February 2015

03 February 2015

Still with family in Victoria but should be heading back onto the open road again at the end of this week. Where to? No idea yet. We have however managed to get a few little jobs on the motorhome done and even got some exercise mulching one of Mum and Dad's garden beds. Still for two days afterwards as well :-)

15 February 2015

Now that things have settled down with the health of one of Joanne's sisters and with some work lined up in Pinnaroo we bid family farewell and headed off from Drouin this morning. We had decided to just follow the highway through Melbourne before heading North West but after some shopping in Pakenham we got to the freeway and changed our minds so we turned around to head up through the hills instead.

Heading up through past the cemetery we arrived in Beaconsfield Upper smack bang in the middle of their festival which mean't threading the motorhome though the vehicles parked on either side of the road as well as dodging people and oncoming vehicles. Then it was onto Emerald and Monbulk before we left the greenery behind and hit the dry brown hills eventually stopping in Seymour at a nice little camp beside the Goulburn river. The area where everyone was camping was pretty much taken over by a Victorian Chapter of the CMCA so we found ourselves a nice little spot away from them and just near what is left of the old Goulburn Road Bridge and where we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the river pass by with the mercury in the mid 30's.

Old Bridge at Seymour

What's left of the $397,000 demolition job.

The river flowing nicely meant that the new camera got a workout and so did the Nisi 10 stop Filter which allows long exposures during daylight, thus the smooth silky effect on the river.

With the temperature still in the high 20's at sunset we were glad the place was starting to cool down in time for bed and then around 10pm there were flashes in the sky visible through the moonroof. A look outside showed that it was in fact a storm brewing and lightening that necessitated grabbing the camera and going outside.

The wind began to pick up and then with the roar of a freight train came through where we were camped, bark and leaves from the trees raining down making us glad that we had selected a spot where nothing would fall on us before a hasty retreat to a slightly more protected position behind the motorhome was required. The storm continued and the sky lit up like daylight with the flashes in the sky going off a bit like the flashbulbs at a politicians press conference. Unfortunately there was no reward for standing outside in my PJ's and things as the lightening was behind the cloud bank and so just as the rain began to fall heavily I packed up and went inside lamenting what should have been a good photo session.

Seymour Lightening

The best of the lightening.

16 February 2015

The storm and night passed without incident and we awoke this morning to a clear sunny sky. Heading off we were going through some beautiful tree lined less traveled roads past Puckapunyal, Heathcote and a beautiful road to Sutton Grange and then crossing the freeway near Harcourt and climbing up through the gap to the very pretty, old fashioned style town of Maldon and then onto Laanecoorie where there were only a few campers at the river.

Flat open sheep and wheat country took us to St Arnaud and then onto Donald for lunch before a stop in Warracknabeal for fuel and then onto the small town of Blim some 15 km's away. Blim has a cheap ($10 per night) camp with power near a lake and had two other campers in but we decided to get a little closer to Pinnaroo and ended up at Beulah where they also have a camp spot next to a lake where for $15 you get a powered site and access to the toilets and showers and a free washing machine. The town is mainly houses and the main street, once a busy place has more closed and empty shops than anything else, the only ones operating were the pub, cafe and Post Office.

Having paid our $15 we selected the shadiest site and settled in for the rest of the day.

17 February 2015

With slightly over 200km's to Pinnaroo we took a leisurely start to the day before returning the amenities key and getting on the road around 8.30am. After an easy drive along some very familiar roads we arrived in town around 11 am where it looked like nothing had changed since we were here last. Shopping and getting onto Simon and then it was off to the caravan park. The caretaker was not in so we just picked a site and settled in, sorting the rest out when he came back after lunch.

Simon came down to see us which allowed us both to catch up on the goings on and sorting out the work and transport arrangements, and when he left we spent a leisurely afternoon in our new location getting ready for work tomorrow.

So this will probably be the last days report until we leave here.

Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do that by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.