Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
CrewFamilyTravels
Headed straight into Adelaide on our last leg of the trip, and after sitting in roadworks in Port Wakefield for half an hour, went straight to my uncle Alan's house to catch up with him and my cousin Pete, who had very fortuitously arrived from Sydney with Julie and family just the day before. It was a wonderful detour - the kids had a terrific time reconnecting, and we had a brief but lovely catch up on current events.The smell of home was too strong to stay in Adelaide, so we drove an hour or so to Tailem Bend to spend the night. Bit of a mistake really, as the campground we chose had a spectacular view of the Murray, but the deralict houseboats at the bottom of the cliff and old cabins and caravans around us, plus the incredible noise from trucks and a couple of freight trains, reminded Paul and I of Guy Ritchie's film "Snatch" where the 2 lead characters aim to buy a caravan off a bunch of Pykies (Irish gypsies - sp?) in Periwinkle Blue. Funny if you've seen it. If not, could have been harmless, or could have been some meth labs. Either way, we escaped unharmed, and took off early into Victoria. To make our last full day on the road a bit more special, we detoured off the main highway from Bordertown, and took the back roads into western Victoria via small picturesque towns like Frances, Harrow and onto Balmoral. My grandparents had a store at the small town of Balmoral from the 30's through until 1951 when my Dad was 6. They did quite well while the Rocklands Dam was being built and again during the war when the airforce used the area for training purposes. The old general store was rescued from demolition a few years back but is now a pretty sad grocery store servicing a very small town. The cafe across the road had a pretty decent coffee though and some homemade sausage rolls, and minded our camper while we took the dirt track out to the cemetary to visit the Manger plot. There is a very pretty view there right across to the southern Grampians, but the wind was getting icy so we didn't stay long - just a quick chat to the caretaker who was there to catch up on local goss.Onto Dunkeld to spend our last night in the Southern Grampians. A fitting end since we spent our first night at Lake Fyans looking at it from the northern side. Going to treat ourselves to a slapup dinner at the famous Royal Mail Hotel tonight, hopefully survive the 50kmh winds tonight, and arrive home tomorrow.
- comments