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JEEP TRIP,
Newcastle, Canberra, Thredbo, home |
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file=ACTsnowy.htm |
Introduction |
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Having just
bought a Jeep, we decided to |
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give it a bit
of a test run to Newcastle and |
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the Stockton
Dunes, then visit Canberra and |
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do some museums
and culture centres, then |
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a quick trip to
Snowy mtns and see how the |
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Jeep handles
some steep fire trails, near |
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Thredbo, Tom
Groggin, and Mt. Pinnibar. |
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I also wanted
to look up some old RAAF |
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mates near
Nelson Bay, close to the dunes |
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at Stockton.
These guys used to fly Mirages |
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from the
Williamtown airbase, then retired to |
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the beautiful
Port Stephens area. |
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Yollie was kept
busy by attending year end |
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dancing
displays by her grandkids, who put |
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on a great
display of tap at Warners Bay. |
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Packing |
Since we were not camping, the |
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packing was
relatively easy. There was no |
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need for the
large amounts of space req'd |
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by tents,
tables & chairs, food, cookers etc., |
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and everything
fitted in easy, including the |
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2 long MaxTrax,
used for getting out of bogs. |
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The dune flag,
with skull and x-bones was |
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the longest
item, but fitted in well in the boot. |
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The 40 lt.,
Engel fridge, even had a power point in the back, which was very handy. |
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With the rear
seat removed, the 2-door Jeep Wrangler had plenty of space for such travel
modes. |
I had expected
I may have needed roof racks, but this
proved to be un-necessary, thankfully. |
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Trip Narrative |
The first leg from Tewantin to Warners
Bay/Newcastle was via the New |
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England Hwy,
and was un-eventful. The Jeep was very comfortable on the highway, with great
seats, |
heaps of power,
good steering and brakes and a very good cruise control. (had incremental
speed |
setting
adjustments, very handy) Found a
comfortable motel beside the lake at Warners Bay, which |
provided a good
base for 3-4 days. Yollie was kept busy with her grandkids, and Parj used
the |
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opportunity to
visit Stockton Dunes, RAAF base Williamtown and some old RAAF mates who had |
retired to the
Nelson Bay area...a very beautiful part of NSW. |
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Twin seat Mirage trainer, well known to my |
Machi and
Mirage at RAAF fighter museum. |
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RAAF mates, who helped create this display. |
============================================================================== |
My visit to
Stockton Dunes, just North of Newcastle, was hurried and disappointing. The
dunes area |
had been
closed, so only a run along the beach was available. I had wanted to see how
the Jeep |
handled the
dunes, which I had visited previously with the Dune Buggy club. Will go
again, if & when |
they re-open
the dunes area. Also, it is best to do this in company with other vehicles,
not alone. |
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