My husband and I may be crazy however we are planning on taking our caravan from Brisbane to visit my sister-in-law in Orange over New Year's. We will be travelling with our baby who will be 3 months old at the time. We will be towing a Jayco Starcraft behind a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
A couple of questions...
1. We are thinking of going via the New England highway as there are bigger towns along the way compared to the Newell highway and hopefully wouldn't be as busy as the Pacific Motorway. Are there any issues along it that we would need to be aware of?
2. Any recommendations of stops along the way. Ideally we are thinking of travelling 4 or so hours per day (getting to Orange in three days), however if things are going well we may extend that out to 6 hrs driving (get there in two days). We would ideally like to stay in free camp spots along the way so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also ideally we wouldn't like to travel too far off the highway to get to the camp spot. We are thinking at this stage of driving straight to Orange but then taking our time driving home and visiting in some of the towns on the way.
2. Any general tips or advice about travelling with a 3 month old for an extended road trip. She is breastfed so we will need to stop every couple of hrs for a feed but any other advice would be helpful.
Thanks!
KFT said
10:03 PM Dec 17, 2015
Welcome RegTag
Lots of info in here if you try a few searches.
From the part of the new England hwy I live near there is a very nice donation camp at Wallabadah just south of Tamworth. If you are heading to Orange you can cut across via Premer(another nice donation camp) to Coolah, Dunedoo, Wellington(nice camp somewhere near there too but not sure where), Molong, Orange.
Hope that helps with your planning, cannot help you with the other aspects though.
Someone with more knowledge than I will add some more details soon.
Frank
Jamjar said
10:56 PM Dec 17, 2015
KFT wrote:
Welcome RegTag
Lots of info in here if you try a few searches.
From the part of the new England hwy I live near there is a very nice donation camp at Wallabadah just south of Tamworth. If you are heading to Orange you can cut across via Premer(another nice donation camp) to Coolah, Dunedoo, Wellington(nice camp somewhere near there too but not sure where), Molong, Orange.
Hope that helps with your planning, cannot help you with the other aspects though.
Someone with more knowledge than I will add some more details soon.
Frank
I drove the Werris Creek, Premer route a few days ago and the road surface was dreadful. It was all uneven and potholey on the edges and the only relief was to drive down the centre of the road.
The Premer donation camp amenities were disgusting. As I approached the building I could hear a loud buzzing. The place was full of blowflies.
KFT said
11:00 PM Dec 17, 2015
Jamjar, I have stayed at that Premer camp and not experienced what you have.
The road from Quirindi to Premer is much better. The Werris ck to Caroona rd is a short cut but not a main rd.
Young Simmo said
12:27 AM Dec 18, 2015
Hello regtag, I am almost like you and, I have only been on Grey Nomads for 3 or 4 months but, welcome and I hope you enjoy the trip as much as I do.
Now, although this isn't an answer to your query it is a tip for hubby. About 10 or more years ago a guy in Victoria found a famous gold nugget called the "Hand of Faith". It was sold to a Casino in USA for a Million Dollars or something, and sits on display at the entrance to the Casino with a couple of Guards standing by. Now my tip is for your Hubby. If my shaky old memory serves me right, the bloke who found the nugget decided to have a quick little detect while his wife topped up the Bubby. If your hubby has a detector he could try and replicate that lucky bloke. Yes I am a bit of a dreamer, but opportunity only knocks once, so tell hubby to slip out and get a cheap magic stick.
Armidale Show grounds have good level sites. $25 night powered site. Free washing machine. Cheap drier and undercover clothes line. A bit of a walk to the powered caravan sites though.
Radar said
09:55 PM Dec 18, 2015
Regtag hi.
Only 3 weeks ago we set of to cover similar grounfd on our wat to Canberra from Brisbane, towing our towing our caravan.
I decided before leaving home if I seen fuel at cheaper rate I would top up even if I had halve a tank.
My fuel points were Warwick as you are going across the Condimine River Bridge l/h side United. L/h side a couple ks out from Glen Innes United. From there down to Tamworth out on the New England Highway south of town Star Servo. Weington south Metro r/h side.
My resting sites were as we got away after lunch was Bald Rock viewing area south of Tenterfield then down to Bendermeer for the night. Over the years we have used this area across the river from the hotel as a lunch or afternoon stop supporting the hotel but the next morning when we were leaving we noticed these ugly signs displaying No Camping, scaring you with on the spot fines.
From Tamworth we headed over to Werris Creek, turning right at 60ks sign Caroona, Premer, Coolah, Dunedoo, on the Dubbo road we turned left to come out at Wellington, Molong and Orange. All sealed surfaced roads a very pleasant drive.
Near Wellington we stared at Ponto Falls, a short drive away from the highway.
At Caroona we stayed with friends,
Deepwater has some free camping area, no amenities, there is some up in the park on tye other side of highway. Just north Glen Innes there a camping reserve r/h side. Guyra has good amenities in park r/h side.
Tamworth area showgrounds, Currabubula, Werris Creek also, I have not used these sites but remember it is just an overnighter.
Premer has a camp reserve never stayed there, but one I used was at Caroona up the road from a hotel down behind a corrigrated iron hall, we were running late and I was over the roos on the road, pulled in for a break stayed the night.
Wiki camps has some good info. Gulgong Showground low cost, Molong Caravan park worth the money free washing machines.
Hope in some way this helps, enjoy the experience.
ShortNorth said
11:13 PM Dec 18, 2015
Radar wrote:...........................................but one I used was at Caroona up the road from a hotel down behind a corrigrated iron hall,................................................
No hotel in Caroona - only Lingard's General Store that does sell beer (other alcohol ?) - then only an old sandstone church and a corrugated iron community hall - other than that, the primary school closed and was demolished many years ago, and a few scattered houses. My late father in law (settled on the land near Caroona just after WW2) used to say "Welcome to the progressive new city of Caroona - watch out for trams !" My wife comes from Caroona and we were married in Quirindi, so I do know the area fairly well. And the red car in my avatar was at Caroona as recently as 2012 - we attended an 'extended family' 100th birthday celebration in Quirindi.
We usually stop at Mother of Ducks Lagoon at Guyra near the Bowls Club where you can get an evening meal. As mentioned above, Wallabadah is very nice and well worth a stop just to look art the "First Fleet Park" which is adjacent to the campground.
Enjoy the trip, and welcome to the forum.
KFT said
12:17 PM Dec 19, 2015
ShortNorth wrote:No hotel in Caroona - only Lingard's General Store that does sell beer (other alcohol ?) - then only an old sandstone church and a corrugated iron community hall - other than that, the primary school closed and was demolished many years ago, and a few scattered houses. My late father in law (settled on the land near Caroona just after WW2) used to say "Welcome to the progressive new city of Caroona - watch out for trams !" My wife comes from Caroona and we were married in Quirindi, so I do know the area fairly well. And the red car in my avatar was at Caroona as recently as 2012 - we attended an 'extended family' 100th birthday celebration in Quirindi.
Spot on, The store does everything, Fuel (actually cheaper than Tamworth) take away, groceries, and is the local watering hole as well. Ask at the store about staying the night at the local hall.
Frank
Radar said
04:00 PM Dec 19, 2015
ShortNorth wrote:
Radar wrote:...........................................but one I used was at Caroona up the road from a hotel down behind a corrigrated iron hall,................................................
No hotel in Caroona - only Lingard's General Store that does sell beer (other alcohol ?) - then only an old sandstone church and a corrugated iron community hall - other than that, the primary school closed and was demolished many years ago, and a few scattered houses. My late father in law (settled on the land near Caroona just after WW2) used to say "Welcome to the progressive new city of Caroona - watch out for trams !" My wife comes from Caroona and we were married in Quirindi, so I do know the area fairly well. And the red car in my avatar was at Caroona as recently as 2012 - we attended an 'extended family' 100th birthday celebration in Quirindi.
Just show you how I forget things quickly, We usually come down a dirt road crossing a creek but I did try to keep them on the black top. Thank you for the correction the main thing is its a good drive with some safe places to stop and enjoy.
I like the drive over Pandora Pass to Coolah, the way Cuningham Crossed on his way to Brisbane. A bit of history.
KFT said
04:18 PM Dec 19, 2015
G'day Radar
no worries, when you consider how many places we get to see the details of one particular place can be fuzzy at times.
I would recommend the Quirindi to Caroona rd as it is a main rd. The one across from Werris ck is a local road used by lots of trucks and is not as good a drive.
If they decide to stay at Wallabadah they would be coming from Quirindi anyway.
Merry Christmas
Radar said
09:50 PM Dec 19, 2015
Main thing here folks is we don't confuse the people with our thoughts.
We all know roads in Australia are not 4 lane concrete highways, our roads taken at a reduced speed our enjoyable there is so much to see.
I will leave it to Regtag to sort though, I am sorry that I am unable to give you the name of the road after leaving Dunnedoo heading towards Dubbo you take to Wellington, it is sealed road saving you some time and adds to your repertoire of roads you have used. On most maps it shows as unsealed and probably was a few years ago.
regtag said
11:53 AM Dec 21, 2015
Thanks so much for the tips and info. After some discussion between hubby and I we are thinking as we want to get to Orange quickly and take our time coming back home that we may go down via the Newell Highway and come back home via the New England.
Any advice of good stops along the Newell Highway? Any free camping or show grounds that we can stop at? Also for show ground camping what is the policy about staying in them? Do we have to call in advance and book to stay there or can we just show up? Also can you just stay in truck stops? We want to get to Orange quickly so we would only be there from late afternoon and leave early the next morning.
Apologies for what may seem like silly questions. This is our first 'road trip' with the caravan as previously we have only stayed in caravan parks at the beach or have taken it bush camping. Thanks!
KFT said
02:09 PM Dec 21, 2015
G'day regtag
Plenty of places to stop on the Newell. these are not silly questions at all, we all need to learn from those with more experience.
One that comes to mind is at Eumungerie about 40km north of Dubbo, Recreation area that has basic facilities and is a modest charge for overnight.
I would advise against using truck stops as they are for truckies to take mandatory breaks and can get very noisy and you would not want to be in their way.
you will still be in the vicinity of Ponto Falls near Wellington too.
Frank
Radar said
11:25 PM Dec 21, 2015
Still one of the quickest route is down the New England to Tamworth then Gunnedah, Coonabarrabran via Dubbo to Orange.
Enjoyable drive for the most cooler and still less traffic.
But its up to you, there is lots of options after Tamworth.
All the best for Christmas and enjoyable new year.
Jamjar said
09:50 AM Dec 22, 2015
You're right Radar. I ended up the back way thanks to TomTom who suggested it was shorter and quicker. He obviously hadn't checked out the road surface. ;)
Sometimes it just pays to stick to the main roads and there shouldn't be a lot of trucks over the holidays.
My husband and I may be crazy however we are planning on taking our caravan from Brisbane to visit my sister-in-law in Orange over New Year's. We will be travelling with our baby who will be 3 months old at the time. We will be towing a Jayco Starcraft behind a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
A couple of questions...
1. We are thinking of going via the New England highway as there are bigger towns along the way compared to the Newell highway and hopefully wouldn't be as busy as the Pacific Motorway. Are there any issues along it that we would need to be aware of?
2. Any recommendations of stops along the way. Ideally we are thinking of travelling 4 or so hours per day (getting to Orange in three days), however if things are going well we may extend that out to 6 hrs driving (get there in two days). We would ideally like to stay in free camp spots along the way so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also ideally we wouldn't like to travel too far off the highway to get to the camp spot. We are thinking at this stage of driving straight to Orange but then taking our time driving home and visiting in some of the towns on the way.
2. Any general tips or advice about travelling with a 3 month old for an extended road trip. She is breastfed so we will need to stop every couple of hrs for a feed but any other advice would be helpful.
Thanks!
Lots of info in here if you try a few searches.
From the part of the new England hwy I live near there is a very nice donation camp at Wallabadah just south of Tamworth. If you are heading to Orange you can cut across via Premer(another nice donation camp) to Coolah, Dunedoo, Wellington(nice camp somewhere near there too but not sure where), Molong, Orange.
Hope that helps with your planning, cannot help you with the other aspects though.
Someone with more knowledge than I will add some more details soon.
Frank
I drove the Werris Creek, Premer route a few days ago and the road surface was dreadful. It was all uneven and potholey on the edges and the only relief was to drive down the centre of the road.
The Premer donation camp amenities were disgusting. As I approached the building I could hear a loud buzzing. The place was full of blowflies.
The road from Quirindi to Premer is much better. The Werris ck to Caroona rd is a short cut but not a main rd.
Hello regtag, I am almost like you and, I have only been on Grey Nomads for 3 or 4 months but, welcome and I hope you enjoy the trip as much as I do.
Now, although this isn't an answer to your query it is a tip for hubby. About 10 or more years ago a guy in Victoria found a famous gold nugget called the "Hand of Faith". It was sold to a Casino in USA for a Million Dollars or something, and sits on display at the entrance to the Casino with a couple of Guards standing by. Now my tip is for your Hubby. If my shaky old memory serves me right, the bloke who found the nugget decided to have a quick little detect while his wife topped up the Bubby. If your hubby has a detector he could try and replicate that lucky bloke. Yes I am a bit of a dreamer, but opportunity only knocks once, so tell hubby to slip out and get a cheap magic stick.
Good luck.........Simmo.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g45963-d102514-i84291535-Fremont_Street_Experience-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html
Armidale Show grounds have good level sites. $25 night powered site. Free washing machine. Cheap drier and undercover clothes line. A bit of a walk to the powered caravan sites though.
Regtag hi.
Only 3 weeks ago we set of to cover similar grounfd on our wat to Canberra from Brisbane, towing our towing our caravan.
I decided before leaving home if I seen fuel at cheaper rate I would top up even if I had halve a tank.
My fuel points were Warwick as you are going across the Condimine River Bridge l/h side United. L/h side a couple ks out from Glen Innes United. From there down to Tamworth out on the New England Highway south of town Star Servo. Weington south Metro r/h side.
My resting sites were as we got away after lunch was Bald Rock viewing area south of Tenterfield then down to Bendermeer for the night. Over the years we have used this area across the river from the hotel as a lunch or afternoon stop supporting the hotel but the next morning when we were leaving we noticed these ugly signs displaying No Camping, scaring you with on the spot fines.
From Tamworth we headed over to Werris Creek, turning right at 60ks sign Caroona, Premer, Coolah, Dunedoo, on the Dubbo road we turned left to come out at Wellington, Molong and Orange. All sealed surfaced roads a very pleasant drive.
Near Wellington we stared at Ponto Falls, a short drive away from the highway.
At Caroona we stayed with friends,
Deepwater has some free camping area, no amenities, there is some up in the park on tye other side of highway. Just north Glen Innes there a camping reserve r/h side. Guyra has good amenities in park r/h side.
Tamworth area showgrounds, Currabubula, Werris Creek also, I have not used these sites but remember it is just an overnighter.
Premer has a camp reserve never stayed there, but one I used was at Caroona up the road from a hotel down behind a corrigrated iron hall, we were running late and I was over the roos on the road, pulled in for a break stayed the night.
Wiki camps has some good info. Gulgong Showground low cost, Molong Caravan park worth the money free washing machines.
Hope in some way this helps, enjoy the experience.
No hotel in Caroona - only Lingard's General Store that does sell beer (other alcohol ?) - then only an old sandstone church and a corrugated iron community hall - other than that, the primary school closed and was demolished many years ago, and a few scattered houses. My late father in law (settled on the land near Caroona just after WW2) used to say "Welcome to the progressive new city of Caroona - watch out for trams !" My wife comes from Caroona and we were married in Quirindi, so I do know the area fairly well. And the red car in my avatar was at Caroona as recently as 2012 - we attended an 'extended family' 100th birthday celebration in Quirindi.
Enjoy the trip, and welcome to the forum.
Spot on, The store does everything, Fuel (actually cheaper than Tamworth) take away, groceries, and is the local watering hole as well. Ask at the store about staying the night at the local hall.
Frank
Just show you how I forget things quickly, We usually come down a dirt road crossing a creek but I did try to keep them on the black top. Thank you for the correction the main thing is its a good drive with some safe places to stop and enjoy.
I like the drive over Pandora Pass to Coolah, the way Cuningham Crossed on his way to Brisbane. A bit of history.
no worries, when you consider how many places we get to see the details of one particular place can be fuzzy at times.
I would recommend the Quirindi to Caroona rd as it is a main rd. The one across from Werris ck is a local road used by lots of trucks and is not as good a drive.
If they decide to stay at Wallabadah they would be coming from Quirindi anyway.
Merry Christmas
Main thing here folks is we don't confuse the people with our thoughts.
We all know roads in Australia are not 4 lane concrete highways, our roads taken at a reduced speed our enjoyable there is so much to see.
I will leave it to Regtag to sort though, I am sorry that I am unable to give you the name of the road after leaving Dunnedoo heading towards Dubbo you take to Wellington, it is sealed road saving you some time and adds to your repertoire of roads you have used. On most maps it shows as unsealed and probably was a few years ago.
Any advice of good stops along the Newell Highway? Any free camping or show grounds that we can stop at? Also for show ground camping what is the policy about staying in them? Do we have to call in advance and book to stay there or can we just show up? Also can you just stay in truck stops? We want to get to Orange quickly so we would only be there from late afternoon and leave early the next morning.
Apologies for what may seem like silly questions. This is our first 'road trip' with the caravan as previously we have only stayed in caravan parks at the beach or have taken it bush camping. Thanks!
Plenty of places to stop on the Newell. these are not silly questions at all, we all need to learn from those with more experience.
One that comes to mind is at Eumungerie about 40km north of Dubbo, Recreation area that has basic facilities and is a modest charge for overnight.
I would advise against using truck stops as they are for truckies to take mandatory breaks and can get very noisy and you would not want to be in their way.
you will still be in the vicinity of Ponto Falls near Wellington too.
Frank
Still one of the quickest route is down the New England to Tamworth then Gunnedah, Coonabarrabran via Dubbo to Orange.
Enjoyable drive for the most cooler and still less traffic.
But its up to you, there is lots of options after Tamworth.
All the best for Christmas and enjoyable new year.
Sometimes it just pays to stick to the main roads and there shouldn't be a lot of trucks over the holidays.
J.