I have to backtrack a couple of days, so excuse that, but I'll *try* and update most days if possible (translate: internet coverage is good).
Day 1 (Monday 20 Sept)
Not a fabulous start, and certainly, not the speedy exit that Mark had hoped to make, we eventually pulled out of the drive at Craiglands at about 12pm. Right on lunchtime. We didn't even make it into Colac when Tom started on about being hungry and wanting something to eat. So in order to keep some sort of timeliness to our day, we opted for McD's and ate on the way.
Today we travelled to Nanneella in the northern irrigation region of Vic (not very far from Echuca), to catch up with friends Selina Handley, Tim Fulton and their kids. It has been years (almost 9 I'm ashamed to say) since I have been to their place, and there has been significant improvements made to what used to be a tired old farmhouse. It is now wonderful and I am so jealous (space...they have HEAPS of space).
However, before we even got anywhere near them, I suddenly thought that we hadn't packed Tom's bedding. Whilst we did have a fair range of blankets on board, this was a significant oversight as it could mean that he ended up in bed with us. Freezing. So a quick stop into a huge shopping precinct at Kangaroo Flat (just out of Bendigo) that has seemingly just sprung up out of nowhere to buy a new doona. Mark graciously donated one of his pillows to Tom for the holiday duration.
Arrived at Nanneella at around 5.30pm just in front of a huge thunderstorm which then kept up most of the night and had me thinking that we might be blown away at any minute. Everyone was very pleased to see us as we told them that we bought the rain up for them!
Kids in bed late, but went pretty much straight to sleep.
Day 2
We have always been fortunate that our kids do not wake with the birds. They certainly do not keep dairy farmer hours. So at about 8am, both kids woke and got into bed with us. A couple of minutes later, I got out. Four bodies in 1 bed doesn't really work.
A leisurely morning was spent doing 8 tenths of bugger all. Got in touch with some more friends that happen to live about 1 km down the road (Carl & Rachelle Moon -the same Carl who shows our cows) and arranged to catch up with them later in the day. After lunch, while Mark offered to stay with Biddy while she had a nap (translate: have a nap himself), Sel and I took the remaining kids into Echuca to run some energy out at the playground and to show Tom the paddlesteamers. The weather was very warm despite the big rain storm the previous night and the kids were bright red and in need of an ice-cream after the playground (and so did Sel and I....it's tough work watching them play!)
Later that afternoon, Mark and I (and kids) caught up with the Moon's to discover that Rachelle (who is very pregnant) is actually due this day!! And is looking fantastic I must say! Of course, the conversation was about cows and grass and rain and sport, with the occasional reference to kids thrown in for good measure. Carl is coming down for Colac show again this year, so it won't be too long before we catch up again.
Tonight, kids very tired and went to sleep almost immediately.
Day 3 (today)
Time to leave Nanneella (before we wore out our welcome) and head over the border into NSW. Today we headed for Narrandera mainly because we thought that any further was too big a push for the kids. To make it a bit interesting, I navigated us through Deniliquin, Conargo (where we stopped for lunch) and past the property where I jillarooed 20+ years ago. OMG. I didn't think that it was that long until I stopped and counted up the years. I now feel old. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to look up the phone number of the family that own Barrabool Station, but I had no joy. As it turns out, when we stopped for lunch and I spoke to the lady at the general store, she told me that the brother I worked for (2 brothers owned the farm; 1 worked on farm with his wife and the other worked off farm but had a active interest in it) had left the farm and was now living in Deni. So sadly, there was no-one I knew that still was at the farm. However, the road was good for us to travel on past the property and onward to the Sturt Hwy (it is a sand road for much of it) and whilst it was soft in some spots due to recent rain, we had no trouble with the ute or the van. When we got to Barrabool we got out and I had a photo in front of the sign for old times sake. I think it really hit Mark just how remote the station was that I worked on when I was just an 18yo, and I hope he was a bit impressed!!
Travelling onto Narrandera, we passed a lot of farmland, and the crops are looking pretty good (rice) and the cattle (beef) are certainly in good nick.
Tonight is the first night we are staying in a caravan park - Lake Talbot Tourist Park - and it is a battle to moderate the kids volume control. The majority of the other travellers are couples (both young and old) and I haven't spotted too many other youngsters. Of course, you can hear Tom clear across the park and when I returned from a quick supermarket venture, a neighbour mentioned that it sounded like someone was being killed in our van!! Great.
However, Tom thought it was a great novelty to cook our dinner on the BBQ (why, I don't know, because we BBQ all the time at home. Maybe it is because we don't put money in our BBQ) and must have been hungry because everything disappeared from his plate with very little coaxing from us. Showers in the amenities block for all of us - another adventure - and kids in bed and fast asleep in record time! Bliss.
Caravan park wrap up: at this time of year, you can have your pick of any site (we chose a drive through). However, the park is a bit tired and outside of the summer period when the local pool is open (right next door), there is very little for kids to do here. In fact the only play equipment is 2 swings and the chain on the baby one is broken. The amenities were ok; the showers and toilets are clean and the water is hot, but if you wanted to use the camp kitchen, the facilities were extremely basic and the fridge wasn't turned on for people to use. Recommend for a 1 night stop over if you are pretty much self sufficient.
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