Sunday 17 February 2013 - southeast of Deepwater ('The Block')

Sunday 17 February 2013

Yesterday we packed up and headed west to Mark & Marion’s property near Deepwater, a tiny town just south of Tenterfield. We were told the trip usually averages around five hours, but it took us about seven as we experienced a few hiccups along the way. The first involved a wrong turn in Casino which took us towards Grafton. We tried using the iPhone Maps app to correct our course, but it told us to take a road that didn’t actually exist so we ended up doing a great big backtrack. On the plus side, we picked up some jumbo free range eggs for $3.50 a dozen!

The second mishap was a bit more problematic – the left wheel of the camper came off. I’ve occasionally given Glenn a hard time about how many tools he’s brought, but in a situation like this, I’m definitely glad we’re travelling so well-prepared. After he located the errant wheel (unfortunately the nuts are gone), he did his thing and we were soon on our way. Thankfully this dilemma didn’t end in a big time delay or hefty bill.

Our destination was 17km from the last turn-off. The weather turned cool and a light mist of rain descended as we followed the track towards the house. This last leg of the drive was punctuated by quite a few gates and unfortunately the gate bunny (aka me) was still dressed in singlet and shorts. It was a tad crisp! The girls were quite travel-weary by now so they sat on our laps and enjoyed front-row seats, spotting wallabies and rosellas along the way. Finally we arrived at the house, where we pulled out our winter woollies and snuggled in for the night. 

Today, Sunday, the sun decided to make an appearance sometime mid-morning and while it started off cool, it warmed up enough to lose the jumpers and trackpants. Mark and two of his boys, Bradley and Max, had arrived just after we did last night. The boys all went for a morning walk, looking for pigs, but no luck. After lunch, Glenn, Bradley and Mark set out for a property near Glen Innes, about an hour’s drive away. Max hung at home with us girls (not enough room in the ute for him) and we went for a walk in the late afternoon. Yasmin made about 1.5km before starting to whinge. The big boys returned about 11pm with two recently expired bambis, one of which was Glenn’s first buck! 

Mmmm... lots of venison backstrap in our car freezer now!