This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 11

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11     CASTLEMAINE TO DAYLESFORD     35kms

The day was fine, but overcast and rather gloomy.

I walked Couey in the Gardens, which was a really pleasant way to start the day.

It was time to move on. We were reluctant to head west and further away from home, with the possibility still of deteriorating weather. We’d never visited Daylesford, just to the south, so decided to go there, whilst we waited to see what the weather would do, next week.

I phoned the Daylesford Caravan Park, on instructions from John to query whether they had decent TV reception and free wifi. The answers were yes, and no. Today was the day of the month when we get access to the next 8Gb of data, so the latter was not a problem. I booked a site with a slab for two nights.

We were out of the park at 10am and on to a route we had not travelled before.

 A day of gloomy skies

The country was undulating green pastureland with some woodland areas. In one area it looked like grapevines had been planted – but I wasn’t aware that this was a wine area?

Grape vines?

We came into an area where there were some rocky outcrops and then old stone walls evident, like those in the Western District that were built of volcanic scoria rocks.

Rock wall craft

From that I assumed that Mt Franklin, coming up on our left, was once a volcano. It had the right shape.

Mt Franklin

We had been passed, somewhat before the Mt Franklin area, by two motor cyclists, then a couple of minutes later, by a third. They had all waited behind us until it was clear to pass. John commented at the time that the last rider did not seem to be riding as confidently as the first two. Then, just south of Mt Franklin, we came around a bend and could see some vehicles stopped in the road a way ahead. We stopped behind a short line of cars that were going our way and waited while a man directed oncoming cars and a caravan past one of the motorcyclists, who was face down on the road, on our side. As there were several people stopped and assisting, including one using a mobile phone, we moved slowly past, when the man waved us through. The downed rider was moving his legs, clearly in much pain, but at least still alive. I couldn’t tell if he had come off his bike by himself, or whether a vehicle had also been involved. There was a bend in the road, just past where he had fallen. It is always horrible, encountering something like that.

The ill-fated motor cyclist

We were not far out of Daylesford and were soon there. An ambulance passed us, heading out, but not with siren or flashing lights – a good sign.

Drove past a big market event, on through town and out the Ballan road, to the caravan park.

Our powered site cost $34 a night. No discounts here.

The slab on our site was actually a bricked area, with gravel and grass around it. It would be more solid underfoot than the Castlemaine grassed site had become with the rain. The site was a good size. There were lots of large conifer trees around this park. The amenities were nearby – good – and were clean and adequate. There was a dump point across from the park entrance, and an oval which would be a good dog run area.

Daylesford site

After set up, we drove back to the markets. It was almost midday by then. Walked around. The area of stalls was quite extensive, but very heavily dominated by second-hand bric a brac and general junk. This sort of stuff seemed to characterize market set ups in these parts. There were a few fresh produce stalls of different kinds – this was what interested me. Also some clothing vendors and the ubiquitous fragranced oils and candle offerings.

The market was by the old station where there were historic train rides on offer. Something a bit different.

I bought some walnuts in shell, a kilo each of Victorian and Tasmanian ones. John bought a bag of chilli flavoured peanuts and a bag of Fuji apples. I bought a home made olive bread loaf for our lunch.

John developed cramps in his legs, so it was back to the car. He let me drive back to camp. Had to be bad for that to happen!

On the way back, went to Coles as John was out of “his” milk. There is a rigid divide in our household between full-fat and low-fat milk consumers… I got him some ham to go with the bread, some Brie, and a bag of mandarins that was on special.

By the time we got back to Bus, John was feeling better and took dog across for a run on the oval while I made lunch. The bread was yummy, especially with the Brie, and the hummus dip – another thing John didn’t eat.

He didn’t want to do anything else today, except play WOW on his laptop.

I drove alone to the Information Centre and browsed there for material about things we could do here. Coming to Daylesford had been John’s spur of the moment idea, but he didn’t really know why or what he wanted to do here. I could not find much that was promising. It was too wet and cold to go walking in the bush. Apart from that, Daylesford seemed to be heavily into eating, drinking and indulging in mineral spas. Sharing bath water, no matter how mineralized, with a heap of other people didn’t appeal, either.

Back at Bus, I had a nap for a couple of hours, having not slept very well the last couple of nights.

Unusually shaped branches on the conifer

Our perception was that Daylesford was a cold, damp and cheerless place. There were some showers – a light drizzle – during the afternoon. Just enough to make it seem rather miserable.

I decided that I liked Castlemaine much, much better.

Tea was roasted chicken drumsticks, cooked in the electric frypan, outside Bus. I boiled some asparagus for John and sprouts for me.

We watched Australian Survivor, then John watched a film and I read. I went to bed around 11 and slept well. John stayed up till 3am playing WOW.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 10

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10    CASTLEMAINE

This morning was much drier. Whilst it still felt damp, there was no rain falling when I got up.

Did the usual morning walk with Couey, through the Gardens.

I drove to the shopping centre and bought some supplies at the excellent IGA supermarket. This was an interesting place, because it had been integrated, in part, behind the façade of an old building. Very well done.

Bought the Saturday papers, then went back to Bus, where I read these for a while, until John was up and breakfasted.

Back into Terios, to go driving again. John wanted to visit Taradale and look at the school there, which was the third school he’d taught at, in the late 1960’s.

Passed through Chewton, which looked interesting, but we didn’t stop.

The whole region is a treasure trove of old buildings of all shapes and sizes, and I could certainly spend a lot more time here.

I was navigating us, and got myself totally disoriented in Malmsbury, somehow. Think it was due to mixing it with the new Calder Highway, which wasn’t on my maps. At a T intersection, told John to turn right, but he reckoned Taradale was up the road to the left. He was correct. I don’t think that where I thought we were, was actually where we were…

The Taradale Primary School was still there, functioning, and in the old building he remembered.

Taradale Primary School

According to a local who John got talking to, the school had been on the verge of closing, but was revitalized by a new Principal and was now flourishing. Good to hear. But the old school house that John had lived in, was no longer there.

Showing the school as it was

I wandered about and took photos while John was talking. It was a very pretty place, in rolling hill and valley country.

Taradale country

Some of the old houses had become weekenders for people from Melbourne. I presumed that, with the Freeway now nearing completion, it would not take long to get here from the city, so maybe some would become full-time residences.

The new Calder Freeway would also have cut right down on traffic through the little towns along the old road route – another drawcard for people from the big smoke.

From the area near the school, the Taradale Railway Viaduct, completed in 1862, was visible along a valley.

…and in the distance…

This was a high and impressive structure, still used by the Melbourne to Bendigo trains – of which we saw one crossing, but I was not quick enough to photograph it. They move fast! In the days of the steam trains, an engine and carriages chugging over the viaduct would have been quite something to see.

Taradale Railway Viaduct

The original stone piers of the structure were strengthened with steel supports, in 1933, because trains had become heavier than when the viaduct was built.

Signs around Taradale provide a wealth of information

We drove down the road that goes under the viaduct and along for a distance.

Viaduct close up

When John had been Principal of the school, he established a plantation of pine trees – to bring in future revenue for the school – out this way somewhere, and he wanted to see if he could find the place. In an area of bushland reserve, we took the unsealed Plantation Track, and followed this for quite some way, as it wound through the bush. There were some slightly boggy sections. It actually felt quite remote.

Couey seemed interested in the bush smells and was actually up and sniffing out of the window. Usually, she lies on the back seat with her head down as close to the floor as she can manage. Would get her whole body down there if she wasn’t restrained by her car harness. She does not like car travel. A wallaby or small kangaroo hopped away from in front of us, but I don’t think she saw it. We stopped in a small clearing, and John gave her a run and threw the ball for her.

We didn’t find any sign of a pine plantation – but it was over fifty years ago!

Retraced our way, back to the sealed road, then followed this until it ended up against the new freeway. Then we went back the way we’d come, to Taradale.

I wanted to look at the railway station, where several old buildings constructed from bluestone remain, though the verandah that was once over the platform has gone.

Taradale Railway Station platform and goods shed

The two-storeyed station building and a goods shed were really solid structures, dating from 1862.

As it was…

Trains no longer stop at Taradale and haven’t since the early 1970’s. However, the Melbourne to Bendigo rail route is still very active and the trains pass through here. There is a double line because it is part of a passing loop.

Station buildings

It looked as though the old station was being used as a residence. Reckon that could be a bit noisy, with the passing trains. But I guess those old bluestone walls are pretty thick.

Old Taradale Railway Station

We returned to Castlemaine, back the way we came. Again, experienced some confusion and wrong turns, due to the new freeway impinging on old roads.

Our explorations around Castlemaine

Had a late lunch, then watched football on TV. It was finals time in the AFL.

I took Couey for a really long walk through the Botanic Gardens, She’d had a really active day and spent the evening being suitably quiet and tired.

Tea was lamb, honey and rosemary sausages. John had a corn cob with his. I had an egg.

Watched yet more football.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 9

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9     CASTLEMAINE

The steady rain of last night continued over much of today as well. It had turned quite cold, too.

I slept in a little. Was rather reluctant to get up and face the miserable morning. Eventually, with no choice, dug out my rain jacket and took Couey on her morning constitutional. With great good sense, she did not want to go far or stay out any longer than necessary, either. I dried her off with one of the several old towels we carry for such occasions, and put extra protective sheets and towels over my bed before she went back in Bus – since that was her preferred daytime sleeping area.

I spent much of the day sitting in Bus, doing quilting – hand sewing pieces of fabric together.

Castlemaine site

John phoned Telstra and bought an extra Gb of data, so he was able to play his WOW game.

After lunch, the rain eased a little, so we set out to follow the drive around historic Castlemaine, following a guide obtained from the Information Centre. It was interesting, although it would have been better to stop and look properly at some of the places featured in it, like the Railway Station. But John was driving, and only wanted to cruise slowly past each place, while I read out extracts from the Guide.

The route took us to the northern part of town and through a creek ford. This was flowing, but still very shallow and was no problem for the Terios.

There really are some superb old houses in Castlemaine. With some excellent gardens.

Callistemon

Half way through the tour, came to the old flour mill, which was being re-purposed as a kind of indoor permanent market, and associated businesses like a micro-brewery. It is great to see these superb old places being made relevant again. This one was still being set up.

John wanted to browse, here. We spent some time in a cavernous display area that housed old furniture, some household and industrial used items, ranging from vast filing cabinets, through hospital screens, to art works. There were some very nice tables made from reclaimed timber.

The adjacent space was even larger, containing lots of individual  “stalls” – mostly the usual second hand market things like crockery, books, clothing, kitchen wares.

After a bit of browsing, I found it rather repetitive and boring – and cold – so I went back to the car and waited there whilst John finished his wanderings.

Not sure what this bush was…

The rain had become heavy again, so we went back to Bus for the rest of the day.

John went out again to buy fish and chips for tea.

Watched football on TV.

Bus is better than the van was, on such days. As the ceiling and exposed upper areas of Bus have a type of felt/carpet surface, we did not get the condensation on metal surfaces that was an issue on really wet days in the van. And – touch wood – to date, we did not have the worry of leaks.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 8

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8     CASTLEMAINE

I was up at 7.30, John an hour later.

I walked Couey over the nearby footbridge, down a track to another bridge and over the creek into the Gardens. There we followed various paths with assorted smells of much canine interest, to a different footbridge that brought us back to the park entrance. It was a great circuit.

The Botanical Gardens were designed by the explorer and botanist Baron von Mueller, one time Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. They really are most attractive and add an excellent walking adjunct to this caravan park.

I went to the park office to extend our stay by another two days. The lady on reception was a different one from yesterday. It emerged, in chatting, that she and her husband are relieving here for a couple of months, and that they had worked tourist seasons at Adels Grove, but more recently than we did. So we talked a bit about times there and the development that has taken place since we were last there.

As arranged yesterday, we were at D’s place by 9.30. In his car, he led us out of town, along dirt roads, for about fifteen minutes of driving. Then we parked and followed a faint track into the bush, crossed a stile over a fence, and came to the remains of a water wheel installation.

Remains of water wheel structure

In the gold rush days, big wheels turned by the force of water falling on them, were used to power quartz crushing machinery. The loose alluvial gold easily found in current and former stream beds, that began the Victorian gold rushes of the 1850’s, soon became much harder to find. The mining focus then turned to deeper mining, chasing gold still contained in quartz reefs underground. The mined quartz needed crushing to extract the gold.

Guess there was once a channel to take the water away?

There is the remains of one well known such wheel near Chewton and there were a number of others in the district. The water needed to turn the wheels was supplied by channels from the Coliban River, designed in the 1860’s and 70’s by an Irish engineer.

The groove that contained the wheel

Here, the wheel is no longer in place – it would have been wooden – but the stone walls of the race that contained it are there, as well as some stone walls of the surrounds. It wasn’t clear here though, just where the quartz stamping battery itself would have been.

Hard to tell where the buildings were

We were amazed at the scale of this thing, and by the stone work itself. It was just incredible what the mining companies of the last part of the 1800’s did, in order to try to obtain gold.

Look at that stone work

We climbed to the top of the hill and at the top could see faint remnants of the water race that would have brought the water to this wheel, from the nearest channel from the Coliban. Apparently there were hundreds of kilometres of such races, all over the central Victorian goldfields.

The line of a water race channel?

Couey had a wonderful time, free ranging about in the bush whilst we explored.

Old road?

D left us so he could return home the quickest way. We continued on the unsealed roads and eventually completed a loop through the old Campbells Creek mining area and back to Castlemaine. It was an interesting little explore on back tracks. The GPS was useless. Eventually emerged onto the Fryerstown-Campbells Creek road, and GPS went “aha – I know where we are!”.

I went to the Information Centre to pick up what material I could about the town and surrounding historical areas – my interest was now fired up. Mentioned that we’d been out to the old wheel structure to the SE. The lady at the desk had never heard of it.

Thence to a supermarket for some food supplies. John bought a short extension cord for use with the fan heater. The currently used long one just gets in the road.

After lunch at Bus, drove back to Maldon, along the way we’d come yesterday. There, I went to the Information Centre and collected some very useful and informative material.

Drove back out to the old dredge and haul line machine that we’d passed yesterday.

Old haul line machine near Maldon

These structures were of impressive size, but not as old as we’d assumed yesterday. They were actually used here in the mid 20th century, to dredge for gold, going over the earlier Porcupine Flat workings from the 1800’s. Apparently, it was not all that successful an operation, and the machinery was just abandoned there.

Dredge

The dredge sits in a dam, created by its own operations.

Quite a sizeable dam created

The haul line machine had been sourced from the Yallourn coal mine workings, in Gippsland.

Historic artefact or industrial pollution?

When we’d first pulled up here, I’d seen what I assumed were lots of plastic bags, floating around the edges of the dam. On closer inspection that turned out to be frog spawn. It was a busy time for frogs! They were certainly croaking really loudly in the vegetation all round the dam.

Frogs!

I stood in one place, on the edge of the dam, trying to spot frogs in the rushes. Past experience had taught me that, often, the louder the noise, the smaller the frog. Despite the racket, I couldn’t even see one. But I was there long enough for many of the occupants of the ants’ nest that I was inadvertently standing on, to swarm up my sneakers, socks and the bottoms of my trousers. There must have been hundreds of them. They moved incredibly quickly. I got busy trying to brush them off – fast! John was no help at all, choosing to make a video of the frantic activity. Some of the ants made it to bare skin and I received several bites on the lower legs. The most enterprising of the critters was found half way up my thigh.

Ants!

Enough wildlife encounters! Drove on then to the Union Hill Mine, in Maldon. This had been a very rich mining area in the late 1800’s, that had later been further mined by open cut, around 1990.

Explaining the several phases of gold mining here

After that, a shaft had been sunk into the hillside, to try to meet up with reefs, and this was still being mined.

Union Hill Mine

Continued on, to the old Government Battery, where miners of yore could bring quartz for crushing. Wandered about there for a while – watching where I was putting my feet. Nothing like wisdom after the event…

Old Government Battery Maldon

Opposite the Battery was an area that had fairly recently been  open cut mined, and then – in line with modern practice – rehabilitated by the mining company. The “bush” was growing well and I wouldn’t have known it had been mined, if not for the information board.

Modern mine land rehabilitation

By now, the pleasant day of earlier was turning less pleasant, getting quite dark at 4pm, with rain clouds in the distance.

Drove up Mt Tarrengower, on the edge of Maldon. There was a big fire lookout type of tower on top. I could only manage the climb to the first level, given my dislike of heights, and John didn’t want to tackle the next two levels either. We were high enough to get the idea of the surrounding views, anyway.

Maldon from Mt Tarrengower

There was more that we hadn’t explored and seen, in Maldon, but with the weather coming in, that was enough for today. Vowed to return another time.

For a little variety, drove to Newstead, south of Maldon, along an attractive road. Did a quick pass past the historical court house building there, then headed back to Castlemaine along the Pyrenees Highway, thus completing a triangular drive.

Tea was my tarted-up packet chicken noodle soup. I added spring onions, creamed corn, beaten egg, bean shoots, strips of ham, and sesame oil, to turn it into a light meal, with a bread roll each, followed by fresh strawberries.

Watched some TV. A couple of programs we find engrossing had started up again on the ABC.

About 10.30pm, the rain started, and it rained steadily all night.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 7

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7     MARONG TO CASTLEMAINE     50kms

We were up in time for an unhurried breakfast and pack up. Left the park just after 10am, after chatting for a while with the lady owner.

Before that, I’d phoned and booked a Castlemaine site for a couple of nights. John had previously phoned friend D, thinking we could stay there, but he had another friend visiting. So John said we’d go to a caravan park. I was secretly relieved – prefer to be independent.

It was a lovely day. Warm enough for a T-shirt, blue sky, only a little cloud. Whilst nights north of the Divide, can be cold in winter, days are often beautiful.

Took the Alternate Calder Highway from Marong to Lockwood South, then turned off for Maldon. This was going the long way round, since the caravan park had said we could not check in until after midday.

The country was green, and there was so much long grass. Great now, but could maybe mean a nasty fire season later.

Lots of green feed

Soon after we turned onto the Maldon road, outcroppings of rock (granite?) began to appear, in the form of rocks, slabs and occasional hilltops.

Stony hill south of Bendigo

We passed a stone house, built in the style of a castle. Quite incongruous in the setting. Then the open paddocks gave way to woodland – box ironbark? There were lots of wattles in bloom, which added cheer to the roadsides.

Passed a large old dredge beside the road, not far from Maldon, but were past before it really registered. John did not want to turn around and go back, but said we’d come and see it from Castlemaine, as it would interest him too.

There were lots of quaint old buildings in Maldon, as I’d expected from brother’s paintings. The route took us through the centre of the town. It did look to be holding its own as a viable settlement, which was great to see.

Maldon

On to Castlemaine. John was not one for doodling around, exploring, in Bus, but prefers to go straight from A to B, settle in and then sight see. He was the same in the vanning days.

Wooded country between Maldon and Castlemaine

In Castlemaine, he missed the turn the GPS indicated and so we finished up taking what seemed to be a very round about route to the Castlemaine Gardens Holiday Park.

It was only a bit after 11am when we arrived, but they let us check in anyway. After the Big 4 discount, cost $34.20 for a powered site. The one they allocated us looked rather uneven; the next one looked better. I’d walked ahead of Bus to the site, which was a fair distance from the office, and now walked back again to change the site.

Castlemaine site

Backing onto the site was easy, as there were no slabs. We looked down across a creek into the adjacent Botanical Gardens – a very nice outlook – and there was a good, “bushy” feel to this part of the park. The amenities were clean and adequate, but just a little too far from our site, though, for my liking. Bit of a trek there and back.

The way to the Botanical Gardens

There was a nearby footbridge over the creek, which gave access to either a bush track, or the Gardens – which allows dogs on leads. Great.

Caravan Park and Gardens

After setting up, drove to D’s, a little south of Castlemaine. After a tour of his house and garden, we sat on his back patio and chatted – the men over a few beers. Mostly, the talk was of mutual friends from college days and since.

D insisted on giving Couey the run of his yard, and house. She made herself quite at home, too. He was most taken with her. So was his guest, who had been out doing some prospecting when we arrived, but who returned later. When she heard him at the front door, Couey went into watchdog mode – it was her new home, after all – and barked and growled. Guest was well used to dogs, though, and introduced himself properly.

We were invited to stay for tea. There was much talk of prospecting and woodworking – the latter an interest the men had in common. Tea was a very nice meal of curried sausages and rice, followed by apple pie. I passed on the offered wine and Sambucca laced coffee, suspecting I’d be driving us back to camp.

It was a most pleasant afternoon and evening.  Not too late, and we didn’t stay up for long after getting back.

There were very regular trains on the line on the far side of the Gardens. We were hearing them whistle at crossings and the station. I eventually realized that Castlemaine is on the Melbourne to Bendigo train line – duh! Nonetheless, we were surprised at how many trains there were each day. Seemed a pretty good service.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 6

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6     MARONG

John had to be up much earlier than usual. After he showered, I put a fresh dressing on the leg wound. Although the stitches were removed before we came away, the area rubs on his trouser leg and becomes sore if it is not covered.

I did a load of washing – $3. Had to go hang it on an older rotary line at the corner of the park, as the long lines by the laundry were full. There was lots of bedding, rugs and the like occupying the lines. I suspected someone from the retirement village section had done a big spring clean.

John left about 11am to drive to Williamstown in Melbourne for his sister’s funeral. He wasn’t sure if he would come back later, or stay overnight with another sibling. I had arranged with the park to move the Coaster onto an ordinary drive through site if we need an extra night, as this site is booked. I could manage such a move on my own, but am not very good yet at getting Bus lined up well by a slab, if I had to back it alone – hence the drive-through.

Read a novel found in the laundry, which was quite engrossing. Walked Couey around the park a few times. I wasn’t quite brave enough to run the gauntlet of the retirees, to take her up the back.

Caravan park at Marong

Spent some time studying the maps – paper variety. John really wants to go visit the site at Boolite, west of here, where he taught at a one-teacher school for a year in the 60’s. I thought we could go on there, from here, .look at the place, then go on to  Warracknabeal, Donald or St Arnaud for a couple of nights. All of those are new ground for me. Then we could base ourselves at Maryborough for a few days and look around the region, then ditto Castlemaine. There were so many little former gold mining villages in that region I’d like to look at. My artist brother went through a period when he painted lots of old buildings and scenes from those places and he was often off, poking about looking for new inspiration,  but I had never visited them.

Daughter, S and her mum, and the boys, arrived about 6.30, as arranged, to have a BBQ tea here. V brought hamburgers, rolls, sausages, bacon. They bought a very nice bottle of wine for crocheting the rug for their gift. I supplied some salad, eggs and tomato sauce. We cooked in the BBQ section of the camp kitchen and ate there. It was a little chilly, but not too bad – the big roof kept the worst of the chill off. After we’d finished, did a thorough clean up of the BBQ area to return it to its previous immaculate condition.

Adjourned to Bus because it was warmer, to chat and finish of the bottle of wine, mixing talking with partly watching Australian Survivor. John had phoned at 5.30 to say he was just leaving to come back. He arrived at 7.45.  The family left at 8.30pm – past the boys’ bedtime on a school and kinder night.

The funeral had gone off well enough, as these things go. John had the usual catch up with members of his very large family that he only usually sees on such occasions. We tried to count how many times he is a great-uncle, but gave up as he was not sure of “who has had what”. He knows all of the offspring of his eleven older siblings, but it gets a bit hazy after that. As a later-comer second wife, I know hardly any. With only one brother and one nephew, I find John’s family rather overwhelming. However, my recent family history research had turned up the fact that one of my great-great-grandfathers had 101 grandchildren, plus 21 step-grandchildren! I must be related to most of Tasmania…

John did not like the travel plans I’d devised today. He wanted to go straight to Castlemaine, from here, to visit his friend from teachers’ college days, who lives near there, and then go touring around the old goldfields towns.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 5

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5     MARONG

Usual morning – me rising about 8am and John sleeping late.

While walking Couey on the lead around the park, got talking to a man working on the gardens. Told him how attractive and well kept I found the place. The poor man said he was constantly battling rabbits that come in from the surrounding farmland and dig up newly planted shrubs to eat the roots. Given all the surrounding grass, that rather surprised me.

I said that, from my perspective, all the park needed to make it perfect was a fenced dog run area. Pushy? Well, maybe they hadn’t thought of it? He seemed to think it might be worth considering, but said that we could walk Couey through the residential section (that says no entry except to residents), to the paddock at the back and throw the ball for her there. Very nice of him.

Left the park at noon to meet daughter at her workplace in the centre of Bendigo. The drive in from Marong to the city was really pretty. Forested areas alternating with farmland, from Marong to Maiden Gully – an outlying sort of new suburb development – then more treed and farm lands. The built up city area really only extends about three kms in this western direction.

Mining dump area beside Calder Highway

I seemed to recollect from some long past history study, that the rich gold reefs found from the 1850’s on, extended in a roughly N-S direction and that was the way the early gold rush settlement developed. There was still much evidence of these beginnings about the place, in more than just locality names. We passed large mullock dump heaps as well as the occasional mine poppet head.

Old mining area only 3kms from city centre

At work, daughter was there on her RDO to take part in a blind pie tasting test, to determine the best one to buy for a future function, and she’d invited John – with all his pie eating experience – to join in. There were two pies from local bakeries, one from Aldi, and a Four and Twenty one. Rather surprisingly to me, the first choice of the majority of the tasters was the Aldi pie, with the Four and Twenty one second.

There were some great shops in Bendigo and daughter had a favourite where she bought many of her clothes. I’d been hunting for a while for an outfit to wear to son’s wedding, and not been able to find anything I liked in shops around our local area. I was really trying to avoid going into central Melbourne or one of the mammoth shopping complexes for same. So daughter took me to her favourite outlet, not far from her work. The sales lady there was most helpful and I ended up buying not one, but two, outfits. I suspected daughter who encouraged me, may have an eye to borrowing one of them at a future date.

Trying on outfits

I did love the manageable scale of Bendigo’s shopping areas – and traffic. Maybe one day….

We’d left Couey tied outside the shop, because John wanted input to the clothes decision making. She complained loudly whilst he was still visible, but lapsed into silent and sulking mode as soon as he was not in sight. Handy to know.

I bought a wrap for my lunch, the pie eaters being too full for any more. Then went to daughter’s for coffee. After that, we all drove to grandson’s school, in two cars. He’d commenced Year 7 this year at a fairly new school, on the outskirts of town. I was most impressed with the appearance and behaviour of the students at get-out time. Very tidy and mannerly. The buildings were excellent – interesting and innovative, heavily into open-plan learning areas and flexible spaces. High tech. Beautiful landscaping. Schools had come so far in the couple of decades since I worked in them. We heartily approved of the place.

We continued on back to Bus, Called in at the Eucalyptus Shop at Marong. Bought some laundry powder, lemon myrtle oil for my scent burner at home and wash liquid for the dog’s bedding. Received two “free” jars of local pickled onions as a bonus. John was happy – he eats lots of these.

Met daughter and the boys and S’s mum at the Marong Hotel at 6pm, to have a counter tea together. We’d heard good things about the meals here and were not disappointed. It was a pretty standard pub bistro menu but the food was, mostly, very well done. John had flathead and chips – often his choice at such places. I had a modern take on a souvlaki, which I found a bit heavy on the leafy greens and a bit light on the lamb. The other adults had parma and schnitzel, which they enjoyed. The boys had pizza. The younger one is a fussy eater, but does eat pizza. The kids’ food arrived first, which we appreciated. It was a very pleasant time together.

We were back at Bus in time to watch Australian Survivor.

After that, we had a serious discussion about the pros and cons of selling up at home and relocating to Bendigo. There are both, and no decision was reached. But there was no rush to make such a momentous change.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 4

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4     MARONG

Got up at 7am to go to the bathroom and there was mist all round. Quite pretty, and a little eerie.

Although the park is by the Calder Highway, we were pleased to find that the traffic noise was not really evident from the park. There was a bit of a swampy area next door, and what we were hearing was the sound of frogs – just beautiful.

When I got up properly at 9am, the earlier mist had totally cleared away.

Pottered about through the morning. John didn’t get up until after 11am! He had stayed up late last night, after watching TV, involved with a computer game.

Tried to check email on my laptop. The download proceeded at snail’s pace. John had used up our entire 8GB data allowance, last night, on his World of Warcraft update. Unbelievable! Especially since he said he’d done all the upgrades possible the night before we left home, using our much larger home data allowance. I was furious. Clearly, I am not a WOW devotee (addict?).

I was able to link to the park’s free Wifi, but it was not much faster. After sending friend M, currently travelling in Qld, a brief email that took forever to transmit, I gave up.

Morning relax at our site

As we were having lunch, was a text from daughter to say that grandson’s dad was dropping him at the park, in about twenty minutes. I waited out the front, and we chatted for a few minutes, before he headed off back to Melbourne. Daughter arrived not long after. We took the two boys to the very good park playground and jumping pillow. Daughter had received the OK to do so from park managers. It was the first time the four-year-old had been on one of those, and he had fun.

I was not impressed with the two boys, maybe 8-10 years old, who had two Cavalier spaniel type dogs in the playground, and were carrying them up, then pushing them down, the slide. The poor dogs were obviously uncomfortable. The boys’ grandparents were setting up an annexe on a van that I thought they’d brought from the storage area at the back of the park. I wondered if they actually lived in the retirement homes section behind the tourist part of the park. Seemed the kids and dogs had been sent off to play.

The boys may have decided that the look on my face boded ill for them, because they quickly left the play area. By the time we walked back past the van, there was no-one there. I mentioned the episode later to the park manager, who also seemed pretty annoyed by it. She clearly knew who was involved.

It was very chilly this afternoon. John suggested we might be more comfortable with our nibbles and planned pizza dinner, at daughter’s place. So we all adjourned there, complete with the food I’d bought yesterday.

As we drove through the streets of the more newly developed part of Golden Square, I was really taken with the white blossom on the ornamental trees that had been planted all down both sides of some of the newer streets. A really pretty display and, for once, clever landscaping on the part of some urban planners.

Street trees in blossom

Sat round the table with our nibbles and some wine, then ordered pizzas to be delivered. Made it easy! After tea, S arrived home. The sporting victory celebrations had been going on since yesterday and would continue into “Mad Monday”. In view of this, daughter had a rostered day off work tomorrow to mind the four-year-old, so we would be able to meet up again.

Watched Australian Survivor on their TV. We are finding that program at least as good as the American version. Then, back to Bus, keeping a careful eye out for roadside wildlife through the treed areas between Golden Square and Marong.


by 1 Comment

2016 Travels September 3

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3     MARONG

I got up about 8.30am. Nice quiet park for me to be able to sleep that late.

Took Couey out for her morning constitutional. When we checked in yesterday, the guy at the desk said there was a lane behind the park where the owner took his dogs for a run. I intended to take her for a good long walk along that. Plan foiled when dog refused to go out the entrance of the park, presumably because she could see traffic on the road. So she had to settle for a “once around the park”.

I drove to the general store to get the Saturday papers. Realized that the entrance to the lane mentioned for dog walking, was a lot further away than I’d thought.

The little township of Marong is where the Alternate Calder Highway, that branches off south of Bendigo and enables bypassing of that city, meets the original Calder again. It seemed to mainly consist of a hotel and the general store.

I sat outside Bus and read some of the news. It was quite pleasant in the weak sunshine.

Had ourselves an early lunch, then set off to drive to Huntly, on the northern edge of Bendigo to watch S’s netball grand final. The GPS took us on a kind of outer ring route around northern Bendigo, where it was obvious that the city was growing and spreading out. This was an area we didn’t usually go through – Sailors Gully, Jackass Flat. Still plenty of bushland around those parts though. I loved the picturesque names, deriving from gold rush days.

I’d kind of assumed that country netball/football league games would attract some loyal supporters, in the country style that I’d been used to, in my Western District days, and that there would be room to park in the grounds. Wrong – very wrong! There were thousands of people in attendance, and cars parked for at least a kilometre in every street around the sports ground. We cruised around and eventually slotted into a very small space just across from the grounds. Good to have a very small car…

Daughter had brought chairs, so we were able to sit to watch the netball game. It was a good close one, as befitted a grand final. I thought the playing standard was quite high, although the opposing team was very rough. In a previous incarnation, I was a qualified A Grade netball umpire, and I certainly would have penalized some of the actions I saw! The umpires missed a lot.

“Our” team won by five goals. Going out with a premiership was a great way for S to retire from her netball playing, after about 40 years of it! She played well too, and was rather emotional after the game.

I’d brought with me the crocheted rug I’d been asked to make as a baby present for a friend of V and S. Friend was at the netball, so I was able to see her being given the rug, which was well received.

The completed gift blanket

After the presentations, we extracted ourselves from the crowd and our little parking spot, and went to a nearby supermarket. Some of the family would be coming to the caravan park tomorrow afternoon, so I needed to buy some nibblies. And wine.

The earlier pleasant day had clouded over and it began to rain as we were driving back to Marong, quite heavily too. 5pm when we got back to Bus. I resumed reading the papers.

An absolutely huge fifth wheeler had come in today and was almost opposite us, on a drive-through site. Each to his own I guess, but it just seemed really excessive to me. As well as its great length, there was also a large side slide out section. This extended across the walkway path, effectively blocking it. I entertained some very uncharitable thoughts.

Walkway to camp kitchen, later blocked by fifth wheeler on the site

Tea was cold chicken pieces I’d previously cooked at home, avocado and asparagus. I took the latter over to the camp kitchen – dodging the extended obstacle – and cooked it in their microwave. That camp kitchen would not be out of place in a normal home – very well equipped.

After dark, a van arrived in the park, towed behind a tow truck. Its 4WD was up on the tray. The truck put the van in position up at the end of the park, and left with the vehicle. A glitch for someone’s travels. I felt great sympathy – we’d once arrived in Broome that way.

After tea, John watched sport on TV. I continued reading the papers. It was a chilly night again.


by Leave a comment

2016 Travels September 2

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2     HOME TO MARONG   240kms

Bus had been ready to go for a while. The hold up had been waiting for three weeks before John could have the stitches removed from his leg. I’d ben doing some leisurely packing over the previous days.

It seemed timely to start a short trip now – maybe three weeks? The obvious first stop was Bendigo, where we hadn’t been in over a year. Grandson had a semi final coming up, in his hockey, and daughter’s partner a netball grand final. We could earn some family brownie points by attending these events.

Departed home at 10.30am. There were always last minute things to do, like packing those last fridge items, and filling rolls for lunch, and we were not in a hurry.

This morning, an added complication was a call informing John that his sister died earlier this morning. We had known this was coming, so it was not a shock. It was thought that the funeral would be late next week, so we decided to continue with at least the Bendigo part of the trip.

There was definitely an emerging pattern to our trip departures – that we have to stop at the park a couple of kms away, down the bottom of the range, to make some adjustment or another to the rig. In this case it was – again – the tyre pressure monitors. John had put them back on the Bus front wheels. He hadn’t ever gotten around to investigating solid sleeves for the inner rear tyre valve extensions, so we didn’t have the monitors on those, which had been the source of an unpleasant flapping noise on their first trip. But it was evident, as soon as we got up to any speed, that the front ones were making that noise now and would have to come off.

The monitor things are fiddly and hard to remove, which is probably a good thing. He swore a lot. The metal edges of the monitors were chopped about from flexing and hitting on the wheel rims, even over that short distance. Clearly, for this system to work on the Coaster, most wheels would have to have some modification to the tyre valve posts. It might make sense to just keep the system on the Terios, which was what I’d intended in the first place.

While John was working on the wheels, I watched a group of Little Corellas – of which we have a lot in the area these days – playing in a big gum tree a short distance away. They were taking it in turns to swing on “ropes” of bark hanging down and clearly just doing so for fun. They really are entertaining birds to watch. I know they are noisy and can be destructive, but I do like them. Had such a vivid memory from when we were camped at Purni Bore, on the edge of the Simpson Desert, some years ago, and there was a large dead tree containing a huge flock of corellas. A noise startled them and they rose all at once, like a great raucous cloud. Once, we would only see them in places further north – along the Murray, Coopers Creek and the like. But now they are well and truly present south of the Divide. Climate change?

Corella trees at Purni Bore, Simpson Desert

It was 11am by the time we got going again, taking our usual route via Yea and Seymour, to Bendigo. Also, as usual, the GPS was fixated on taking us back to Melbourne first. The only route it seems to recognize to Bendigo is via the Calder Highway.

On the large farms approaching Yarra Glen, workers were busily harvesting crops of Brussels sprouts.

Brussels sprout farm Yarra Glen

Along the bypass route around Yarra Glen, there is one roundabout where the route to the Melba Highway is straight ahead, and the road to Healesville off to the right. John took the latter, then had to find a place to turn around, before playing circles on the roundabout to the correct exit. This is something else that now seems to happen every trip – it gets him every time, and sometimes even on the return journey.

The many hectares of grape vines around Yarra Glen and Dixons Creek had all been neatly pruned and looked very tidy. In one of the vineyards there was a red helicopter parked. I wondered if it was tour related, or someone’s private transport?

As we churned our way up the Divide, some cars coming down towards us were flashing their lights at us. Of course, our initial reaction was to think “police ahead”. Then, when there weren’t, to worry if they were spotting something wrong with the rig. The reason became apparent not far from the top – a broken down 4WD and large caravan, parked partly in the oncoming lane. Traffic cones had been set up around it and there was obviously someone helping.

There were a lot of caravans heading towards Melbourne – the return of the grey nomads…

It was a very pleasant day for driving. Fine, blue sky, cool but not cold.

Yea-Seymour road

Topped up the fuel at the servo at Glenburn – $1.149 cpl.

Stopped at the Rotary Park at Seymour to eat lunch and give dog some exercise. I wanted her kept on the lead, to keep her away from water, but he who learns slowly let her off for a run. She promptly found the nearest large muddy puddle and wallowed in it. That undid all the good work of the dog groomers! Wet, muddy, smelly dog now. I was not happy. She was.

Lunch stop Seymour

I don’t think we had ever seen the country between Seymour and Bendigo so green and lush. There were lots of full dams and flowing creeks. Part of Lake Eppalock was visible  from the road near Axedale, so it had to be pretty full.

I took a phone call and John was able to pull over to talk. It was to tell him that the sister’s funeral would be on Tuesday – sooner than we’d been previously told. We decided to keep going. Dog and I would stay in Bendigo and John could drive the Terios back to Melbourne for the day. I was pleased that we had set off today and were not now waiting around at home for the event to be over.

The Garmin had finally caught up with where we were, and directed us on the usual Over Dimensional Route through Bendigo. Only one glitch, when John seemingly couldn’t count to three and took the wrong exit from a round about. Again! Naturally, we’d managed to time our passage through the city to coincide with school let-out time…

It was 3.45 when we reached the Big 4 Marong Holiday Park, some 14kms west of the centre of Bendigo. We had not stayed here before, but were still trying to find a really good dog friendly park in the area. By initial impressions, this could be it.

I had previously phoned the park and booked us an en-suite site from today until Tuesday morning. Now, in view of the funeral, they were able to extend it for an extra night. After discount, we paid $36 a night, which I thought was very reasonable for a place of the quality that this turned out to be.

Set up on en-suite sites, which had ample room for us. The bathroom was compact, but clean and  quite adequate. I was most impressed with the nearby roofed BBQ area and adjacent camp kitchen room, which was very comprehensively equipped.

Left Marong again at 5pm to drive back to Bendigo for grandson’s hockey match. It was cold, and we had to stand for the whole game, which was murder for the legs and lower back. “Our” team lost, so that was the end of the boy’s hockey season for this year. But he appeared to play well – I think? I would appreciate the game more if I knew something about the rules.

After the game, the boy headed off to spend the weekend with his father, who had come up from Melbourne to watch the match, so we wouldn’t see him again until Sunday afternoon.

Drove back to Bus, stopping at Marong to order fish and chips from the general store’s attached shop, which John drove back to collect at the appointed time of 8pm. Very nice they were too.

We certainly needed the little electric fan heater to warm up Bus.

John watched football on TV. I did some hand sewing of the quilt project.

Bed at 11pm. We were both tired. For some reason, not long after getting into bed, I got a really nasty cramp in one leg. Unusual for me and it sure woke me up again! Was very careful how I moved that leg for the rest of the night.