We leave Gunnedah in the early morn, arriving at Tamworth about 9am. I call the plumber to look at our gas burners and he fits us in straight away. A faulty overflow valve on the flexihose is diagnosed and Tomoko is free to work her culinary magic again. We arrive at Austin Tourist Park on the outskirts of town. It’s a tidy riverside park with plenty of shady trees and we have a lazy afternoon.
The following morning is dedicated to domestic duties. Tomoko heads to the supermarket while I do the laundry. I load up our portable washing machine. It’s considerably smaller than the average household variety and is only able to do small amounts. It’s also quite labour intensive and demands at least an hour of my attention to complete. A lady comes over for a sticky beak and is fascinated with it, which is not uncommon. I use it 2 or 3 times a week and many ladies have given it the thumbs up (though I haven't decided if the approval is for the machine or they just like seeing a man do the laundry). In any case, I'm a new age guy and at $4 at load using the park facilities it should pay for itself sometime soon.
Tomoko spends the afternoon working from her mobile office while I head into town. I look for the movie theatre but the lady in the navman sends me in the opposite direction. It’s not the first time she’s done this and at times I feel like throwing her out the window. As a result I jog along the main street of Tamworth looking for the cinema. I’m late for the movie and just as I give up on making the session time, I find it. Funnily, it's located in the same complex as Aldi, where I had only been week earlier. I take my seat just as the movie starts and Denzel Washington entertains me for a couple of hours. I give it a 7/10 and wonder if he's ever made a bad movie'?
It's the Friday before the long weekend and just as we are about to drive to Nundle, I find one of the caravan’s tyre’s is flat. It’s a slow leak so I’m able to inflate it with the compressor and drive the 5 minutes to Beaurepaires without incident. The week before I noticed the tyres were showing signs of wear and tear and made a mental note to replace them. I guess it was time. An hour later with two new tyres and $220 lighter in the pocket we were on our way again.
It's a brief but picturesque 56km drive through rolling hills to Nundle. A steep 1000m climb and we arrive at Sheba Dams Reserve - a pretty free camp site on the foreshore of one of two lakes. The first lake was built in 1888 by Chinese gold miners so they could sluice their gold diggings. On arrival I hop out to read the signage and am immediately swooped by a magpie. I swear to never again laugh at someone being dive bombed by a maggie but I know it's a promise I may not be able to keep. I spot a fly fisherman working the dam for rainbow trout and watch his technique with interest. Having never done fly fishing I must say it looks like a lot of fun. It's certainly an art. He says he’s caught a couple already and gives me some hope for the following morning.
I wake before dawn and it’s very cold – my fingers numb. I lose a soft plastic and then a lure on snags and I reckon I’m done for the morning when I spot a couple of old timers fishing the adjacent dam. I chat to them as they fish, trying to soak up as much information on fishing techniques as I can. They are using garden worms and while I’m there a fish is lost. I can see they are getting plenty of bites and enthused, decide to get some bait. I search under some fallen logs for worms & manage to find a few but break my plastic trowel in the process. The damage bills are slowly adding up over the past few days - in addition to the gas and tyre issues I have also broken some bit's n pieces off the van. Back at camp I meet the old guys who ended up with four fish. I thank them for their advice.
Tomoko, Shaka & I head into Nundle for some lunch at the old pub. On the way down the mountain I take a sharp corner and Tomoko screams as Shaka loses balance and almost falls out the window – his front legs exiting the vehicle. He is ok but Tomoko takes some calming down. There are no vacant tables on the pubs verandah so we have burgers at the café. The food is average but we are captivated by a pre pubescent teen in his cricketing whites and trilby hat who watches his reflection in the cafes’ window as he goes through his repertoire of Michael Jackson dance steps. We stop at Hanging Rock on the way back and take in the spectacular scenery from the lookout.
Tomoko reaches a personal milestone as she has her first ever camp shower. The camp ground is quite shady and doesn't allow the solar rays to heat the water to any high degree. The water is lukewarm at best and Tomoko's screams echo in the valley as the cold mountain gusts blow right through her.
That arvo on dusk I hit the fishing spot where my morning companions achieved so much success. It's the point where the creek from the top dam empties into the lower one. It's a prime spot & I'm supremely confident I'll land my first trout. Unfortunately, I don’t get any bites and question why – do I have the wrong bait, is the float too big, are they feeding on the bottom? I see the fish occasionally moving on the surface. It keeps me interested but I trudge back in the dark empty-handed to warm myself in front of the fire. I hit the same spot the following dawn and after a couple of hours fishing without a touch, I concede defeat on this occasion. It's a lot warmer this morning and I wonder if that’s a contributing factor to my lack of success. I meet a local fisho who didn’t fare so well either which placates me somewhat.
I take it easy on Sunday as I wait for NRL grand final to begin. I get a good start on Wilbur Smith's new novel and set up an outdoor cinema on the back of the ute, next to the campfire. A great deal t of time is spent angling for tv reception and eventually I achieve a good result with the aerial hanging out the passenger window. I find no pleasure watching the bunnies win but so did enjoy seeing the dogs lose.
Unfortunately we plan to cut short our stay here. The inverter blew a fuse trying to cope with Tomoko's hair dryer so we are heading back to civilisation a day earlier than planned. Until next time...adios amigos.