Wed ,Thurs Fri ,

Wonderful to enjoy nice clean facilities especially green grass . Went to the bowls club for tea

Such a huge meal
Up early for the dawn service , first one we have been to together

 Headed off early to Forbes where we stayed on the way down . We stopped off at Finley for smoko .

Lovely lake in the centre of town
Lunch at a cute little off the Newell highway

Then onto West Wyalong where we had a quick stop for coffee

Then onto Forbes where the free camp was choka block . Will stay for two nights to relax after nearly 500ks for the day

Sun , Mon , Tues .

Sunday was a lazy day , caught up with the washing . Got our Easter eggs from the Easter bunnie and spent the rest of the day chatting with our neighbors . Weather was pretty sad , strong cold wind and odd shower or two . Spent Mon with Dean and Jen at their place , for lunch and sweet nibbles , and of course lots of coffee. Dean did some geek work on my laptop to make things run better,  including updates which took eight hours to download and instal . Laptop now runs much better . It was wonderful to spend the day with them going over so much history of our family. We hope to see them again soon .

Left Swan Bay Tue morning , so good to be out of that place , worst van park we have ever stayed in , would not recommend or go there again . It spoilt things a bit because it is a great area to visit .
Drove to Ballarat ,and lo and behold stopped at the lights on the corner where the pub was I used to own in late 80's

Then off to Bendigo through the main street

We stopped at Rochester to look at the silo art which is absolutely amazing

Went on a bit further and found a nice and quiet free camp on the Campaspie river

Tues we crossed the Murray river into NSW at Echuca

We are now at Mathoura, at a wonderful camping spot behind the bowls club on a green grass site with toilets and hot showers,  all at no cost .We will stay tonight and go to the Dawn service  tomorrow .

Saturday 20th

Pick up early by Dean and Jen for a day trip to the Great Ocean Road ending at Port Campbell. About a four hour drive , thousands of cars and buses bumper to bumper nearly all the way .
Couldn't get into any parking areas so went to Port Campbell for lunch and try on the way back. Finally parked and walked under highway to the water . Photos don't do justice to the magnificent views , could have stayed a lot longer , but too many people . Came back via highway , about an hour quicker . Wonderful day out , great food and exceptional company . Thanks to Dean and Jen😍🏃‍♂️❤

Friday 19th

Lazy day today ,some nice walks from the park

Looking towards Swan Island

Mon 15th to Thurs 18th

Monday arvo spent setting up on a dusty gravelly site that they charge $45 per night during school holidays and Easter. Good to have electricity .

Tues was very warm ,over 30c big change from central Victoria 

Dean came to visit and stayed for lunch , wonderful to get together again after so long .

Wednesday we went up to Melbourne to pick up a stick rake for home . Saved $158 in freight.

Didn't like all the traffic after living in the bush for so long .

Thursday Dean and Jen took us for a guided tour of the Bellerine Peninsula . What a great place , wonderful scenery but packed out for the holidays . That is why we are at this park as there wasn't  anywhere else in cooee .

Dean and Jen .

Point Lonsdale lighthouse

Overlooking " The Rip " . Entrance to Port Phillip Bay

Entrance to Barwon River

Fri 12th - Mon 15th April

Spent Fri , Sat & Sun camped on the banks of the Lodden River at a place called Laanecoorie about 25ks from Maryborough Victoria. Wonderful free camp , good fishing , lovely riverside walks , toilets and water .Honesty donation box to help maintain the area , but not many people contribute. Left early to drive to Swan Bay on the Bellerine Peninsula where we are staying for 8 days to spend time with son Dean and his wife Jen . Hope to do some day trips with them .

Day 15 and 16

Drove to Shepparton and stopped at the local tyre shop to get two tyres replaced on the van , had lunch at a great spot just out of next to a small lake . Drove on to Tatura . This is the town that I came to as a child migrant in 1958 . What a magic place for a 12 year old . It was built in 1873 by a rich farmer who made his money gold prospecting . I lived there until 1962 , where for the last 12 months I lived in that huge 68 room mansion on my own with just a housekeeper . I did work on the farm , milking cows , looking after the pigs etc . It was sold not long after I left and is now a low security prison farm . Beverley and I were here some years ago , but we weren't  allowed  to visit the mansion which isn't part of the prison itself . We took the photo today from the roadside . We are spending 2 days at the Tatura golf course

Hope it warms up soon

Day 14

Just a leisurely drive today to Broken Creek about 30ks from Shepparton. Stopped at a superb rest stop on the Hume hwy near Benaĺla .

this was some of the art work on toilet block

Stoped at Broken Creek bush camp for the night 2c ,freezing.

Days 12 & 13 in Myrtleford

Off to Melissa and girls to prepare for Millies birthday party. First grandpa duties to put together the new bike .

Then lunch and off to the park for party time .

Home to the van exhausted , but had lots of fun and met some interesting people .
Today early to Melissa's to do some car repairs and then off to the Deer Park . Did the touristy thing and fed the animals

Went to another bakery for lunch for a good old pie and sauce Sadly said goodbye to Melissa and the girls . We had a wonderful time with them . Melissa is an exceptional mother.
Stopped off at the big historical tree on the way , for Beverley to hug .

Phew , now for a rest .