Tassie - Greens Lake (Vic)

Breakfast stop at Seymour

Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk

Greens Lake

Baz enjoying the vista

Sunset Greens Lake

Frankston - Melbourne

Thursday we had an uneventful trip down to Melbourne coming in on the Tullamarine Freeway and City Link  then heading towards the South Eastern Suburbs and Frankston. We struck a traffic hold up just before the Holte Bridge and we crawled along until after entering the tunnel when there was access to another lane which helped the backlog get away. It is not a nice feeling when you are in the middle lane and wedged between two massive B Doubles, just hope you don't get the wobbles.

We have spent the last three nights here at the Frankston Big 4 while we enjoy our last days of this trip until we catch the Spirit of Tasmania home. Our friends Pauline and Les were already here when we arrived and it has been great catching up and hearing what they have been doing over the last few months.

Thursday we took a trip back up the Freeway to Melbourne where we enjoyed a lovely lunch at the Sandbar Cafe on the foreshore along Beaconsfields Parade, and we could see the Spirit preparing for its next crossing. It was then back negotiating the City Link and Freeways and down to Sorrento where the vehicular ferry leaves to cross Port Phillip Bay to Queenscliffe.

Yesterday we left the boys in the park and Pauline took me to the Black Pepper outlet at Dandenong, they were having a sale and nothing was over $25 with most things being around the $15 mark. Again the plastic had a little work out.

We are now preparing to leave Frankston and head to Port Melbourne, so this will be my last Blog for this trip, looking forward to next years already. The weather today is very hot with 28 degrees forecast but we are having between 50 -60 knot gusts of wind, hoping it will die down sometime soon.

Until next year

Spirit of Tasmania Melbourne

Lunch Sandbar Melbourne

Sorento vehicular ferry

Sorento Beach

Cat early in the game as a Sydney supporter

Cat after she jumped ship during the game!

Ready to watch the AFL Grand Final

Frankston Foreshore

Baz checking out Port Philip Bay from
Frankston Foreshore

Frankston Foreshore on this windy day,
hoping for a calm crossing tonight!

Moama- Echuca

With only 250klms to travel from Narrandera to Moama which was our next stop for the night, we leisurely drove further south on the Newell Hwy stopping for a cuppa at Jerriderie.  We pulled in by the lake on the south side of town, after a short walk to stretch our legs we made a cuppa and sat enjoying the sun watching the ducks and Pelicans.

Back in the car again Baz my part time navigator was thrown into disarray when the Tom Tom would not turn on , he then had to revert to the old way of reading a map! Poor Baz, was all on for replacing her when we got to Echuca!  All that was needed was a good charge as that part time navigator had accidentally disconnected her, all is good now for her to navigate us through Melbourne and back to the boat.

We spent Sunday night at the Rich River Golf Club Moama, they have an allocated area for RV travellers to set up, only need to become a social member at a cost of $11 to be able to use this area. With your membership they give you discount vouchers to be used in the club, a good way to encourage you to spend more at the club. We went over for their Sunday night roast meal, it was a choice of roast Lamb or Turkey plus a dessert for $18. a very nice meal. After a little gamble on the pokies we came away fairly even, a good night not costing too much.

Monday we headed the short distance of 12klms to Echuca stopping in Moama to wash the caravan as we saw a car wash that was able to accomadate the van. It was so nice to feel clean again as we had become very dusty since leaving the Gold Coast.

Echuca is usually our first stop of our trip or otherwise the last stop before Melbourne. We always stay at the Top Tourist Park that is located within walking distance to the old port, specialty shops, cafes and of course the Beechworth Bakery (Beesting heaven)!  It is the first week of the school holidays and Echuca is a very popular destination and the caravan park and town are very busy with families here on holiday. The last couple of days the weather has been lovely and hot and with the car and caravan clean we were able to enjoy our time, we have even been to the bowls club for a couple of roll ups.  Not sure what the locals think of Baz and myself as we are very serious playing a grudge match against each other, even the tape measure came out today! The good weather broke today with the occasional shower, hopefully it rains all night and then dry for our trip down to Frankston tomorrow, it would be nice to arrive still looking clean. We have three nights in Frankston then on Sunday we are back on the boat heading back to Tassie!😢

Enjoying a cuppa at Jerriderie

Pelicans and ducks that were missing
 from previous photo

Nice clean and shiny caravan!

Steam train leaving Echuca

Emmy Lou Paddle Steamer
(Murray River is very low this year!)

Children enjoying the town beach of Moama
on the Murray River

Narrandera

It was a little brisk outside this morning we could see frost on the ground across the river, but we were nice and cosy, one of us was a little reluctant to get out of bed. After refuelling the Paj and getting the gas bottle refilled we were on the road by 9am heading to Narrandera, a relatively short trip of around 250klms. It was quiet pleasant scenery with large wheat crops and canola fields to view along the way. Must say the road conditions in NSW leave a lot to be desired with lots of lumps and bumps, but at least they are addressing some of the worst areas.

We stopped for an early lunch at West Wyalong, Baz was a little upset when I walked past the Bakery, but I had seen  a French Bakery as we drove through the Main Street neglecting  to mention the fact, thought I would surprise him.

Once again we have pulled into a free camping spot this time on the outskirts of Narrandera, beside the  Murrumbidgee River where there is a boat ramp and the remains of an old brewery. It was a pleasant ride on our bikes into town this afternoon to pick up some milk and a chicken from Coles, an easy meal for tonight! On Saturday afternoons in these small towns you could shoot a gun up Main Street and not hit anyone.

Crowded Main St Narrandera

A sleepy little town on a Saturday afternoon
Lucky Coles was open!

Old Brewery Narrandera

Forbes

Today we travelled from Gunnedah to Forbes around 417klms and the weather was certainly cooler, we are trying to brave it out and are still wearing our shorts. The days are quiet nice but the night are getting quiet cold.  

We have set up for the night along the river bank at the free camp in Forbes, we think the gas heater will be appreciated tonight as the forecast is for 1 overnight!!! There is a good walking track along either side of the river and we were able to stretch our legs after spending five hours travelling.

Gunnedah

It was only a relative short trip yesterday from Moree to Gunnedah about 250klms, there was also plenty of roadworks and B Doubles along the way.

Our friends Alison and David are returning to QLD after experiencing a southern winter and were going to be at Gunnedah, so it was a easy diversion off the Newell Hwy and into Gunnedah to free camp with them near the township. David had cut a good supply of wood for the fire as Alison was cooking us a lovely roast meal in the camp oven.

The weather this morning is noticeably cooler, I suppose that's something we have to expect as we travel further south.

Passing scenery travelling the Newell Hwy

Gunnedah free camp with Alison and David

Town Hall Gunnedah

Yummy roast tonight, thanks Al & Dave

Texas - Moree

As we were enjoying our time at Bonshaw Weir we decided to spend another night there and enjoy another of  Ken's campfires. As the fire was still smoldering from the previous night I thought it was a good opportunity to cook a roast in our camp oven, which Baz and I enjoyed that evening. Earlier in the day Baz and I were returning to the camp when Baz found a shedded snake skin, it was a good 1.5 metres! He had already seen a large black snack slithering across the road down near the bridge when he was trying his hand at a little fishing. The fish were too smart for him, or maybe they didn't like the Wattle Grub he had on his line. I made sure that we kept the caravan door closed incase we had an unwelcome visitor, as another camper had also seen a couple of snakes down over the bank towards the weir.

Sunday we decided that we would move onto the free camp at Texas but were reluctant to leave our new friends, so after exchanging our contact details we drove the big distance of 20klms to Texas. The camp area that is provided for RV travellers is a couple of klms from the town along the river bank. We found a nice clean grassy spot to stop for the night. There were about 30 other vans, motorhomes & camper trailers that were spread out along the river, even with this many it did not feel crowded, there was plenty of space.

We arrived here at Moree on Monday and booked in for three nights, it didn't take us long before we were once again soaking our bodies in the lovely artesian pools and enjoying the 27 degree day. I had made an appointment to have my hair cut on Tuesday, as when we were here on our way up I had visited the hairdresser and really liked how she cut my hair. I don't think she cut it this short last time, but it does feel and look so much better. With the washing done this morning all that was left to do was laze in the pools and sit in the sun enjoying the warmth trying not to think about the colder days ahead as we get closer to home.

Baz with the snake skin

Enjoying the artesian pool