First day

Today was the start of our Central Australian trip.

We left Lennox Head around 0700 in droopy conditions. Along the road we ran into some very heavy rain showers. During the day we ran into numerous rain showers except when we set up the Kimberley Karavan (KK) in Inverell.

Our first stop was a coffee and toast at the Ferry Park Cafe just near Maclean and beside the Pacific Highway. While there, one of our Apex 40 friends, Gay, called in for a quick stop. Today and tomorrow, we are with Apex 40 friends for the days based around Inverell.

Our first group get together was at Jackadgery where most of the group of 20 stopped for either a cup of tea or coffee or just a leg stretch break. We eventually departed there at around 1030 for Glen Innes.

At Glen Innes, we had nice pumpkin soup with a fresh bread roll for lunch. This was in the Highway Diner. It is worth a visit for a quick meal.

Then we set off for the Billabong Sapphire site. While there numerous members of our group sieved through quite a large pile of diggings that had been brought from a commercial mine site on Kings Plain, near Inverell. Quite a few of the group found some nice specimens of sapphire and at least one member found a stone that may be worth having it cut and polished. By about 1530, most had had enough of the fossicking so we then moved into Inverell. The group are at a motel about 400 metres from us in the caravan park.

We set up the KK then had a nice red wine before we went and joined the group at the East Inverell Bowling Club. We were joined by three Apex 40 couples that live in Inverell. It made for a very enjoyable evening with lots of laughs and chat. The dinner was very pleasant.

So ends the first day of our trip.