KevRobbSCO

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Hello, KevRobbSCO! Welcome to Wikivoyage.

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By the way, are you User:KevRobbAU?

SHB2000 (talk) 06:42, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Yes I am. I just want to finish my work on the New England (New South Wales) region. I'm not hear to cause trouble for anyone, I just want to work in peace. Once I'm done I won't be back. I'm just here for the tourists, travellers, and visitors, and to help those businesses in the hospitality and tourist industries in those places get back on their feet after the 10-year drought, devastating forest fires, floods, and Covid-19 restrictions get back on their feet. I'm not interested in the politics. KevRobbSCO (talk) 06:55, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

And them missing out on the federal governments 1/2 price deals. Don't understand why they have to go to Qld when they chose to close the borders. SHB2000 (talk) 21:52, 9 April 2021 (UTC)

I know - besides having all the comforts of the big city life in Tamworth and Armidale, you can stay in comfort at Moree (a very different place from when I lived near there in the late 1980s) and Inverell (a very pretty town, quite underrated - I wouldn't be upset if I won a 2-week holiday to Inverell). I'm guessing a large part of those itching to get back to the Gold Coast and Sunshine coast are cow cockies, sheep cockies, and business owners itching to get to their holiday houses and to go somewhere warmer over winter - I haven't forgotten what a New England winter is like! KevRobbSCO (talk) 00:07, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

I currently miss my camping trip in Dorrigo which happened back in 2019 SHB2000 (talk) 12:33, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

I miss gazing at the night sky on the Liverpool Plains, drinking fresh water from a rainwater tank, the scenic vistas in places tourists don't know about, the smell from a wood fireplace or a wood stove. KevRobbSCO (talk) 12:55, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

Also miss Dangar falls in Dorrigo, and Wollomombi Falls as well as the Tamworth music. My most favourite region in NSW SHB2000 (talk) 05:32, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Didn't Inverell recently lose the tourist drive 4 marker? SHB2000 (talk) 08:09, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

I have heard that, but trying to get information from the Inverell Visitors Information Centre is like winning the lottery - Im still waiting on confirmation about the Ashford Caravan Park, and I posted that entry ages ago! From what I can ascertain their website is about 3 years out of date. KevRobbSCO (talk) 08:26, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

It was such a good drive, don't know why they did that. Apparently they've also removed the New England Tourist Drive 9, although thats only 3km, not too pleased with this, SHB2000 (talk) 08:43, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

It makes it hard to promote an itinerary. I wonder if the drought and the bushfires had anything to do with their thinking - some large stretches of countryside weren't looking too attractive long before the fires started.KevRobbSCO (talk) 08:55, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Because of the TD4 marker, I was more aware of the area and went stargazing there. I don't think many will do that now that it's gone. I think the visitnsw is promoting Grand Pacific Drive and Tourist Drive 33 too much and neglecting the rest. SHB2000 (talk) 12:01, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

That's why I try to avoid mentioning tourist routes as much as possible - the powers that be are too fickle.KevRobbSCO (talk) 12:07, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

New England Highway Speed Limit

Hi Kev, just a quick question, is the New England Highway 100 or 110km/h? This of course does not include Hunter Expressway. Thanks, SHB2000 (talk) 07:37, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi SHB, my understanding is that it's mostly 100 km/h except at blackspots and through built up areas. If there are any 110 km/h stretches it wouldn't be for very long - maybe 1 km at best, such as going uphill on a stretch of highway with multiple lanes - definitely not the majority of a journey between two places. Apparently the limits are 100 km/h for highways east of the Newell Highway (excluding the Pacific Highway) and 110 km/h for highways west of the Newell Highway. In my roadside assistance days, I would just advise 'drive to conditions' otherwise follow the speed signs. Hope that helps! KevRobbSCO (talk) 07:52, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, though I do think that policy has changed since the Libs took over. There's a 50km stretch on the Mitchell Highway just east of Dubbo and a 9km stretch on Barton Highway as well as a 110km/h on the Goldfields Highway. But the policy on minimum 5km for 110km/h roads hasn't changed. I guess I'll leave Route 15 (Australia) as it is. SHB2000 (talk) 08:01, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

And that excluded the Hume, Pacific and Federal. SHB2000 (talk) 08:03, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

@KevRobbSCO:, found something else interesting as well. Noticed this and this a while ago, and I don't know why it's there, That section isn't suitable for 110 at all. SHB2000 (talk) 08:06, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

110 km/h on a curve just before the entrance to a quarry? What were they thinking?KevRobbSCO (talk) 08:56, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

And east of the Newell Highway. SHB2000 (talk) 09:14, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

@KevRobbSCO:, This one on Oxley Highway is also an interesting one. SHB2000 (talk) 12:40, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Not a wide or straight stretch of road, is it? KevRobbSCO (talk) 12:59, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Not at all, it's a 46km stretch of road that has some windy curves. Though I'd prefer a 110 over 100 (even 120), there's some mad drivers out there who wouldn't drive to conditions. SHB2000 (talk) 13:04, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

You can also count on truckdrivers not sticking to the speed limits at night - it's bad enough watching for roos and livestock. Quite often we've had to pull over at night just to let a ratbag truckdriver pass and go on far ahead of us so we could continue without hassles. KevRobbSCO (talk) 13:09, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

I've had problems with them at dusk, where they're going 80 on a 110 zone and the truck wouldn't let us overtake them. They eventually stopped at Moree, which I had plans to stop but continued because of the truckie. SHB2000 (talk) 13:13, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

A barncompass for you!

	The Aussie Barncompass
	For all your great work in the New England region. Planning to go there again soon so I may as well use these articles. --SHB2000 (talk) 07:38, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you! I'm just about done, only Tenterfield, Gunnedah, and Narrabri to go, and a quick review of Walcha. Armidale and Tamworth are just too big a job for 1-2 people to do in a reasonable timeframe, but it would be great to get them up to Guide status by spring. I'm still pondering whether to publish outlines down for the National Parks I've identified there, and some of the Far West (New South Wales) towns as they should get an increase in travllers now that it's cooler and dryer in the Outback. Thank you to you and to everyone that helped along the way, it is very much appreciated! Now if only Aussie travellers start exploring their own back yard again instead of holding out for international flights! KevRobbSCO (talk) 08:14, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, and lets hope we were like WA again. And I also hope they choose to explore inland towns as well rather than go to their usual Gold Coast or Coffs Harbour stay. SHB2000 (talk) 08:28, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Are you also going to do an article on Nymbodia? SHB2000 (talk) 08:28, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Access to Nymboida NP seems to be more towards Grafton than the New England side, so I wasn't going to do it. It looks like I won't be doing Guy Fawkes River NP either - according to the NP website, almost all of it was burned down during the 2019-2020 Bushfires, the heavy rain/flooding in early 2021 hasn't helped, and also the rangers are having a tough time keeping feral animal levels down. I don't think this NP will be open again for years, if not decades. KevRobbSCO (talk) 08:59, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

That NP probably won't recover til half a century by the looks of it. And are you going to do towns in the Central West and Far West soon? SHB2000 (talk | contribs) 09:01, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

I'll do the Far West NSW ones in about a month or so - I want a bit of break from editing, it's been quite intense getting the New England places up to scratch. There's not much that needs to be done to bring the towns there up to Usable status (although Broken Hill also looks like a big job), I think even a beginner would do a good job working on those. The towns I know best in the Central West already have reasonable articles, so I don't know what more I could add - with the exception of Coonabarabran, I'm gobsmacked no one had made any effort on it before I created an outline. KevRobbSCO (talk) 09:25, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

I've brought Menindee up to usable and trying to make Tibooburra usable soon. I'm going to start Broken Hill now. SHB2000 (talk | contribs) 10:48, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Also made Parkes usable. I was shocked that no one had even tried to expand it before me and after you'd made it an outline. SHB2000 (talk | contribs) 10:49, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Walcha Royal Cafe

Hi SHB2000, the Walcha Royal Cafe is no longer a pub, it's a cafe that happens to have accommodation available. This is only the second time I've seen a pub give up the drinking part and focus only on meals and/or accommodation instead. The photos on its webpage don't show all the usual brewery livery and advertising. I haven't finished updating Walcha yet, turns out it's going to be a bigger job than I expected as there's a lot of out-of-date information and upgrading entries to proper listings, I hope to have it tidied up within 48 hours. There's a lot of text I want to preserve as well. KevRobbSCO (talk) 10:36, 22 April 2021 (UTC)

That's strange. A first for me. I'll probably choose to stay there when I go later next year SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 10:38, 22 April 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for all the edits

New England is in a much better state than it was before you arrived, and the many articles you improved or created will undoubtedly help visitors to the area. Safe travels, ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 15:31, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

I'm planning to add some of this to the french wikivoyage. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 11:11, 3 May 2021 (UTC)

Narrabri to Star

Hi Kev, just nominated Narrabri to star. feel free to add your comments here at Wikivoyage:Star nominations#Narrabri. and to narrabri maccas being boring, i removed it after this edit. tbh, i don't see why a person would go to maccas while there's plenty of good restaurants and cafes in narrabri.

Thanks, SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 00:08, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

Good luck!

I noticed that you have retired. I just wanted to wish you goodbye and good luck for the future! 82.3.185.12 16:50, 4 May 2021 (UTC)