It was quite a long downhill ride from Canberra to the coast through very dry country. We passed close by the Snowy Mountains and, on reaching Princes Highway, we camped the night in a rest area adjacent to the Bellbird Hotel over the border in Victoria. Not bad – three States in one day. Quite a good idea having a rest area next to a pub. After parking up, we went in for a beer – Tooheys here in Victoria. The management told us they were having a Euchure night with the locals and so Maureen and I had a meal and then joined the party. I did all right, getting first equal with one of the local ladies – thanks to skills obtained from my Christchurch Euchure nights with my card playing mates. However, I lost the two-handed playoff and the major prize – a six pack. While we were playing the cards, it started to pour down and then we heard sounds of thunder. We must be a good omen to this part of the land, I think. It was nice to meet up with some locals and join in with them with the cards. There were also a couple of cyclists from England staying at the rest area. They had already toured New Zealand and were heading towards Melbourne also.
In the morning we drove on towards Melbourne, taking a glimpse at the Gippsland Rail Trail. We might come back later in the year and do that??? We stopped for lunch at Orbost and met up with the cyclists again, so we treated them to lunch with tuna fish and cheese sandwiches plus a cup of tea which they appreciated after their morning ride. Then, for us it was on to Lakes Entrance.
after a night there, we went inland to an old gold mining town up in the hills called Walhalla. What was the attraction there, for goodness sake? Well, in my family history there was a guy named Henry Dendy who purchased land in Melbourne and as such, was allowed to bring out a number of immigrants to work his estates in Brighton. So he was the man responsible for my family coming to Melbourne. Some time later, Henry Dendy went after the gold in walhella and ended up dying there. Also at Walhalla, there is an old railway which operated on weekends and Wednesdays - the day that we were there. Unfortunately, there had been a rockfall on the track and so the 3pm train didn't run. So we camped up in the mountains at Walhalla and suffered the cold frost that night.
After that, it was onward to Melbourne and we arrived in at about 3pm then spent the next 2 hours trying to find Wendy's house. After getting lost once too many time, I had to fire the navigator (to save a divorce) and went over the road to OfficeWork and bought a real navwoman for $255. Subsequent travels in Melbourne City has shown it to be a really good investment. It works fine except that sometimes I turn off before she tells me to and I get a robotic command to 'turn back....if you can' or 'recalculate'.
We have had a wonderful time with Wendy and staying in the flat is bad for 'Her Indoors' because she is getting out of the art of camping. I'm going to have to drag her back on to the road again next week. Before that, we will spend the weekend with friends up in the Dandenong Ranges - thats different to Dandenong City. So from there we'll head west towards Adelaide but we might skip the big city and shortcut up to Port Augusta and then towards Coober Pedy.
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