Friday 11th May - Victor Harbour

Maybe it was today that we bought the chairs.  Whatever, we went shopping again.  Had some lunch at "Sweet Sensations" in the shopping centre.  I had syrup cake and Bill had a hot dog.
Then we went for a drive to Port Elliot, Middleton and Goolwa.

"Oscar W"

At Goolwa we had a look at the paddle steamer "Oscar W".
We also had some afternoon tea at the little cafe "Hector's" on the wharf.  I had a yummy citrus tart and Bill had an individual apple and rhubarb crumble.
back in Victor Harbour we went to the Golf Club for dinner.  Very fortunate, because it appears Friday night is th eonly night it is open for dinner.  (No, the web site says Thursday and Friday.)  Quite a small dining room, which was packed when we arrived, but the waitress offered to set a small table for us which we accepted.  The food was yummy.  I had a salmon and avocado salad which was really nice.  Bill had the roast which was also very nice.

Thursday 10th May - Bordertown to Victor Harbour

Strath Corner Bakery

We left Bordertown at about 9:30.  Drove through Keith and Tallem Bend.  We stopped at Strathalbyn for lunch in the same bakery we had lunch when we were last here about 13 years ago.  It was the Stath Corner Bakery.
We continued on to Middleton, by-passed Murray Bridge and Goolwa.  Arrived at Victor Harbour Beachfront Park at 2pm.

Our ensuite site

When Bill got the caravan set up he discovered he hadn't packed any outdoor chairs, so one of our first tasks was to hit the shopping centre to see what we could buy.  Settled on two chairs from Big W @ $30 each.  Quite sturdy chairs, and relatively easy to get out of for me.

View from the site

Our view from the site was lovely.
We had dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel.  As soon as we walked in we realised it was the same pub we'd had a meal in last time we were here, because it had a train running around the walls of the dining room.

Grosvenor Hotel

We didn't have the camera, so no photos of the train.  Sadly there are no photos on the internet either.  The train is not quite as good as the one that was operating years ago.  that train has been retired, and is on display above the bar.  It was a magnificent looking specimen.  The new one is more modern looking, and it doesn't make noises like the old one did when it blew its whistle.

Wednesday 9th May - Bendigo to Bordertown

We left Mark and Janine's about 9:30 and headed for Bordertown, South Australia which was to be our first overnight stop.

Bendigo to Bordertown

We were on the Wimmera Highway.  On the way we went through Marong, Newbridge, Tarnagulla, Moliagul, Logan, St. Arnaud, Marnoo, Rapanyup, Murtoa, Dooen, and Horsham.  From there the road became the Western Highway and we went through Pimpinio, Wail, by-passed Dimboola, Gerang Gerung, Kiata and Nhill. On to Kaniva, and then across the border into South Australia, where the road became the Duke's Highway.
The land was pretty flat - this is Wimmera country.  The main industries appear to be wheat and sheep.
We stopped for lunch at Horsham (McDonald's).

Bordertown Caravan Park

We arrived at the Bordertown Caravan Park about 3:30 - of course we lost half an hour at the border!  A nice little park, with drive-through sites.  We were almost next to the amenities block - well, we were until another van pulled in about 30 minutes after us and parked between us and the amenities.

White Kangaroo at Bordertown

After we got ourselves settled we went for a look around Bordertown.  First stop was the white kangaroo fauna park.  There were approximately twenty of these beautiful white kangaroos.  They are not albinos, but pure white none-the-less.

Bordertown Railway Station

The park was opposite the old railway station, which was a lovely old building.  The deterioration seems to have been halted or at least slowed, but it seems that little is being done to actually preserve or make use of the building.

Bordertown Hotel

We had tea at Clancy's Restaurant in the Bordertown Hotel.  I had Clancy's Chicken, Bill had Barramundi and chips. It was all very nice.  Nice restaurant setting too.
We drove around town a bit, and saw the house where Bob Hawke was born.  The bust of Bob Hawke is not outside the house as it appears in this photo - it is outside the Council Chambers.

Hawke House

Tuesday 8th May - Bruthen to Bendigo

Van all packed, and we're off on another adventure - barring a bad report from John Scarlett.  Appointment with John was for 12 o'clock, and he was almost on time.  No problems, so we continue as we were.
After we saw John we headed back to the Uniting Church as we were in time to attend the 1:00 funeral of Rick Lightowler - a Casualty Nurse who had cared for me on numerous visits to Casualty.  Rick had apparently been suffering from secondary cancer from a melonoma for the past five years - but had been able to keep working until fairly recently.  As my visits to Casualty have been non-existent for 18 months we weren't aware that he had been missing.  It was a huge funeral.  Our plan was to stay at the back of the church, and if the service appeared to be going on for too long we would slip out and be on our way.  But best laid plans and all that ... Stephen Baggs saw us and immediately offered to find us a seat - he didn't want me collapsing!  We tried to protest, but he wouldn't be swayed.  Next thing we queue-jumped the line of people waiting to sign the condolences book and were escorted right up to the front of the church - we could almost have reached out and touched the coffin!  And of course, gone was any chance of sneaking out before it was all over.  It was a lovely service though.  After the service the hearse was driven to the Bairnsdale Hospital so all the staff who couldn't make it to the funeral could pay their last respects.
We finally got away from Bairnsdale at about 2:30 and made our way to Bendigo.  Pulled up outside Mark's, but didn't unhitch the van.  Had tea with them, chatted for a while and then went to bed.
Our new inner-spring mattress was very comfortable. For some reason I had a pain in my left leg all night, and had to keep changing sides, but it was much better than the foam mattress.