THURSDAY 6 OCTOBER   BIRCHIP TO BENDIGO   175kms

W finished the last of the repairs. The wheel was replaced. His bill was $560 – extremely reasonable, we thought.

Left Birchip about midday.  Decided to go only as far as Bendigo, partly because of the time of day, partly to catch up with daughter and family there.

The drive was slightly tense, hoping that all the repairs were good. We still had the weight of the offending wood on board!

Booked into the Central City Caravan Park – $24. Unhitched Truck from van.

Drove into the centre of town and wandered about. Bought some shoes for John at the Rivers store.

As we drove about, John realized that the speedo on Truck was not working. He found somewhere that could look at it, there and then, and was able to get the cable replaced.

We had a brief visit with the family. Grandson had grown so much. The difference between just two years old, when we last saw him, and getting on for three now, was really marked.

Through our time away, I had been regularly writing postcards to him and sending them out on the mail plane. Had taken a stock of cards with me, mostly of Australian animals and birds. He had carefully saved them all and brought them out for me to go over again with him. So it had been worth the effort.