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

WONTHAGGI TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Tuesday 6^th November

It was Melbourne Cup day and we went off to the Wonthaggi Bowls Club for a game of bowls and a bit of fun. We had nibbles and champagne at 9.30am then onto the greens for a couple of games. We had a lovely chicken and salad lunch, watched the race and checked our sweep horses. As usual we didn’t have a winner but we did have an enjoyable day.

Wednesday 7^th November

We took Joan for a drive today out through the green Gippsland hills to Kurrumburra. The views were great looking out over the hills towards Inverloch and the ocean.

Thursday 8^th November

We did a bit of spring cleaning in the van this morning then headed off to bowls in the arvo. We both had good games.

Friday 9^th November

We moved the van today out onto the footpath as a marquee is being erected in the backyard in preparation for Kim’s birthday party tomorrow. We spent the afternoon setting up for the party and gave Twistie a bath.

Saturday 10^th November

It’s Kim’s 40^th birthday today. We did more setting up, blowing up balloons etc throughout the day. Phil put the roasts on the spit mid afternoon and the guests started arriving at 5.30pm. It was a fabulous night the food was fantastic. Ferg and I snuck off to bed about 9.30pm and the last guests straggled out at 5am. It was a big night for Kim and Phil!

Sunday 11^th November

It was a quiet start to the morning. We helped with the clean up then picked up Joan for a scenic drive out to Inverloch via Cape Paterson. The road winds along the clifftops and has some great lookouts along the way. We bought some fish and chips for lunch then had a picnic at one of the lookouts. We packed up the van in the afternoon and hitched up the car as we head off very early tomorrow morning.

Monday 12^th November

We were on the road by 4.30am and had a good run through to the Mornington Peninsula. We pulled into the Sorrento ferry terminal at 6.30am. Just enough time to make a cuppa and watch the sunrise before the ferry arrived. We had a good crossing, the seas were flat and in no time we were disembarking in Queenscliff. It was much easier taking the ferry rather than driving all the way up to Melbourne then down through Geelong. We spent several hours driving along the Great Ocean Road checking out Bell’s Beach along the way. It is one of the best ocean drives. We pulled into Apollo Bay mid afternoon and found a great van park at the recreation reserve.

Tuesday 13^th November

We took our time packing up and eventually left Apollo Bay to drive through the Otways National Park. The road wound through tall timber forests with the occasional spectacular view across the rolling hills to the ocean. We came back down to the coastline at Princetown then meandered our way along the rest of the Great Ocean Road. We passes by the Twelve Apostles and various other lookouts as we had seen these earlier in the year. Although we did stop in at “London Bridge” and the “Bay of Islands” for another look. We pulled in at Warrnambool to find an early voting centre for the upcoming federal election. We decided to move on to Portland to stop for a few days. We arrived late in the afternoon and found a great van park.

Wednesday 14^th November

Portland is a very pretty city, we had a lovely walk along the foreshore in the morning. We checked out the bowls club and ended up having a roll up for a few hours. Later we took a drive out to Yellow Rock and Cape Nelson Lighthouse. We spotted a brown snake at Yellow Rock, luckily Twistie didn’t see it. We spent the afternoon playing bowls at the Portland Bowls Club.

Thursday 15^th November

It’s a magnificent sunny day, we took a nice walk around the wetlands of Fawthrop Lagoon. We decided to go on a seal tour from Cape Bridgewater. The walk down to the boat took 15 minutes and was quite steep down the cliff. Ferg and I got front row seats in the rubber ducky. The seas were calm and we got to see both Australian and New Zealand fur seals up close. They were lolling around on the rocks and some swam near the boat. It was a good tour. In the afternoon we took Twistie for a long walk along Nun’s Beach. At 6pm we headed up to the bowls club for a game of twilight bowls.

Friday 16^th November

We are moving on today crossing into South Australia. We traveled through Mt Gambier and down to the coast at Beachport. We stopped here for a morning cuppa by the sea. Now we are in South Australia we have to turn our clocks back by half an hour. Our destination today is Robe and we chose the Sea-vu Caravan park right on the beach. Our spot was good overlooking the ocean although the sites were small and we felt jammed in. Robe is a very quaint little town with lots of old sandstone buildings. We took a walk through town and shouted ourselves fish and chips for dinner. We sat outside the van and watched the sun set.

Saturday 17^th November

The weather had changed and it was quite windy so we got on the road early. We headed north through the Coorong district. As we left the coastal saltbush we came into the Langhorn wine growing district. There were many boutique wineries and grape vines as far as the eye could see. We arrived into Victor Harbor by lunchtime and found a nice grassy site at the Victor Harbor Holiday Park. We took Twistie for a long walk along a nearby creek. She was exhausted by the time we got back, it was a bit much for the old girl.

Sunday 18^th November

Just off Victor Harbor is Granite Island and it connected to the mainland by a wooden causeway. Ferg and I took a walk across the causeway then around the island. There is a horse drawn tram that operates daily across the causeway for the tourists. We chilled out for most of the day. Twistie got a bath and Ferg washed the car. We took a scenic drive out to the Bluff in the afternoon.

Monday 19^th November

We were slow moving this morning. Ferg gave the van a wash while I gave the interior a clean. We are only going a short way today, across to the other side of the Fleurieau Peninsula to Normanville. Once settled in we drove down the coastline to Rapid Bay. The diving off the Rapid Bay Jetty is supposed to be very good. The town itself looks deserted and the hills around are very barren. Unfortunately there was no where on the peninsula where we could hire scuba tanks. We called in to Second Valley and found another good snorkeling site. It was a very hot afternoon, we took a walk along the beach in the afternoon and paddled our toes.

THE MELBOURNE REUNION

Sunday 21^st October

It was time to move on today, we are crossing over into Victoria. We had a good run down through Eden, arriving in Mallacoota early afternoon. The council van park is right on the foreshore and we were able to get a spot right on the water. Unfortunately most of the large park was closed for the winter so we were very tightly crammed in with other vanners. While we did have a fantastic view over the inlet, the poor facilities and overcrowding were not to our liking considering they charged $29 per night (not good value!).

Monday 22^nd October

Ferg and I were up early and took a lovely walk up to the headland. Ferg got some lovely sunrise photos over the ocean. We had packed and we were on the road by 7.30am heading for Lakes Entrance. I had my first drive of the car pulling the van. It was about time! We arrived at the Lakes Entrance Showground van park mid morning and found a lovely spot only metres from the waters edge. The black swans came over to say hello. They have seven cygnets this year, all grey and very fluffy. We tried our luck fishing again with the usual results.

Tuesday 23^rd October

It was a bit chilly this morning when Ferg and I took our walk along the lake. We had lunch at the local bowling club then had a roll up on their synthetic green. Late in the afternoon we tried fishing again.

Wednesday 24^th October

Ferg did a long walk this morning while Twistie and I ambled along the waterfront. Ferg played bowls with the men this afternoon. I prepared some cornbeef for dinner and had a wander around the local shops.

Thursday 25^th October

We all took a walk along the marina this morning. There are some great walk/bike tracks around Lakes Entrance. Later we found a good internet site and caught up on our emails. We both played bowls in the afternoon but didn’t enjoy it much as we had to play “Fours”. Ferg played well as usual and won overall picking up $8 for his efforts!! No one could ever accuse us of chasing the money! Although we did win a $10 club voucher in the raffle.

Friday 26^th October

It’s a miserable cold rainy day. Ferg spent the morning backing up the laptop onto the portable drive. We made popcorn and watched one of our DVD’s, “Flushed Away”. The rain cleared mid afternoon so we went for a long walk along the lake. We joined our neighbours for a happy hour drink late afternoon.

Saturday 27^th October

We played bowls again this morning. I was “permitted” to play with the men! Again we played fours so it was a little boring. We had a lovely lunch at the club afterwards to use up our raffle voucher. We gave Twistie a bath in the afternoon and generally relaxed around the van.

Sunday 28^th October

Daylight saving started today, we had to turn our clocks forward an hour. We have a full day of bowls at the Bruthen Bowls Club. Bruthen is a small country town about 20 minutes drive west of Lakes Entrance. It was an Open Pairs Tournament with four games during the day. We did very well to win 3 of our 4 games and had a great day. It was a very long day and we didn’t get home until 6.30pm. Poor old Twistie had been in the van all day. Our neighbours had looked in on her during the day but she didn’t want to come out of the van. Ferg took her for a long walk while I prepared dinner. We had a few thunderstorms in the evening and even got a small amount of hail.

Monday 29^th October

On the move again, we had a good run through Bairnsdale and Sale. We stopped at Leongatha for some lunch before arriving into Wonthaggi mid afternoon. The whole Gippsland area has had some rain and it’s a lot greener than the last time we were here. We set up the van in the backyard of Kim and Phil’s place again. Kim cooked us a lovely corn beef dinner. Joan (Ferg’s Mum) and I headed off to bingo in the evening.

Tuesday 30^th October

We took a good long walk this morning, the weather is fine but a little cool early. Later we went into town to do some shopping and we called into the bowls club to put our names down for a few games. Joan invited us to her place for some lunch.

Wednesday 31^st October

Kim gave me a haircut this morning and put a colour in my hair. I dropped Ferg at bowls in the afternoon and picked up Joan. We had a lovely time at the Wonthaggi Workers Club playing bingo. In the evening we enjoyed a BBQ with Kim, Phil and Joan.

Thursday 1^st November

We packed our clothes for our trip to Melbourne in the morning then played bowls in the afternoon at the Wonthaggi Bowls Club.

Friday 2^nd November

We left early for Melbourne and had a good run right through to Paul and Marilyn’s place in Macleod. All the gang were there for the 6RAR reunion. We settled into our “glamorous accommodation”, a tent in the backyard. All the girls took off for some shopping while the boys hung around in the shed swapping stories. In the evening we all went off to the Greensborough RSL for the official meet and greet.

Saturday 3^rd November

Once everyone was up and had breakfast, we all took off for a long walk. Phew! Later the girls went shopping while the boys went of to the TAB. When we got home from the shops they were all snoozing! We all got dressed in our finest and went to the Venuto Club for the reunion’s dinner dance. The dinner was very tasty and we had free drinks all night. We danced the night away until well after midnight then wobbled home.

Sunday 4^th November

We were awoken early with a heavy rain storm, thankfully the tent held together although it was damp and miserable. There were a few sore heads this morning. We attended a memorial service at the Simpson Barracks then enjoyed a lovely BBQ lunch in the sergeants mess. After an afternoon nap we were all into it again. All the gang came around to Paul’s place for a final get together.

Monday 5^th November

We had a miserable night, the airbed had gone down a bit and was very uncomfortable. The gang all headed off in a bus to Phillip Island to visit the Vietnam Vets Museum. We took off soon after and drove back to Wonthaggi to drop Twistie off. We then met up with everyone at the museum. We spent several hours there then eventually said our final farewells to everyone.