It was a late spring day at the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally, west of Ballarat, in Victoria. The day provided rain, cold wind, hail and very little sunshine. The previous day had been similar with the added bonus of strong winds – head winds at that; I don’t like head winds and I wasn’t even driving.

By late afternoon, when we hit the road north, the wind had calmed down and the rain cleared. It was a defining moment in our travels. I had just finished saying what a lovely time of the day it was to be travelling when we rounded a bend to find a huge kangaroo sitting in the middle of the road. It’s amazing how fast I can change my mind. John hit the brakes. Typically, the kangaroo hopped off the road at the last second. I didn’t know kangaroos came in such a large size. It’s with good reason we’re warned that dusk on a country road is not a good time to travel.

The search was on for a place for the night. There were no towns nearby but we found a spot on a side road; nice and flat and out of the way of any traffic. As we came to a halt we heard a rattling noise emanating from one of the front wheels. We weren’t going anywhere until it was traced. As dusk isn’t the greatest time to start playing around under the camper – no time is for that matter – we declared it a day, had tea and settled  down for a peaceful night. We discovered a small pebble was the noisy culprit, rattling between the brake disc and its cover plate, uncommon but easy to fix.

Castlemaine was the first town we came to next morning with a thriving market under way off the main street. We enjoyed a walk and made a few purchases before heading for Shepparton to meet up with friends for lunch. Our goal was to be on the other side of Tumut to see our kids and grandkids. The choice of route was either to travel straight across to the Hume Highway or head north via the Murray Valley to Albury. We chose the latter.

Lunch stop west of Ballarat

It had been a long time since we had travelled that way and the whole trip seemed to be developing into a nostalgic, drive  down memory lane. We had spent many years living on a farm in that area during the 1970s. The country at this time was flat and dry. We made it to Wodonga by tea time, then pressed on north as far as Holbrook, which is a lovely little town we have visited many times on the way up the Hume Highway. Holbrook is bypassed by the highway now but it’s a great place to stop to see the submarine in a park in the main street and visit the extraordinary museum.

We rang our daughter to say we wouldn’t be there until the following day. We were only an hour away from Tumut but it was that time of day again and we didn’t fancy a repeat performance of the previous day’s encounter. Wombats, too, come in extra-large size in that part of the country.

After a week with our family at Tumut our return to Melbourne was via the Bendigo Swap, another event we hadn’t been to for many years. Bendigo Swap is one of the events on the old car calendar.

We retraced our steps along the Murray Valley Highway to Yarrawonga for our first overnight stop. We found a beautiful camping spot in the bush on the banks of the Murray River, with a pretty striated pardelote nesting in the bank nearby and a huge fish swimming in the shallows of the river. It was one of the best camping spots we have found.

One the banks of the Murray River near Yarrawonga

We spent a day at the more tourist-orientated Echuca with a river boat cruise and a fascinating guided tour of old Echuca then headed south to overnight at Ayson’s Reserve just north of Elmore, a beautiful setting on the banks of the Campaspe River. It was so peaceful we decided to have a rest day there before going on to Bendigo.

Before heading off into the unknown it is always a good idea to visit a dump point and fill up with fresh water, the fresh water supply being the most important. Some places have a dump point but no drinking water. We hadn’t seen anywhere to get water before the Campaspe River campground. Our water supply was running low and the water in the river although pretty didn’t look like our idea of drinking quality. Some kind neighbours came to our rescue. We never cease to be amazed at the number of lovely people we meet and new friends we have made through free camping.

Dry crops ready for harvest

From the camper we watched a mudlark tending its nest full of babies in a branch overhanging the water, a purple swamphen nesting on a small island and ground birds galore. This was also where the pre-summer heat caught up with us with daytime temperatures around 36°C. There was nowhere to go to cool down. We really could have used that awning that we were planning to buy.

A hatching of winged insects followed a delightful sunset. That was where the delight ended. The insects were light orientated and worked their way through the flyscreens towards any light they could find. It was an evening made of nightmares. One or two bugs we can cope with, but not in their millions. By the next morning, their short, winged lives spent, there were dead bugs everywhere. We found them wedged in little nooks and crannies for ages afterwards. No wonder there were so many birds around. It must have been a feeding frenzy.

There was a dump point at the Campaspe River campground but no drinkable water, so on arriving in Bendigo we tried the showgrounds where the Swap meet set up was well under way. The kind people on the gate allowed us in to refill with water.

Bendigo was an interesting place, a former gold-mining region. As with the Ballarat area, some of our ancestors left their mark there in the form of place names on their birth records. We found a free camp for the night near the showgrounds, spent the next day at the Swap, finding a few bargains and catching up with old friends before heading for Melbourne late in the day. We were due to be back on the Spirit of Tasmania the following evening after a quick visit with our other kids in Melbourne.

Our view from the windscreen at Yarrawonga

It was a holiday of defining moments, particularly when and when not to travel; not only the time of day but the time of year. There are so many interesting little towns in central and northern Victoria to explore. We won’t be back until the winter, though, when it is cooler – and the bugs aren’t hatching.

Murray River near Echuca - old and new

USEFUL LINKS

www.travelvictoria.com.au/

www.travelnsw.com.au/

www.holbrook.nsw.au/

www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/

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Written: Thu 01 Oct 2015
Printed: October, 2015
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