Awesome Albury & Great Gundagai

Albury - 13th - 17th April
Albury was a real surprise package. We didn't really know too much about it other than it being on the NSW side of the Murray.

The caravan park was tiny to say the least with only 10 powered sites (& about a dozen cabins). Our site was lovely with a huge amount of lush green grass outside our door. The weather was  beautiful & sunny the whole time we were there.
The caravan park manager was a wealth of information on things to do. The Hume Dam was pretty impressive that, when full holds 5 times more than Sydney Harbour. It was less than half full when we were there.

We spent a couple of days doing not much which was nice. Had our flu jabs at the local chemist which was one of those things we were wondering how would work. The staff were lovely & luckily neither of us suffered any after effects other than a dead arm for a couple of days.

I finished off  four Trauma Teddies & dropped them in to Albury Ambulance station. The Paramedic was very grateful to receive them as he said he handed out 10 the day before.

Other than that we just went to a few parks for some walks or to see the river. We both loved Albury & would definitely go back again.

On the way to Gundagai, when passing through the town of Holbrook, we nearly ran into a submarine .......what the? HMAS Otway is a full sized (90metres long) sub in the middle of the town. A very impressive sight, a long way from the coast.






Gundagai - 17th - 19th April

Our site at Gundagai was right on the river which is where we spent most of our two days there. Of course we went to see the Dog on the Tuckerbox which was a bit underwhelming. Not that I know what I was expecting. There was a massive souvenir shop / cafe. That sold anything & everything with a dog on it.


Gundagai's landscape is dominated by 2 huge wooden dilapidated bridges. They were built because the town is on a huge flood plain.The Prince Alfred Bridge was built in 1866 & was replaced in 1976 by a concrete bridge. The other bridge was a railway bridge built in 1902. Our campsite was only about 100 metres from the railway bridge. Gary loves bridges & a good truss & these 2 bridges were a maze of trusses so Gary had plenty to entertain him.

Next stop, Canberra ............

Melbourne is Family, Food & 'Fresh'

Melbourne - 6th - 13th April

The day we left Anglesea to drive to Melbourne was very wet & wintery. The day didn't get any better when we arrived at the caravan park. Our site was in a back corner & was very muddy.
I went to the office & asked if they could spread some sand as in the neighbouring sites. Luckily they offered us another site & it was lovely, green grass with a river running behind us.
Thank goodness the rain eased up for the rest of our stay even though it was still too cold to spend too much time outside.

Our first night was a family catch up at the Broadmeadows (Broady) Club with my favourite Uncle Len. He's 85 years old & is as fantastic as ever. It was great to catch up with my cousin Kevin & his wife Cris (who were the original owners of our caravan), my cousin Ian & my other cousins wife Sue & her son Kayne. We don't get to see each other very often but it's always nice when we do.

We went to the Queen Vic markets as I hadn't been in many years. That market could easily be a

quarter of the size it is with so many of the stalls repeated so often. We only bought one thing, no prizes for guessing ........ a t shirt for Gary & yep, I'm sure you're thinking Star Wars! It was a pretty unique Star Wars t shirt after all 😆
After that we hopped on a tram in to Southbank. Melbourne's public transport is awesome. We caught the free 'circle line' tram which dropped us off right next to Southbank.  We walked along beside the Yarra & then went back home.

Thanks to Facebook I was contacted by Anna who worked with both Gary & I at Tip Top.

Anna & her new husband Nigel now live in Melbourne & invited us over for dinner.
It was such a great night. They made a beautiful Thai Green Curry & I bought a lemon curd tart from the market. All the food was amazing & It was a really great night. We might just take them up on their offer to park our van in their back yard next time! 😜 

On the Saturday we went to Uncle Len's house to have lunch with my cousin Lynette & Peter & also Ian & Kevin. Kevin & Ian cooked the barbecue while the rest of us sat inside & chatted. Sue popped in after lunch to say hi too. We finished off with a beautiful sponge cake made by Ian's wife Kerry.
Gary & I had a sleepover at Uncle Len's which is always nice.

Next stop, Albury ...............

The Ocean Road is Really Great!

Apollo Bay & Anglesea 30th March - 6th April

The Great Ocean Road was a lot more 'curly' than I recall. I didn't particularly like all the hills & tight bends that felt like went on for ever! We already know Gary is a just about a saint but he outdid himself coping with me saying "slow down, slow down" while at the next bend saying "hurry up & get us away from these hills, but slow down" all while manoeuvring the car & caravan. We were eventually rewarded by some of the most spectacular ocean & clifftop views you could imagine. You can't help but say "wow" when you see it.
We stopped at 12 Apostles visitors centre (there are now only 9 1/2 Apostles left but I guess that doesn't have the same ring to it).  After looking at the Apostles we had some lunch in the van. There is something quite satisfying about making & eating a fresh ham cheese & tomato sandwich & cup of tea in our own little home on wheels in a visitor centre car park.

We arrived at Apollo Bay & were directed to our site which was right at the end of the caravan park on a bit of a cliff on the edge of the sea. It was pretty cool looking out our door & watching the surfers & hearing the waves crashing. One morning there was a car parked there with a border collie dog (we found out later her name was Sugar) sitting next to the car. She didn't take her eyes off the group of surfers. One time a surfer caught a huge wave & off he surfed. Sugar watched & then ran down the bank through the bushes. Next minute, up she comes again, back on guard duty but she did come over to me so I could give her a pat.

Next day we went in to the town & walked along the shore. Still a bit cool to get our feet wet but was still nice to walk along the beach. Apollo Bay is also a fishing village so we had fish & chips on the wharf. We also discovered a Victorian delicacy called the 'South Melbourne Dim Sim' we had seen them advertised in the Warrnambool fish & chip shop but didn't take much notice. When I saw them again in Apollo Bay I asked what they were. The lady explained to me that they originated at the South Melbourne market & are now famous across Victoria. Of course we had to try them & they were very nice. About the size of a cricket ball & very tasty.

We decided to change our plan to stay a minimum of a week in each town & hug the coast all the way up to Queensland after already exhausting our minimal winter wardrobe. We stayed in Apollo Bay for two days before heading off to Anglesea for 3 days.
Angelsea was lovely & very close to the other popular seaside towns of Lorne & Torquay. Angelsea caravan park is huge! It was still school holidays in Victoria so was packed with families.
We went to Torquay & on the way called in to Bells Beach where the Rip Curl Pro surfing championships were on. We walked down a path as far as we could go before having to pay the entry fee. We could see a few surfers practicing but that was about it. Box ticked!
Spent the rest of the day in Torquay just wandering around the many surf clearance shops but not actually buying anything which felt pretty good!
Gary found a 'craft beer' place he wanted to try. While he sat sampling a 'paddle' of beer I went to the loo. On the way back my nephew Ben & friend Jess were sitting there having just finished lunch! Small world hey? Stopped & chatted for a bit & then went back 'home'.

We went to Lorne to see Erskine Falls & go toTeddy's Lookout. It seems they haven't had a lot of rain lately as the 'falls' were more of a dribble which was a bit dissapointing. Teddy's Lookout however didn't dissapoint. Just a short drive through some suburban streets brings you out to an amazing lookout over a very impressive section of the Great Ocean Road. From here you can see the road carved into the side of a pretty huge cliff edge.

The next day Gary wanted to take me on a river cruise. Anglesea caravan park is situated in between the sea & a river. On the river they have paddle boats & little motor boats. It was pretty cool putt putting along the river.

Next stop, Melbourne ...........

It's pretty cool in Warrnambool.......

Warrnambool 14th - 30th March
We finally crossed the border into Victoria, spending two weeks in Warrnambool including Easter. When we arrived at Surfside Caravan Park we were directed to 'section C, site 45' which was straightforward enough. What we found was that this HUGE park is divided into sections which are divided by trees & dense bushes. What was  'interesting' was that they only put one or two vans per section (which has around 20 sites). We were the only van in our section for our entire stay except the Easter long weekend. We did feel quite isolated & was a bit creepy. Easter was crazy busy but at least we didn't feel like we were alone on an island.

The weather for most of the time was cloudy & overcast with occasional showers. We  didn't do a heck of a lot as we don't particularly 'do' cold weather. It was pretty overcast & cold for most of the time. When the sun did come out we made the most of it & went for some great walks along the walking track that followed the coast from our caravan park to the marina & breakwater. In the mornings horses are brought down for a swim or run along the sand. We were quite surprised to see how deep the horses go, with just their heads out of the water, being towed along by a guy in a dingy.

Back home in Adelaide, Lauren celebrated her 7th birthday. Missing family celebrations is the only negative with us being away for so long. Colin & Megan have been letting the girls Skype with us weekly which is fantastic & certainly helps with home sickness. Thanks to Skype, on Lauren's birthday we were able to sing happy birthday to her & she showed us her birthday presents. One of her presents was the Family Feud board game. We were very excited to be invited to play a game of Family Feud with them over Skype. The Craigmore Griffiths defeated the travelling Griffiths in a close game. Technology is amazing & gave us a very special memory.

Port Fairy is a lovely little town not far from Warrnambool which we discovered has an island called 'Griffiths Island'. Named after whaler, & station owner, John Griffiths Of course we had to visit Griffiths Island & see all it has to offer. It's only 1.9km long & has a couple of walking tracks & a lighthouse (& not much else). It's biggest attraction is its bird life.

Gary wanted to get a bike to get around the caravan parks & for fitness. I looked on Gumtree & there happened to be a great bike advertised & located just a few streets away. So now Gary is not only a grey nomad but a MAMIT (Middle Aged Man In Trackies), none of us want to picture Gary in Lycra!!

Next stop, THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD - Apollo Bay & Anglesea ...........

Robe... Beautiful one day, crayfish the next.

Robe .... 7th - 14th March (+ 2 bonus days courtesy of dodgy transmission sensor)
Robe certainly did live up to its reputation of beautiful sandy beaches & amazing, fresh seafood.

The caravan park was surprisingly quiet with only a handful of vans in our area.
We were a short walk across the road from the creatively named, 'long beach', a beautiful stretch of beach that has the softest sand I have ever felt, our toes literally melted into the sand as we walked along the waters edge. Half of the beach allows cars & was packed on the weekend.

We did quite a few walks along the beach & like most coastal towns this one has beautiful walking tracks. We did a 6km walk one day..... Yes, that it not a typo WE WALKED 6 KILOMETRES!! It was actually really lovely walking on the path from the centre of the Main Street, around the marina to the lookout where the obelisk is (still not sure what an obelisk is).

We watched a few sunsets from the lighthouse as I think they will be the last sunsets over the beach we will see for a while.

With Robe being famous for its shellfish, we could not go past indulging in a fresh crayfish in the caravan for tea. No other accompaniments needed except for some seafood sauce & lettuce.
I discovered Robe to be a foodies paradise after going to Union Cafe for breakfast twice, (thanks Sarah Gagliardi for the recommendation). The little ice cream shop was pretty cool too with about 20 different flavours of home made ice cream. They even had some dairy free for Gary that were way more exciting than the usual lemon or mango sorbet he usually has to settle for.

Monday the 14th was Adelaide Cup public holiday & also check out day for us to head off to Warrnambool. We were up at the crack of 8 o'clock, finished packing up the van & car & started to head out of the park when Gary noticed the transmission warning light was flashing. Oh dear..... That is not what you want to see when you're about to drive 320km dragging your house behind you!
Gary phoned Isuzu Roadside Assist (RAA) who just happened to have their one & only mechanic already on his way to Robe for another callout. He took one look & said "that'll have to go on the computer mate, we'd better call Isuzu in Mt Gambier & try & book it in tomorrow" (due to being a public holiday).
The Isuzu service manager answered his phone which was pretty impressive & said to bring it in first thing next day to check it out. If it was just the sensor they will fix it same day but if it was the transmission then it would take a week to fix! Oh well, might just have to console ourselves with some fresh prawns!
He said we would need to get the car towed just in case it was the transmission. In true country town fashion, the RAA guy is also the tow truck driver..... He said he'd pick us up at 7am so they could fit us in as first job of the day.
Tuesday morning the tow truck arrives & I'm just a little bit excited to be going on this adventure of a 130km ride in a tow truck! My excitement was short lived as soon as we climbed into the passenger seats.......

Hooley Dooley, I know it's a tow truck but would it kill him to give the dash a wipe or clean it out of rubbish once every five years? Oh yeah, I think the only time the windscreen has ever been cleaned is when it rains. Remembering, this truck is doing country runs so the screen was thick with every dead bug & guts you could imagine! I could hardly contain my sniggers for the whole journey knowing how incredibly pedantic Gary is about his cars cleanliness. He is also driven to insanity if he ever hears a tiny rattle or squeak in his cars. You could hardly hear yourself think with the noise. I also would have worn my sports bra if I'd known how bumpy it was going to be. It was so bad it was hilarious.......
We sat in the customer lounge for a couple of hours & then they finally came & said "all fixed" it was a dodgy sensor so they replaced it. We then went & had some lunch & did the customary Mt Gambier touristy things like visiting the Blue Lake & Umpherston Sinkhole. We've seen them both a few times but they are still just as impressive.
Well....that was our week in Robe (+ 2 bonus days). It was a terrific first 'real' stop. Next stop, Warrnambool......

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.......

We moved to Semaphore Beach Caravan Park, the first of many caravan parks on 13th January. For the next 6 weeks I spent the time getting used to the caravanning life, basically, going for walks along the beach, lunching with friends & making our caravan, 'home'.
Gary continued working & doing odd jobs around the van. Will be very interesting to see how Gary copes with having not much to do. Lots of speculation among family & friends that he'll be door knocking around caravan parks offering his services.

Let the adventure begin!

The story so far........
We sold our house & moved permanently into our caravan on 14th December 2015 planning on spending the next 2 years living a relaxed lifestyle & seeing family & friends scattered all over Australia. Might see some pretty interesting sights too!
First stop - Gawler! Gary's brother Mick & our lovely sister in law Annie very generously offered their driveway in Gawler to park our van & live while Gary continued working till end of February.
This was a terrific opportunity to get used to our new, confined surroundings & sort out the inside of the van. It was also great to spend this time with Mick & Annie 😊