No 12 - 2015 in NSW

1^st Jan 2015   Because there is no cricket I suggest we go for a drive over to Oberon, which is very pleasant – lots of green hillsides and little creeks weaving their way around the country. Oberon was a big surprise – it is very clean, neat, and well maintained. Guess you have to have money to be able to buy here so you do up your place accordingly. There were roses in bloom everywhere and masses of them in main street. After a drive around town we stop at Tay’s café and have a wonderful salmon & avocado salad with pepper lavash chips to add extra texture. We meet up with an SES barbeque at Lake Oberon so don’t hand around but do stop for a photo of some interesting rock formation in the lake which I think would be a hazard when water level is higher.

The lookout had been overgrown with trees so we didn’t see too much before winding our way over more hills to Rockley. Driving around town we find the old shire building which had been converted to home and was up for sale for $600,000. It was a lovely sandstone building but was hour to Bathurst, and the town had a pub and school and 2 churches and few other houses, and nothing else. Then it was over territory already covered through Tuena and back to Crookwell.

2^nd   On way home yesterday we listened to radio conversation about the shooting in Broken Hill on New Year’s Day in 1915 and J mentioned he didn’t know much about the Cowra breakout so today we are going to Cowra to find out about it. The information centre has a replica prisoner hut with a video running telling you the story. (Japanese, Indonesian and Italian aliens were interned there during WW1). The Japanese didn’t like the idea of being split up so 1000 of them tried to break out. 3 guards were murdered and a policeman who tried to recapture some escapees the next day was also killed. Many of the Japanese preferred suicide in preference to being a POW and weren’t recaptured. They have made the camp into a park with walking track to various points of interest. The phot is of Sentry Post - wouldn't want to be up here in strong wind!

They have also created a large Japanese garden nearby but as it had a hefty admission price we didn’t bother. We drove up and down the street looking for lookout; however it must have been overgrown with trees because you couldn’t see too much. As a dark cloud was moving closer we took the road south to Boorowa another nice little town (bigger than Crookwell) and then the dirt to Gunning where we stopped to stretch the legs and saw a cute little cottage for sale. Stopping at the café for a tea and cake we were served the tea and coffee but they forgot about the cake until J stood up and walked over to counter and then it still took 5 minutes to get it to table. How long does it take to pick up a pair of tongs, pick up a slice of cake and put it on a plate, do that twice and then walk 12 feet over to our table?

3^rd   As we had done 650klms in last 2 days we stayed home today and I did the housework while J cleaned the screens on vents. Then we spent the afternoon reading until time to watch more cricket. (What else)

4^th   We were made very welcome at church and Sylvia invited us to join her and Peter and Sally for lunch (to eat their Christmas leftovers) We had a lovely afternoon chatting to them and Rev Margaret who joined us and bought some little individual pavlovas for dessert. They were very nice so will have to look out for them in supermarkets. Sally regaled us with some stories about her time teaching in South Korea. She has moved back in with mum & dad while her house was being renovated. Conversation covering lots of subjects kept us going till 4.30 when it was time to leave. Sylvia was going home to NZ to see her daughter on Thursday so we won’t see her again but should see the others next Sunday.

6^th   Sydney test started today so our days are go for morning walk around town, do crosswords and soduku after breakfast and then listen to cricket on radio till lunch time when it is too hot to stay outside, so we go into airconditioning in van to flick between tennis and cricket during day and then cricket and tennis at night. Narelle has taken the kids on holidays and the twins seem to be enjoying themselves.

7^th   While walking before breakfast yesterday we found a café that did a big breakkie, so as a birthday treat we went there to eat a big greasy meal. We didn’t walk it off getting home so had to continue our daily exercise watching tele with a full stomach. J had a chat to David, Mum, and the grandies and received a few sms messages from his sisters before a long chat to Muzz in afternoon and longer one to Michelle after dinner. We had planned on going to hotel for dinner and I could have skipped it but J wouldn’t so we went off for more food – and was there more of it. His mixed grill was huge and my chilli prawns had 24 with lots of rice and big pile of salad. I left most of rice and some lettuce but the prawns were so tasty I had to eat them. J left me sitting alone for 15 minutes while he went off to bar to buy a beer and bottle wine, then had to get a wine cooler and when going off to get ice I objected. The room was very hot and they didn’t have air conditioning on so was quite unpleasant. We didn’t hang around and it wasn’t to get home to watch cricket and tennis.

8^th   J saw a car in holden dealers window during dinner last night so our morning walk took us there only to discover that it is a 1971 HT Brougham. The only other vehicle in showroom is a boat so I guess that explains why the business is up for sale. There are a few empty buildings around town, and a few that need cleaning up and painting but there are lots of neat tidy gardens around houses. The house across road from us has a lovely garden running along the creek and the local Landcare are in process of cleaning creek of weeds and trees. So far they have a park with seats and gardens and have carved an eagle into one of the stumps. Another log that is lying down had a platypus carved into one end. On the northern side of creek is a horse paddock with a very spotted horse in residence.

11^th   The people at church inform us that we had 35mls rain over night which was wonderful. They are a lovely bunch and it will be sad to leave but we head home to watch more tennis until the cricket and tennis come on tonight. Mid afternoon Dell from van next door comes over to ask for help as her John can’t move his left side. After a quick look J calls the ambulance, who confirm he has had a stroke. We give her our card and wait for her call to collect her from hospital which John does. Other John is being transferred to Goulburn tonight so we will see what tomorrow brings. He seemed so fit and used to walk up to Grocery store everyday but is on a Cancer checkup list and has been having memory lapses for last month.

12^th  Dell’s daughter is outside their van when we venture out and she tells us that Other John is ok and being transferred back to Crookwell Hospital. She is staying here until her father can go home when she will share driving with her brother who is also in town. We can leave with a clear mind and head down through Gunning to Hume Highway and along it to Gundagai, when Barb rings to say that she has spoken to Belinda at Public Trustee and they are holding $6,000 for distribution to us when all is settled – I bet. Just south of Gundagai we turn off and head south through farming land to Adelong our home for next few weeks. After driving around town for 30 minutes (it is small town – 1300 people 320m above sea level) we give up and ring caravan park to ask where they are! First suggestion for council is to put up blue tourist signs. It is behind RSL club and not the swimming pool!!  Adelong was once a gold mining town and has the mine ruins next to Falls so it is a pleasant spot for kids to run some energy off and ‘prospectors’ with their metal detectors to do their thing. The masonry of old timers is amazing - just have a look at the base of water wheel that is still there among the ruins.

There are a few empty shops but it is neat and tidy and has a very large Visy mill just outside town. I don’t know if that is where the semis are going to in middle of night but some of them have had very noisy engines.  It starts to rain late in afternoon and keeps up till Wednesday afternoon so we stay in van watching cricket and tennis and I knit and J reads. I have done most of Shannon’s patchwork cushion – just need more black wool and some grey to finish it off. Then I started on a lacy one and have had a devil of a job with it – it is so difficult to get the needle into back of stitch for some reason I have only done 4 inches so far. Sandie gave us an interesting contraption for Christmas - beer can chicken stand - you put 1/2 can beer in stand and then place a chook on top and cook as normal roast chicken. We tried it out for dinner and it gave nice moist meat.

15^th  dawns bright and sunny so after a late start we head to Tumut to check it out. Seems nice town, has 6,500 people – where we have lunch and then head to Information Centre where staff are too busy on personal phone calls to attend to us, so we collect some brochures and leave for Blowering Dam, which has a massive wall on approach side but didn’t seem as big from opposite side. The dam is quite low but still looked lovely with blue sky and green grassy hills surrounding it.

I don't remember what speed Max Barton could get to when he was speedboat racing but will presume that it wasn't anywhere near 317 mph that Ken Warby got to!

One thing that the Info centre did have that was interesting were tanks with Corroberee frogs inside. These little (40mm) black chaps with bright yellow markings are only found in this area so are in a bit of danger, but seemed to be quite happy.

We can’t find African Violet Farm so head over to Batlow and you can’t miss it with all the hillsides covered with white – we couldn’t work out whether it was to stop birds or hail as they do in Stanthorpe. When we stopped at a farm stall to buy some cherries I forgot to ask believe it or not – maybe because they were the biggest, juiciest, loveliest cherries I have ever eaten, especially as they were $10 for 2 kg punnet. I will always look for ‘Sweet Georgia’ cherries. My travel map had “Hume and Hovel” Lookout marked just east of Batlow so we headed off and after an hour gave up and headed back towards town when J decided to take another dirt road and we ended up heading down mountains to camp alongside Blowering Dam. Going back again we head to phone tower you can see on horizon and surprise, surprise the lookout is near here. Mind you the sign post is falling down and you can’t see anything through the trees – so will have to send it to Jan to add to my waste of time collection.

On our way back into Batlow we see a farm with red tree coverings so will have to ask when we come back for more cherries.  It is more winding through the hills and along little creeks back to Adelong. J has a chat to old bloke in panel van next door and discovers his son comes for a chat every morning and has 4 beers before breakfast to get him going. I would be history for the day!!! so better hope that I never have a stroke. The gent just seems to sit next to car all day looking very lonely – will have to find out what his story is. There is only 1 other van here now after having 9 on Wednesday morning. Charles is a permanent and has lived here for 20 years!!! 

16^th   Watched Australia play England in first one day cricket of year and wondered if there would be any competition as England fell apart dramatically.

17^th   Being Saturday and hopefully a little quieter on roads in Wagga we venture there for lunch and a walk through the National Glass Art Gallery where there are some amazing pieces of glass, in all different shapes, sizes and colours. There are 500 pieces in the collection featuring blown, engraved, etched, kiln fired, cast and sand blasted and it was hard to believe some of it was glass – the colours and stripes were spectacular. One artist by the name Kevin Gordon had 2 exquisite blue vases – didn’t know he was so clever! Of course you can’t take photos but one of the pieces was a purple sea urchin with tentacles coming out of shell it was very realistic. We walked through normal Art Gallery on way to car and then decided to go to Knights Meats & Deli a Butcher shop - what an aromatic mouth- watering experience. This place has meat in every type and shape from usual beef, lamb and pork varieties to Kangaroo, goat, emu, crocodile, quail, spatchcock, rabbit, buffalo, and then your nose found the smoked trout department. The basket was nearly full so didn’t linger near cheese section, put some buffalo yoghurt in and headed for checkout. As my ankles were throbbing we didn’t see museum and Botanic Gardens, just headed home along Sturt H’way.

18^th   We were greeted warmly at church this morning where we discovered that they share a priest with Tarcutta and this week is Morning Prayer. Tarcutta church pays for household expenses and Adelong pays for car expenses and it seems to work well. Maybe some parishes in Bne diocese could try this idea. The Courabyra winery advertises a cheese plate on weekends so we head off to try their wines. They had some tasty ones but a little expensive – of the 3 chardys they had I liked the $36 best (of course) so we had it with a wonderful ploughman’s lunch. The platter included smoked kangaroo proscuito, lamb proscuito, 2 local cheeses, 3 different types of chicken, local chilli olives, salad, bread, crackers and a separate plate of fresh fruit. It was delicious and took some time to get through, but sitting on deck overlooking the vineyard it really didn't matter – I didn’t ask how much it cost just let J pay for it. Jan told us about the Sugar Pine Walk which we saw on when trying to find Hume & Hovell L/O so we stopped for a walk among the trees. They are huge – the largest one found in California was 800 years old and measured 57’9” around 3’ above the ground. It was 235 feet high. We measured one on the walk at 9’ and J guessed it to be 100 – 120’ tall. Mind you these were planted in 1928 and are only 86 years old so they have a bit of growing to do. The whole area underneath was bare of living plants just dead logs and pine needles and pine cones that the cockatoos have broken off when eating them.

Stopping at a different farm stall in Batlow we chat to farmer who tells us that the red covering was supposed to make apples redden underneath – didn’t work – so $50,000 per acre wasted. He had a few jam apricots and some green peaches so we bought an apple pie and continued on to our cherry stall and got the last box cherries. Talking to owner he was closing the stall this afternoon as cherries were now finished and he had to get ready for apple picking which is due to start mid February. Then it was home to watch Aust beat India in the cricket while eating cherries. I will cook some tomorrow and freeze them for later – promise!

19^th   The Aussie Open tennis starts today so it will be more tennis and cricket every day.

20^th   Cooma is our destination and after our service station attendant tells us that we are heading for the big smoke we wonder what has happened in last 2 years. He must have a quiet life as Cooma still has 6,500 people and is just a country town. We have lunch at The Beatnik café with its French caricatures on the walls and waitresses in black and white striped shirts and hat bands. My ‘Johnny Cash’ – chicken focaccia – had very tough bread but J loved his ‘Sanga’ – steak sandwich. It was a little off putting when one of waitresses went outside and sat in gutter to have a cigarette, but we survived and went off to Snowy Hydro Centre to read all about the scheme. It was interesting to look at photos and watch short movie but the most concerning was the interactive computer which showed the current (last 5 minutes) electricity useage around country and the spot price that you can gamble on. Qld had most useage both times we checked it out and the first time price was $1408 and when we left it was $330 per ?watt. NSW, Vic, Tas and SA all stayed around the $220 mark. It is no wonder we pay so much for power. With this massive scheme there is still only 6% power generated by hydro. Black & Brown coal make up 80% so we have a way to go to cut back on greenhouse emissions. We had stopped at James Pattinson’s Wolgal hut near Yarangobilly and Kiandra Goldfields on way down so visited Mt Gladstone L/O to view Cooma and surrounds and then Talbingo on return journey.

It was interesting to compare the old farmhouse and the new hut near Sawyers Hill, built for shelter in inclement weather.

Looking down the hill towards Miss Heidi's cafe I spy a green frog guarding his kennel!

Talbingo is another power town with Tumut 3 power station nearby, but has houses and a school, church, pub and shops and is very pleasant with its water views over Jounama Pondage. It was obviously around before the hydro scheme was invented as Miles Franklin grew up here.

1^st   Today was a rest day to catch up with shopping and get my hair cut – back home for lunch Barb tried out her new ipad and we skyped for a chat to her and Shannon and the boys which was lovely. She is having trouble with the Camry and has a $1500 bill so it is just as well the Public Trustee came through with some money. Don’t know how we can afford to buy her another car so hope that the old girl hangs in there for a bit longer till we get some rent money accumulated. My hairdresser tells me that they go to Sugar Pine Walk in winter to build snowmen and have snowball fights as they snow is quite deep. If they want to ski they go to Mt Selwyn snowfields. We have seen the turnoff but don't know if I will venture too close.

22^nd   Jan at winery had told us about “Paddock to Plate” markets in Wagga today and after much driving around we find the entrance to Racecourse and discover that the markets start at 2.30pm!! Since we missed out on the Women in WW1 exhibition at museum last Saturday we check it out and are a little disappointed as there is very little on the women. Quite a bit on men who fought and soldier settler blocks that were taken up for farming and a big section on the sporting heroes of the district. Heading back to the Butchers we stock up on meat, cumin and Rocquefort cheese and their smoked trout. On the southern side of town we find Kapooka barracks where J was posted when he decided to retire from Army. Wagga has both army and big air force base so I guess it is no wonder they have a population of 60,000 and it is a big, modern go ahead city. Deciding to go to Quinty bakery for their famous pies we head south only to discover this wonderful new complex all shut up despite the signs saying it was open 6 days week. Hope they haven’t gone broke. Continuing on our travels we get to stop in The Rock for lunch where there is an amazing café – very 60’s décor but with coloured glass panels in windows and corrugated iron on ceiling. We have a pie there but it was a bit dry – given that it was 1.30pm I wouldn’t have thought that lunch would have been over. Then head through the countryside where it is a lot drier than around Adelong but with same Hereford or angus cattle and a few meat sheep. Holbrook is much quieter now that the highway bypasses the town instead of major traffic jams that used to hold up everyone. On the other side of Hume H’way we continue through cattle country to Jingellic another lovely little town on Murray River, with the pylons of old bridge giving a photo with a difference. Near Mannus we find a big Correctional Centre and then it is through Rosewood – nothing like Qld’s – and some more hilly country to home.

23^rd  Because the weather bureau has predicted rain tomorrow we set off early to go to Cabramurra – the highest town in Aust. Unfortunately it isn’t really a town as it has 2 lodges for power station workers to live in and a combined Post Office, General Store and Café/Information Centre and no houses. It was rather disappointing after the lovely drive.

We stopped for a look at Paddy’s River Falls on the way and noted that the camping ground looked very inviting.

 You drop 650 metres in 5 klm going down to Tumut river and then climbed back up to 1442 metres at Cabramurra and kept climbing to 1580 metres before Round Mountain. Then it was downhill to Khancoban with a few hills thrown in to take foot off brake pedal.

Both Tumut 1 and 2 power stations are underground so you only know they are there from the large water pipes coming down side of mountains. The countryside is so steep and in Kosciuszko Np there is no clearing of trees for forestry so it is unspoiled except for dead trees where the bush fires must have gone through many years ago.

The rest of this area is heavily logged and vast swathes of countryside have been clear felled and rubbish left to rot. It really spoils the views. There is another wonderful High Country Cattlemen's hut beside the road near Round Mountain - seems very romantic but doubt if you would feel that way in a blizzard! When you hit the 1000m mark the lines on road change to orange and guide posts are red and some of them are 6 feet high!!

We stop at Steve O’s café for lunch, where we had lunch 5 or 6 years ago. Khancoban hasn’t changed much in the interim so is still a pretty little town on banks of Swampy Plain River. Our trip back home was broken with a stop at Southern Cloud Lookout. Back in 1928 a plane with about 20 people on board crashed into side of mountains to east of here so they have erected a memorial in a lovely spot. Tumbarumba was fairly rocking when we passed through this morning and it hadn’t changed when we returned. It is another lovely town, well looked after and very busy.

24^th  Today was supposed to be raining (according to weather bureau) so after a lazy start I decided that the blue skies were too good to waste so spent the rest of day washing and watching the tennis. It will be good when the Open is over and we can get to sleep before 11.30pm. Of course at 2.30pm when all washing is on the line I ask J if that noise is thunder or a plane going over as it came right out of blue and you guessed it - it was rain – so we had a mad dash to get sheets and towels under awning.

25^th  Church this morning was with their priest so we had Holy Communion and the blessing of their new lectern, which was made by the Keith at ‘Men’s Shed’. David & Helen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary so it was cake, cake and more cake for morning tea. We came home with a plate of leftover cake which we didn't knock back either. Then it was over to Tumut to find the African Violet Farm which was rather disappointing as they had hundreds of plants in pots with name tags but no information on what colours they were and about 6 had flowers on. We ended up buying one with maroon flowers starting that we will have to give to June when we leave as I won’t be able to take it into SA or WA. We have had a request from Glenys and Wally in WA to come early for our farmsit as they are desperate for someone in June - August period; it looks like we are doing the NT trip in reverse - don't know how I am going to like being in southern WA during winter!

26^th We leave for Bateman’s Bay after 1 ½ hours stuffing around trying to find the cap off coolant container as someone opened it to put in more fluid (as we have 800m of Cumberland range to go up near Talbingo,) and knocked it into motor somewhere. Fortunately the lid of Balsamic dressing bottle fitted with a bit of help – it was nearly empty so didn’t splash out as we went along. The lemon butter did though – it is amazing how lids work off as you bounce around. With the late start we get to Kiandra goldfields for lunch and walk around and then it was on through Adaminaby and Cooma where we turn and head east to coast. On the map we couldn’t tell whether Bemboka was at top or bottom of range and you guessed it – it is near bottom, so after 5 hours of driving we have massive steep range to twist down 800m. Our overnight stop was at Sports Ground where local Lions club have toilets and showers and lovely picnic spot. I don’t know if they cleared the river bank and put all paths in but it is a lovely walk along river bank where there are supposed to be platypus. It was drizzling so maybe they were in bed nice and warm.

It took 3 hours to get to our caravan park in Sunshine Bay which surprised us as we thought it was a lot closer, but we were there safe and sound and soon had everything organised, so we could venture out to try to find the Post Office and collect our mail. This time the election papers were there so we have voted and posted them back. Doug rang while we were driving in and said that he and Mark were going in this afternoon to collect the china cupboard from Phillipa. Hopefully he can make use of it until I can do something with it. Lisa and her family of 4 kids have moved in downstairs as Tori has moved to Brisbane, and they are going to do some maintenance before selling it. With such a big place it is a pity that they can’t all live there. Bateman’s Bay has grown enormously since we were here 6 years ago. There are shops and houses for miles. We did find the restaurant where we had our wonderful seafood platter and they do a seafood special on Thursday night so we will have to check it out. There are several seafood places (make that hundreds) so we have plenty to choose from. Pity that there is tennis and cricket on most nights this week but we will give them a try out next week. Having to go to supermarket for some supplies we find a seafood supplier where we buy 3 doz oysters for $25 and some huon salmon and have a delectable ‘fishy’ dinner. Tyler started Preschool today and looked so cool in his new uniform.

28^th    Wanting to watch the girls quarter finals we have a short trip south along the beach through Denham’s Beach, Surf Beach and Malua Bay to Guerilla Bay. A dreadful name for lovely area where there is a house for sale for $998,000 – in T’mba it would be worth around $650 I guess. Another one we found which did look posh hasn’t got price advertised so pick a number over $2m. Our drive takes us to Melville Point with lovely views over Tomakin Cove. 

Near Barlings Beach we find a new subdivision and check out the land sizes and costs. Blocks range from 500sq m to 1055sq m and are priced from $375,000! We have a quick look at Mourya as it is right on Pacific H’way and traffic is nightmare and then head back home. Along Beach road we see a place with plenty of potential for improvements but with ocean views across the road for $379,000. It looked like an unrestored 1960’s house on 900 sqm so had a few things going for it. None of our ducklings have turned up today just because I bought a loaf of bread for them yesterday. We had 2 groups – the first had 5  half grown ducklings with mum and dad – the second had 4 newborn ones with mum to keep them out of trouble? And they were gorgeous. The two couples further down our row come for happy hour so we have a few laughs and compare places we have visited. One couple are from Orange and the other from Caloundra. The gent from Caloundra knew where Wyreema is because he grew up in Cambooya.

*** While logging on today I found a comment box but as I can't find out how to reply - John Bryan - if you are still reading this you are most welcome to any photos that do not have young children in. This blog is to keep family and friends up to date with where we are around the country and a diary for us to remember what happened where. My apologies for not answering sooner.

Today29^th    being sunny we head to Pigeon House mountain and can only see it from a distance as there is a steep 500m climb an easier 1 klm then another steep 500m before a steel ladder to get to top – not for my knees. We discovered that you get a better view from back road into Milton, where we check out some shops and have lunch at Bakery.  Milton circa 1860 has maintained their old buildings and is a very pretty town but a bit too touristy for my taste. 

Wardens Head Lighthouse in Ulladulla had some lovely sprays from waves hitting rocks below. 

We wind our way home through Bawley Point and Kioloa and the Murramarang National Park to Pretty beach after going into Durras, Lake Durras, North Durras and Pebbly Beach on the way up. The hillsides are covered with eucalypts, cycads and tree ferns and looked lovely and cool and were very green. This area is quite hilly and has the Great Dividing Range close to coast. Even Beach road where we are staying has lots of hills to traverse. There are lots of small sandy bays with rocky headlands to break the southerly swell.

30^th   Spent the day in van as it was drizzling or rainy all day.

31^st   Leaving early to go to markets in Huskisson was a little nonplussed when we arrived to an empty area – hmmmm – markets are on first Saturday month and today is still January. Fortunately they are at Lady Denman Museum so we had a long look around at the ferry and all their nautical memorabilia. The ferry ‘Lady Denman’ was built in Huskinsson in 1911 and was brought back here after her retirement and has been restored. 

They have the skeleton of a wooden boat in the grounds so you can see how they are made.

The park backs onto a creek that has a breakwater at mouth so it has become a marina for the local boats. We compared one of the flasher ones to another wooden boat high and dry in park – know which one I would rather own.

The museum has lots of info about ships wrecked along the coast (named Wreck Coast) and Naval College at Jervis Bay and is well worth a visit. Some of the figureheads on display caught my attention as did a barrel stopper? 

J impressed me immensely when he told me the flags on display were saying ‘May God bless you’.

There is a boardwalk around the fish pond and lovely gardens of native plants. Also in the grounds are two local school buildings and the smallest church ever. It was built during the depression and was in use till 1989. It is still used for weddings.

After lunch at a café in Husky we saw a navy ship (painted battleship grey) out in bay so headed for Jervis Bay to watch it dock. Alas you can’t get into area unless you pay a $11 fee to National Parks. I remember Barb driving me through HMAS Cresswell when she was posted to HMAS Albatross. We weren’t going to pay that so headed back to Hyams Beach and watched the boat turn around and go back across the bay and then come back again. Deciding it must have been a training vessel we looked it up on internet and discovered that it is HMAS Canberra – the newest navy ship and our biggest. It is 50 feet longer than aircraft carrier Melbourne and was commissioned on 28th November 2014 - so is probably on shakedown runs. It can hold 18 helicopters and has 300 + personnel on board. 3 RAAFies and 66 army guys as well as the navy crew. J tells me that it because helicopters are Army’s department and RAAFies are probably air traffic controllers.

Hyams Beach has beautiful white sand and looked like a nice place to live, and lots of people were taking advantage of sun and at the beach. Heading towards home we went into St George’s basin and Sanctuary Point – both quite nice – and then Sussex Inlet and Berrara which we also liked.  We didn’t check out house prices down the southern end but they were in millions around Husky, and a 664sqm block of land is $650,000 at Berrara, so guess we won’t be living here – wasn’t going to anyway – too cold for my liking. Came home to find ourselves surrounded by campers with a few noisy dogs so hope they settle down soon. It was a worrying night flicking between Serena beating Maria at tennis final and seeing the catastrophic election results in Qld. Oh well guess we won’t be around for a few years to have to suffer the consequences.

1^st   We didn’t wake up in time for church so have had a lazy day waiting for cricket to start. J has been looking at houses on internet and found a block at Vincentia with water views – 506sqm for $310,000! Another 4 Bed, 2 bath, 2 car house with water views is $739,000. Don’t know how people can afford to buy. Think we should have gone to the circus in town as the cricket is not looking too good for us Aussies.

2^nd  Today’s adventure starts when we head up the Kings H’way to Braidwood and encounter some hairpin bends going up the range. On one very sharp bend the idiot coming down came right across the centre line and could have collected any truck or caravan heading up – fortunately we swerved sharply to miss him. Stopping at Cambewarra Lookout the view isn’t great as it is raining and a little foggy but we could see Nowra and Shoalhaven Heads in the distance. 

Braidwood is lovely town which has retained its’ old buildings and has lots of character even if it is geared towards tourism. Several of the shops weren’t open on Mondays or Tuesdays and others only open over weekend which was a little disappointing. There is a road through the mountains to Nowra so we head in that direction and it isn’t as steep as the bitumen one surprisingly. We find another lookout at Jerrawangala NP and have a better view over the countryside and the chasms below our feet.

I brave the cold at Greenwell Point to take the photo of some pelicans battling to stay put in the gale that was blowing.

Then we head to the Lighthouse. Hmmmm it seems it is a distance off but oh well we set off – down 25 steps to a little isthmus across it and up another 25 rocky steps and through the bush to – what’s this – it’s gone just the vandalised base left but some nice views of the coastline and a new beacon with NO personality.

Heading over to Asian Point we get a good view of where we traversed. The whole trip took 30 minutes but felt like hours. To compensate we buy 2 dozen very fresh Sydney Rock Oysters for dinner.

3^rd   We have a long drive into Nowra today before we start our drive up to Kangaroo Valley – another lovely spot but geared to tourism, so after a walk along main street we venture down the range to Berry. A larger town with lots of touristy things for the Japanese and Chinese and not much of interest to us – however we wander around town and buy Narelle’s birthday card before going bush again to Shoalhaven Heads and around to Bombaderry and back onto Highway until we turn off and go into Lake Conjola. After checking out several parks we find the Entrance C/P which is enormous and has the largest grey kangaroos I have ever seen. There were several bucks that would have made a mess of any bull that decided to attack them. I think that this was the one that Richard and Margaret come to so we will have to come back again one February.

4^th   Today we head south to Central Tilba to try the cheeses at ABC Cheese and come home with a variety, and then wind our way through the hills to Tilba Tilba (aboriginal for very windy) and stop at the Tilba Valley winery where they have some nice whites but the most unenthusiastic host. We buy a verdhelo and bottle of port and head down to Bermagui were they also have a camel rock which is very lifelike and a lovely blue pool to swim in. It has been created by cementing in some of the natural rocks to make a safe swimming area for toddlers and adults. Several people were snorkelling in adult pool and we could see the corals growing on bottom from above. Unfortunately there are 70 steps down to water level so I didn’t venture down. Bermagui seems a nice town – clean and tidy with well maintained homes but I bet it gets a bit windy when the south-easterly blows in.

5^th   We spent the day cleaning and packing up and then went out to our favourite Reef restaurant for dinner. As it was Seafood Special night we chose to have the special – 3 courses for $45. I had Oysters Kilpatrick for entrée then fresh oysters and prawns, fish, scallops and calamari for my main. John had soft shell crab as his entrée and it was divine. They get the crab when it has just shed its’ shell and the new one hasn’t hardened up and it feels strange to be eating crab legs shell and all. We don’t spend $200 this time but still have a wonderful meal.

6^th – leaving for Adelong we manage to get the van up the sharp bend on Kings Highway without any mishaps – it is a very steep road up the range but levels out when you approach Braidwood and there wasn’t much traffic surprisingly for 10am on Friday morning. Bypassing Braidwood we continue to Bungendore where we stop for lunch and discover the wood gallery which is amazing. I have heard of Hannah’s cabinet and it is on display here. With 140+ different timbers and an array of precious stones to create the colours of native birds depicted on doors it is well worth the $1.5 million price tag. It took 10 years to create and you could well believe it – you can’t take photos inside gallery so you will have to google it to see what I am talking about. We have a wander around town and check out the leather shop and have a lovely mushroom, spinach and feta wrap before wandering across the countryside to Murrumbateman and Yass before rejoining Hume H’way and heading down to Adelong. While checking in I was told that they were having a chinese smorgasboard banquet that night so we decided to dine out and shouldn’t have – the food was awful. Next morning we spoke to other caravan parkers who also didn’t like it which is a pity as we had a lovely meal when last here.

7^th  We have an unpleasant time being battered by all the semis coming down Hume so it was good to arrive in Longwood and meet Barry and some of the crew in Blazeaid camp. They have use of Longwood Community Centre at the Sports ground and it is well set up. After having had 30mls rain recently a green pick has grown so it doesn’t look quite so stark. Australia plays England in World Cup opener and win quite comfortably which is a good sign. One chap has the right idea and goes fishing.

8^th and we head out to our first fence and it is an easy day tying barb wire onto top of steel posts and then stopping for morning tea in an empty farmhouse, before laying out some netting down a steep hillside. Dan wouldn’t have approved of the way wires were joined or strained but he isn’t here so I just let it go. They took a full roll of netting to the top of hill and let it unroll down – of course it got half way and hit a rock and skewed sideways and went off in wrong direction so it had to be hauled back into line. This farmer is a bit finicky and has to do everything himself which makes for a lot of wasted time while we sit around waiting for him to do his thing. The camp has community groups come in during the week and cook dinners and on the weekend we do it. Cyclone Helen comes down from Sheparton on Tuesdays and Thursdays to do a thorough clean and the Blazeaiders’ on kitchen duties do it the other days after breakfast has been cleared away.

9^th  Today we join another team and head out to McLeans lane to Taffy and Linda’s to pull down 240m and erect a new fence there and 500m one along the road with a fire service gate in middle. Taffy is a Welshman who has an eclectic collection of bits and pieces he welds into various art forms to sell at the markets. He has some big rings on a stand that you fill with firewood which seemed to me to be a good idea – wouldn’t get too many snakes or lizards in. They provide lunch and morning tea which gives everyone a chance to chat and rest. Back at camp the Longwood ladies have dinner ready at 6pm so you get a chance to shower before happy hour on the verandah.

The week continues along the same with us taking Wednesday off for a rest and then on Thursday night I lie down after dinner and when I go to get up my back is excruciatingly painful so that is the end of my fencing. I go on kitchen detail till Thursday when I can get into see Andrew the chiropractor. However Rhonda (chief cook) is very nice and we have some long chats and go into town for supplies and coffee. Wednesday is extremely hot 38* so everyone is back in camp by 1.30pm and the girls go into Euroa for coffee. We were in town as we had visited Baz and Maudi and had a chat to them and then called in on Nola in Insurance Office and have arranged to meet up with them all one night for chinese. Maudi tells us that the shoe shop is closing down so we go in to see if they have any work boots and get a pair of laceups for John for $45 and a short zippered pair for me for $35. After work on Friday we have a chance for a guided tour of David Hayes racing complex here and it is brilliant. They have 1000 acres with 5 race tracks and 90 horses stabled and another 50 or so out in small paddocks.  Everything is irrigated and is very green. As they only moved here from SA 3 ½ years ago all the buildings are new and they had just finished the swimming pool. There are 2 round walking/cantering rings and a treadmill which goes at various speeds up to galloping on the level or up hill – it was awesome. We saw both types working and then later saw a horse being worked in one of round yards and he was just doing a quick walk so it wasn’t as fast as we thought.

Richard (farm manager) took us through the stables and pointed out different horses – one had same great grandmother as Black Caviar – which doesn’t mean too much if they don’t win I guess. As well as the horses here they have 70+ in Flemmington stables in Melbourne. One of the race tracks goes clockwise for the horses that are going to Sydney or Brisbane to race, and another had the synthetic covering that they have in Toowoomba so it was all very interesting. Our tour also included the office complex where all trophies and photos are on display.

                                                         "My Michelle"

Valentine’s day on Saturday had us all on a bus going over to Gooram where the locals have put on a special dinner for us all in the CFA shed/Community Centre and we had a ball chatting to lots of people about their experiences and telling them about our travels. Food was delicious and a local winery had donated some wines so we had a great time and hope the locals did too.On the wall of Community Centre they had a War Memorial for those who fought in Boer War!

 Coming home at 11pm J gets the bus driver to stop at a roadside stall to buy a bunch of flowers – proteas in a huge bunch for $5 but as I don’t have a vase they are sitting in the bucket.

15^th sees us having another day off and going in to renew friendships at church and they even remember us. Afterwards we have a platter of local produce for lunch at the ‘Long Weekender’ which was very tasty. John continues going out every day and seems to be enjoying himself if a bit weary at the end of day. Some of the guys are fun to be around and Peter & Lorraine in camper near us are a lovely couple from Bendigo who are here for a week. People are coming and going all the time – Terry & Lois (from Plainland) arrive and Peter & Lorraine leave, Mary leaves to go up to Benalla camp and Graham goes too but others arrive so it evens out. Some days there are 25 for dinner and others 12 so Barry’s job in organising teams to go to various jobs must get tricky.

One day while sitting down for lunch the fencers were alerted to a big 'pig' grunting away close by. All too soon their fears were realised when a very large brown male koala sauntered past and up the tastiest tree.

Cyclone Marcia has been the topic on news all week and we believe that there are 550 homes damaged in Yeppoon and Rocky and more in Biloela. The rain depression is now heading back down the coast – don’t know why it couldn’t have kept going south-west and given the dry areas a drenching. Barb is sick of rain and we would love some.

Thursday 19^th and John has another rest day before we go into Lions Club meeting in Euroa. I am not too keen as it is a male only club but Col who cooked dinner last Tuesday assured J that I would be welcome. For some reason J thinks it would be good for me to give the speech so here it is –

                After the Vic Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 Kevin Butler’s neighbours and friends pitched in to help him rebuild fences to get his farm workable again, and he thought it would be good to have an organisation that could do this throughout the country whenever disasters happen and so BlazeAid was formed. Since then they have assisted in the recovery after fires, floods, cyclones and spent last winter helping drought affected farmers around Richmond NQ. The Longwood co-ordinator Barry Thompson arrived here on 28^th December and set about getting the camp organised and he has done a fantastic job. I was the 100^th person registered here and we have now had 136 people help out. Some people come up from Melbourne for the weekend, others stay for a few days, some for a week or two but Jim Darling arrived on 29^th December and is the ‘A’ Team leader. The Strathbogie council estimates that 5500 hectares were burnt out over 79 properties in Creighton’s Creek bushfire. We have now pulled down 160klm of burnt fences and rebuilt 83 klms over 44 properties (In total 1024 days of fencing) with lots of laughter and camaraderie easing the pains of walking up and down mountains in 35* heat. At the current rate we should finish in early March, with the camps at Thoona near Benalla and Moyston near Ararat to finish at the same time. New ones will be opening at Lenswood near Adelaide and in Perth hills to keep BlazeAiders occupied till winter. This is our first camp but others are full time BlazeAiders.

As you know we have Community Organisations come in and cook dinner during the week with some of the girls creating a masterpiece for weekend meals. ‘Cyclone’ Helen comes over from Shepparton on Tuesdays and Thursdays to clean and the girls on kitchen duties do a quick clean on other days so the ‘real workers’ get things easy – around the camp anyway. We packed our home into a container and hit the road 3 ½ years ago and have been doing farmsits as we travel around, which is how we came to spend time exploring around Euroa last year. After which we went back to southern Qld to farm/house sit on 4 properties over 5 months so we were quickly put to work by our Lions Club cooking for their monthly IGA BBQ’s, fun run breakfasts and market BBQ’s along with doing the gates for Leyburn & Pittsworth sprints.

Pittsworth is much like Euroa, has a population of approx. 3,000 and is a grain/cotton and beef cattle centre nowadays with only a few dairy farms left from their heyday. Our Lions club supports YOTY, Children of Courage, Lions Personality along with other Lion activities and have Mints, Fudge, Cakes and Puddings in lots of shops around town. We have 25 members and the others along with 3 Charter Members will celebrate our 50^th Birthday on 28^th March. Missing being a part of a community we try to visit other clubs as we travel around and have a bannerette for you to remember us by. It seemed to go over quite well though some members were a bit standoffish, and others wanted our details for farmsitting.

Friday has J back fencing and Rhonda, Lois and I go into town for supplies for the weekend. Barry has decided that we will have a barbeque for dinner Sunday, bacon and eggs for breakfast and lasagne for dinner on Saturday night so we had a trolley full of food and another one for the water. We buy 600ml bottles in packs of 24 and get 3 – 4 packs at a time. Everyone gets to make their own lunch which often includes the leftovers from night before so we get a variety. Longwood ladies cook for us on Monday and Friday nights, Euroa Lions club on Tuesday, Euroa Rotary do Wednesday nights and we have had a variety on Thursday – Seymour/Goulburn Lions one week – they are a female only club for a change. Lyn has worked for George & Pam Postle so knows Pittsworth well as does Andrew who drove semis for Leamonths’ during the 1967 drought, so it is still a small world.

                                     "Happy Hour on the verandah" after a hard days' work

Friday night we join Baz, Maudi and Nola at the Chinese restaurant for dinner and have a lovely meal – Chicken curry, Pork in plum sauce, Mongolian Lamb and Prawns in Peking sauce. With much chatting and laughter it is soon time for desert and I have red ginger icecream on Nola’s advice and it is divine. Don’t know what they do to the ginger strips to make them dark red but it was tasty. All too soon it is 8.30pm and everyone is ready for bed.

Barry gives everyone Sunday off so many people go out exploring but after church we come home for a relaxing afternoon until Ron turns up at 3pm with a 6 pack and J joins him outside for happy hour. I stay inside watching the Ladies Golf and Lydia Ko from NZ eventually wins by 2 strokes. I rather like her style so it was great to watch her at work. There are some very talented young girls on the scene at the moment. The cricket world cup match in Brisbane was abandoned because of all the rain which is a pity as we only get 1 match a week on tv (the Australian one). Seems stupid to me that there is this big event going on in the country and NZ and we only get 1 game a week televised. John takes me out to the property he has been working on this week for a look over the countryside and their garden, which has some interesting garden sculptures.

 Monday 23^rd has Rhonda and I in Shepparton to get her computer fixed and we get caught in severe storm that has rain coming in horizontally and roads flooded when we leave. Arriving home we find that Terry & Lois have had a stay puncture their awning in the wind. Tuesday sees us having a long morning tea with Helen as it is her last day. Barry believes we will finish up here next week. The week continues on as before and all too soon it is Tuesday 3rd and two teams have finished fencing and are in the shed cleaning and servicing the equipment and getting it all sorted for packing tomorrow. We decide to go over to Tahbilk winery for some supplies for easter and Terry & Lois come along as they also like wine. They had some nice cleanskins that came home with us along with a bottle of port. By lunchtime Wednesday all is packed into the 5 trailers and the kitchen is nearly empty too and looks very bare. Australia has a good batting display in the Cricket so everyone packs into Social room to watch and cheer.

Thursday sees everyone out at The Falls vineyard picking grapes and in no time they have 5 tonne ready for delivery to winery and a sizeable cheque in BlazeAid’s bank account. There has been $13,000 donated in the month we have been here so that should buy some more fencing supplies for farmers in need and put a few volunteers on the ground. This property has an extensive garden in which they hold weddings etc, and would be a lovely spot in warmer weather. You can see how close the fires came to house yard - believe the rear of house was scorched.

In the last few days there have been camps established at The Caves near Yeppoon, Monto and Biloela in Qld to repair some of the damage Cyclone Marcia caused. We all went to White Hart Hotel across the road on Thursday night for Pot and Parmy and had a very nice meal, too much wine and lots laughs. Anne gave Rob a big bunch of flowers as a thank you - 

Friday morning 6th saw a mass exodus with only Rob, Terry & Lois and ourselves left by lunchtime. After dropping off the key, magazines to Already Read bookshop, and egg cartons to Op shop we had another lovely lunch at Alberts with Nola and Maudie to bid them farewell. My smoked chicken and Brie open sandwich was delicious and the girls declared their pickled pork one just as moreish. By mid afternoon I did manage to speak to Barb to wish her a Happy Birthday and she loved her earings so that was good. She had the boys with her and they both wanted to have a birthday tomorrow. They are all going into Brisbane tonight to watch Shannon swim in a competition of lawyers, so will get to eat their ‘devil poo’ then. If we hadn’t eaten enough over the last few days we took Terry & Lois to Euroa Hotel for dinner and was it busy. It seemed as if everyone in town was there. I can recommend their garlic prawns also.

7^th Trying to avoid the traffic we wind our way through Seymour, Tooborak, Lancefield and Bacchus Marsh to Meredith where we drop off the caravan at Muz and Cassie’s block and check out ‘Joyful Things’ their brick-a-brack shop which is looking good and I hope it takes off. Then it was into Eton road to see June and catch up on the gossip before heading out to join the family for dinner. We arrived at 6.30pm at the Sir Charles Hotham pub for our booking for 7 people – John went up for drinks and ‘Sybill’ was making a scotch and dry and complaining that people shouldn’t be allowed to buy dry as you have to open a whole bottle for 1 drink and then plonked it down in front of him – it wasn’t ours. He ordered 2 lemon, lime & bitters which came without ice and with lemon squash. The rum and coke had coke put it first then rum then topped up coke. We waited until 7.20pm and then asked if they were going to take our order – we were informed that they were waiting for our extra guest – who ? we were all there 7 of us at a table for 8 so they thought we should have had 8 people there. When Muz went up for 2^nd round he ordered R & C and it was being prepared when Muz asked for Sav Blanc and was told don’t hassle me. The waiter was a John Cleese clone and his wife was a true Sybill both ran around frantic and looked so frazzled.
Because we had waited so long they bought us out some garlic bread which was really nice.  When John’s meal came out at 8.30pm he took a bite and then ‘basil’ came along and whips the plate away to the kitchen. When he returns he said that it had mushroom sauce on it and you ordered garlic sauce. Then he has to come back and tell John B that they have run out of mushroom sauce would he like garlic sauce instead. Yes that was ok – then it arrives – 1 spoonful in a small bowl. The Thai beef salad, stir fry, and my oven baked chicken breast were very nice, but June’s barramundi was uncooked so we sent it back to kitchen. Very apologetically a new meal came out and it was also not cooked so it went back not to be returned. They gave her a plate of chips and salad. The frantic rushing around continued much to our amusement and then Cassie asked for dessert menu so we had 2 sticky date puddings with grainy, lumpy cream. ‘Basil’ who is a customer of Sandi and John’s, came over and sat down with a drink and chatted for a while before running off again, leaving his drink behind. When we went to pay the bill the bread, Junes’ 3 meals and 2 desserts were no charge and we had a round of drinks at reduced price. It was a hilarious night but I bet they are worried that we will write about it on facebook or wiki etc.

Sunday saw us at St Stephen’s and then a lazy day sitting around talking. Muz came for lunch and we chatted over old photos as we looked for photos of John to put with his profile for Lions newsletter. Australia had another great batting display in the cricket in Sydney so hope they bowl and field well tonight. 

Spending Monday afternoon with Sandie and John was a great way to finish long weekend (Labor day in Vic) and we had a lovely chat about anything and everything and all too soon it was 6.30pm and we had to leave or suffer the wrath of being late home for dinner. Tuesday we spent pulling the ivy off the side fence at Eton road so it wouldn’t cost an extra $300 on top of new fence. Fortunately by 4.30pm we had taken the second load to recycling centre and dropped trailer off at Murray & Cassie’s where we stopped for a chat and long cold drink. Mine was fresh organic raspberry cordial and was very refreshing. Then it was home for a quick shower and off to ‘Catery’ for dinner, which was very pleasant and not at all like ‘Sir Charles Hotham’. I had mussels in Thai sauce and they were lovely! And followed them with a rum and raisin icecream with bits of toffee and a big dollop of cream – yummmmm.

After taking June to doctors on Wednesday we had a quick sandwich and left as we had been instructed on Sunday – less than 18 hours after we arrived. She seems to be getting ruder every time we call in but believe it is the same for everyone (except Muz of course). We spend the afternoon packing everything away in van and visit the Pizza shop next door for dinner. The young girl on her first night really puts the toppings on so they are very filling and delicious.

We get to travel the back roads to Meredith Park on Lake Colac where we set up camp for a few days in the most blustery wind ever. You can’t walk anywhere without being blown around so it is a major exercise to get to toilet 100 meters away. We have a lovely spot right on water’s edge so the view is perfect – from inside the windows.

With the wind dropping we head into Colac to check it out – pretty place with lots of very lovely old homes and roses blooming everywhere. We find a very old 2 storey brick building that was being restored – had a serious crack in brickwork – amidst a dozen new units with all but one unfinished and looking very derelict – don’t know what the story is but it seemed a shame. After lunch at the Trocedero – very tough chewy cheese and mushroom fatayers, and a savoury vegetable pastie which was tasty with all its’ exotic fillings we head off to Camperdown to see all the volcanic crater lakes. Our first stop is Mt Leura L/O which really shows you the rim of volcano with Mt Sugarloaf in the middle, (A volcano inside another volcano’s crater) and the surrounding countryside.

Camperdown is a lovely town with an extremely wide main street.  There were 2 lanes on either side of central park about 50 metres  with lots of big old trees and green grass. 

We have a quick drive around town looking at all the big old homes and more roses and then head to the Botanic Gardens and a look out over Lake Bullen Merri which was very picturescue.  The gardens had a lot of old trees and grassed areas with succulents but not as many flowering plants as I would have expected.

Heading out of town we take a wrong turn and end up going to Cobden, a smaller town, but quite lovely and then we toured the back roads to Red Rock L/O which is well named. You get another magnificent view over the surrounding area and Mt Elephant in the distance.

On a nearby hill is a monument to WWI soldiers from the area and a direction dial on another hill so this must be volcanic also.

There are miles and miles of dry stone walls in the area and most are in good order – it is amazing that there are so many rocks still in the paddocks. It is fairly dry so you can see through the grass at what is on ground.

We head to Beeac to check out the windmills we saw on way to Meredith Park. They have put a windmill from each of the makers in town into a little park with a drystone wall and some information boards under a shelter shed with park next door. The town seemed clean and tidy but there were a lot of empty buildings so it has seen a big decline since its’ heyday.

Saturday dawns with a peasouper fog over the lake and it really looked like the horizon at waters’ edge. It took till 10.30am for the fog to lift completely and then the wind got up and it is gusting at a million miles an hour and very unpleasant, so we stay inside and watch the cricket when the wind leaves the satellite dish in correct direction.

Monday 16^th and we head into town to the Future café (a Turkish, Lebanese cuisine) where I have a very nice vegetable pattie rolled in crushed peanuts and a salad and J had a lamb kebab with extra chilli that had him watering the eyes. Then it was off to Chiropractor who did a very good job getting me back together. It seems he also works in Geelong West near John & Sandie’s shop so I can call on him when next in town,  if I ever go back there. Then we went for a drive through Barwon Downs and Birregurra. As I hadn’t taken any meal out of freezer we decide to go to Beeac Hotel for dinner. They had $15 parmy and pot as the Monday special so it all seemed good. When we walked in the place was buzzing and we get asked do you have a reservation? No oh ok but they find us a table between 2 birthday parties and give us the menu and it is really good and reasonable priced. What is it about country pubs in little towns with lots of empty shops? We start off with mustard bread which had some parmesan cheese melted on top and very moreish. Then my nacho parmy arrived – it had cracked nacho chips under a nacho sauce on top of chicken and lovely with its crunchy bits. The whole meal with 2 pots beer and 2 glasses wine came to $54 – pity some other places couldn’t so the same value for money.

As the windy weather doesn’t let up we decide to leave on Wednesday and head over to Terang to the caravan park so we can fill up with water and do the washing. It is a lovely park and caretaker and his offsider couldn’t do enough for you so we decide to stay for the week ($120) and I set about emptying the dirty clothes basket. On our way here we were held up by people cutting trees in paddock along the roadside. They had a big pair of ?pliers which grabbed the tree and a blade came out and cut through the tree which then fell down into the paddock - regardless of what way it was leaning - fascinating watching it work.

We head into town to have a look around and find some empty shops but quite a variety open and doing well. The cashier and delivery man at IGA were very friendly and engaging and then we stop at bakery for a loaf of bread and get talking to Sales lady who ends up telling us that there is a Lions meeting tonight and they are men only so J decides to go and I put my new exercise bike together and try it out. John comes home with John who apologises for not asking me to attend- they really don’t mind women visitors. Anyway we have another bannerette to send home and another friend in town.

Thursday 19^th  The weather bureau said it was to be fine but cloudy day so we head to Allansford to stock up on cheese for Easter. J doesn’t bother to take Katrina’s directions so we don’t go to Cobden or Timboon but wind around some hilly country to Simpson where we join a sealed road towards Port Campbell and the 12 apostles. On the way we see a sign for Apostle Whey cheese café so we turn in and have a great time and try some wonderful cheeses. The staff had just had a bus load and were full of good cheer if a little rushed so we had a fun chat while we tasted their different varieties. They had a tasting sheet which we could mark off the ones we liked etc – wish more places did this as it is hard to remember all the ones you like. So we came home with 6 different ones – Lochard Gorgeous (Camembert), The Grotto (washed Rind), Smoked Havarti (wrapped in gum bark and leaves), Bay of Martrys and Bolte’s Bonanza cheddars and a Feta in herbs and garlic. We didn't find out what the dragon on tank was all about but who cares and if you do we will just have to come back again!

They tell us that on our way south is a chocolate shop that is worth a visit so we turn in only to find our bus load is in front of us. Fortunately they are nearly finished so we have a look around before trying all 3 of the plain ones and end up buying a block of dark and some milk ginger and 12 echidnas and 3 hazelnut praline mice for Easter gifts. J asks the bus driver where they were headed so we don’t go to the whiskey distillery just wind our way through the pouring rain to Allansford for lunch. They don’t give you a chat with cheese tastings they are put out on counter for you to help yourself and choose what you like. It is a very big complex – part of Warnambool cheese and butter – with a big cafeteria where we shared a ploughman’s lunch. It was huge and had lots of meats, chicken, chutney, salads and cheese with fresh bagette slices. Feeling very sated we wound our way through Childers Cove with it’s lovely rock formations and little sandy bays to the dairy area and home for a little lie down.

                                  Someone hasn't learnt the BlazeAid way of straining up wires!!

Friday 20^th   was spent at home doing the last of washing and a grocery shop before watching Australia beat Pakistan in a one sided quarter final match.

Saturday 21^st  is Blue Pyrenees day and a very pleasant sunny trip through Mortlake and Lake Bolac to Ararat which is a lovely town. They have some wonderful old buildings and the town hall is white and set amid green lawns and colourful flower beds and quite spectacular. On through Elmhurst and Ampitheatre, where the countryside was very dry and many of dams had no water in and some didn’t even have mud they had been dry for so long. The Blue Pyrenees Range were along the left but not very high or dramatic.
The Blue Pyrenees winery at Avoca was our destination and had some interesting wines. I liked the chardy, sparkling chardy (Luna), voiginer and sparkling shiraz. J savoured their merlot, Estate Merlot and Reserve Shiraz. They had chardy and Merlot as cleanskins so a dozen of each came home with some sparkling shiraz. Our grazing platter for lunch had some divine smoked trout, turkey, ham, a small salami type sausage with no spice, chicken terrine and a herb feta with pickles, chutney, and some hard toast which ruined the whole meal. We washed it down with a sparkling shiraz and enjoyed sitting on the verandah in sunshine but not the inane conversation of people at table next door. When they left we breathed a sigh of relief until some yuppies took up residence and the conversation deteriorated even more so we collected our supplies and left. Our trip home through the countryside around Raglan and Streatham was interrupted with some Christmas decorations along the road and lots more dry stone walls.

We had a great time listening to NZ win the cricket with Martin Guptil scoring 237 of their total 392 in an amazing display. There were several salt lakes along the way and one in particular looked quite spectacular with it's pink algae.

 Sunday 22^nd  We head to Port Fairy via Koroit and Kirkstall. Koroit is another pretty town with some old buildings and wide streets. Driving around PF we find south beach and go for a walk along the sand. J reckons the water wasn’t very cold even if it came from Antarctica. A house for sale nearby has an interesting? gargoyle on roof top.

There is a boardwalk over water and around Griffith Island to the ocean side and a café on wharf where we stop for fish and chips. Unfortunately the oil is stale and not hot enough so J fish has grease on it. My salt and pepper calamari would have been very nice if you couldn’t taste the stale oil. We have chat to young woman who was on motorbike holiday from Bairnsdale. She had been to Perth and was following the ocean back home and having a great time. We gave her some places to visit and were then joined by a woman who had been for a Sunday ride on her pushbike. Then we headed off through The Craggs where we stopped for a walk along cliff top in gale force winds to a memorial for Avro airplane lost near here during a submarine watching exercise in 1944. Some of the rocks left by wind reminded me of the Pinnacles in WA.

 In Portland we stop on a headland and watch 5 yachts in a race around the bay. Portland is the oldest town in Vic and has some lovely old buildings and lots ships waiting to be loaded at the wharves.

 As we were leaving J’s knee gave way and he ended up crashing to the ground which was a worry. Taking it easy he made it to car and stopped off at Portland Strawberries and they were just as lovely as when we were here 3 years ago. We paid $10 for a 1 kg punnet of ripe flavoursome berries that were being well guarded!

Then I got to drive so we turned up to Heywood another lovely town with wide streets and wound our way to Woolsthorpe and home.

Monday 23^rd is spent around van as it is cloudy and coolish.

Tuesday also dawns wet and cold so we stay in and listen to New Zealand play South Africa in WC Cricket and the kiwis won so it should be fun on Sunday.

Today’s weather report says fine and sunny so off we go for a trip down memory lane in Hamilton. Our first stop is at the Gray Street Primary School where the plinth, bell, and big building were just as they were left in 1961.

We walk around the 3 streets looking at all the other changes including some interesting tile murals on one wall. Across the road is Hamilton Botanic Gardens which brought back memories of Murray teaching a cockatoo to say ‘Hello Murray’. Believe it or not there is a cockie in a bigger aviary which happily says hello to everyone. The bridges over lakes weren’t familiar even though the sign says they were there in 1910. The gardens were started in 1881 and one tree was planted on that day and it is enormous and so beautiful.

At Christ Church the door was open so we ventured in to chat with a member of congregation who John reminisced with. They also are without a rector at the moment and have to share with Warnambool. The church is a lovely old building with beautiful stained glass windows and the gardens are well kept too.

My lunch was wonderful – duck meat spring rolls on a bed of couscous with dates and nuts and 2 scoops of pumpkin puree. John had a smoked salmon wrap – can you believe it. Driving around town we find their old home, the footie ground grandstand, swimming pool and the Caravan Park that they weren’t allowed near because of the unsavoury types who lived there!!

                                        Do you think that sheep were important around here?

                                      The house also resembles Eton road and has a new garage.
When the Calders’ lived here they often went to Lake Linlithgow for picnics and boating but you wouldn’t do that today as it was bone dry and had been so for some time.

Because we didn’t stop at Penshurst Lookout on the way through we retrace our steps and climb 120 dirt steps to Mt Rouse Lookout, where you have a 360* view of Penshurst and surrounding area with the Grampians in the distance. Mind you it was pleasant enough climbing up but when you came out of shelter of mountain at the top you were nearly blown away.

There are more dry stone walls along the way and a plaque on Terang-Mortlake road.

I can't remember if it was in Penshurst or Caramut where we found this Anzac memorial.

Our stop near home was at Noorat the home of Alan Marshall – author of “I can jump puddles” where they have placards around various places of historical importance to him and an eagles' nest statue.

Brown Brothers sent an email about their sparkling shiraz that was on special so after ordering it J rang Murray to ask him to bring them with him at Easter and they had a long chat about life in Hamilton. By 7.30pm it was time to eat so we ventured to Terang Hotel for dinner and had another lovely meal. As I had expressed my exasperation at J’s lack of adventure with food I had to choose his meal – wish I had had something more exciting to choose from but he ended up with Chicken Wellington and I had Moroccan chicken. Both were proclaimed delicious. As we hadn’t had dessert for some time we indulged again. The bill came to $94, which is considerably less than $150 per person that is on offer at the Dunkeld Hotel.  

 Thursday is cold and very windy and snow was forecast for high country so we rang Tyler to wish him a happy 5^th birthday and had a lovely chat to everyone. Then Australia beat India and made it to World Cup Grand Final on Sunday. We have had a visit from a little grey tabby kitten with a blue collar and bell who is very friendly and probably shouldn’t be out in the rain. When J goes to toilet on Friday morning kitty takes advantage of open door and comes in to investigate and does a lot of purring while snuggling under the doona. She must have been out all night but by mid morning her owner must have found her as she disappeared from under the van.

Sunday sees us turn up at church at 9am only to find no one else around so we get out of car and read the sign which we thought said a combined service in Camperdown at 10am; as it is Palm Sunday we go over and wait outside the church for some activity. At 10am we walk over to church door to discover that the service is at 10.30am so wander around town for a drive and end up at Timboon House (a historical 1855 farm in the area).

After the service we are invited to join them for lunch in the hall, where they are celebrating being in Relay for Life overnight. On our way back to Terang we stop off at the cemetery to see the historical marker (1855) which is in memory of Aborigines of area. I also find a headstone to stillborn babies which was a lovely idea.

Monday dawns sunny and warm so we head to Gibson Steps on Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles which are still being overrun with Asian tourists. It was amazing at Loch Ard Gorge when we heard a voice speaking English. The stacks of rock are still as majestic as ever though and it was much more pleasant than last time we were here.

We also stopped to look around Razorback at it’s spiky ridged back and then the cemetery which has memorials of the Loch Ard passengers and crew that lost their lives in shipwreck here and the locals who are buried here also.

Then it was on to Port Campbell where we ate a late lunch down on beach and then walked around the cliff to see the coastline. The Arch is nearby and then London Bridge where it is hard to believe that J walked over it when a teenager and now it is isolated.

Going over the bridge at Curdie River mouth we guessed that the river hasn’t flowed for a while. After a short look at Bay of Islands and Bay of Martyrs where I took the photo looking into the late afternoon sun and it is completely different from the one taken 15 minutes earlier. Then we could sit down for the drive home – my knees were giving out – but not as much as my neck when I got under the shower and discovered that I was sunburnt around neckline. SUNBURNT in Victoria can you believe it – I usually have so many clothes on you don’t see skin other than my face and hands.

Tuesday is spent cleaning van, washing clothes, buying food and getting packed to leave tomorrow, where we have a short but pleasant trip over to Rocklands and meet up with Simon, Pup pup and Edward. After our trip to Nindigully to share a Road Train Burger with Jim & Heather they decided we would have a burger for dinner on Thursday night. I had the job of mixing up the pattie meat and getting it ready to cook. Fortunately Jim had bought 2 buns so I could make 2 burgers and it cooked much quicker. Everyone seemed very impressed and it tasted pretty good too. Eat your heart out Macca’s.

The group this year includes Muzz & Cassie, Marie and Bob the Builder and his wife Jackie who is lovely. They seem to be a fun couple who are a little amazed with the set up and our menu choices.

The reservoir was just under 30% full but lots of people were camped there and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 Simon popped in from time to time to share a drink and chat. Good Friday saw us celebrate Muz’s birthday – the first time since he was born on Good Friday, and then join the locals in Balmoral for the Stations of The Cross. This year they asked J & I to do a reading on our walk around town. Chatting to Father Robin Elliott over hot cross buns afterwards we learn that he went through seminary with Tony and is a good friend. The world gets smaller every day. After Tuna cakes for lunch Jim decides we should all go out exploring for smoky quartz which he found here some years ago. After a bumpy trip over farmland with no quartz in sight we do find an old school at Moralla and stop to explore it. Campers have been using it to camp in of late but it has a good view of Grampians from the yard.

Saturday is market day in Balmoral and this year Cassie and Marie have a stall selling their soaps and lollies but I don’t think it is a raving success. I find the baker who makes lovely sourdough bread and buy some and some pumpkin bread. Then I see a jumper stand and buy a hot pink one that will fit over half a dozen jumpers when we are in Moonta and Brookton. J, Muz and Jim head to the bar and I discover a woman doing haircuts so wait for my turn to get shorn and then we head home for lunch and then the men go out to cut some burls for Marie to take home for Bob to turn into tables. Late in afternoon we head back to town for the Anglican church service and Fr Robin and locals are amazed at the singing – don’t know why? They go over  to hotel for dinner afterwards so we will have to remember this for next time.

Sunday also dawns bright and sunny and it is spent sitting around chatting and then we go off in a couple of groups for a walk around the campground and over to Cottage where Muz, Cassie and Marie stay. The new owner has turned the lodge into his Playroom complete with some rather interesting? Bits and pieces, including the biggest snake skin I’ve ever seen.

Back at camp we have to stay chatting until 11pm when the moon disappears completely into the earths’ shadow.

Just to spoil the day Monday is wet and cold but everyone else gets packed up and left leaving Bob & Jackie and us to spend the day in camp. Jackie had made pancakes for breakfast and we had 4 of the leftovers for lunch before inviting them over to watch Geelong lose dramatically to Hawthorn. Later that afternoon we went to their van for chicken chow mein for dinner and spent 5 hours chatting about travelling amongst other things. They left on Tuesday in dry weather if jolly cold.  We went for a drive and filled up with fuel in Coleraine where we found the Anglican church – a very large majestic building, before going over to Casterton where there is another large stone church. A Lady from Good Friday service had told us that there is a new café in town and they have good food so I have potato, leek and spinach soup with 2 very stale hard bread rolls and John had the rabbit pot pie which was very tasty. I am nearly convinced to buy a rabbit and cook it up. I will be convinced when I have a recipe!!! We call into the information centre to learn about the Kelpie which was bred here and hear about Warrock Homestead and the Bilston’s tree. In  1843 George Robertson took up a licence to graze2500 sheep, a team of bullocks and all improvements on 11,696 acres for 300 pounds. The property is a unique collection of 36 handbuilt Gothic/Colonial style buildings of which 33 are classified ‘A’ by National Trust. The property was held in family until 1992 when Gavin and Carrol Larkins purchased the property with remaining 880 acres.

                                            These were the dog kennels!!!

George Robertson imported a pair of black and tan collies from Scotland in 1870’s. A female pup from the litter was given to his nephew (the next owner) George Patterson who named her ‘Kelpie’ meaning ‘ a malignant water sprite haunting the fords in streams in the shape of a horse’. Jack Gleeson saw Paterson training Kelpie and asked to swap her for his thoroughbred horse. Kelpie was mated with working dogs in Ardlethan NSW named ‘Moss’ and ‘Caesar’. In 1878 King’s Kelpie came first in a trial …”against the best dogs in the colonies”. Kelpie’s pups were known as “Kelpies Pups” and this was eventually shortened to Kelpies. These were the family on which the breed descended. Over the June long weekend Casterton holds a Kelpie Muster with a trial before the auction of dogs for sale.

 Knocking on the door we are met by Gavin Larkins, a 74 year old with a passion for old homes and furniture. We are given a tour of the house with its’ mural painted walls in the sitting room and canvas covered ceilings in hallway. He is a lovely man and full of knowledge about the house and furniture – some of which is original.

 An hour later we have a short walk around the workshop where they cut all the timber to build the buildings, but as it is freezing cold we have to get into car with the heater. I have to get out a Bilston’s tree and walk the kilometre through bush to see the tree but fortunately the bush breaks up the wind so it is more pleasant. The tree is wonderful – about 134 feet tall, 24 feet in girth and it is estimated it would cut 910 cubic feet timber.

In 1995 a limb fell off and it has since had native animals and birds carved into it. When you see J standing next to the end that fell off tree you can see how big it really is. 

Winding our way home in the late afternoon light we are enchanted with the light on a line of river gums. Closer to home we find two trees filling up with Cockatoos roosting for the night.

We finally manage to talk to Zahra & Jayden for 2 seconds to wish them a happy birthday, before they were made to hang up so I doubt I will be going all the way to Sydney on the off chance we will see them for 2 hours on Anzac Day. They don’t bother to say thank you for their presents which is disappointing as David asked for Junes’ number so they could ring her to say thank you for their $5.

Wednesday is another short trip over to Lake Ratzcastle via Wombleano and the White Lake, which is very white so guess it is salty.

The Lake is dry but a pretty spot so we decide to stay and J gets to chat to Steve the Lion who care takes the place. He is having trouble with his satellite dish so we offer to have a look at it and turn up next morning and have a great time with him and Marina. We do get their tv to work and they invite us to stay for lunch and more chatting. Steve makes his own beer and John helps him empty a bottle which he says was quite good. For someone who only likes VB that was a compliment. We have a short drive around Goroke and it is a little sad but clean and tidy. Neville & Vicki have a campfire going at night and invited us to join them and Bill & Audrey who are also nearby. It is a cold windy night but we enjoy their company and end up going to bed at 11pm.

Friday also dawns warm and sunny so we explore Edenhope and find Lake Wallace where we stop under the jetty for a photo shoot and then buy lunch and eat it on the bank near the street sign commemorating the Aboriginal Cricket team that trained here in 1867 before their trip to England.

One chap John Mullagh had a very memorable match where he top scored in first innings with 42 runs, bowled 38 overs for 4 wickets for 59 runs, caught one catch in field and after donning wicket keepers gloves stumped 4 batsmen and caught another. Where are his descendants we need them in the team now?  On our way into town I had seen a church with very high roof on a hill and by chance on the way home we passed it and discovered it was Anglican so I decided we should come over here on Sunday.

Heading to Kaniva J saw a sign to Lake Charliegrap which has lots of water in it and a lovely caravan park so we will have to come here again.

We do a short trip into Little Desert NP and find a few Banksias coming into flower. Kaniva is a lovely big town where we find some sheep wandering the streets and a Rotary Park with animals and birds and an interesting donation box.

East of Kaniva is Nhill which is another big town (2200) with 5 huge pubs on main corners of town and a large hospital. We saw some signs for a Historic RAAF Base so went to investigate and were checking out some ruins when a volunteer Len came over and offered to show us around their museum. He is also very passionate about the Avro Anson airplane they are restoring and the bits and pieces they have acquired. One piece that had our interest was a trainer used to train pilots in dark before they were let loose in real planes. This was a big training base during WW2. He has lots of ideas for improving the exhibits so let’s hope they can raise the money. In all we are there for over an hour and had a wonderful time talking to him.

While exploring the eastern side of Little Desert NP on way home we got into a rutted sand track where J was able to let steering wheel go and the car drove itself back to highway. I managed to take a video of the steering wheel on the mobile and it is scary.

Saturday is a rest day we spend in camp and I get to clean the van ceiling and air conditioning vents before spending the afternoon reading the last of Bob Maguire’s biography. Saturday night is also spent chatting with Neville & Vicki and Bill & Audrey around the campfire. Bill & Audrey are heading back home to Melbourne tomorrow as Bill has some medical appointments. He has prostate cancer and as he is 80 he doesn’t know how much longer he will be able to travel around. They have been all over Oz since marrying in 1958.

Sunday morning we go to All Souls in Edenhope and have an enjoyable time chatting to Rev Phillip and some of the congregation. Rev Phillip and his wife Denise retired 6 years ago and travel around in their caravan and spend 12 months or so in parishes who need a priest but can’t afford one. He is very evangelical and enthusiastic and would be a great asset to any parish. He also knows Rev in Brookton as he was the rector in Beverley for 6 years. Steve came for a chat after lunchtime and then we finished listening to Geelong being beaten by Fremantle again. Let’s hope Lions do better later tonight – they don’t. A young couple from Netherlands who are here on 6 months holiday with their 3 children under 3, join us around the campfire and we have a lovely chat to them and give them some ideas of places to visit. Our 5 nomadic emus arrive for their afternoon drink and bring 2 strangers with them.

Monday 13^th sees us going back through Goroke and Natimuk to Horsham where we have a very unsuccessful time shopping – can’t buy a battery or chocks for van and we go into Aldi to get some cheese for Neville & Vicki and of course I can’t get half the things we need – one day I will learn and find another shop regardless. On our way we stopped off at Mitre Rock - a very interesting shaped mound of rock beside the highway and had a look at Mt Arapiles across the road which must have come out of the same erruption. This is generally flat grain or sheep farms in need of a good drink though some of the farmers must be optimistic as they are ploughing vast paddocks. Heading home along western highway it was much the same.

Tuesday is cold, drizzley and windy so we spend the day around camp chatting with Neville & Vicki until it is time to head into Goroke for their Lions meeting. The farmers around here all burn their stubble so we had quite a picturesque trip into town.

Steve & Marina are there and very friendly as are many of their members. President Ken makes us very welcome though likes to chat instead of getting the meeting moving. John entertains them with details of our travels, farmsitting and BlazeAid which they seem interested in so hope it spurs someone on to go help put up some fences.

Brenda the Goroke Hotel Publican has recently reopened the pub and has an interesting collection of memorabilia on display, and is a good cook into the bargain. We have both roast pork and chicken along with 5 veggies and then apple slice with custard for $20. She also has a big burger competition – it is about the size of our road train burger and you are timed eating it. The one bloke whose name is on the board ate most of it in 55 minutes, but I don’t think anyone has eaten it all – 1 person can’t possibly. Goroke has a population of 200 people in town and a few shops, with 17 Members in the club that was chartered 39 years ago. They also have the only Apex club (Edenhope/Goroke) in Victoria with members amongst the local farming lads. Their latest project was a barbeque area in main street which looks very nice. They have a memorial treed park on outskirts of town which is to be upgraded with a walking track, tables etc as their next project.           

 Wednesday I spend doing the washing and cleaning the van before going for a walk around the lake with Vicki who points out the trees that you have to walk behind to see their incredible limbs. One Red Gum was amazing with its branches coming out at strange angles – mostly from joining onto another tree many years ago. We found a few of these on our walk along with the remains of a wooden boat with copper nails and lead lining.

Back at camp we join Neville & Vicki’s campfire and chat until dinner time. While we are eating a young couple of police from East Germany pull in and join us around the fire after dinner. They are very interesting and we have a few laughs and chat to them about where to go and advise against driving from Alice to Lenora in their motorhome. It is soon 10.30pm and I have to go into the warm. After photos they leave to Mt Gambier and we finish packing up and leave for Hopetoun where we find plenty of water and a wonderful view across the lake, so for the first time in several weeks we sit outside to have our afternoon tea, but it is soon quite cold so I move indoors and look out the windows at the water lapping the shore 30 feet away. There have been a few new additions to town since we were last here.

Friday is cold and wet so we stay in doing crosswords and reading before the Broncos lose to St George. The weather report for Saturday is more of the same but dawns sunny so we head out for a drive to Wyperfield NP which has a great camp ground which we tick for future exploration. There is a short nature drive near Wonga camp ground which has notice boards around the track so we find Lake Brimin (which hasn’t been full since 1918-1922!!!!!) The Wimmera river starts in Grampians and travels via Lake Hindmarsh and Lake Albacutya before passing through here on its way to floodplain in Murray-Sunset NP. Guess it hasn’t had a drink for 97 years either. 

Further on we get an expansive 360* view of area from the top of Eastern Hill LO. It is called Big Desert but is pretty well covered with trees and shrubs and only a few sandy areas were visible.

Yaapeet is another very small village near top of Lake Albacutya which we also drive over. The amenities and camp ground weren’t impressive so think we will skip here.  Rainbow is near the bottom end of lake and has a few empty shops but seemed more alive. We find Yal  Homestead which was very impressive but only open on Sunday afternoons so I don’t know what it is like inside. 

Taking the Nhill road we find Lake Hindmarsh another very dry spot with an abundance of vegetation on the lake bed so guess it hasn’t been full since 1922 either. We didn’t like the 2 campgrounds on western side but the one at 4 mile beach on southern side was great and has a tick for us to come back to. Even though there is no water it was a lovely spot to spend a few days and do some more exploring - though maybe not swimming or boating. 

As I wasn’t able to find the Lutheran church or Menzies shrine when we were here on Thursday we go for a drive around town and couldn’t work out why we didn’t see Menzies’ monument – it is huge -  a big cement spire with Scottish thistle head on top at a Memorial park at entrance to Jeparit showgrounds. R G Menzies was born here in 1894 and is obviously their claim to fame. 

In the same street we found the Anglican church which has a service on 5^th Sunday of month and 11am on Tuesdays. It echoed the unkept emptiness of main streets unlike the Lutheran church a few doors down which was used and well cared for. Heather’s grandfather was the minister here for 30 years and her father was born here – it is likely there are a lot of german descendants in the area still. It rains lightly most of way home where we have fun trying to get petrol pump to work, before listening to Lions go down to Tigers.

19th and it is blowing a gale direct from Antarctica while we are packing up and heading to Mildura. At least the wind is behind us so hopefully we don’t use too much fuel, but Katrina takes us via the truck route again and we end up having to turn right across the traffic at the bridge – don’t know why they don’t put lights there. The Buronga CP is pretty busy but we get a site with river views if not right on river as we had last time but it is so cold that I probably won’t be walking too far. The children in playground don't make too much noise. Hope we don’t have to walk home tomorrow when the car goes in for its’ service. The best part is that the Suns are leading the Cats halfway through 2nd quarter which is nice for me as both Broncos and Lions have lost this weekend. J is very happy when the Cats end up kicking a goal to secure the win with 27 seconds to go.

20^th feels like midwinter it is so cold, so I only venture out to see the PS Melbourne tooting up and down the river. The car comes back after we pay the $1215 service bill – and the next one is when they do the timing so it will be another $1500 bill. I wish fixed price servicing extended past 75,000klm mark.

Tuesday is fine and sunny if a little chilly so we venture forth and look around Mildura before finding Jayco shop where we spend $100 on repair items for van. Then we took subway to Lock 9 and watched PS Melbourne coming through the lock. Vicki had told us about her Yoghurt maker so while J was at Dan Murphy’s I checked out Big W and found one and some packets of starter so let’s hope we like it. After 9 packets we will have paid for the machine and will save over $4 per week. After our lovely Butcher shop in Wagga we check out one here that was advertised in tourist brochures and it is smaller but we stocked up on meat, frozen vegetables and some Japanese scallops that had red roe attached.  Then J discovered cartons of shiraz at $5 bottle so it came with us to SA as well.