Jan 4.
We left home after a busy few days packing the van and a mad scramble to finish a quilt for exhibition (providing it is accepted). Thank you lovely friend Kay for taking it from there! We prepared the house and garden for our house exchange guests Chris and Ralf, and were delighted to meet them both when they arrived. We felt like they were friends already after spending a month in their home in Mallorca, and having so many email conversations with them. We were happy to leave our house with them.
Our first stop was a visit to Glenn's mum Laurel for lunch which we had together with sister Denise. From there we headed to friends in Sydney, Suzie and Rob and had dinner with Lori and Terry as well. It was a late night but a terrific catch-up with treasured old friends. Next day we had a leisurely breakfast, a swim with their grand kids, lunch and eventually hit the road and headed south. Tonight we are camped under a tree just north of Goulburn, with three Japanese students from Melbourne for company.
The countryside Is desperately dry and dams and creeks are very low. There are also great tracts of burnt land along the highway. Despite all that, the kookaburras were laughing just after sunset!
In Goulburn we stopped for a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs at The Roses Cafe which looks out onto the graceful park on the Main Street. We wandered through, smelling the roses before driving on to Gundagai. We had coffee there with friend Rob from my art school days. She has the most gorgeous cottage on the hill with a lovely garden.
At the end of the day we parked in the Chiltern rest area south of the border in Victoria in the Mount Pilot National park. It is a day only place but we stayed the night with a lot of other vans, as suitable places were few and far between. We ate dinner with two other couples who were travelling together and going to... you guessed it ... Tasmania! One of the girls came from the area of the Phillipines ravaged by the Typhoon.......and still doesn't know of the fate of cousins. No doubt we will cross paths again in Tassie.
After breakfast we walked a short track in the national park in an area heavily mined last century and saw six abandoned shafts leading into gold mines. There was also a large, wary goanna which took to the nearest tree as we approached. It's a joy to be walking in the bush again.
Crossed Didda-Didda Creek. We have some curious names for creeks in this country.
Jan. 7
We drove south and detoured to the historic town of Glenrowan in Ned Kelly country. There are museums and monuments to the Kelly gang at every turn and a local shop has 'Ned's Pies'! The Main Street has a huge Ned Kelly statue and the local pub has bushranger sculptures on the balcony pointing pistols at passers-by.
The town also has a shop in the main street called '10 to 4 Gallery' which has outstanding works by ten local artists. They encompass felting, weaving, knitting, cards, crochet, woodwork, jewellery, paintings and other works, all of which were of excellent quality and originality. Don't miss it if you visit the town. It's exceptional.
We spent the night in Seymour on the banks of the Goulburn River in the same caravan park we were in years ago when we paddled in the National Dragon's Abreast Regatta. It was Easter, freezing, and our sweep fell into the water before the start of the race. She must have been frozen after a soaking in the very cold water but insisted on climbing aboard and sweeping the boat for the race. We admired her grit to such an extent that we paddled like mad and won the race. Great memories! Seymour also has some good wines.
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