watching me take the photo as he pulls his pump out from the bowser and smiles away.
Later he said he saw the wife with the floss and was wondering what the hell was going on.
Not to let this part drag on he asked did I have any bags of the floss for sale. He didn’t like the stuff himself but his wife did. So I gave them 3 bags for free. Several times I’ve been called an “opportunist” and it’s always good to be prepared!
So I thought I’d splash out a bit and SHELL out the $10 and take the wife out for a treat. I wouldn’t mind a bit of a look at this touristy type hot spot called…The Unique Egg. Plus if you’re not 100% happy with what you see –Double your money back! But no steak knives!






So it goes something like this. This local guy has been carving Emu Eggs for 40 odd years and they have been exhibited World-Wide. It can take roughly 100 hours to carve one such display egg OR to put it in retrospect – Roughly the same time it takes me to do one full re-spray on my SE…LOL
The Emu Egg consists of 10 actual layers. …More like how a pearl is covered in layers. Every layer is a different colour. These birds are protected native species so you just can’t go out and hunt the male from the nest and steal his clutch of eggs. I suppose you could but in reality…he would probably kick the sh*t out of you…LOL
The owner is of European origin and possibly lacked good Aussie humor so I never pressed the idea for a refund…LOL Over-all for $5 per head I’d say best value you could get Aust wide.
I asked do they sell carved eggs and the answer was a pretty quick…NO!




















So at the end of the day it was like this. One person who will sell his product to just about any-one AND the other who just wants to KEEP ALL HIS EGGS in the one basket!





Later that afternoon we headed off to fish the waterways. Fish capital of Qld here I come. This weir was out about 20 klm out from town. We arrive at our hot spot and within minutes I have two line baited and plunked in the drink. It’s a bit on the breezy side so I squat up against the tree and close to the ground…….you could say I am in cloak mode.



A few minutes later I heard a voice. “You’re not suppose to fish there……..it’s illegal,” and it’s the wife.
“Who do you think you are.” I replied. “The Frigg ‘in Fishing Inspector.”…..LOL
She points at the sign. NO FISHING WITHIN 100 METRES OF THE WEIR
Remember last time they caught you…LOL
I walked right past it and didn’t even see it. I don’t carry a tape measure but I am pretty sure I am closer than 100 metres. As a rule those fishing inspector in NSW are outright bustardo’s and if caught without a license or anything illegal – it’s expensive!



To cut it short I rolled up the lines pronto and pissed off across the bridge to a less expensive area…LOL Put in a good 45 minutes with the same two lines and worms and got absolutely NOTHING. The wife did better and took a few good pic’s and we waved goodbye to this useless spot forever.
Back in town I thought “Stuff it. I will try that bloody river.”



Lots of rubbish littered the edges of the river. Bull rushes and other such aquatic plants. It was pretty hard to find an area where I could cast a bloody line. I even bought along a shrimp trap. In the end 3 lines in and a 2 hour wait or near dark. Lines never moved and not a shrimp. Well I moved a bit when I was squatted near a main highway of small black ant – which bite! So you could say a bit of movement some bites my way –NO FISH!





No wonder people hate fishing. It really is such a boring useless bloody hobby! Sometimes you get there and they bite immediately and other times you’d have a better time with a can of King Oscar sardines. Choice of mineral water or Virgin Olive oil too.
There was a choice of several other streams/rivers in the area BUT the signs were there and I rarely eat fish!....LOL too many bones.

[billybunter]

It was time to swing back South and in the direction of home so I had two choices on hand. The more direct route or a slightly more challenging out of the way one. I thought I’d do the out of the way run as it appeared more interesting after getting the info first hand from a Grey Nomad at the caravan park.
The new tourist attraction was roughly 80 klm out of St George or less than an hour drive away. Good road conditions for a change with none of that choppy ride syndrome: lamb or otherwise.
Closing in on our destination I saw a large black silhouette of a Koala where the fence and grid meets the road as a property boundary. Not a very good painting of one but an indication that they were about somewhere……but where I don’t know…….no trees about. A few klm later a similar sign popped up again.
Shortly we arrived at our destination and took a quick break at the local roadside rest area.
“There’s our Koala,” I said with a laugh to the wife and pointing at this huge touristy attraction…….More like a bloody Wombat.
Who would have thought that those couple of signs we'd saw earlier on was for a frigg’in Wombat. …



A lone 4WD with caravan at tow pulled up and a couple in their late 30’s rushed over to take a picture of the stagnant heavy growth muncher. I only speak Australiana and English so couldn’t pick their tribal language. The wife doesn’t do much better with Australiana, English. American and Filipino/Tagalog ….
So they both walked/ran directly to the rear end of the Wombat and ”the male partner” starts hauling her 70 odd kilo frame onto the back of the said quarry. She is slipping and sliding about so he then goes for the full grope – a double handed rump hold. That move got results as he slide here nicely into the appropriate position.
I’m stuffed if I know why I didn’t take a quick photo of them/her riding that dingbat………Side tracked or just plain startled ……...no other explanation. Although It was a pretty funny site.
After they had moved on I asked the wife .......”Do you want to ride the wombat too?”
The answer was pretty short and sweet……………….”just wake up to yourself!”
Pretty lucky there I suppose as I am still getting over that lower back injury.
Anyway we were not here to see that silly Wombat anyway. I snapped a couple of photos for posterity and on to the main attraction. ….The Thallon Silo’s












Here’s what I know. Two street artists from Brisbane Qld came to the town to paint the 30 odd metre high mural of the local scene. It took them with the help of a high line cherry picker roughly 3 weeks to do the paint job and they ran through roughly 500 litres of paint.
It could have been Dulux – I'm not sure BUT it was Berger paint which kept on keeping on!
It’s a very overpowering mural to the eye, nice and colourful and a dead set stand out attraction for the annual Grey Nomads who transverse these roads during winter. Plus I'd say it’s a great boost to the local economy raising extra $$$ for a few of the shops/pub in such a small outback community of just 450 residents.
Nice and fresh Artwork too as it was only completed barely a few months ago. Here are a few photos.
I decided we might head out of town to Mooney creek to a spot called Sandy Beach. Another Google find and it mentioned Yellowbelly and Cod…..LOL I had nothing to lose apart from our valuable time.






So we arrived at the spot and saw the rough old sign “Sandy Beach” and the pretty rough looking dirt track through the scrub. I’m well into the drive along the creek, pass a lone camper who gave us both a wave as he was smiling away and probably thinking……..What a pair of loser. If so he should have pulled us. How right was he…LOL
I’d say I ran close to say a good 3 klm through the paddocks following the source of the Nile. ………I mean Mooney creek and no sign of a Sandy Beach either. In time I came to a disused dwelling on the property and with a heavily locked gate……. so I called it in.









Out of the car it was only 50 metres or so to the water. The chosen spot to cast a line looked pretty good and I thought had potential but in all honesty if I wanted the sand thrown in too - I’d have to get some shipped in from Frazer Island. Prior to stopping outside temp according to the Fiat’s digital dash readout was a pleasant 21C
Boot up and out with the fishing gear I plodded down to the creek and set 3 lines. Over the past few days I’d been doing quite a bit of fishing but surprisingly I still had quite a few worms left in the container. Back at Cunnamulla I was told by the shop that there were roughly 20 worms per container and how many containers would I like.
Well whistle Dixie If I was back in Cunnamulla – I’d like to hear about the story how she parted the Red Sea and feed a huge army on European Carp!. I will supply the dough balls.
At about 11am I said to the wife I will give it to 12Noon and pissoffski! When fish are on the bite you can usually get a strike immediately or just continuously lose the bait. 11.30am came around and disappointed to the bone – I had again lost neither. I’d been fishing now over a several days period and roughly 400 klm thrown in and got pretty well near nothing.
There was no risk about it. I was having plenty of luck with the fishing alright BUT unfortunately it was all bloody bad luck. I was getting a bit on the fidgety side and told the wife. “I will pull the lines at 11.55
Around 11.45 I’d bloody well had enough of frigg'in fishing and pulled the lot. All the slimy bait was still attached and i’d say if I waited there all day……..the end result would still be the same…..NOTHING.




Back in the car and off again. I didn’t want to drive past that idiot back there camping with zero results so I took a different track. After a few minutes that was a bad move and my downfall. The track became rough and was shaking the poor car around some plus I was getting minor hits to the underside too.
Wife got out and guided me while I did the old three point turn trick to go back– out here one way in and one way out. I passed the local village idiot I had passed an hour or more earlier. there he was still waving and smiling away. He was probably saying…who the idiot now. Only guessing too as he may have thought……it’s an ABARTH an ABARTH! I bounced the car over the one and only roadside causeway and then back up the table drain to the tarred section of sealed road.
How many times can you try to catch a fish before success……well it finally appeared to me quite a bloody lot!







Along this section of road we passed the odd Cotton plants. How they got there I can only guess. I’d say seed from passing trucks or from a local haberdashery outlet. The wife wanted to take a closer look at the actual specimens itself. A quick geek at them and it’s exactly how you would think they would look. A plant with Cotton Balls attached…LOL
The road has a pretty good surface and I could move the FIAT along with pace and it took about an hour to get to Hebel. It’s located right on the NSW/Qld border.
I should be flogged for stupidity but again I said to the wife that we might pull up and have a bit to eat at the only Road Side Rest area. I will give it another shot and wet the line for the very last time.
So the wife made the sandwiches and once again I took the fishing crap down to the water. They were pretty steep banks too so I guessed that I was in deep water. The local kids must use it regularly too as a swimming hole. it had a couple of twines of ropes dangled from the over head branches.




I looked at the calm dirty water then at my worms and thought….Really I’ve had enough of this F//////EN fishing crap and I've had enough and with that I threw the remaining worms into the drink. Anyway the signs were there. I knew I wasn’t going to catch an edible fish for the wife to crunch on so I might as well call it a day.
This once happened at Port Macquarie NSW too. only difference …….I tossed the rod/reel/bait OR the frigg'in lot Why? Probably a short fuse!
Hard to believe but I felt pretty darn good as I walked back up the rest area. The wife had the meal ready and I had finally got rid of those bloody earth worms. I knew that there was still Walgett to fish BUT that wasn’t going to happen. Last time I fished at “THE GATE” I got done for no NSW fishing license….LOL
I think I’d tried roughly 6 times on the trip to score a fish and the word was out…….No fish for billybunter this trip… So try the local fish shop.
Look’in back at the past few day’s fruitless attempts you sort of wonder –do you have any regrets. Well actually NO and here’s why! Back in good old Cunnamulla for a fraction of a second I was actually thinking of buying three tubs of worms.
Just imagine how I would have felt with two more bloody tubs to go…….LOL sh*t! How lucky am I. Pretty sure a winner My next stop Lightning Ridge....Black Opal Country

Once again I would like to thanks OKIBI for reading my Cotton Candy Blog adventure! It's run for several days and I am truly "Touched" I got the ONE REPLY on the whole treck. I thank you OKIBI!
Now lets all keep up that perfect record and stay clear of return text!