The Joy is in the Journey

We are now going to be meeting up with my brother Col and Beth next weekend in Yarrawonga, so instead of driving the loop through Benalla to Cobram today as initially planned, we retraced our steps and that gave me the chance to photograph these iconic RMB (roadside mail boxes) that we flew past last time.   Well we have fallen on our feet here in Tocumwal. Jim and Joan booked an Airbnb with room for the 2 caravans as well. We all shared a relaxed afternoon and then terrific first night eating curry and sitting around the firepit as the moon rose through the sparse cloud cover. Nothing quite like a fire is there? Bit of competition between us as to who had the stoking rights though.  Unfortunately the Victorian contingent all left the next morning and apparently the interstate golf scores at this point in time sit at all square, despite (or perhaps as a result of) Jim's creative scoring methods. The NT team took on NSW this morning on the President's 18 and gues...

And why wouldn't you? Some more of our best friends were meeting us here. We were invited by Yve and John to pull the van into the front yard and the first thing you notice when you walk into the home are the colourful yarn throws and blankets Yve has been making for charity. She is always producing something to be shared. Such a generous person. Meanwhile John is now very involved with renewable energy and happy to be in a region that is actively embracing change for the better. The community are so lucky to have these two in their midst. Yve and John are just new settlers in town but Robyn, with Gracie and Rob, have been here a bit longer. Sue and Glenice travelled up from Melbourne and took the train home the next morning. A little later Trina drove down from Albury after work (too late to join us on the walk around town). We worked with all these people at School of the Air in Katherine between 2000 and 2004.  They were exceptional times, adventurous times for all o...

After settling in at our camp at Yarrawonga we met up with the Crisps and shared an Italian dinner at the Mulwala Ski Club.  The next day we played the Lakes Course of the Yarrawonga Golf Club. Someone let Jim do the scoring even though he is known to be inventive with the scoring system. Perhaps the handicapper needed to be aware that he hasn't played in the last 3 months and his partner was going to be wayward, to say the least. On the other hand Joan was off to a flying start and we didn't catch she and Eric all game. Not to worry, "Its just a game," they said. I didn't find the water, but if there was a bunker on the fairway, and there always was, I seemed to be in it. This is the first 18 holes I have played in at least 12 months, so I needed a rest by the time we'd finished.  So much digging in the sand!  Suffice to say Jim bought the first shout.   We bought supplies on the way home and then shared a tandoori chicken dinner in the camp kitche...

7/10/10 Today was a public holiday today for SA Labour Day, and the first day of Daylight Saving. We drove out of the fertile valley, through arid plains until finally we arrived in the Riverland Area of SA. Barmera is home to the Overland Corner Hotel, first established in 1859 and popular with sheep drovers moving stock from NSW into SA. Barmera lies north of that Goyder line I mentioned in an earlier post, but because irrigation has been available it is a highly productive agriculture and viticulture area. They are selling 4 butternut pumpkins for $6 on the side of the road but I just can’t think of a way 2 people can eat that many. We have a site right on the banks of Lake Bonney, a popular spot for water enthusiasts apparently.  There are plenty of other people here and all manner of watercraft. I had no idea there were that many things you could tow behind a boat! When we lived upstream from here in Cobram we were very happy with an opportunity to jump on a pair of s...

We pulled out of Port Augusta with a completely revised and improved opinion of the town then headed south to Watervale. We met Denise and Col in Katherine some years back. They have owned an original stone cottage on a property here for 30 odd years and in Easter of 2010 we joined them here with some other friends and did a section of the Rail Trail on hired bikes, calling in on several wineries as you would. We also caught up with Des and Leslie Menz friends from Cobram who had moved to Clare, on that visit. Much fun was had during the days and at night we sat around the firepit, entertaining each other with stories of shared experiences all extrapolated and exaggerated way beyond the truth.  Denise and Col now live here permanently and lots of improvements have been made to the cottage, but as always when you own an older place, there are lists of things still in the pipeline. Its a work in progress. Below you can see the coat rack we helped to reinstate on the porch wall a...

1st October Driving south we appreciated the changing scenery, more rocky jump ups and curves in the road than we have seen in awhile. Crossing the dry Finke Riverbed reminded us of the time we chose this spot for lunch in the shade of the Ghost Gums. By the time I had unpacked the makings for sandwiches the boys and Eric we handing it all back to me to put away as the flies were so thick and ferocious. Next was the turn off to Uluru with Erldunda Roadhouse on the corner. We didn't bother to count the number of vehicles lined up for fuel but I think 30 would be conservative and they had to be patient. Fortunately we only needed coffee, having a tail-wind today has been good for our fuel consumption. We were playing Spotto again and the target was Sturt's Dessert Pea but the one in the picture above was the only one we found. It flowers after heavy rain so I guess there hasn't been much of that lately.  We did have a few unexpected spits on the windscreen from this cu...