Since getting stuck on the M1 for 9 hours on Christmas day back in 1994, I always promised myself, to never take the road again on those days.. And true to my word, I have, or at least I did, until Charlie decided it was time for another adventure..  on Christmas day..

The final destination ended up to be Bingara, but it originally started with “let’s just go for a coffee”, but with Charlie at the wheel, you truly never really know where you may end up that day (or night)…

Time, space, road sign, fuel and distance, they all mean nothing when Charlie is in control of the wheels..  By the time we passed Warwick, and possibly the last town where we could get some food, it was lunchtime, but Charlie was adamant to get his free coffee along the road, in the next town..  Let’s get this myth out of the way now…

Away from the coast, in the bush after lunch, on Christmas day, there are no free coffee stands open! But the signs advertising free coffee are always on display 24/7..

That did work well for Charlie, as after 950km, I believe now, that was his intention all along..

And so it came to pass that by 4pm (QLD time) on Christmas day two desperate starving travellers managed to get the last two sandwiches available and two packs of quick noodles for a modest $39 dollars at the only service station open, that we came across in 300 km, but still no coffee. Here I would like to say thank you to Banga Sabu (the Indian owner) for deciding to stay open on Christmas day..

Eventually we managed to get to Bingara and after some serious exploration, we eventually settled in a very nice spot.. I couldn’t believe the difference in the weather between two days earlier (first picture) and where we were now..

As two professional minimalist, we slept under the stars. Love it! Sometimes we forget how good it felt to be so free from unnecessary gadgets, and being so close to nature, and I honestly believe that these are the memories that we need the most in our life..

The night sky, the fire, the grass between your toes, the sound of the rushing water, the nocturnal wild life coming alive and a good friend to share great stories..  I couldn’t ask for more..

In the morning, we had a visitor, (or perhaps he was with Charlie all night.. not sure), but he was definitely not afraid of people. He got near the fire, to probably warm up a bit, and then went about his daily routine..

We did try a bit of fishing, but the current was still too fast and there were people swimming everywhere, so in the end we decided to see if we could find some food..

As it turned out, Boxing Day is no different from Christmas day in the bush.. As we were about to give up and starve again for the second day, a miracle happened..

The Bingara sporting club was closed but within the complex a Chinese restaurant had settled in, and as we all know, pretty much like Banga Sabu, Chinese people don’t celebrate Christmas, at least not in the conventional way…

Believe it or not, we had the best Chinese food ever, cooked to perfection.. Nothing overcooked or burned. I couldn’t believe our luck in finding food so good in the middle of NSW on a day when nobody else was open for business.. We enjoyed the food so much, that we went back and got our dinner there as well, and once again, it was great..  Thank you, M & J KitchenM & J Kitchen Bingara Sporting Club
8 Bombelli St. Bingara NSW 2404
PH 02 6724 1226

This reminds me a bit of the Thai restaurant in Chinchilla. Again, great food to a point that made Charlie drive all the way there from Toowoomba one day just for dinner.. It was worth it!

It was now time to hit the road again. We had a great time picking all secondary roads with no traffic and plenty of wild life and scenery to enjoy.. Late that evening, we even manage to get a good coffee at the first servo coming into Warwick.. We finally had fulfilled our original intent.. It wasn’t free, and it wasn’t Christmas day any longer, but it didn’t matter, as we got another great story for our next camp fire..

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.. Hopefully 2025 will be even more adventurous and will bring more happiness to us all..