September 2014

Cool and mainly cloudy again with a temperature of 15 degrees.

This morning we packed up a few things to take to Kirrily's place in Windsor, as we will be staying with her for two nights, as she has a two day break from work. We managed to find a parking spot in The Avenue not too far from Kirrily's apartment, where its not always easy to find a parking spot. After settling in we headed for the Prahran Market to find some lunch and to buy some provisions for dinner that night. Ian was going to join us to watch the Swans play the Kangaroos - Kirrily and Ian wanted the Swans to win, while David and Di were just looking forward to enjoying a game without worrying too much about the outcome.

The Prahran Market

General view of the Prahran Market

The Mussel Pot

We had bought enough food to feed an army for several days - David thought that we had bought too much! We had plenty of food and wine to keep us going while we watched the football. The result was fairly predictable with the Kangaroos being outclassed by the Swans, with Buddy Franklin kicking 5 goals. Whoever wins tomorrow night will have to be good to beat the Swans in the AFL grand final. Ian has a couple of seats for the grand final, courtesy of a friend, but he will be going on his own as Kirrily has to work next Saturday.

Mainly cloudy and cool with a temperature of 15 degrees.

After lunch we drove to Northcote to visit David's sister Louise. When we arrived Louise had one of her carers with her, Nicky who had organised some afternoon tea. After a bit of a chat she left for another appointment and left us to hear Louise's latest news about her daughter Zoe's second baby, Claudia who was born a few weeks ago. Louise will be going to Hobart with her friends from Sydney - Sue and Betts - in mid-October to see her latest grand-daughter. Louise now has an iPad and was able to show us all of her photos of Isla and Claudia.

David and Di with Louise

Louise with Di at her front door

After visiting Louise we went back to camp to change as we were going out to dinner with Kirrily and Ian. We met up at Pei Modern, near the Sofitel for pre-dinner drinks, then moved on to Lupino, a very nice restaurant in Little Collins Street. On the way from the bar to the restaurant we checked out the window displays at Georgio Armani, where Kirrily is the recently appointed store manager - a new career. We had an excellent dinner accompanied by a few bottles of very good Heathcote Shiraz. Probably one bottle too many as the girls were a bit dusty in the morning.

On the Murray River it is intermittent cloud and a temperature forecast of 17 degrees. In Melbourne the forecast is 6 to 15 degrees, mostly cloudy with showers. Typical Melbourne weather Frosty - don't come home too soon.

We were packed up and on the road by 9:30 am for our 268 km trip to Melbourne. Unlike the Kidman Way of the last few days there were a great many trucks on the road to Melbourne, but only B-Doubles rather than road trains. At one point David encouraged a B-Double to pass only to find that there were four of them in a row all with the pedal to the metal. Does that count as four runs Frosty?

Lots of spring blossom was visible in the orchards and there were many patches of bright yellow canola. We stopped for fuel at Shepparton and stopped again for an early lunch at the service centre just north of Nagambie. Steak sandwiches and coffee which were better presented than the usual run of service centres. As we got closer to Melbourne the traffic volumes intensified and were made worse by the occasional shower of rain.

We arrived at Ashley Gardens Caravan Park at about 1:30 pm and checked in for 5 nights - we are on a drive through site which I had booked in June when we were here last. For two of the five nights we will be staying with our daughter Kirrily at her apartment in Windsor. Most of the drive through sites are occupied by monster vans and 5th wheelers as the show people are here early for next week's Melbourne Show.

After setting up on our site David got out the satellite dish and rang VAST to get them to reset our subscription so that we get commercial channels as well as ABC and SBS. Apparently the reset can only be done when the box is on and receiving the satellite signal, the process taking about 10 seconds once you have got through to them. The lesson is don't let the subscription lapse - so we have made a diary note for next time.

No photos today.

Overcast and 21 degrees today.

We were on the road at 9:00 am this morning for a 356 km run to Quicks Beach on the Murray River near Barooga where we will free camp again. First stop was at Hillston for fuel, then we stopped again at Willow Park in Griffith for morning tea. Our lunch stop was at Jerilderie where we picked up some papers and had toasted ham and cheese sandwiches in a local bakery. It was good to get a Melbourne paper and have more than one page of AFL news. As we headed south the overcast got heavier and while rain threatened we did not get any.

We arrived at Quicks Beach at about 3:00 pm and joined one other caravan at the camping area on the Murray River. Unlike last night we have 3G mobile coverage and a good TV signal, so it was out with the generator to update our blog and watch a bit of TV tonight. You would like this place Chappy!

Dry creek crossing at the entrance to the Quicks Beach camp grounds

Our camp site at Quicks Beach

Quicks Beach

Murray River from Quicks Beach

Another shot of our camp site

Nearby home with a commanding view of the Murray River

Forecast for Bourke today was fine and clear and 31 degrees.

We were on the road at about 9:30 am for our 380 km trip to Lachlan River which is a rest area about 35 km north of Hillston. We stopped at Cobar at about 11:30 am for fuel, papers and a morning coffee. As we headed south the clear skies of Bourke gradually gave way to more and more cloud. Our next stop was at the Gilgunnia Rest Area at about 1:30 pm and we arrived at Lachlan River at about 3:00 pm. The rest area is a very large area next to the Lachlan River and we joined about 10 other caravans free-camped for the night.

Weather photo - clouds at Gilgunnia Rest Area

Camped on the Lachlan River

Lachlan River rest area

Our camp site at Lachlan River

Lachlan River reflections in the afternoon sun

Lachlan River gum trees

Sunset at Lachlan River