5 April 2005 - Kozzy Journal Day 3

Yesterday was a large day (as was today). After my last journal entry on Monday night in Parkes, we headed to Forbes, then Grenfell, and pulled up at Weddin Mountains National Park at 9:30 pm. It was blowing wind like crazy, whipping up dust. This was no place to setup tent (in the dark). So we just had a bite to eat and put the seats back in the car and slept that way.

Waking up the next day (which was yesterday or Tuesday) we spend some time with God reading from "Steps to Christ" (really good book!) and praying. Then hurried up to the Ben Hall caves about 1km away, scurried back to the car and was on the road a bit after 7am, heading in the direction we thought was the way to go. And, it turned out to be right, thankfully. The car began doing it's funny thing again (like it did near Inverell) and stopped. I got out and took a few photos of the really flat sheep country (on the north-western side of Young). We then prayed that the car would work again, and, it did! I'm not sure why, or what's happening, but I'm just thankful that God is watching over us!

I guessed we'd have enough petrol to get to Young, as the fuel guage is not accurate, so I have to go by the trip meter. We got to Young and filled up, and there must have hardly been a drop of fuel left in the tank, because the tank took 33 litres, and it's never taken that amount of fuel before! (even when it had run out once before!) Phew! Off we headed, attempting to find a shower somewhere between here and Canberra (to freshen up a little!). We were getting hungry, so we had two bowls of cereal at Boorowa (really nice town, as was Young), and finished the rest on the way to Canberra.

We got to Canberra about 10:30 am, and, in brief, we went to Telstra Tower, Parliament House, and Questacon (National Science and Technology Centre). All three were good to visit. Questacon was quite fun and interesting! Jared really liked it and I did too. The clouds cleared about 1pm to give a nice fine afternoon. Canberra is a nice city. We would've liked to see a lot more. I would have loved to ride a bike around the city and the lake there... the city is very bicycle friendly... lots of bikeways and bike lanes on the roads.

Leaving Canberra at about 2:30 pm, we munched lunch on the way again and got onto the Hume Highway (after bypassing Yass) to head towards Tumut (via Gundagai). Very good highway. Four lanes of concrete freeway (interstate style) makes for quick travel. Our car did the funny "lose power" thing again, so we stopped, prayed, and kept going, and have had no problems since.

We filled up the tank with petrol "where the dog sits on the tuckerbox, 5 miles from Gundagai". I checked the tyres, and the left-rear tyre had worn really bad on the outer edge, especially in one spot, making it really dangerous. So, we dug aaaaalllll the stuff out of the boot and got the spare tyre out of the bottom of the boot, swapped the tyres, and kept going. Through Gundagai, Tumut (really nice country), and eventually to the Gilroy's home. We won't talk about the extra time it took us to find the right gate to go through to their place!

The Gilroy's warmly welcomed us and made us feel at home. It's a really nice spot. (The Gilroy family are good friends from church in Toowoomba, who have recently moved down to a property near Tumut). A home cooked meal went down nicely, and a comfy bed after a hot shower was much appreciated (since we never found a shower between Young and Canberra).

Sleeping in the car at Weddin Mountains National Park

Church at Boorowa

Telstra Tower at Canberra

Parliament House, Canberra

Jared in front of National Science and Technology Centre

Brad with Old Parliament House in the background

Lake Burly Griffin, Canberra

Dog on the Tuckerbox, 5 miles from Gundagai

Changing tyres at Gundagai

The worn tyre

Turnoff to Tumut from South Gundagai

Sunset along the Gundagai-Tumut Road