Melbourne

SUNDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2016

 

Melbourne Zoo

Enjoying the warmth of the butterfly house

Cairns Birdwing butterfly

Making friends with a colourful elephant

Waiting for a pedicure

Spot the stick insect?

Bad hair day for the rufus night heron

Inside the aquarium

A seal in his wave pool

Japanese garden

Japanese garden

Melbourne Cricket Club members' entrance gate

Barrie, our guide, in his MCC blazer

A window so the members' don't miss any action

The Long Room

Part of a tapestry depicting the history of the MCG

Hawks' dressing room

A media grilling!

Players' race

Walking the hallowed turf (in his Lords' jacket)

The original rules of football (tripping and pushing allowed)

The bike Cadel Evans rode to win the Tour de France

Playing with the big boys

Bradman, of course

Just what a sporting museum must have!

Part of the AFL section

Our journey this year has reached its conclusion, as we wait in Melbourne to board the Spirit of Tasmania.

We departed Cobram on Tuesday morning, with the weather very overcast, cool and threatening.  By the time we reached the Hume Highway at Seymour, the rain had set in with a vengeance and the drive across Melbourne was probably one of the worst days we have had on the road – thick fog, heavy rain and even heavier spray did not make for a relaxing drive.  Things didn’t really improved after checking into the Big4 South Dandenong and being allocated a very muddy and wet site, with a water filled ditch at the edge of the road.  The site wasn’t really long enough for our caravan and it was nearly impossible to position comfortably on the concrete slab.  In the process of attempting to unhitch in all the mud, the caravan ended up on the ground.  After jacking the van up and rehitching it to the vehicle, we moved to a much better site which had concrete all the way to the road.  Again we asked ourselves, why are terrible sites allocated when much better sites are available!  After tackling the TimTams, we had dinner with a cousin to look forward to.

Wednesday was still very cold and dreary, so a touch of retail therapy was called for.  Needless to say, another shirt has been added to the collection!!!  Thursday saw a bit more shopping, including a visit to the Hawks Nest for a birthday present for a grandson and a visit with my one remaining aunt.  We enjoyed a great evening with another cousin and her husband at Waves Restaurant in Frankston.

Friday, we hitched up once again to move to the other side of Melbourne (we weren’t keen on staying at South Dandenong owing to the park being fully booked by petrol heads attending the nearby Sandown Car Races) and the Big4 Ashley Gardens at Sunshine.  This is a completely new area to us and probably not the most affluent, however, the large caravan park was clean and dry and we have a large drive-thru site.  Our friends, Carlene and Rex are also here, waiting to catch the boat on Monday.  The park is full of either Tasmanians or showmen from the Melbourne Show.

On Saturday we joined thousands of families and visited the Melbourne Zoo, which was a very pleasant day in the warm sunshine, before joining Carlene and Rex for dinner at the local pub.  Today we visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a tour and visit to the Sporting Museum.  The tour was really enjoyable and we spent a fair amount of time in the Members’ area, visited the dressing rooms, the television and radio broadcasting units, were able to walk on the playing surface and walked up and down (many, many times) lots and lots of stairs as well as riding in many lifts.  Our guide did seem to get a little confused geographically at times and he did forget to take us onto the ground when we were in the players’ race and we had to return from the upper levels.  We then took out a bank loan to buy a pie each for lunch before undertaking a quick tour of the museum, which is dedicated to all sports which have been played at the MCG, not just football and cricket.  We would have appreciated more time here.

Cat has his seasick pills all ready for the sea voyage.

Cobram

MONDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2016

Murray River at Cobram

Still a couple of metres to rise

Old road bridge

Playing at Campbell's Winery

A goody bag

With the rain holding off, we departed West Wyalong yesterday, continuing our drive to the south.  The countryside remained very, very soggy – like a big lake at times – but the water had receded from across the road in a couple of places.  However, after crossing a very swollen Murrumbidgee River at Naranderra, it was necessary to drive through the river for a short distance as it covered the highway.  When we arrived at Tocumwal, on the Victoria/New South Wales border, we discovered that the Murray River had also burst its banks!  We continued to Cobram and the RACV Resort and Caravan Park and were very pleasantly surprised to find very large sites with grass and concrete slabs for the caravan, the awning and the car, with plenty of vacant space between sites.  We are in a recently developed part and the dividing shrubs still have a bit of growing to do.  The amenities are very modern and there is plenty to keep children amused – indoor and outdoor swimming pools, sports oval (with AFL and soccer goals), jumping pillow, tennis courts, volleyball court, BMX track, basketball, games room and gym, as well as cricket facilities.  Probably a place to avoid during school holidays.  We will certainly enjoy our two nights on such a clean site without any mud!

Today was Cat’s treat and we headed to Rutherglen for a couple of winery visits.  Himself was the designated driver, so Cat and I were able to enjoy a tipple, especially the Durifs that the region is noted for.

Water, Water, Everywhere

SATURDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

Canola field with radio telescope in distance

Elvis Rhino

Don't touch me!

Elvis stuff

Car stuff

Forbes

Caravan in front of us

Last night at Dubbo, it rained!  It also rained elsewhere in southern New South Wales.  This morning we left Dubbo before the rain returned and continued south, passing the Parkes Radio Telescope before stopping at the Parkes Visitor Centre for a short break.  We discovered there is a small museum attached, including the Henry Parkes Museum and the Elvis Presley Museum.  Parkes is well known for its Elvis Festival every January and had memorabilia of Elvis on display.  A collection of old cars led us to the Henry Parkes Museum, which was really just a display of collectables from the region.  However, I was a bit startled to see a pram similar to the one I had for my children, on display!

It wasn’t long after leaving Parkes that we encountered floodwater, not only in the paddocks but also across the road.  The couple of places where the road was actually flooded were very well controlled by the authorities in attendance.  The floods continued all the way to West Wyalong and at times the wheat looked more like rice growing in paddy fields.

We are staying at the Ace Caravan Park in West Wyalong, a lovely little gem on the southern outskirts of the town.  Despite the heavy rains, our site is dry gravel and drive-thru, so we can stay hitched up.  Needless to say, the heater is working overtime and Himself relented today and found his jeans.

Western Plains

FRIDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2016

Rain clouds over the Western Plains

Tuesday was spent on a very soggy Sunshine Coast – don’t know where the name “Sunshine” comes from.  We have now spent twelve days on the Sunshine Coast in the last two years and seen the sun on only one day.  Our day was filled in by visiting the bowls shop for some new shoes, after which we filled in time at the Sunshine Plaza.  Early in the day, I removed some frozen lamb from the freezer but when I removed the peas to cook later in the day, they felt decidedly soft.  Hoped it was simply because the freezer door may not have been shut properly but next morning the peas had reached the mushy stage and the remainder of my meat had nearly thawed.  We weren’t sure if the electric element (2 years old, just) had blown or it simply wasn’t working because the caravan was so uneven.  Gas will need to be used until we reach home and can test the frig properly.

Wednesday, the rain stopped and we headed south to Warwick, with a stop at Caboolture to buy a special rafter that Himself decided we had to have.  Continued through Brisbane, sticking to the motorways and contributing to the coffee of GoVia.  Shortly before reaching Ipswich, we turned onto the Cunningham Highway, which quickly became very bumpy and uneven – not pleasant, considering it is a major highway for interstate trucks, connecting the New England and Newell Highways to Brisbane.  After climbing the Great Dividing Range and crossing it at Cunningham Gap, we arrived at Warwick about lunch time and spent the night at the Big4 Oasis Caravan Park, which was clean, dry and flat!

Thursday, we continued on the Cunningham Highway to Goondiwindi before turning south onto the Newell Highway and continuing to Moree.  The country flattened out dramatically, with cotton and wheat farms.  The weather continued to be fine, with the temperature around the 23 degree mark.  We booked into the Gwydir Caravan Park with its four thermal pools, plus lap pool.  Sites here are very narrow and our overnight drive-thru was only five metres wide.  It was here that we unexpectedly met up with Helen and Vince, who had been our neighbours for many years.

We were away early on Friday morning for the drive to Dubbo and it wasn’t long before moisture appeared on the windscreen and followed us for most of the day.  We did have a bit of variety in scenery today, with not only wheat, but “normal” farms, some hills and bush.  We treated ourselves to lunch at a Gilgandra Roadhouse (not having much in the cupboard!) before arriving at the Big4 Dubbo about 1.30.  Once again, we were allocated a narrow, drive-thru site for the night, only we discovered it was virtually underwater, very muddy and had large puddles which made getting into the caravan impossible without gumboots.  Site change happened but we had to unhitch so that we could refuel.  The weather is very cool and damp, but something is refusing to put his shorts away.

Tannum Sands to Sunshine Coast

MONDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2016

Kookaburras sitting in the old gum tree

With Barry and Denise

Sunday morning had a more relaxed start to the day, being Father’s Day, and only have 140 kms to travel to Tannum Sands.  As Barry and Denise were staying there, we decided to join them for the day/night.  The Tannum Sands Caravan Park is across the road from the inlet and sandy beach, which meant sandy soil and dry grass.  Lots of trees provided plenty of shade, which we weren’t keen on, still being acclimatised to the tropics and plenty of birdlife to keep us amused.  The midgies living around our caravan were also well fed during the day!  The four of us enjoyed a meal on Sunday evening at the local tavern.

Today dawned very clear, after a rather cool night, but did become cloudy very quickly.  With distance to make up after yesterday, we were packed and hitched shortly after 8.00 am; a quick goodbye to Denise and Barry and we were on the road heading south – once again into a strong head wind!  The road wasn’t too bad, although there was a lot more traffic today and roadworks south of Gin Gin didn’t hold us up too much.  The biggest delay was caused by “Trevor and Shirley” in their twin cab towing a small caravan and doing their best not to exceed 75 km/h or allow anyone to overtake.  There were lots of mutterings (not very complimentary) over the two-way, especially from a very “patient” truckie.  Inconsiderate caravanners end up giving all of us a bad reputation.  We stopped just north of Gympie for lunch and were at the Big4 Forest Glen by 2.30 pm after following the park’s coordinates and ending up in their new lifestyle village.

We stayed here in 1983 with our children and the part was state of the art in those days.  Unfortunately, not much has been spent on it since, apart from some playground equipment, but the amenities are well maintained and very clean.  The sites are a real let-down, being terraced and very steeply sloped; we were unable to level the caravan lengthwise and walk uphill towards the kitchen.  Luckily it will only be for two nights.  This place is definitely not worth $48 a day and will probably be a lifestyle village in a couple of years.

Not enjoying the much cooler temperatures …