Hickeys Falls

Hickeys Falls is on the road between Gilgandra and Coonabarabran. It's a rest stop about 39km SW of Coonabarabran with the waterfall situated at the back of the rest stop. DH had been introduced to it by a work mate and when he visited the first time there was a lot of water coming over it. 

Hickeys Falls April 2013

It is accessed through a sign posted rest stop, with the waterfall being visible from the back of the carpark. There is a track (not sign posted but very easy to work out where to go) along the right hand side but after a short distance you basically find your own way to the pool at the base of the waterfall by scrambling across rocks. How far you get depends on the amount of water there is. Our kids especially love the scrambling across rocks bit! There is a place to cross to the other side - it involves well placed steps across some rocks. DS ended up with a wet foot on one occasion after misjudging the step!

April 2014 - showing more of the rocks in front of the waterfall

There are a few picnic tables in the rest area & usually a caravan or two - but there are no toilets. The lack of toilets makes it not the most ideal place for a picnic (especially when you have kids who like to check out all available toilet blocks...), but it is a great spot to stop & let the kids burn off some excess energy. 

Snowy River Cabins

Since we didn't stay in a town as such on our trip to the snow, I thought a post about our accommodation was warranted. I had come across mention of Snowy River Cabins on Facebook a while ago & liked the page thinking it would be a nice place to stay some time. Since it was very reasonable for the 5 of us + not too far away from the snow, we decided to try it out on this road trip.

We spent 4 nights there arriving in mid afternoon. Due to there being no mobile coverage, I had printed the instructions so we could find it. We found the instructions mostly straightforward. As we pulled up to check the last turn, Brendan pulled up beside us & we followed him the last part.

Our kids love animals & were very excited to see the dogs that greeted us. They were even more excited to meet the orphaned joeys that were inside - Miss 12 even got a cuddle of one. Brendan, Haley & the boys brought an echidna they had found to show the kids later that night. And we had several visits from Trigger the cat. In fact Trigger made herself very comfortable on the kids beds on several occasions! 

Brendan booked us in & pointed us in the direction of Cabin Number 2. Inside we found a cozy cabin. The kids slept in the main room while we had a smallish but quite adequate second room. The kitchen was well equipped & included a small fridge, stove top & microwave. Being made from cedar, the cabin proved to be very warm - we found we only needed to use the column oil heater. There were some other fan heaters but we found we didn't need them.

Cabin 2

We had a lovely view through the bush of the surrounding countryside & the start of the Snowy River. The kids enjoyed exploring some of the bush around us. It was lovely sitting on the verandah listening to not much more than the birds & a few distant cows.

On our last night we decided to have a campfire in the rock fire pit outside the cabin. There is also a wood BBQ, but we used the butane BBQ we carry with us to cook on. It was lovely to relax outside watching the flames & toasting marshmallows. 

View from Cabin 2 with wood BBQ & fire pit

We could have easily spent several more days there enjoying the peace & quiet - no TV or mobile phone to contend with! There were a range of games in the cabin that the kids excitedly made us play through at least once. 

We're already planning our next stay at Snowy River Cabins, hopefully in summer this time so we can have a go at catching some trout! And a chance to just hang out around the cabin, enjoying more peace & quiet.

Canberra Part Two

Australian War Memorial

Hubby & I had decided from the start we would visit the War Memorial while we were in Canberra. We were there on the 21st of August.

We spent most of the day there - and still didn’t see everything! The kids enjoyed the Discovery Zone (the school area open to the public 12:30 - 1:30 pm) and the multimedia displays. Miss 12 had been there last year with school but didn’t seem to mind looking at it all again.

Before we went, I had found out that the Wednesday we were going to go, the Federation Guard (the ceremonial unit of the Defence Forces) is at the War Memorial doing a catafalque (pronounced catapult) party at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was in the afternoon, but during the rest of the day two members were on guard outside, with the guard changing every 30 minutes. Miss 12 was intrigued by this, especially the way they precisely marched in & out!

Changing of the Guard

It was another cold & windy day, so we were glad to spend most of the day inside. We did have our lunch outside again though!

At 4 o’clock, the catafalque party marched into place. Four members stand facing outwards around the tomb, with a fifth overseeing them, while another two stood outside - all with their heads bowed & firearms facing down. The guard was changed after 30 minutes, this time accompanied by a drummer.

Catafalque Party

We bought poppies to put on the Honour Roll. Peter placed one for his Great Uncle Colin, who was killed during World War II in a training accident. I placed one for Stanley Skinner - a distant relative of mine, who was killed in Ypres during WW I.

Placing poppies.

We watched the last changing of the guard before the Last Post ceremony. This is where they close the War Memorial each day with the National Anthem, the story of one of the people listed on the Roll of Honour & the Last Post. The catafalque party moved from the tomb to stand around the Pool of Reflection. It was really moving. People also laid wreaths, the cards are then put into the archives of the War Memorial.

Last Post Ceremony

When we left, the Federation Guard were standing outside. Miss 12 was marching out the same way they were. She went up to say hello & complimented one of the guys on his gloves! As we walked to the car, all three kids were marching like the soldiers.

Canberra Part One

When the kids said they really wanted to go to see the snow, we decided we'd also visit Canberra. Hubby hadn't been for a very long time, I'd been more recently, but still at least 11 years ago. We both especially wanted to visit the War Memorial due to some family history research I've been doing.

Where we stayed

I found when I was looking for accommodation in Canberra that it was pretty expensive - especially as we were looking for some kind of self catering set up so we didn't have to eat out every night. So I started looking outside of Canberra itself.

I found Crestview Tourist Park in Queanbeyan. It was cheaper than anywhere else I'd seen in Canberra & wasn't too far away. We had one of the Villa Cabins. We wanted something with linen included. The cabin was large enough for us & had a decent kitchen area - including a full oven & stove. We found it a bit cold unless we ran the reverse cycle air conditioning all the time but then we do come from a much warmer part of the country! There was free WiFi, but we had problems connecting & staying connected to it unfortunately. 

Overall we enjoyed our stay. It was quiet - it's not on the main road & even though we were close to the road there wasn't much traffic noise. We'd definitely stay there again, though if it's during winter we might request a few more blankets!

Where we ate

We did so well with our self catering that we didn't eat out at all! Which is pretty good for us. We did have coffee once - from Coffee Club of all places!

Where we went

We already knew where we wanted to go before setting out on our trip. Cockington Green, Questacon & the Australian War Memorial were those places. We did a bit of shopping as well. The kids enjoyed all the places we went to. Miss 12 had been on a Canberra excursion & had been to them all then.

Cockington Green

Cockington Green is basically gardens full of miniature buildings, people, trains etc. It has a quaint old fashioned air about it. There is an international section that shows off a variety of traditional buildings from other countries. A small train goes around the park at various times that you can get a ride on. 

Our kids enjoyed wandering around looking at the different displays. I'm always fascinated by the size of the gardens - in the immediate vicinity of the buildings, they are to scale.  The garden was quiet (it can be busy with school groups) & we didn't stay a long time - it was pretty windy & cold.

There are places to eat & shops nearby in the Gold Creek area - we looked around, but most of the shops were closed the day we were there. 

Questacon

Questacon a pretty cool science museum where pretty much nearly everything is hands on. The kids had been previously with my parents, but I had never been. Mr 11 & Miss 6 were happy running from display to display trying everything or at least trying to work out how things worked. Miss 12 was a bit less co operative, but it was more due to the background noise rather than being disinterested in what was going on. She especially loved when we were in the area where there were some experiments done for the kids. Oh & the earthquake room - all the kids loved that!

Outside I loved the Fallen Leaves sculpture. It really sounded so much like the wind blowing through leaves. (I did try & upload a video, but couldn't get it to work).

The kids loved the zylophone & lithophone made out of rock that were outside. Miss 12 followed the letters in the book on the lithophone to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Again there's a lot of school groups that go through Questacon we didn't find it to be a problem until we went into the gift shop. The kids are well managed by the staff, but it was pretty crowded. We just waited until a school group left to have a look around.

Boorowa

We didn't stay at Boorowa but spent a while looking around. We'd been through a few times before on our way home from Narooma. It was the first taste for the kids of how cold it was going to be in Canberra & at the snow!!

Where we ate

We looked around a bit & decided on the Old Clock Tower Cafe. It was a good choice. We were able to get gluten free toasted sandwiches for Miss 12 & I which were yummy. The other 2 kids also had toasted sandwiches while hubby had a steak sandwich. The gluten free bread was made at the cafe & was in the oven when we were there so Miss 12 & I shared the last of the previous loaf. It was enough for us. There was a variety of art & craft for sale as well. We found the service very friendly.

What we did

Basically we walked around town, looking in a few shops. I found one shop with a tiled front - most of the shops were old ones. 

The old Newsagent had tiled panels - looks like it's moved
across the road into a new building.

One antique shop was situated in an old bank - complete with the banks safe still intact.

The information centre here is housed in the old courthouse. There's a tea room there & a large collection of art & craft as well as tourist information.

Boorowa Courthouse - now the Information Centre

It's obvious that it was a large town at some stage from things like the courthouse. There are shamrocks stenciled on the ground in various places. They mark sites along historical trails (info about it can be found at the information centre). I couldn't work out why there would be shamrocks - until I found out there was a large population of Irish immigrants there. Each year there is a wool fest, complete with running of the sheep, to celebrate this Irish heritage.  http://www.irishwoolfest.com.au

Forbes

Forbes was the first stop on our road trip south to see the snow & visit Canberra. Hubby remembered going through Forbes to go to Canberr

a once with his dad, so we decided to go the same way.

We had taken our time to get to Forbes - my sister was in Dubbo with my neice - so we spent the morning with them. So it was mid afternoon by the time we got there.

Where we stayed

Usually we do pretty good with our accommodation choices - not this time. We stayed at the Aaron Motel. I should have taken more notice where it was situated when I looked it up. A motel across the road from a railway crossing & on a highway isn't exactly quiet. My train driver husband didn't mind the trains roaring past...

I would look at other motels before staying here again. While we were checking in, the manager took a phone call from an obviously dissatisfied customer. It certainly didn't make us feel that great about what we were about to walk into. The room was 2 adjoining rooms to make a family room. It was basic & looked mostly clean. Whoever cleaned the room last didn't check the fridge too well though - there was some leftover Tim Tams & a bottle of water in the fridge. The fridges were set so cold that the jug of water was frozen solid. 

Where we ate

We went to the Services Club for dinner. Roast night was good value - $13 got us a roast meal + dessert. The rest of the menu looked pretty good, but roast was what we all felt like on the night.

We relied on McDonalds for breakfast the next morning. One good thing about the motel, it was just near McDonalds. It was too early for coffee shops to be open & we hadn't seen any that jumped out at us in our drive around town the night before. I later saw one cafe that might have warranted a visit, but there didn't seem to be many cafes.

What we did

I wanted to check out the Vinnies in Forbes. It was a good move. Found a few good items for Miss12 & got a recommendation for a place to visit the next time we decide to go to Forbes!! 

The old railway station is now the Tourist Information Centre. Miss12 was fascinated by the story & pictures of Ben Hall. There was a room that had information, pictures etc about the bushranger. There was some nice crafts there too. I bought some apricot jam which was quite yummy. 

Forbes Railway Station - now the Tourist Information Centre

There's a lot of beautiful old buildings around the town centre of Forbes like the one below. 

Forbes Post Office

One of the big attractions is the huge cattle sale yards - a sight we passed on as we really weren't interested, but someone might be. We thought it might be interesting to go back one day, maybe to go further west from there.