I had intended to tour down the Newel Highway on our way home from Murgon QLD to Shepparton Victoria.
 I changed my mind and decided to go home along the coast when I saw the replies to Indigo's blog post about the Big 4 Tourist Parks lifting the blanket dog ban.  15% of the parks now accept well behaved, member of the family companion dogs subject of course to managers approval and time of booking.  I was eager to call in and review at least one of these Tourist Parks on my return journey.  Having always toured with a dog family member I had not had the opportunity to stay in a Big 4 before. 

We will also be staying at the Mulumbimby Leagues Club on the riverbank for four nights on our way to South West Rocks. This will make for a splendid end to our 2011 tour which began as one month at the coastal beaches of East Gippsland, then a month near the thermal pools in nothern NSW, one month camping beside the Balonne River at St George QLD, then almost two months here near Murgon QLD. at the Bjelke-Petersen Dam Tourist & Recreation Park.  I can highly recomend staying at the Bjelke-Peterson Dam. We have had a divine time here and are only leaving because it is time to head south and be home for spring.  I am hpwever excited about the two places we have chosen to stay at on our way home. They sound great and perfect for Indigo ur fourlegged family member.
 
We will be back in Victoria in Septemer and Indigo will be able to spruce p with a proffesional standard hair clip once more.

The photos are of the NSW Coast.

Leanne from BIG4 Trial Bay Tourist Park, South West Rocks (NSW) commented,    
"We have just had our second visitor who was an absolute delight! Ron, Betty and foxy (fox terrier) have had a ball. Foxy goes fishing every morning with Ron, there is a track from the park that takes you to the beach, the beach is off-lead for 2 km, foxy is certainly tired out when he gets home, he sleeps most of the day. Its a little bit like having small kids - tire them out in the morning and everyone has a relaxing afternoon. Can't wait to welcome more of our friends. Conditions are outside of school holidays and pre-bookings."

The BIG4 Trial Bay Tourist Park accepts companion dogssubject to manager's approval and at specific times of the year in the dog friendly section of the park. 

Indigo adores an off leash beach run and it doesn't do me any harm either, lol. Reg is eager to do some beach fishing.  No decision has been made but this sure looks like a great place for a bush and beach lover like myself who loves the quieter close to nature parks where Indigo is also welcome.

I have been reading up on the fishing reports for the area and it appears to be an excellent spot to fish because of the varied locations with beaches facing in several directions plus a river to choose from.  There is also numerous varieties of fish being caught.   Not that that excites Indigo our poodle,...she far prefers it when Reg catches nothing and we have to buy a chicken, as we share some with her. 

Load the caravan it is time for the gray nomads and their dogs to travel.  It is good to know where there are great off leash areas for the dog.

Indigo has always loved to run off her lead and so we like to share any new off leash places we hear about.

Despite some community concern, three new leash-free dog areas are to be established in the Port Macquarie Hastings.

The local council has adopted its Dogs in Public Open Spaces policy.

The council's Matt Rogers says the council received around 100 public submissions about its proposal to establish three new leash free areas in the region.

He says most people were in favour, but there were some local residents opposed to the area at Laurieton's Henry Kendall Park.

He says that leash free are will be established along with one at Port Macquarie's Boom reserve and at Wauchope's Wilbur Trotter Reserve.

Mr Rogers says the issue of leash free dog areas is clearly important to both dog owners and the general community and the sites were chosen based on their location, cost effectiveness and accessibility.

 I have joined the Michelle Bridges round one for 2011, twelve week body transformation.,  I weighed in every member of the family including the dog.    Indigo has joined the 12 week body transformation too. lol. 
Indigo weighed in on the Wii fit this morning and she is 1.8 kilo heavier than this time last year.
Right now there is not gift I want more than to get my life balanced to manage my exercise and my creative activities.

So Indigo has joined me on the exercise jogging walks.
Indigo loves it when I go on a get fit kick.  You should have seen her trying to play while I did my push-ups. lol :-)

Exercise and we will both benefit and enjoy it.

Dr. Robert Kushner, a human obesity expert and professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said that dogs make great workout partners in winning the battle of the bulge.

"They are natural exercise machines on a leash," he said.

Research has shown that it's easier to be physically active and stick with an exercise program when you team up with a workout buddy, Kushner said. But unlike human partners, who might make excuses for not wanting to go for a walk or run, a dog never will. They will generally be the first ones at the door, ready to go, rain or shine.

Deborah Wood, an animal shelter manager in Portland, Ore., lost 140 pounds in two years after enrolling in a national weight loss program and going for three-mile daily walks with her three papillons -- pushing the two oldest in a doggie stroller.

"I always liked walking my dogs," Wood said, "but I just made it a priority and worked on going farther and faster."

Finding the right walking speed to reap health benefits is easy, said Dr. Dawn Marcus, a professor in the anesthesiology department at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "If you're so winded, you can't talk with someone, then you're probably walking at too hard of a pace," she said. "On the other hand, if you're walking so slowly that you can easily sing, you're probably not walking fast enough."

If your dog tends to saunter down the street, she said, you can intensify the workout by taking a hillier route or by stepping on and off curbs.

Marcus said that one of her most valued "colleagues" in the hospital is Wheatie, her wheaten terrier and a trained hospital therapy dog. "I've found that Wheatie motivates patients to open up, try new things and get healthier," she said.

But enthusiasm for exercise is just one of the healthy behaviours humans can learn from dogs, said Marcus, who last year wrote Fit as Fido: Follow Your Dog to Better Health. Dogs instinctively get enough sleep and maintain good hydration -- traits that have, for instance, been linked with weight loss in people.

"A lot of times as humans, we mistake that drive for water with a drive to get more food," Marcus said.

Currently, an estimated two out of three adults in the United States are overweight. And being overweight, Kushner stressed, has been associated with significant medical problems, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and stroke.

A few years ago, Kushner co-authored a study to see if pets and people could help each other lose weight. It compared the weight lost by 36 overweight people who were paired with an obese dog with the weight lost by 56 overweight people who participated alone.

Pets were fed a calorie-controlled diet. When their ideal body weight was reached, based on their breed and age, the animals were put on a maintenance diet. People participating in the study were given dietary counselling and encouraged to walk at least three times a week for 30 minutes.

Published in the journal Obesity, the study found that people with dogs were slightly more active than those without dogs and that, after a year, they had lost an average of 11 pounds, or 4.7 percent of their body weight.

Pudgy pooches benefited from the buddy system, too. They slimmed down an average of 12 pounds, or 15 percent of their body weight.

Kushner said that pets really do motivate people to stick with a diet and exercise plan until the pounds come off and stay off. People in the study reported that their dogs not only gave them incentive to work out but made the experience more enjoyable -- two predictors of sustaining an exercise program long term, he said.

For Wood, taking long treks with her dogs has paid off. She's now half the woman she used to be, dropping in dress size from a 3X to an 8.

"Walking a dog is absolutely fun," Wood said. "It's good for the dog; it's good for the human."

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more on being active as an adult.

Indigo came home from a walk in the rain looking like she had been to a fun parlour. She was drenched and excited. 

A poodle's idea of fun is plashing in puddles and she did not feel like getting me to ghost write about anything serious in her blog today so enjoy the doggie humour while Indigo takes her after walkies nap.

Fortunately Indigo keeps her motivation for walks and gets me out and about.
42 degrees here in northern Victoria today, Indigo got us out for our walk early to beat the heat. We also start carrying water for her, now the weather is hot. We remember, her legs are shorter than ours she gets tired a lot sooner than we do in this heatwave.

Here are a few dog quotes I hope you enjoy.

I'm half-Irish, half-Dutch, and I was born in Belgium. If I was a dog, I'd be in a hell of a mess!
Audrey Hepburn

But was there ever dog that praised his fleas?
William Butler Yeats

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

People love to take their dogs to the park, it’s a great place for dogs and their owners to get some exercise and enjoy the environment. But if we want healthy parks, as well as healthy people and their dogs, it is important to make sure your dog doesn’t impact on the environment or upset other park users.
In most national parks dogs aren’t allowed at all, but in the Great Otway National Park, Parks Victoria has recognised the need for local residents and visitors to have areas to enjoy with their dog.

New signs have now been put up in the Great Otway National Park to help visitors know where they can take their dogs.
Dogs can kill or disturb small mammals and ground-dwelling or ground-nesting birds, so to protect the park’s fragile ecosystems, check the signs, follow the rules and only take your dog to places where and when allowed, and please keep your dog on a lead where required.
West Otways – Kennett River to Princetown (Marreeyn)
Dogs are not allowed off lead In the West Otways dogs are permitted anywhere in the West Otways.

on lead
• Johanna Beach car park, camping area, walking tracks to the beach, Johanna Beach western section between Johanna River and western bluff at a number of visitor areas. They are:
• Lake Elizabeth camping area
• Marriners Falls Day Visitor Area and Marriners Falls Walk
• Cape Otway Lightstation car park
• Great Ocean Walk from Marengo to the park boundary.
East Otways – Torquay to Kennett River (Angahook)

In the East Otways there are two beach areas between Anglesea and Aireys Inlet being trialled as off lead
In areas in the East Otways where dogs are allowed off lead, owners must keep their dog under effective control. This includes keeping it within sight, trained to respond to voice commands and ensuring it does not disturb or threaten other visitors or wildlife. areas. They are between Urquhart Bluff east to O’Donohue Beach access, and Urquhart Buff West to Sunnymead. Within the area from Urquhart to Mermaid Pools there is a timed area where dogs have to be on lead between 9am and 7pm from the beginning of December to the end of February and during Easter. The area is off lead at all other times.

Dogs are prohibited in all other areas within the National Park unless signposted.
As with other rubbish please ensure droppings are picked up and disposed of in a rubbish bin.
Over the next few months Parks Victoria Rangers will be out and about providing information to the public and educating dog owners on how they can safely share the national park with their dogs.
Doo the right thing with your doggy!

For further information on the Great Otway National Park go to www.parkweb.vic.gov.au or call 13 1963.

Wonderful neighbours we meet on our morning and evening walks around our country village.  They even put bowls of water out for Indigo saving us from the need to carry water with us for her.

If it is hot, she gets tired, before we do, we need to remember despite her enthusiasm to  go for the walk her legs do a lot more steps than ours do and we often carry her part of the way when on a long walk.  That is a gorgeous red flowering gum in the picture, I will write about it in my garden blog tomorrow.

My working dog status has been raised to social secretary since mum took to doing more downsizing. I need to pull the neighbours up with some attention seeking behavour so she can tell them what she is selling out of the carport today.

Mum did a lot of work staying up through the night two nights ago, but in doing this she has found me a job advertising pet supplies.
I am eager to begin work and hope I get to spend all the earnings on my favorite roast chicken dinners every night.   I mean if I am to put my doggy face to a product I want all the wag tail rewards, lol.