South in Winter

Posted on August 3, 2025 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

In our caravanning days, one rule was that we avoided the south east of Australia during the colder months. Anywhere, south of Brisbane was out of bounds.

The Goondiwindi water pressure tower was near to our motel.

So our decision to visit my siblings in Gippsland was taken with much thought, but finally decided on reluctantly. We have been gone from being residents of Melbourne for more than forty years, so we do not like cold weather at all.

But my one and only sister has recently been moved into care and seemed to be making hard work of it, so we decided to make the trip south. For additional incentive our plans included a call on Ruth’s debilitated younger brother at Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands and to catch up with our younger daughter in Sydney, but only for dinner.

We set off on 1^st July via the Warrego Highway and the Toowoomba Bypass, stopping in for lunch at Millmerran. Shortly after getting back on the road, we were held up by a tourist having laid their caravan on its side on the shoulder of the road. Problem free from there on. The Gore Highway had been improved since we last used it. Busy too, with trucks and caravans, mostly going towards Toowoomba.

This bridge over the Macintyre River leads to NSW and used to be the main crossing between the two states.

A memorial on the bank of the Macintyre to champion racehorse Gunsynd, known as “THe Goondiwindi Grey”.

A mid-afternoon arrival at our Goondiwindi accommodation. The timing allowed me to do an afternoon walk with my camera, through the central town area and to explore the area near the Macintyre River. Goondiwindi is a substantial town with a population of around ten thousand people.

Day two was a run along the Newell Highway with the overnight stop at Coonabarabran. By the time that we booked into our motel the evening chill had set in, so I squibbed on a walk and stayed inside in the warm motel room instead.

As a concession to advancing age we had broken the trip into shorter daily distances. Our third night was at West Wyalong. We took a break in Gilgandra at the historic Coo-ee Heritage and Information Centre, built to commemorate the start of the famous World War 1 recruiting march that commenced in Gilgandra and concluded at the recruiting office in Sydney. Lunch at Parkes, shopping at Forbes and the night at West Wyalong.

The Coo-ee Heritage and Information Centre at Gilgandra.

A muraL at the Coo-ee Centre almost appears to be part of the landscape.

Day four took us further along the Newell Highway until we reached Jerilderie, where we turned left to reach the Cobb Highway at Deniliquin. This town, famous for its annual Utility muster, is on the Edwards River, a tributary of the Murray. Here we were introduced to paddle wheel steamer country, with examples of these historic craft and shallow draft houseboats, moored to the bank or aground on the bank of the river.

With time in hand, we decided to turn into the Barmah National Park, a lake and flood plain area on the Murray, not far from Echuca. It was on our list to visit so the call today saved us returning the next day. It is only about 20 km off the Cobb Highway.

The Deniliquin Ute Muster is held in the town annually.

Cruises of the lakes at Barmah National Park are available.

The Murray River at Barmah National Park.

Remains of River Gun giants of the past.

Barmah is a popular area and offers visitor facilities including a cruise boat for tours of the lake. Campers have ready access to a launching ramp near the camping ground and several hundred meters of shore at which boats can be moored. The entire public area is flood plain and evidence of flooding is everywhere. The forest is dotted with huge river gums, most still standing but some have succumbed to the rigors of nature and are slowly crumbling back to vegetable matter. It is worth a visit if you are in the area.

We reached the sizeable town of Moama, on the northern shore of the Murray, in good time and took the new concrete bridge, opened in 2024, over the river, to our hotel on the edge of the CBD. I had time for a camera walk before settling for the night. The evening light was very gentle on the historic buildings of the railway station where I took my walk.

Railway freight sheds in the evening light.

Grain Silos by the railway line that runs on into NWS.

The Caledonian Hotel-Motel, our residence in Echuca

Houseboats moored to the Victorian bank of the Murray River.

On Saturday morning, day six, we set out initially to find the location of our cruise paddle wheeler. Boating activity is centered on the old port area where the famous high-level wharf, so often seen in photos of the port, is to be found. Two boats were providing paddle wheeler rides, PS Pevensey, which was operating from the old wharf, and PS Canberra that was working from a floating dock a little further down-stream. Both boats were using the same section of the river, virtually taking turns in using the narrow strip of river provided by the low water levels currently in the Murray. The Darling River has had a boost from rains in Queensland but the catchment area for the Murray has received much less rain. It will get a boost from snow melt at the end of winter.

Having located the boarding place, we then went to find the mouth where the Campaspe River joins the Murray. Sadly the road in was only passable to four-wheel drive vehicles. It was a bit too far to walk.

The PS Pevensey, one of the oldest boats on the river.

Houseboats moored near the old river crossing at Echuca

The port precinct is the centre of tourist activity.

We returned to our unit for an early lunch, to make sure that we were in time for boarding at 1.15 PM. During our morning reconnoiter we had established that Ruth would not be able to board, due to the steep angle of the boarding ramp. So we found a parking space that overlooked the boarding area. That was the best that we could do. Mobility limits can be challenging and lead to disappointment at times.

The Old Mill is now home to a restaurant of that name

The cruise lasted an hour. We proceeded up stream to look at the historic wharf structure from the water. Then we turned down stream to retrace our course and paddle our way for about three kilometres. The scenery was mainly exposed river banks and rows of houseboats. Renting a houseboats is one of the things that tourists do when they visit Echuca. But many boats are privately owned. Some of those were in use, with owners basking in the afternoon sun, sheltered from the wind by the banks of the river.

PS Canberra, pictured at the start of this blog, was launched in Mildura in 1913 as a single deck fishing boat. There was a change of ownership, a second deck added and she became a river cruise boat. Canberra was moved to Echuca in 1966 and has remained there ever since.

I shot video during the cruise. Here it is in edited form.

Rain came in over night and produced intermittent showers for the first hour or so of our trip south to Melbourne and then Warragul. Traffic increased as we approached Seymour and stayed with us much of the way to and beyond Melbourne. The rain did not follow us into Gippsland but the weather was cool for our arrival. We booked into our accommodation and called my sister and my brother to announce our arrival and make arrangements to meet the next day.

A huge mistletoe on a River Red Gum at Barmah National Park

When away from home, conveniences that you take for granted are just not there. Our motel room was too small to spend much time with four adults in it, so we opted for lunch at a shopping centre where we could escape the cold wind, get coffee (tea for Bernard) and food and talk in some degree of comfort.

I should ad that we had been joined by my youngest brother Bernard, who lives on his farm outside of Drouin, and has done for most of his life. We had collected him in Drouin on our way through.

We had headed back towards Melbourne to the Westfield Fountain Gate centre at Narre Warren. This part of Melbourne we know well, but it is so changed. Ruth and I rented a flat near the railway station at Narre Warren about sixty years ago. It was our third home. Our move there had occurred as a consequence of me changing my job from Drouin to North Clayton. We had taken the first step towards becoming city dwellers.

We found a corner table in a food court. But it was a battle, as we were in the middle of Victorian school holidays. But we found shelter and sustenance, so had a good discussion before returning to Warragul and returning Aileen to her residence.

The next day we were joined by my sister-in-law Helen, widow of my younger brother Winston. I had four siblings, three brothers and a sister. Sister was youngest in the family. My elder and younger brothers passed away over recent years, as did my brother-in-law, leaving my only sister a widow.

Round Island off The Nobbies with the ramp to sea level in the foreground.

We collected Aileen and drove to Bernard’s farm where we moved into his larger car. Helen met us along the way. She is like Bernard, a retiring farmer. By retiring I mean that they have both ceased dairy farming and now raise beef as they wind down their level of productive involvement. Even farmers have to give up work some time.

A quick photo at Nobbies Lookout with Round Island in the top left hand corner. From left Aileen, Bernard and Helen. Ruth was smart and stayed in the car.

Our first stop for the day was San Remo. Talk about bleak weather. Even the life long Victorians were trying to avoid it. We gave up on fish and chips for lunch, got back into our cars and crossed the bridge into Phillip Island, continuing to Cowes, where we found a parking space in front of a suitable eating establishment. Phillip Island Coffee provided shelter, food and coffee. What more could we ask for?

There really isn’t much to do in Cowes on a cold winter day, but knowing how bleak it would be, we still drove out to The Nobbies and experienced the kind of weather that we had anticipated. Just a quick look and a couple of photos and we were back into the cars.

We took a longer way back to Warragul, following the Bass Highway to Wanthaggi where we stopped for coffee and comfort. We then followed the most logical way back to Ripplebrook, the location of Bernard’s farm. Then back to Warragul to deliver Aileen before returning to our motel and turning on the heater.

Standing behind Ruth, from the left, Helen, Bernard, Me, Cousin Kelvin and Aileen.

Wednesday was our last day. Ruth and I joined Aileen for very leisurely coffee at the coffee shop at her residence. We then moved on to The Warragul golf club restaurant where we met again with Helen and Bernard, plus a cousin, Kelvin Sheather, who also lives in the area.

We normally use the golf club for family catch ups and have been doing so for several years. It provides all the facilities that we need for lunch plus a lounge area where we can spend extended time in each other’s company. We went for a bit of a drive around the newer parts of Warragul before saying our farewells to my little sister.

The arcade where the gas company office was located is to the right. The main change since our time there, is the glass roof.

Warragul has grown and matured since our departure. I know its streets intermittently because for about four years I tramped them once a month, reading gas metres, as part of my clerical employment, by first The Colonial Gas Association and later The Gas & Fuel Corporation of Victoria, after a company take over. The office is still there after about sixty five years but is now a coffee shop.

Thursday morning and time to head on back towards home. Catchups planned for Bowral, Sydney and Toronto.

We both felt a bit under the weather from the start. We had developed coughs and congested airways. We didn’t think we had the dreaded Covid, as part of checking into Aileen’s accommodation was facial recognition, including a temperature check. Neither of us had elevated temperatures. We stopped at Morwell for Strepsils to ease throats but continued on to Orbost for our first night. The weather was still very cold and windy.

Boats and Oyster beds at Merimbula, NSW.

Next morning, at Eden, we called at a pharmacy for something to suppress Ruth’s cough and came away with three medications. We stopped for lunch at Merimbula but then made a detour to Bermagui to see if we could spot a coastal rock feature known as the Horses Head. We could see no sign of it where I thought it to be, so we moved on to our motel at Moruya.

We were on full health watch as we were now to within twenty-four hours of our next family call, this one with the most critical health aspects attached. We continued up the coast to Wollongong before turning inland to spend the night at Picton, at a motel on the old Hume Highway. We stopped for lunch at Kiama, along with most of the tourists visiting the area south of Sydney that day. Or so it seemed.

During the evening we talked to our family at Bowral and decided that the risk of passing on our ailments was too great. That was a good decision, because on returning home Ruth was diagnosed with influenza, despite having had anti flu injections. Our daughter Briony took a pass on our dinner arrangement. She is busy at work and doesn’t need a dose of the flu.

An inquisitive Swan on Georges River, Liverpool

Our Sydney accommodation at Liverpool had been booked and paid for, with a check in time of 2.00 PM. So we found a sunny spot in a park by the Georges River and sat and read. I did a short walk. Then we found a place for lunch and then booked in to our hotel. Our tenth floor room provided views att the way to the City of Sydney particularly as the sun set.

This brought us to Monday morning again, so we made our way through Sydney morning traffic to that strip of adventure known as the Pacific Highway to Newcastle. We were impressed by the progress made on the Raymond Terrace bypass.

The Camden Haven River at Laurieton NSW.

Our stop was at Laurieton for the night. Chinese takeaway for dinner. We had planned a stop for the following night at Yamba, with a final run home the next day. But we decided to abandon the Yamba booking and drive through. We were again impressed with progress on the Coffs Harbor bypass. It is a bit hard to work out how much longer the construction will take, as so much of it can’t be seen from the existing road.

A clear run to home with only a modest delay on the Gateway Arterial. As we had travelled north the weather had improved, warmer and with less wind. After the first day with a soar throat, my symptoms had disappeared and I felt quite well. Not so Ruth, who coughed and slept her way home.

So, we arrived home on Tuesday and achieved a doctor appointment on Thursday. Ruth was diagnosed with influenza, right on the cusp of phenomena. But she responded well to antibiotics and is now back to near normal.

We felt the trip was worth while, despite the disappointments of the second half. But the experiences did teach us that Melbourne and Gippsland are not a good idea for us in Winter.

The Family Responsibilities Tour – Part 1

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Note: A video covering the material in this post can be found at the foot of this blog post.

On 23rd November 2021 I lost both my eldest brother, Ivan, and my brother-in-law Colin, my only sister Aileen’s husband. Colin passed in the morning, Ivan in the early evening. Ivan was in the northern suburbs of Newcastle and Colin at Moe in Victoria’s West Gippsland region. There was no connection in their deaths, just one of life’s coincidences.

Covid-19 was at its high point, with borders closed in some states but not in others. We could have travelled to NSW, possibly to Victoria, but we would not have been permitted back into Queensland. We faced a real travel ban. So we had to provide our condolences and the support that we so much wanted to give by phone call, email and text message. We decided that as soon as possible after borders opened, we would travel south to visit grieving relatives and graves.

The opportunity came in March. With borders open and three vaccinations completed we headed south on 12^th March, just four days after what would have been Ivan’s 88^th birthday celebration.

Our intention had been to first spend a couple of days with friends in Ballina, but they had been evacuated a few days before due to flooding of the Richmond River, which had closed the Pacific Highway from Ballina to south of Grafton. Their home was not inundated, and they returned to it after a couple of days, but a visit was not practical so soon after the floods, so we opted for the New England Highway.

Our first family call was to Marjorie, my sister-in-law, who requires constant care and who had gone into respite care in a retirement home in Bulahdelah, which is located about an hour north of her home in Newcastle. You will possible have read of Bulahdelah in the pages of these blogs. It is the town near which I spent the first 15 years of my life and where I met Ruth, my wife of almost 60 years. Ruth, of course, has been part of all the travels covered by the mobilesheathers.com blogs.

We spent the first night in Armidale. On day two we drove south to Uralla and there turned to join the Oxley Highway at Walcha, to reach the coast again. When we travel for almost any reason we are touring and taking in sights and points of interest along the way. We had been hoping for some early Autumn colours in the roadside trees so were a bit disappointed by the lack of colour, but the area had not progressed far into Autumn but it was very green from recent rain.

But just east of Walcha the Apsley Falls were at their thundering best. On our previous visit, back in our caravanning days, the drought was it its height and there was not even a trickle of water on the falls, just a pool of brackish water at the bottom. Viewing facilities at the falls are excellent. Ruth was able to make her way to the main viewing deck and was able to see as much as I could. There are some good walks at the falls, but time did not permit. We had appointments to keep.

We paused for lunch at Wauchope and made it to our motel at Forster, at the mouth of Wallace Lake, in good time. Time to fit in a walk! So, with camera in hand, I set off for the bridge that spans the lake at a narrow point between Forster and neighbouring Tuncurry. The bridge is about one kilometre long with a hump on each end to allow boats to pass underneath.

An area south of Forster, Tiona, was a favourite holiday destination during my childhood, as it offered a range of options for my fishing loving Father. There were two ways of getting there from where we lived back then. If we came via Tuncurry the car and trailer (containing our camping equipment) would be loaded onto a small punt which was pulled through the meandering channel to the other side. Now the sand bars that shaped the channel carry the pylon foundations that support the bridge.

An Australian Pelican perched on a bridge light

The bridge provides a scenic vantage point for both towns, Wallace Lake, and the entry to the lake from the ocean. Ever watchful for sea birds I noticed an Eastern Osprey making long sweeps over the lake in search of dinner, or perhaps a late lunch. After several failed attempts, it landed on a bridge street light and remained on its perch as I walked past taking photos of it. A call at the ocean beach and it was time to return to the motel for dinner.

The easiest route from Forster to our next call at the retirement home at Bulahdelah was to fallow the Pacific Highway but a more interesting way was to leave the highway south of Coollongolook and followed The Wootton Way to where it re-joins the highway just north of Bulahdelah. This detour took us past a school that I attended for a couple of years during primary school and past the property on which I and my family lived for about 5 years prior to moving to Victoria when I was 15.

The school is now a community centre and the town much smaller than it was 70 plus years ago. The road is sealed as, for a time, it was the Pacific Highway. Further on we drove through magnificent stands of white-trunked trees, typical of the area. Further on we came to the property where our house stood near the road. The house was moved shortly after we vacated. New owners built further back on the property, behind the tree line and have operated a farm stay business for many years.

The old shed in which I milked the house cows

We arrived at the nursing home in good time next morning to complete the Covid safety procedure before visiting sister-in-law Marjorie. We found her in good spirits despite having been told a few days previously that the nursing home was to close thus causing uncertainty about her future. We stayed for morning coffee and lunch before making our way further south. Happily, Marjorie’s future accommodation arrangements were settled a few days later when her two daughters completed arrangements for her to take up residence on the top floor of a facility near Lake Macquarie in Newcastle, where she will have views of the lake as well as, we hope, good care.

The sloping lawns of the Lake Macquarie Memorial Park

We stayed two nights at Warners Bay, our motel overlooking the northern end of Lake Macquarie. Ivan is buried at Lake Macquarie Memorial Park at Ryhope, just a few hundred metres off the Pacific Motorway, south of Newcastle. A very convenient location for paying our respects during future trips south.

We met Ivan’s two daughters with their respective spouses at the park. They showed us to the grave site, already almost covered with grass. The plaques are under way and should be in place when next we call. The grave is in a pleasant area on the side of a gently sloping hillside. The entire garden area appears to be well kept and will continue to be so. We left the cemetery and drove to the sports club in Toronto where we lingered over coffee with nieces and nephews that we rarely see.

The afternoon was fine and sunny so we parked, and I took a walk on the path provided between Warners Bay and Speirs Point. It is not always possible to keep up my walking schedule when we are travelling, so such opportunities are not to be missed. As a bonus there were birds to photograph, including a White-necked Heron, a first sighting for me.

Next morning, Tuesday, we took the short drive to the home of Ruth’s elders sister Judy and her husband Alan, at West Wallsend. Judy has mobility problems but maintains a positive attitude which is most demonstrated by her determination to keep travelling. So over lunch we discussed, as well as family, travel plans and experiences. Visit over, we headed for Sydney.

We were to have spent two nights with our daughter Briony at her Erskinville home, but she had come down with a non-Covid virus that we did not want to catch. A quick change of arrangements took us to the Travelodge at Bankstown, a bit of an experience as it is also the Bankstown Sports Club. Temporary club membership was bestowed upon us so that we could use the facilities of the club.

On our second night with Briony we had planned to meet Ruth’s youngest sister Dorothy (Dot) for dinner. So, a quad became a threesome at the NEM Riverwood Vietnamese restaurant, for good food and a good old family catch up.

To fill in the intervening day we revisited old stamping grounds from the first period of joint residence in Sydney during the time of my appointment to East Coast Transport at Botany. We started with morning coffee at Cronulla, right on the water on a lovely sunny morning. We then drove past Miranda Fair, where we used to do our shopping and stopped for a look at our former residence at 4 Tulong Place, Kirrawee. This house was built on top a couple of huge boulders, with views over the Royal National Park. Every time I see this house, I wish that we still lived there.

Next, we drove into the Royal National Park to the town of Bundeena on the southern shore of Port Hacking. This was to have been our lunch location but, after a largish morning coffee we were just not ready for more food. After looking around Bundeena we returned to the road through the park that leads to its southern coast entrance at Otford. At this point you will find one of the best scenic lookouts in Sydney. Otford lookout has an elevated viewing platform, heaps of parking space, a kiosk and views over the coast and from Sea Cliff Bridge to Port Kembla. We had a snack there before driving back through Stanwell Tops and Waterfall to Bankstown and dinner.

The following morning, we left Sydney early and drove to Bowral in the Southern Highlands of NSW, to call on Ruth’s youngest brother Wallace and his wife Ginny. Wallace is in advanced stages of a degenerative disease (similar to Parkinson’s disease) so our visits are relatively short. We joined them for lunch and family news. These calls are always sad and happy events because you never know if each one will be the last.

Our destination for the night was Canberra. We were joined for breakfast next morning by grandson Jeremy who now works in the National Capital. The remainder of the day was spent driving via the Monaro Highway to its junction with the Princes Highway at Cann River. Then the run through the East Gippsland mountains and Orbost brought us to Lakes Entrance for the night.

There is always bird life at Lake Entrance, so the long lens got some use that evening and again on my walk next morning. Swans and Pelicans predominate, but there are many others. After leaving Lakes Entrance we detoured to Metung for morning coffee, lunched in Traralgon and arrived at our accommodation in Trafalgar in time to unpack and go out to find some dinner.

Wake up time for Pelicans at Lakes Entrance

A Different Way there … and Back – Post 8

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Days 36 – 1^st May – Stratford to Lakes Entrance – 90 Km

A short drive had us in the park at Lakes Entrance at lunch time despite having stopped at Bairnsdale to buy some warmer clothes. A bitterly cold wind was blowing from the south and totally negating any influence that the sun was having on the temperature. Two digits required to express the temperature, but only just. Other family members arrived mid afternoon so the catch up has commenced.

Days 37 to 40 – 2^nd to 5th May – Lakes Entrance Area

A day by day description of these days would be like watching paint dry so I will comment only on the highlights.

On Friday (Day 39) the entire party of 6 joined a ferry cruise on the lakes. The objective of the cruise was lunch at the Metung Hotel but with sightseeing, accompanied by a commentary from the skipper, as a bonus. The entire event took about four hours and occurred under clear skies and sunshine. Thursday and Friday were both much better days that the day that we arrived, although the mornings were still very cold. If winter is not actually here it is not far away.

Cormorants crowd a sand bank.

Metung is a small village on a point, or tongue of land that provides one shore of the channel into Lakes King and Victoria, when approaching from Lakes Entrance. Its status as a village is confirmed by the presence of a genuine village green. There are a few businesses. The housing is a mixture of luxury and humble but the overall effect is

The hotel is right by the lake

an attractive one. The hotel is right on the water with its own jetty. We simply moored, disembarked and strolled in for lunch. I think this is how the rich do it!

Parked for lunch

On Saturday we took a lay day and on Sunday (Day 41) we embarked on a two car tour convoy. Quite coincidently Aileen and Colin had friends holidaying in Lakes Entrance, so we invited them to occupy two of the spare seats. We set roughly a triangular course. I like triangular courses. They mean that you don’t have to pass the same point twice.

Mouth of Snowy River

Marlo, a small village at the mouth of the Snowy River, was the first destination. When we did our day trip out of Corryong we were near the source of the Snowy, so it was interesting to be standing on the bank watching it empty into the ocean. A bit further along the coast from here, to the east, is Cape Hicks, the first part of the Australian coast to be sighted by Lt. James Cook in 1772, but we didn’t drive that far.

The day was cold and cloudy, so the shop on the edge of town with a sign that promised hot coffee was irresistible. On a quiet Sunday seven for morning coffee was probably quite acceptable. To reach the coffee shop it was necessary to walk through a fishing tackle shop. There were no customers for bait while we were there but a few more came in for coffee.

On our way into town we had noticed a sign to a side road showing “PS Curlip”, so as we passed the sign on way back we turned in to see what it was all about. Moored in the Brodrib River, just upstream from its junction with the Snowy, was a paddle steamer of about 15 meters, fitted for passengers.

PS Curlip II at her mooring

This is the second PS Curlip. Curlip I was a work boat in the area for many years but was lost in a flood in 1919. In about 2002 locals devised a plan to rebuild the Curlip, and this was done as a community project. The vessel now is used as a cruise boat. Had we been in the area for another week we could have boarded for a Mother’s Day Lunch Cruise. A diary entry for a future visit to the area is appropriate.

We had been told that there was nowhere to eat in Buchan, the next corner of the triangle, so we drove back to Orbost, the larger town in the area, for some lunch before taking on the narrow mountain road to Buchan. Fish and chips and the like seemed appropriate on such a day so we stopped off at Chooky’s Nook. Good food, if a bit fatty. Great chips!

Parked in Orbost’s main street

Many years ago when I worked in the transport industry I had accounting responsibility for a transport operation that we had bought in the town. In those days Orbost was an important bean growing centre, producing hundreds of truck loads of beans for the snap frozen bean market. There is no sign of bean production now but the pastures are dotted with dairy cows.

Even more years ago, I explored much of this part of East Gippsland with a friend, each riding our own Vesper motor scooter. With sleeping bag, tent, clothes and food on the rack at the rear, or in a pack on our back, we travelled the area on long weekends and holidays. It was on one such trip that I first visited Buchan, travelling in from Nowa Nowa and departing along what is now known as the Barry Way, to the north.

So the road in from Orbost was a new experience. Along the 56 Km of this road forest and farm land alternate. On a couple of occasions we broke out of the bush on a hill top to be met by a picturesque valley complete with farm houses, sheds and autumn tintedtrees. The winding road meant that we were proceeding at a steady pace but that added to the charm of the drive. This part of the trip was the highlight of the day.Buchan is a rural centre but its main claim to fame is the limestone caves that are located near the small town. No one in our group was interested in tours of the caves but were keen to visit, or revisit, this quite unique place. The cave administration buildings, the day use area and small caravan park are on the bank of a stream and enclosed by steep hills on either side. The caves are in the hill side on the far side of the stream.

Buchan Caves NP

The area is sheltered by well established Australian natives interspersed by pines and more of the deciduous trees that are responsible for the autumn colours. It is a truly delightful spot. And it was sheltered from the cold wind!

Buchan Town & Valley

The person who told us that there was nowhere to eat in Buchan badly maligned the town. A cafe and a road house both provide meals, but it was too soon after lunch to eat again so we continued on to the small town of Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road, where we invaded another small shop for tea and coffee, before making our way back to Lakes Entrance following the road that runs along the banks of the Tambo River to Swan Reach and from there back to base.

A departing view of the entrance from which the town gets its name

Day 41 – 6^th May – Lakes Entrance to Ringwood North – 307 Km

We left Lakes Entrance in sunshine, experienced cloud and drizzle through the Latrobe Valley and finished in sunshine. We parked the van at the Wantirna Caravan Park, packed three days gear into a plastic bin and shopping bags and drove the remaining few kilometres to our friends place at Ringwood North.

Days 42 to 45 – 7^th to 10^th April – Ringwood North

Thelma and Joe have been friends for almost 50 years. Our families grew up together to a large extent and our youngest daughters remain in contact. We drank much tea and coffee and talked. These pleasant interludes were interspersed with some other activities. Ruth sustained a knee injury early in the trip and as it is still worrying her, she sought medical advice. We also went out to lunch one day. We returned to the van on Friday afternoon ready to depart Melbourne the next day.

Day 46 – 11^th May – Ringwood North to Castlemaine – 149 Km

The first part of the journey was across the suburbs of Melbourne to the Calder Freeway. As we passed through the new suburbs that were country towns when we lived in Melbourne, we were once again reminded of the growth of this southern city. The Calder Freeway runs to Bendigo and passes by Mount Macedon and a sign to Hanging Rock that reminds of a very nice wine and a certain picnic.

We stopped off at Kyneton, now bypassed by the freeway, to top up supplies. Many historic buildings line the main street. I remember them from when the highway passed their doors. It was a very busy day. Kyneton has excellent markets, we are told. If the crowded streets are an indication they must be very good indeed. In the IGA supermarket I spied a familiar face from a TV program. I am still trying to fit a name to the face.

Days 46 – 12^thMay – Castlemaine

Keith and Lynda lived near us at bay side Edithvale where we lived before moving to Queensland. As often happens, Ruth met Lynda at school where our daughter Briony and their son Dean were in the same class. Keith and I were drawn together by a common love of sailing. I used to crew for him in various long distance races on sheltered waterways in Victoria. They now live in Castlemaine in alleged retirement. I say alleged retirement, having heard their activity schedule.

The Giles have a view that they can never loose

A quite day, but as it was Mothers’ Day and our 51^st wedding anniversary we enjoyed lunch at Tog’s Place in Castlemaine. The town’s proximity to Bendigo has provided opportunities to entice citizens of that fair city to drive down and dine. Good eating places abound. We were very satisfied with the meal that we shared.

Lightly Curried Beef Pie

Kevin & Ruth Sheather

The Mobilesheathers – exploring Australia

Tag Archives: Orbost

South in Winter

The Family Responsibilities Tour – Part 1

A Different Way there … and Back – Post 8