Monday, 24 September 2012

Another very cold morning, which didn’t improve much as the day went on – I think we reached a very tropical 14 degrees at one stage!

We crossed the Murray River into Victoria and after a few bends in the first few kilometres, we travelled in a virtual straight line to the Hume Highway junction, driving right through the middle of Shepparton well before the shops opened. The road was fairly good, being double highway most of the way to the Hume, then, of course, it was freeway. The country in the north of the state looked very green and lush – all the dairy cows had happy faces.

The Western Ring Road was fairly congested (lots of trucks!) and plenty of road works didn’t help. We stopped for lunch shortly before reaching Geelong. Like Shepparton, it was necessary to drive right through the centre of Geelong to get to Portarlington, but it wasn’t too bad (Daisy Tomtom knew exactly where she was going at all times today).

We are staying at the Bellarine Bayside Caravan Park, Portarlington – this would have to be the biggest caravan park we have ever seen, with over 800 sites and right on the waters edge of Port Philip Bay. Fortunately, not many are occupied at the moment. When we saw our allocated site, we quickly decided that there had to be another one which was not wet, completely shaded all day and under a huge pine tree. Back to reception, not a problem to move if we wanted. The sites are very large (room for a caravan, car and boat) so we left room for the car to be parked on the side opposite the door, which meant some nice grass under the awning. After getting all set up, turning on the heater and shutting the door, we decided to read the 20 page booklet of rules and regulations. Big mistake! We were supposed to have the side of the caravan against the site boundary. Decided to leave the caravan where it is and apologise humbly and profusely if challenged.

The weather is yucky.