About Goondiwindi
Pronounced ‘gun’ rather than ‘goon’, Goondiwindi is an attractive Darling Downs town which has become important because of its unique position at the junction of the Cunningham, Newell, Bruxner, Barwon and Leichhardt Highways on the border between New South Wales and Queensland. The town spreads around the old Customs House and along the banks of the Macintyre River (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Accommodation
We just needed a couple of days in Goondiwindi to qualify for our entry permit to Victoria, so pulled into the Showgrounds and glad we did. This will now be our “go-to” accommodation in the future. $20/night for power and water is a bargain these days (maplink).
Why we made the “rush home”
Due to Covid lock downs in various QLD, NSW & VIC it had become difficult to travel. We found out that we could reach home in Victoria if we had been in a “green zone” in QLD and got through NSW, to Victoria, within a 24 hour period, with printed permits and keep a detailed log of places you stopped (e.g. fuel & rest).
We got ourselves organised for the rush home, getting permits for entry into NSW & Victoria printed off at the local library. So we left Goondiwindi and crossed the border at 10:30am, travelling down the infamous Newell Highway, stopping at Forbes at 8:00pm for a sleep. Back into the car at 4:30am and off we go, keeping our detailed logs as we travelled; crossing the Victorian border at 9:34am (exactly 23 hours!) to discover there’s no-one there to check our logs & permits etc! WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!
Anyway we arrived safely at our home in Melbourne with no-one stopping us in 1345kms! (maplink)
Glad to be home but ready to start planning our next adventure (including Bailey Tagalong22) 😄
