BRISBANE OR BUST 1956

So our first exciting holiday in Australia had begun in the winter of 1956. Two families in two caravans travelled north from Sydney to Brisbane via the inland route on the New England Highway.

First stop was Maitland and would you believe it was raining. In those days (50's) Maitland was an industrial town with coal mines being the biggest industry, so it wasn't a very attractive place. (How it has changed! Today it is part of the Hunter Valley Wine region, with thousands of tourists and hundreds of resorts and it is a lovely place to visit.) The next morning Dad lovingly cleaned the mud of his new(2nd hand) Oldsmobile and we ignored the rain and continued on.

We crossed many rivers but there weren't many bridges. We had to cross on a car ferry or barge. This is the Manning River. ( Now there are bridges over all the rivers on the main highways.)

The rain continued as we arrived in Tamworth. The grown ups rigged up a tarpaulin over the two vans to give us a little shelter from the rain as we shared time in one another's vans. Jenny is wishing it would stop raining so she could play outside. Tamworth was a pretty place when not flooded like it was then in 1956. (Today Tamworth is famous for it's huge Country and Western Festival. People go there from all over Australia and the world. Many famous singers have been discovered at the festival competitions.)

The Peel River in flood at Tamworth. NSW.

We journeyed on and at last the sun came out. The next drama was when one of the vans had brake problems. We saw some travellers going our way with the slogan "Brisbane or Bust" written on the back of their cars. The roads were not in the best condition and at this point in our journey we thought we might be joining the ones who "Bust". However, Dad and John fixed the brakes with fencing wire found on a nearby farm and we were on our way.

Excitement was mounting as we crossed the Queensland border and left New South Wales. We camped at Warwick for the night. A small country town in Queensland and a big farming area for sheep and cattle. As we headed for Brisbane we climbed over the Great Dividing Range.

Mum disappearing into the jungle to explore a waterfall. It was cool in the mountains.

We stopped at Cunningham's Gap and went for a walk in a real rainforest. Mum was very excited to be in a tropical rainforest where the plants had enormous leaves. I tried to pick one for a souvenir. It had little hairs on the stem and it was hard to break. I squeezed and pulled but it wouldn't come off. Suddenly, my fingers started to sting and burn and pain like being stabbed with red hot needles. Being ignorant of tropical plants then, I had grabbed a giant stinging nettle. The pain was severe and I can remember it to this day. I certainly respect the tropical plants now. I probably messed up my mum's desire to go hiking in the forest, lucky for me she was a nurse.

Next stop Brisbane.