Travelling Australia

Charlton is a lovely little town situated on the banks of the Avoca River. It is a wheat, oats and barley growing town. The Charlton feedlot is the largest beef feedlot in Victoria. Wool and fat lambs also contribute to the local economy here.  Ed found us a lovely place to stay….on the Wikicamps App. We didn’t need power, so we opted for the non-powered site up the back, away from other people.  We have a great spot in amongst the green lawn and lovely flowering wattle trees. We have water on tap, so we can use our own shower and own washing machine, which is great.  Beautiful Grevillea and Wattle.  The weather has been cool at night, but the diesel heater does the job and so does the hot water bottle. I did get up in the night to re-heat the water bottle and found the temperature at O degree….  🥶 The days here though are just beautiful with cloudless blue skies.  So as the sign says, we paid $10 for the first night and the next two nights were free. There has been so much to see her

We left Manangatang and were headed towards Boort. We stopped at Wycheproof for a cuppa and to fill up the van with water. There’s a nice stop with very clean toilets, playground and a water fill station for caravans.  Mount Wycheproof, just off the highway, is the smallest registered mountain in the world, and wheat growing is their economy.  It’s used to host the Wycheproof King of the Mountain, which saw men carrying 70 kg bags of wheat racing each other up the hill.  The bloke on the left decided not to compete this year..😂😂 The last regular passenger train service to the town of Wycheproof was from Bendigo on 7th May 1977. The town is unusual in that even today the railway line runs along the centre of the Main Street.  In an attempt to attract new residents, the local community developed a project to offer otherwise vacant farmhouses for rent at a $1 per week.  Expressions of interest came from Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland, as well as most

We’ve had a great 3 weeks catching up with family, and while the weather is so nice, we thought it was a good time to travel and see Victoria. So this morning we packed up, pulled out of the caravan park (which we will never return too), and are on the road again.                                                                 We stopped for our morning cuppa at a very small town called Wemen, population 100….approx 110 klm from Mildura.  It has a small petrol station/general store, and Country Fire Authority Shed.  It was a beautiful spot. We then drove on to Manangatang, a small town in north-west Victoria, with a population of 274, and is a wheat growing district, with the silos being built in 1942. It’s also known for it’s huge day on the Country Racing Calendar, 2nd Sunday in October every year when the town swells to over 3,000 people for the event.  We have pulled up at the Manang Travellers Rest camping spot in the “town centre”😂 You can camp here for 3 days free…and they prov

We stopped at Balranald today with all intentions of staying the night. We found a spot to park and had a walk around and popped into the local IGA grocery store for some coffee and tea.  It’s a nice little town in country NSW, and they are in the process of revitalising the shopping precinct.  There’s a great information centre where they provide showers and spotless toilets for the travelling public.  There was a lovely coffee shop, which was very busy, and it was getting very warm.  We decided to push on instead of staying and have ended this trip at one of our favourite spots we frequent often, called Lake Benanee. Its a freshwater lake about 13 klm from Euston, and it’s sister city Robinvale that lies on the Victorian border.  The lake has a beach area, tables and chairs, toilets and is just off the Sturt Highway.  There are about 8 other caravans camped here as well. There’s no power or water, but there are very clean toilets.  It’s a lovely evening and has cooled down nicely aft

After being here at Hay Showgrounds for 5 days, it’s now time to move on. We’ve walked around and have seen everything there is to see, I’ve had a run in with the local chemist, and our car is now fixed and ready to go.  The lovely young man from ARB was so helpful, when after 5 garages Ed tried to get into, back at Narrandera, he looked at the car, found the fault, ordered the parts which arrived today, and has fixed the car.  He was so good to fit us in as he had cars everywhere waiting to be fixed.  He was even good enough to take photos of the before and after for our files.  So tomorrow we are off. It’s been too long in this town. We were rewarded tonight with a lovely sunset though.  Two more sleeps and we are in Mildura. It will be good to see all our family again  ❤️❤️❤️ Love you Mum ❤️❤️❤️ 3 years today you joined Dad. 

We went for a walk through the town centre of Hay yesterday. They have a population of about 2,500 people and there are a few shops, hardware, cafes, pub, and an IGA grocery shop that is very expensive and so damn cold.  I’ve never known a shop to be so cold. 🥶 There are also so many shops that have closed down. The average temperature here in the summer is about 33 and winter is 15 Celsius. The highest temp recorded was 47.7 in January 1974.  The local motel… The town hall.  They’ve done some really nice upgrades of the town centre.  The look of worry….. The fountain… All about our 1 Shilling coin  Lovely story…..there were some very strong pioneering women back then.  “The Local” This is Sandy Point where we usually stay. It’s a campground in town on the Murrumbidgee River.  We tried to get in there but it was just so busy, we turned around and went to the Showgrounds instead.  Just as well really as we would not have been able to walk to the ARB place where the car is getting fixed