After a week of luxury living with as soft bed at Steve’s flat and Wendy’s wonderful roast dinner and real chicken soup, we decided that if we didn’t move on soon, we never would. So we drove on up to the Dandenong Ranges for a couple of days and struck more of the same from Joan and Mick. Thank you for your wonderful hospitality folks.
In Melbourne, Maureen had a chance to catch up on all the goss from her friends and we had a meal or two out with Wendy at Asian restaurants, while I did the old family tree stuff and checked out a couple of trams. In the Dandenongs, we went to the market day in one of the local villages and walked down to the Puffing Billy rail line. For most of the time, the weather was foggy in the morning and cloudy during the day and rather cool.
When we finally departed for Bendigo on Queens Birthday Monday (a week later than in NZ), we were quite happy to be back in our own home again. We got the front springs done on the van as it was sagging a bit to the left and now we seem to be bouncing round a bit on the back roads. It was quite a climb up to Bendigo and the weather got colder and wetter. That aside, we went for a ride on the old tram and I checked out the tram depot – for the articles I am doing while on holiday for the Ferrymead trammies newsletter. They have some nice old buildings including a grand church which you see as you come into the town.
Next day it was off Sheparton to meet up with a long lost relly and then on to a little place called Invergordon, which my new navigator couldn’t find, to see another relly who lives on a dairy farm. We passed a big Fontera factory on the way – watch out Aussies, the takeover is underway. After that it was on to Euchuca in the heart of paddle steamer and houseboat country on the upper Murray River. It took us two and a half days to get there from Melbourne and so it was quite amusing to see a sign saying it was only two and a half hours from Melbourne. We had to drop off all our fruit in Kerang at the Quarantine Bin. Kerang is the start of the Fruit Fly exclusion zone.
We followed the Murray through to Mildura, passing thousands of acres of Orange Groves and vineyards. Two names we recognized were McWilliams and Lindemans. At Wentworth we saw the joining of the Murray and Darling Rivers and then it was on the Silver Highway towards Broken Hill. It was pretty desolate country and we stopped the night at a rest area beside a huge dry lake. Met up with a couple of New Zealanders from Clyde who were making damper bread over a nice warm fire, so we were happy to join them.
Saturday morning saw us in Broken Hill and the town was very quiet. Took a trip up to Silverton which is a bit of a ghost town, but is often used for films like Mad Max and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Saw some outback camels, emus, kangaroos and wild goats enroute. The vastness and desolation of this area gave us a preview of what we might expect on the road to Alice. We stayed again at a free rest area beside the main road and were woken early by the road trains, so got off to an early start towards Port Augusta. Not only did we get passed by these huge trucks, but the Indian Pacific train that goes from Sydney to Perth came roaring through on the rail line alongside us and left us way behind. Today was our biggest day with 460 km’s on the clock and that at $1.83 per litre for the diesel (incl. the tax).
As you know, Aussies claim to have the biggest everything – the big pineapple, big banana, prawn, etc. and now we also see that they have the biggest seat (see picture). So here we are at Port Augusta ready to tackle the real outback.
In Melbourne, Maureen had a chance to catch up on all the goss from her friends and we had a meal or two out with Wendy at Asian restaurants, while I did the old family tree stuff and checked out a couple of trams. In the Dandenongs, we went to the market day in one of the local villages and walked down to the Puffing Billy rail line. For most of the time, the weather was foggy in the morning and cloudy during the day and rather cool.
When we finally departed for Bendigo on Queens Birthday Monday (a week later than in NZ), we were quite happy to be back in our own home again. We got the front springs done on the van as it was sagging a bit to the left and now we seem to be bouncing round a bit on the back roads. It was quite a climb up to Bendigo and the weather got colder and wetter. That aside, we went for a ride on the old tram and I checked out the tram depot – for the articles I am doing while on holiday for the Ferrymead trammies newsletter. They have some nice old buildings including a grand church which you see as you come into the town.
Next day it was off Sheparton to meet up with a long lost relly and then on to a little place called Invergordon, which my new navigator couldn’t find, to see another relly who lives on a dairy farm. We passed a big Fontera factory on the way – watch out Aussies, the takeover is underway. After that it was on to Euchuca in the heart of paddle steamer and houseboat country on the upper Murray River. It took us two and a half days to get there from Melbourne and so it was quite amusing to see a sign saying it was only two and a half hours from Melbourne. We had to drop off all our fruit in Kerang at the Quarantine Bin. Kerang is the start of the Fruit Fly exclusion zone.
We followed the Murray through to Mildura, passing thousands of acres of Orange Groves and vineyards. Two names we recognized were McWilliams and Lindemans. At Wentworth we saw the joining of the Murray and Darling Rivers and then it was on the Silver Highway towards Broken Hill. It was pretty desolate country and we stopped the night at a rest area beside a huge dry lake. Met up with a couple of New Zealanders from Clyde who were making damper bread over a nice warm fire, so we were happy to join them.
Saturday morning saw us in Broken Hill and the town was very quiet. Took a trip up to Silverton which is a bit of a ghost town, but is often used for films like Mad Max and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Saw some outback camels, emus, kangaroos and wild goats enroute. The vastness and desolation of this area gave us a preview of what we might expect on the road to Alice. We stayed again at a free rest area beside the main road and were woken early by the road trains, so got off to an early start towards Port Augusta. Not only did we get passed by these huge trucks, but the Indian Pacific train that goes from Sydney to Perth came roaring through on the rail line alongside us and left us way behind. Today was our biggest day with 460 km’s on the clock and that at $1.83 per litre for the diesel (incl. the tax).
As you know, Aussies claim to have the biggest everything – the big pineapple, big banana, prawn, etc. and now we also see that they have the biggest seat (see picture). So here we are at Port Augusta ready to tackle the real outback.
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