"No matter where you go, there you are."

VICTORIAN GOLDFIELDS AND BEYOND

Friday 30^th March:

We had a rough crossing but it wasn’t too bad tucked up in our cabin. Poor old Twistie had to ride it out down below in our caravan. We arrived back into Melbourne early morning and high tailed it out of the city. We headed up the Calder Highway to Castlemaine an old gold mining town. We found a lovely van park right next door to the botanical gardens. In the afternoon we dusted of the gold detector and did a spot of prospecting. We found an old cricket badge but no gold and we also broke our trusty pick. Bugger!

Saturday 31^st March:

We took a walk in the botanical gardens this morning, the oak trees were magnificent. Castlemaine was buzzing today as it was the start of their bi-annual State Festival. We visited the Chewton Markets then drove out to Maryborough to purchase a new pick from the Coiltek shop. On the way back we did some more prospecting. Later in the day we tried another old diggings area. We found lots of lead shot and one old button.

Sunday 1^st April:

We decided to move on today, only 17km up the road to the small village of Maldon. The whole town is heritage listed and the main street still has all the old shops from the gold mining days. We spent an enjoyable hour looking through all the stores. Later in the afternoon we took our detector for another walk through the bush. We may not find any gold but we do enjoy the bushwalks.

Monday 2^nd April:

We drove into Bendigo this morning and had a look around the city. There were some lovely old buildings. We did a bit of shopping then headed back to Maldon. We again spent the afternoon detecting.

Tuesday 3^rd April:

We took Twistie with us today while we were detecting. She loves the bush but she’s a bit of a worry as she puts her head into every tree trunk. One of these days she’ll find more than she bargained for. We came back to the van for lunch then headed out again. We gave ourselves a scare, we actually got a good sound from the detector and dug down thinking we may actually have some gold. Unfortunately it was a small lump of lead which gives off the same signal as gold.

Wednesday 4^th April:

On the move again, off to Kerang for Easter. We are meeting some other caravaners there that we know from an internet forum. The Ibis Caravan Park has luscious green sites and sparkling amenities. Some of the forum members were already there and we were welcomed by all. Kerang is also hosting a bowling tournament so we dropped our entry in to play over the next few days. Most of the afternoon was spent socializing and welcoming more members as they arrived.

Thursday 5^th April:

We didn’t do much this morning. We drove into the bowls club after lunch for a roll up practice. Back at the van park there was more socializing going on all afternoon.

Friday 6^th April:

Ferg and I took a drive up to Kangaroo Lake today and took a walk along the lakes edge. The drive took us through some of the Browns Brothers Vineyards. The grapevines are just starting to change to their autumn colours. On the way back we called into an Ibis Rookery and spent some time in the bird hide watching all the water birds. Today was also the first day of the bowls tournament. Ferg and I played in separate games today and we both did well but didn’t win the overall. We joined the caravan forum members around the campfire when we returned.

Saturday 7^th April:

We got away early and drove out to the Murrabit Country Market. It was quite enormous with over 300 stalls. We visited the Kerang Art Show on the way home. In the evening we all got together for a communal roast dinner. Everyone brought along their various food offerings and we chatted well into the night.

Sunday 8^th April:

Ferg and I stayed around the camp today. I did some of my embroidery while Ferg mucked around with his photos on the laptop. The park owners put on a sausage sizzle for the group in the evening while we sat around the campfire.

Monday 9^th April:

It was a big day of bowling today, starting at 9am. We popped home during the lunch break to check on Twistie. Luckily our caravan friends had offered to look after her. We again played all afternoon then the club supplied an evening meal. It was a good day.

Tuesday 10^th April:

Almost all the caravanning group are leaving today and the morning was taken up with farewells as each van pulled out. We again played bowls in the afternoon and just got pipped for the jackpot by one point.

Wednesday 11^th April:

We are finally moving on today. We followed the Murray River on the Victorian side going through Echuca. We crossed over into New South Wales at Tocumwal and stopped for lunch along the river bank. It was a long drive through the very dry countryside. We arrived in Narrandera late afternoon and found a lovely caravan park overlooking Lake Talbot.

Thursday 12^th April:

It was a lovely morning so we decided to take a long walk around the lake. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and chatting to our new neighbours. We treated ourselves to a dinner out at the Ex-Serviceman’s Club, $6 schnitzel night!

Friday 13^th April:

Twistie had a bad night, she put her neck out and was in a lot of pain. She was Ok by morning, wish I knew what caused it. We gave the van and car a wash before heading off today for Orange. We drove up the Newell Highway stopping at Forbes for lunch. The van park in Orange is a dive but we have no other choice. Autumn has arrived in Orange and the colours of the trees are fantastic.