Victoria & Southern NSW - Box Ticked

Melbourne, Lakes Entrance & Eden (NSW) - 25th Jan - 9th Feb

We spent one night at Nhill, halfway between Adelaide & Melbourne just as a rest stop. The park was very basic (daggy) so happy to just stay the one night. We arrived at Braybrook Caravan Park just outside of Melbourne on Australia Day & were happy to discover that the staff put on a free barbecue for tea that night.

We met some interesting couples at the barbecue. Quite a few of them spend the night at this caravan park before boarding the Spirit Of Tasmania ferry. Some were on the road full time & others were 'part timers'. We met a lovely couple who run a cattle, sheep & grain farm near Albany WA. He said he had approx 7,000 cattle. We told him about our friends who have 100 acres & asked how many acres he had. He replied 15.......... 15,000!!! We met another couple who, when we told them we were just starting out caravanning said "we've been everywhere" I thought, here we go, I've heard about the  long timers who can't wait to tell eveyone all about their extensive experience. And there they were, after telling us "we've been everywhere" for the second time we decided to retreat back to the sanctuary of our caravan.
We had a lovely day at Uncle Lens & caught up with some of my cousins too. Next day we had a great dinner with Anna (ex Tip Top) & her husband Nigel. Nigel made a traditional Japanese dish called okonomiyaki. It was beautiful.
We spent a day in the city & saw the stage show Kinky Boots. It was fantastic!





We then moved up to Lake Tyers Beach which is near Lakes Entrance in northern Victoria. I

bought a Travel Auction so only paid $18 per night for the caravan park. The park was nice but a bit too far out of the town & not on the beach as advertised. It was on the beach if you didn't mind bushwalking through some dodgy paths then walking down, then up 85 steps. The town was nice but we agreed we didn't need to go back.




Next stop was Eden which is just over the border in NSW. It's a beautiful coastal town with a nice

caravan park that is also home to some kangaroos that come & visit most nights at dusk. The Eden Whale Museum is very popular so we decided to pay it a visit. To my disappointment, it was a 'whaling' museum as Eden was popular in the mid 1800's to early 1900's for whaling of the beautiful Orca Killer Whales for medicinal & many other uses. As soon as I realised that, I didn't really enjoy looking around at their whaling history.

I had a sore back so went to the local chiropractor. I should have known better than to book an appointment with the only chiropractor in town who answers his own phone at 9am says "I open at 10, what time do you want?" When I ask if I can come at 10 he says "make it quarter past as I'll have to go get a coffee first". He was nice & was very interested in our travels but next day my back was no better. I then phoned a chiropractor in the next town, Merimbula. Although his receptionist said he was fully booked for the rest of the week he agreed to see me during his lunch break to help me out before we moved on again. He was very thorough & fixed my back. We had a great day in Merimbula as a bonus. We actually liked it better than Eden.

The town of Bega is not too far from Eden & apart from wanting to visit their famous cheese factory

they also had their country show on while we were there. The Bega cheese factory / museum was a bit boring but the Bega Show was great! With good old fashioned giant pumpkins & cattle judging we had a ball.

We had never been to the north Victoria coast before. Although we had a nice time we don't need to go back. Box Ticked!




Next stop ............Batemans Bay

Adelaide - Back To Where It All Began

Semaphore - 10th December - 25th January

To say we were excited to be back 'home' after travelling for 9 months is an understatement. The only negative about our new lifestyle is missing our children & grand children (& friends) terribly. We talk on the phone weekly but seeing them all in the flesh & having Ashleigh & Lauren run up for a hug is irreplaceable. To add to our excitement, Tim, Amy & 4 month old grand daughter Emma were coming to spend Xmas with us.

I knew the 6 weeks would fly by with Xmas in the middle & wanting to catch up with as many friends as possible so I put out a call to anyone that wanted to catch up to 'book in' so we wouldn't run out of time at the end. It worked beautifully with every day filling up with breakfasts lunches & dinners, sometimes all in the one day!
We also booked in doctors check ups, both GP & Cardiologist, drivers licence renewal, new tyres for the van etc so it was going to be a busy 6 weeks!

We stayed at Semaphore Caravan Park again which, although is the perfect location, is a little run down which is a shame. We put the sprinkler on our site as often as we could so it did eventually green up & look a little better.

After almost 2 weeks of catch ups, school Xmas concerts & finalising Xmas shopping Tim, Amy &

Emma arrived from Perth. We took the van up to Hahndorf for 3 nights as they had booked a place there to spend a few relaxing days before the Xmas chaos.
I was a bit worried Emma wouldn't know me & cry when I held her but she gave me a big beautiful smile & was happy to be smothered in Nanny kisses & cuddles!
We had lunch at Tim & Amy's wedding venue, Golding Winery which was lovely. One night we drove around looking at the 'famous' Lobethal Xmas lights. None of us had ever seen them before & although they were nice we all agreed they were a bit overrated.

Xmas day was awesome! We were now back at Semaphore & Tim, Amy & Emma were staying in the city. We had a beautiful breakfast with them in their apartment while watching Emma open her presents on her first Xmas. We then moved on to Gawler for lunch & dinner with Gary's brother & Sister in law Mick & Annie who also had niece Kelly, Greg & family staying from Sydney.
A few days later our nephew Toby & Naomi organised to get all the Griffiths family together at their place for a barbecue. It was fantastic catching up with everyone.
We were also able to celebrate Ashleigh's 9th birthday just after Xmas which was good.

New Years Eve was lovely Mick, Annie, Kelly, Greg & girls & Mike, Emma & family came to the caravan park for fish & chips then walked down to the foreshore to watch the fireworks. It was a great night.

We had a lovely dinner at the Semaphore Palais with Lisa & Brad for our grand daughter Courtney's 18th birthday. They have just moved back from Darwin so that was a bonus being able to see them. The Palais is such a great place that we ended up there three or four times over the weeks.

Ashleigh & Lauren came & spent a few days with us at the caravan park so Gary had to 'make' a bed

for them as they've now outgrown being able to sleep on the bench seats. He fitted a piece of plywood between the two seats then put a piece of foam to fit on the wood. My lovely friend Kym made a cover for it & the setup worked beautifully except the night of the sleepover a huge storm rolled in with heavy rain & crazy wind After a few tears the girls jumped into bed with me while Gary slept on his newly created bed!

We both had skin checks which are even more important now we spend so much time in the sun. Gary had a suspicious mole on his back so he had to go back & have it cut out. The only appointment he could get was 2 days before we were due to leave to head off again.
Ryan had a sleepover the night before. He sleeps in a tent on our site when he comes to see us. Gary had his mole removed then we dropped Ryan back to his place & did a few jobs for him. We made sure he didn't lift anything too heavy to make sure he didn't split his stitches. After a while Ryan said to me 'Dads back is bleeding'. I had a look & blood was literally dripping down his back! I quickly grabbed a clean tea towel, pressed it against his back & off to the local clinic we went. As we were walking down the street to get to the clinic I was keeping pressure on his bloodied back which must have looked like I'd just massacred him then changed my mind.... Luckily the stitches weren't damaged. He was bleeding so much due to the blood thinners Gary takes. The nurse patched him up & next day we went back to the skin cancer clinic & all was good.

The 6 weeks flew by & felt like 6 days but it was fantastic getting to see everyone & have a great 'Adelaide' fix. As with last year, pack up & leaving day was filled with mixed emotions. Sad to be leaving family & friends but excited for the year ahead.

Next stop ........Melbourne!

Murray River, Should be called Mosquito River

Murray River - 1st - 9th December

We absolutely love the beach & have spent almost all of our travels so far staying in coastal towns so decided to travel along the Murray River for the journey back to Adelaide to experience a bit of River life.

First up was a one night stay in Yass. There's not much at Yass but it was a good stopover to break up the drive. We kept the car hooked up ready to set off without any fuss the next morning,

Next stop was Yarrawonga. I have always been keen to stay at Yarrawonga as it was my Aunty Anne

& Uncle Len's favourite holiday spot & is where Aunty Anne's ashes are scattered. Uncle Len & family have a weekend there every year & if we can manage it I'd like to join them some time.
The caravan Park, right on the NSW / Vic border was huge & right on the river. The First we knew it was going to be a busy weekend was when booking our site the receptionist asked if we were here for the big 'Cod Classic' fishing competition. Turns out it is one of the biggest fishing competitions in Australia with about 3,000 entrants.
We arrived on the Friday afternoon to a half empty Park. By Friday night the park was full & buzzing with fishermen sorting their rods bait, lures & all things fishing. It was a great atmosphere.
We woke up around 9 o'clock next morning & although there were tents as far as the eye could see there was not a person in sight, they were all fishing. They were back again by 5 o'clock preparing again for the next day.

Just at the end of the caravan park was a weir. It had a see through Steele grate walkover which gave me jelly legs but Gary enjoyed walking back & forth over to get a good look at the water gushing over.
My entertainment was the Saturday market on the riverbank which was really nice with the usual market stalls & local produce which is always a good opportunity to stock up on fruit & veg.

On the Monday we set off for our next stop which was Swan Hill. On the way we saw a quarantine

 sign then a few more km's along there was an unmanned quarantine station with a huge sign & the standard yellow bin. Aarrgghh...... All My beautiful fresh fruit!!! We pulled in & had an impromptu 'lunch' of as much fruit as we could eat. Doing our best Very Hungry Caterpillar impersonation we ate 2 mangoes, 2 apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, & peaches. We didn't need our Metamucil that day!

Swan Hill Caravan Park was really nice. Our site was right on the banks of the river. The drawback of this is the mosquitoes love the views too! Daytime wasn't too bad but from dusk they'd eat us alive.
We had a nice relaxing time here, just looking around the little town, taking the obligatory photo in front of the 'Big Cod' & swimming in their beautiful lagoon pool. The best caravan park pool we have seen.

A couple of days later we set off for Renmark which is our last stop before Adelaide. Travelling day

was overcast & very windy. Gary couldn't get over how different it was to tow in windy conditions. He tracks his fuel economy with engineer like precision & was horrified at how much more fuel that trip took. We stayed at Renmark Big 4 which is a huge park, more like a resort. The river was very high with some areas in flood. We couldn't sit outside much during our three night stay as it was so windy & the mosquitoes were out in full force.

After spending just over a week on the river we both came to the same conclusion ...... WE LOVE THE COAST!


Next stop ........ HOME!!!

Lane Cove - Family & Friends

Lane Cove - 25th - 30th November

We really love coming to Lane Cove. The Park is fantastic, being in a National Patk with its peaceful surroundings & birdlife, you really feel like youre in the bush except.... You're 12km from Sydney Harbour!

We didn't go into the city this time. We spent most of our time here catching up with friends &

family. We had dinner with Kristen & Ron who we met through Miche Bags, had a great weekend with my brother Danny, Robyn & Olivia, caught up with my sister in law's sister, Val & Chris & also had a lovely day with our two nieces, Yasmin & Phoebe.
I know I say it a lot but it is so special being able to see these guys so regularly.

With one of the biggest Westfield shopping centres just around the corner, we also did a bit of Xmas shopping. Kristen told me about a fantastic homewares store called Victoria's Basement & I'm so glad she did as we spent about an hour in this store & bought quite a few goodies for Xmas & also for us, even if it meant they had to go into storage when we went back to Adelaide.


Next stop ......... Murray River!

Swansea - Lake Macquarie (& Newcastle)

Swansea - Lake Macquarie, Newcastle & Berkley Vale 14th - 24th November

Lake Macquarie is HUGE! It is Australias largest coastal saltwater Lagoon & covers an area of 110 square kilometres. It's twice the size of Sydney Harbor. (according to Wikipedia).
There are many towns around the lake & we stayed at Swansea which was a nice little town.

We caught  up with some friends we met on one of our cruises. Sue & Les live in the area & love caravanning as well. They often will bring their Van down to many of the parks along the river to have some time away. Les even went to work a few of the days but how nice to get to come 'home' to the van & relax out in the open at the end of the day.
We have met a few people on our travels who have discovered that you don't have to drive for hours to have a great weekend away in their caravan.

We also took the opportunity to catch up with Michelle, Nathan & Nixon who live only half an hour from the park in Newcastle.
Michelle & Nathan had to work so we spent our days sightseeing or relaxing back at the van & then go to their place at night. Nixon was Gary's shadow & was so cute following him around & calling out "Ga-yee" to him whever he couldn't see him.
Gary did a few odd jobs for them & Nixon was an enthusiastic helper.





Next we moved on to spend a few days with Kelly, Greg & their girls. We had a nice time walking

them to school, helping with homework & just generally spending time with them.

We are very grateful that this lifestyle allows us to be a bigger part of our extended families lives.

Next stop ....... Lane Cove