This weekend was forecast as a ‘wet’ weekend. We drive to Healesville and remember we don’t have any bread, so stop. Oops! There’s a cop sitting across the road and he sees the nose of the van sticking out over the front of the parking space into a ‘No Standing’ zone. So I let Lyn out and do a ‘go around the block’ to find a more accepted parking spot. Lyn has not returned, so I lock up and go towards the supermarket. Nowhere! So, wait. There are 3 bakeries in this little shopping centre – how do they all make a living? It’s getting beyond an acceptable time for a meal, so we pick up some food at the Chicken Diner, and head towards the Maroondah Dam lookout. What a great view of a ‘full’ dam. It is so good seeing all the Melbourne water supply dams almost full these days after so many years with very low water storage readings.
After an hour we head off towards Alexandra and arrive just as last light is closing in. There are a few young people camped close by but they are well behaved. We find out later that they are young people from France and Germany out to do the backpackers trek with a little help from picking cherries along the way. The site is level and we bed down for a comfortable night. It starts raining at 1:00am and doesn’t let up through the night. It’s good to laz in bed with no plan for the day and rain inhibiting any walks and stuff. We are still in bed at 9:00 am when Les and Daralyn arrive. We have not seen them for, we work out, 35 years. The last I saw them was before they went to Vietnam – way back. Since then, they have lived at Mt Diamond High School and Lae in PNG, Phillipines, Thailand and Vietnam and of course Melbourne. Both are out of our league as far as university goes with degrees as long as the arm. Professional students at some stage, I would say. They are currently living in Melbourne and we had been in contact on Facebook. Daralyn had seen my posts re the motorhome and suggested we meet up some weekend, so we have.
It was mid-day before we realised that we hadn’t had breakfast so we, separated, and moved right into lunch. After lunch, a game of bananagrams, and a nap, we went for a long walk along the road that runs along the bank of the Goulburn River. Yes, the rain got us but we were able to shelter for some of it under some dense trees. Lyn cooked up a pot of vegetables for dinner – something that doesn’t happen at home on a Saturday evening.
Another little camper arrived during the afternoon, so we invited Diane over for a cuppa to finish off the day. Di is single from West Australia and decided to see Australia. She heard of a campervan for sale around the corner from where she lives and made an enquiry. $1000 and her dream of cheap accommodation was met. There are many ‘solos’ in CMCA who get around the country knowing that they can meet up with club members at regular weekend meet-ups. She plans to do 12 months of looking around. What a great lifestyle.
Sunday dawned with a lot more blue sky overhead. After a regular breakfast and a long chat with Les & Daralyn, we decided to visit Eildon just 30km away. We found a delightful spot beside the Eildon Pond, which is like a large lake created below Lake Eildon dam wall. No boats are allowed, so it was very peaceful looking over water while we chatted and had lunch. The sun was warm and Lyn came home with red arms and neck.
We visited a friend back in Alexandra on our way home. That was interesting too. Arriving home at 6:45, we cleaned out the inside and washed the outside of the motorhome ready for our next venture. To where and when, we do not know. That’s an advantage when you can just fill the fridge and turn the key and be off for a relaxing weekend somewhere in a great little spot of Victoria.
great life - got nothing on 