Boolarra and then Phillip Island

We spent 4 nights behind the pub at Boolarra, took a drive through nearby national park, lots of winding rd and then across the ridge rd back to camp also had  a lovely country walk around the town for about an hour ending with a coffee at the cafe cum general store in town. Enjoyed our stay, had pizza and  drinks at the pub, chatted to the locals and fellow campers but decided we had to move on, the day we left, Monday the overnight temp didn't go below 20 degrees, very odd as most nights it was only 8, but they say Melbourne weather is like that and we are not too far away, anyway we drove about 50 ks down the road, again a winding rd! to Leongatha and we are in a caravan park here. When we arrived we had only just got set up and the warm weather changed and it went cold and wet wet, we spent the afternoon in the van with Brian popping out for some shopping and then getting Thelma out to make some bread.....

Today Wednesday the weather is nicer and we drove to Phillip Island stopping at Inverloch on the way, this is the first time we have seen the Ocean for a while, Bentley had a mad dash on the beach, even a quick swim.... With the wind blowing cold and being on the beach we felt we were back in Albany!!! 

We stopped for a coffee at San Remo before going over the causeway to Phillip Island, there we headed for Cowes, where we walked the shops and had lunch on the foreshore and then stopped at Rhyll on the way back, great island and we loved it, didn't get to the penguins though, but I feel in the summer it would be packed, so good to enjoy it out of season.

Country walk around Boolarra

Looking at you, looking at me

Bentley enjoyed the walk, kept him away from the cows though

Lovely loaf that Brian baked

Our first glimpse at the Ocean at Inverloch

Causeway at San Remo going over to Phillip Island

Foreshore at Cowes, there's that lost Grandad in my photo again!

Jetty at Cowes

A couple of shots of the bay at Rhyll

GPS should we listen to them or not !!!

Well we have had a couple of travelling days, moving from Milawa South to Mansfield, camping at Blue range in the state forest for one night and then down to Yea where we stayed in a caravan park for one night.

Yesterday was Anzac Day and we decided on a big, for us any way, travel day down to Boolarra, about 250 ks. We set the GPS, checking it wasn't taking us to close to Melbourne, traffic was heavy coming towards us as it was public holiday and they were heading out of the city. When we got to Healesville the GPS said turn right towards Melbourne but we thought no that's wrong so we turned left and got caught in the traffic going slowly through the town  so we did a couple of left turns back to where we were and turned right, we stopped outside Healesville for lunch, Thelma's lovely pumpkin soup and carried on to Pakenham and the Princess Hwy, about 6 ks out of Pakenham the GPS told us to turn left so this time we listened and turned and it was a dirt rd, not gravel But dirt and a sign saying narrow winding rd, we stopped realising this is not what we wanted, but the GPS was indicating this was the way to the Princess Hwy, we pulled into a driveway thinking we could reverse out and turn back, but once in the driveway we thought no, it's on a hill and just wouldn't make that turn so we needed to reverse out and head up the hill and take a chance we would be able turn. Not easy to reverse out, ditch on either side if the driveway so Brian put me in the driving seat and he did the directions a case of hard lock left, right hand down a bit, slowly back, stop, forward etc and slowly we got the car and van out on to the rd and I drove slowly up with Brian looking for another driveway we could maybe turn into, there weren't many, a passing motorist told us there was a Y junction further up where we may be able to turn so on we went with me driving, at the Y junction I did a great uturn and Brian took over the driving and we headed back down to the main rd. We carried on to Pakenham and it was so easy, just a left turn and we were on the Princess Hwy, why the GPS turned us when it did is beyond me, but it was team work that got us out of a tricky situation, Brian had the expertise to be able to direct the car and I had the sense to follow directions and keep quiet and not panic, also my brilliant uturn helped!!!

We arrived at Boolarra, nice little town and camped behind the pub, publican happy with that but appreciates you having a drink or a meal in the pub, after the day we had that was no hardship and we headed over about 6 pm and had a drink in the bar, lovely log fire going and ordered a Chicken Parma each, it was great, lovely vegies with it, for a small pub it was a great meal, with Ross the owner doing the meals himself.

Having a quiet day at camp today , some showers about ...

Lake at Bonnie Doon, we stopped here for a cuppa, looks like a lost Grandad in my picture again

Lovely Chicken Parma at Boolarra pub

Bentley found a friend, little pup which belongs at the pub, wants to kiss Bentley maybe, but Bentley doesn't kiss....

Our camp with the pub in the background

Moving on and power, power

Had a lovely Easter although some very cold nights, not frost but close. We went to the Easter markets at Bright on Saturday, so so big! There were stalls on the riverfront and then the Main Street and two side streets of the town were full of stalls, lots to taste of local produce, Brian had a Goats meat sausage on bread, we bought pumpkin sour dough to have for our lunch later and lovely biscotti biscuits for our morning cuppa, also bought Bentley a coat, Brian says he has been shivering on his morning walk.... I got gloves and Brian wool socks, did I mention it's been cold ....

Sunday we gave out Easter eggs to the kids around camp and then went to nearby Harrietville as they had markets too. Much the same but smaller, Brian had a hamburger which he enjoyed and I bought angora wool and some very thick needles to knit a triangle scarf.

Monday we decided to move on and drove about 50 ks to Milawa which is outside Wangaratta and on the " gourmet trail" nice little place, very busy, they have Bakery, Italian cafe/ restaurant, general store selling award winning pies etc, winery, mustard shop and olive oil products.

We have stopped here in the caravan park so we can do some washing, so far I have done 3 loads and some in the dryer and some on the line, campfires are great but everything smells of campfire after a while, great to have power for a while and took full advantage of it having the heater on and Thelma is making Pumpkin soup as I write, tonight she will cook garlic oil and hot chilli with spaghetti  one of our favourite meals 

Our new jaffle iron cooking lunch

Jaffle

Sausage with potato and pea mash and gravy

Some lovely red leaves I collected on our walks

Bright Easter markets, there's a lost Grandad in there somewhere

Bentley and his new jacket, it says Rock Star on the back...

Falls Creek

Yesterday we decided on a drive, we had been given a drive by the tourist bureau that took in Falls creek and Mt Hotham and was about 250 ks and took about 6 hrs plus. We decided a bit of long day so opted for just doing half the trip going to Falls creek which was just as well as that took us about 6 hrs !!! We wound up mountains again just like Mt Buffalo, good bitumen  roads and as you get towards the top the road markings are in yellow instead of white, we think that is because the yellow would show through the snow?? On the way up stopped at Mt Beauty town, lovely place and very vibrant, busy etc. we had coffee and cake at the bakery before heading further up, next stop was Bogong which was a hydro electric town but don't think anything is happening there now, pretty place with a lake/dam and a few residents, cafe open at weekends otherwise the buildings were taken over by an outdoor activity centre. We then reached Falls creek which is a ski resort and of course very quiet this time of the year, the season starts in June, weather was cool and overcast this far up and I was glad to turn around and head back to Mt Beauty where we had lunch by the lake, also some shopping in the town, buying ourselves a double jaffle iron for the campfire.

It was gone 4 pm when we got back to camp and time to light the campfire as it gets cold once the sun goes behind the trees, sat by the fire till 6 and then in the van for our tea and an early night .....

Looking down on the town of Mt Beauty

Lake at Bogong

Resort at Falls Creek, very quiet but imagine it would be crowded and busy once the season starts

This is the way to travel the snowy mountain roads

Lake and picnic area at Mt Beauty

As we had lost our day bag and flask we used this bag I had bought at a garage sale for $5 in Albany, I knew it would come in handy, also had to take our stove and billy with us till we pick up another flask 

Mt Buffalo

Yesterday we took a drive up nearby Mt Buffalo, you can drive almost to the top and there is a cafe there, my type of mountain.... It's about 30 ks from the start winding up the mountain, lots of sharp u turns and the road only gets narrow and gravel towards the top, great views up there and a lot cooler to. We kept Bentley in the car as it's national park and didn't see any rangers so that was good. After we drove back down we stopped at Porepunkah near Bright for our picnic lunch and to give Bentley a bit of freedom, when we got back to camp we realised we had left our day bag and flask at the picnic area, we stopped there today to see if by chance it was sat waiting for us but no, sadly it has gone, hopefully someone who needed it is making good use of a couple of dirty cups, old tea bags, nothing for us to really miss except the flask.

A cold night last night and hard to get out of bed this morning, porridge for breakfast and then we headed into Bright and gave Bentley a good walk along the river, the river was used to pan for gold in the 1800's. It was a great walk and we are finding Bright a lovely town.

The top of mt Buffalo

Not sure if this is supposed to look like a Buffalo??

Waterfall on the way down 

On the river walk this morning Bentley just had to go for a swim and a roll in the Stoney ground 

Brian just checking for gold

Finished with an icecream, coffe and zabaglione ..

Brighter weather and Bright

Well it rained for about 2 days, very cosy in our van but the only exercise we got was a drive to Wangaratta and a walk around Aldi! On Friday the rain stopped and we decided time to move on and drove to Bright via the Beechworth Bakery of course and treated ourselves to a pie lunch, Brian had a Ned Kelly and I the Chicken and leek, best pie I have tasted. 

We are camped at Smoko a free camp about 15ks out of Bright, nice little spot, we drove into town yesterday, lovely place lots of Autumn trees, small shops, cafés etc

Weather is cool and crisp, refreshing Brian says, we have had a campfire each morning and night, we are told the weather changes quickly here and up the mountains it's a lot colder....

Plan to spend some time enjoying the area

 

Potato bake we made one night, very yummy

View on our way into our campsite 

Lovely park down by the river in Bright , more like a babbling brook

Town centre Bright

Moving away from the Murray

We have now moved away from the Murray river, we have enjoyed our meander and camps along the river but felt ready to move on. We travelled south west, not very far to Beechworth, lovely town with of course the Beechworth bakery. No free camping close to town so we travelled out to Everton about 15 mins away and found a place by the  Ovens river, busy campsite when we arrived yesterday but today when the rain came it's almost deserted. We are close to the Great Alpine Rd and areas like Falls Creek, Mt Beauty and Mt Hotham which we hope to visit, as I said the rain came this morning, first heavy rain we have had, we took a drive to nearby Myrtleford and up Mt Stanley, our plan was to have a picnic lunch out but the rain was steady drizzle so, we drove to Beechworth and had coffee and cake at the bakery and back to camp with our picnic lunch. So nice to be in our van with the rain outside and we are cosy inside..... Only Bentley wants to keep going out in the rain!!!

Planning on cooking a potato bake in our oven and having some chicken with it for tea. We picked up some chestnuts on our travels today and hope to roast them tonight 

Causeway and bridge at Yarrawonga

We had a drive to Rutherglen, never did find the Port!!!

One of the Towers at Beechworth Gaol

 Lovely autumn tree at Stanley, I think Bentley has similar colours to the tree

Finished with cake at the bakery, beesting and a snicker doodle 

Yarrawonga

Well still in Victoria, moving slowly as usual, we are now in Yarrawonga, some good free camp sites not far from town and seems pretty quiet at the moment, we had a night on the river at Cobram but the track in was narrow and windy, we actually got stuck between two trees on the way in and Brian had to do some reversing etc to get through, I would have taken a photo but we had vehicles behind and in front waiting for us to get sorted....... Anyway we got through and found a spot and thought we might stop awhile, then at about 10,30pm we had a vehicle drive past, reving engine, headlights and completely woke us up, we could see his headlights as he drove further down the river and then he turned back and drove out, took ages for  us to settle back to sleep, Bentley was not unnerved at all and was soon snoring away. Next morning it was raining and with our disturbed night we decided to move on, just stopping in Cobram itself for coffee and cake.

Victorian school holidays have started and it will soon be Easter so campsites and caravan parks will be getting busy, also daylight saving ends tomorrow and then we will be only 2 hours ahead of WA, sunrise this morning was 7.38 am, needless to say we don't get up much before 8.00 am so it might seem more normal when the clocks change tomorrow.

May go a drive tomorrow but today we have been around camp. We had a gas leak on the tap that controls the gas bottles so Brian popped into town and got a replacement and it's now fixed, we had noticed a slight leak about a week ago, but Brian thought he had fixed it but no, anyway sorted now

Camp at Yarrawonga, getting a campfire going

Great fire

Reflections at sunset on the Murray