Again – no access to the outside world! This is our third night of ‘free’ camping. When we got past Mildura, we barely went 25KM and found another magical spot by the Murray River and decided to camp for the night. Boys went fishing again and set up a Yabby Trap (Judy – look up Wikipedia again to see what these little critters look like – they are yummy too) but alas no success again.
One of the simple pleasures of camping (don’t laugh) is going to take a pee under a gazillion stars. How beautiful the sky looks when you are far away from the big smoke!!! Unfortunately it was too cold to linger so I didn’t get a chance to see any satellites.
We drove through Swan Hill and for Paul to realise this was not a Gold Panning region and not where Uncle Henry took him to when he was little. It was only then I realised he was talking about Sovereign Hill near Ballarat and not Swan Hill. J
Our second night of camping was again by the Murray just 8KKM outside of Echuca. Another magical spot with nothing in front of us but the river and a forest on the other side of the bank. It was so good, we all lingered and had bucket baths, bacon and eggs and just sat by the water. We still managed to see a bit of Echuca and made it to Mt Franklin in time to set up camp, cook dinner and go for a walk to the Summit.
Echuca to Melbourne via Ballarat 5th to 6th October
A big tourist destination because of its Gold Mining history, Ballarat has a living museum called Sovereign Hill. I still remember my Mother bringing back a small bottle of Gold flecks from her first visit to Australia in 1982. I was so awed by it and many years later enjoyed myself very much. The best part was of course the Gold Panning. The funniest part was that Alex was so excited he was nearly jumping out of his skin and wanted to try to find gold so badly. Now listen close and pay attention – if you should so happen to at Sovereign Hill – this is how you can guarantee to find the most gold flecks – more than anyone else at the park. Don’t share this secret with too many people otherwise all the gold will be gone too soon. Now this is not my tip, but Paul’s clever logical reasoning. Along the stream running through the park, where a hundred other people are frantically panning, look for the foot bridge over the stream. Grab a shovel and shove it deep in the middle of the stream, right UNDER the foot bridge. Bring out your shovel and dump the contents in the panning dish. Patience and swirl, swirl, swirl – chuck out the big stones, wash, wash, wash, swirl, swirl, swirl (remember the patience) – after you are left with a little bit of gravel – look out of the gold flecks. You will find some. Alex was told that with today’s prices we had about $50 worth! Not bad – hey??
Melbourne – 6th to the 11th of October
We arrived at my Godmother Jessica’s house late in the afternoon to a wonderful CURRY dinner!!!! Yummy!!! Colby did not recognize me from my last visit (big disappointment) and he did not like Alex one bit. Poor Alex has never met a dog who doesn’t love him. Took two days for Colby to stop skirting the walls and keeping both eyes on Alex at all times. Trust Alex to finally win him over though.
I spent the most wonderful birthday with the DeSouzas (Jessica’s family) – this my 22nd year on Earth(sic). It started off with Bacon and Eggs for brekkie – in bed of course with my great grandma’s secret grilled tomato recipe. Alex gave me a whole pile of presents which included, Mango juice, two chocolate bars, a bottle of Shampoo and pack of PINK CHUX (for those of you non-Aussies – they are a pack of wipes used to clean up messes in the kitchen). The CHUX being because Daddy keeps pinching mine to clean the car. Jade made me a beautiful Apple cake and we all went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant in Willamstown.
We had some sad news when we were in Melbourne – Jim (Jessica’s husband was laid off). We hope and pray he finds work again really soon. Life is unfair when people get laid off in the twilight years of their careers without being given a good reason. When one door closes another opens, so Jim – you will find work again really soon.
On the 10th we caught up with a very good friend of ours from the year I was a Project’s officer in Taree for an automotive company. Alba was the environmental quality co-ordinator and moved to Melbourne shortly after I left Taree. Alba is one of those extremely successful migrants from Venezuela who met her husband Artu (from Poland) at her English language class in Sydney. It is so good to see both of them doing so well and the children grown up so quickly too.
On the 11th afternoon we left on the Spirit of Tasmania I to Devenport.
11th Night – Spirit of Tasmania I
Huge boat!!! But the Bass Strait has BIG waves. Jessica, Jim and Jeremy came to see us off. Jeremy’s first flying job was in Tassie and the trip brought back a lot of memories for them. Getting on the boat was challenging – OK time to stop calling it a boat. The ship was big enough to take a few containers with us!! They were all strapped down when we finally made it into the belly of the ship.
We had booked sleeper cabins so as soon as we finished dinner, I went up to snuggle in with my book while the boys went exploring the ship. The cabins were very much like railway cabin – much more upper class with an ensuite. Thank goodness we didn’t have to share the cabin as it was very nice having it to ourselves. Unfortunately I didn’t sleep to well as the noise of the engine kept me dozing and not sleeping. No rocking like the railway, but a fantastic journey nevertheless. I can’t wait to now try a cruise to the Pacific Islands. Hey McInerney’s wanna come??
12th -14th Devenport to Lake Barrington
Lake Barrington was only about 30+Km away and after a nice breakfast we drove straight to the camping spot. You lot are going to be so bored by all these magical spots we keep finding. No one else insight except for the wild animals, the wind and the water. Of course the forests too. We had prime pick of the site till a man came in the afternoon with his camper and proceeded to use his chainsaw to get some firewood. Didn’t worry us because we couldn’t see him. We loved this spot so much we all voted to stay two nights. Mummy is so tolerant coz I can still have a bath every night even though it is lake water full of tannin! At least it is warn and I get the important bits cleaned. J I think Alex likes his baths in the wilderness as I bathe him, massage him with moisturizer and then help him get dressed before he can even say cold! Paul would like the same treatment – but alas there is so much of him that he would scream with COLD!!!
Anyway – stop that laughing (or chucking), the lake being so close was ideal for fishing with Alex. Only he is fishing because he doesn’t need a license. Paul helps him to cast occasionally and the two of them are having some really good bonding time.
On our second day, we went for a long walk around the campsite stopping to point out the interesting flora to Alex – Huge tree ferns everywhere and many varieties of moss. Some magnificent gums which are so tall we could picture men from the olden days coming to pick out masts for their ships.
