The trial run - our first trip

At last the sun shone for a few days and it looked like we were going to see summer after all. We couldn't wait for the weekend when we were off to Jubilee Lake in Daylesford to try out our brand new Camper Trailer. We packed the car the night before ready for a quick getaway after work. A nice easy drive for our first outing and before long we were arriving at our powered site that we called home for the next two nights. It was dark when we arrived but Bill did a pretty good job setting up by torchlight and everything must have been in the right place as it all stayed together for the weekend. It is very straight forward to turn the trailer into a comfy home on wheels and I'm sure with more practice we will become even faster at this transformation. A quick check of the facilities showed they were very clean and not a spider in sight. Phew...

It wasn't long before the bed was made and the kettle on and we had everything all packed away. Though the day had been lovely and warm the night had turned very cold and after all the activity ceased we decided that we were quite chilly. It was about now we were glad that we had a reverse cycle air conditioner. Flick the switch and we were a bit warmer. Camping in style eh! One mistake though was to turn it off when we went to bed. Even though we had sleeping bags and blankets we froze. Who expected the temp would drop to 5 deg overnight. Adding clothes during the night warmed us up and we managed to get a few hours sleep in our very comfy bed.

The morning dawned bright & blue but still very chilly and before long the camp site was waking up. We had breakfast outside in the sun and watched the world go by for a while. We were expecting a quiet, lazy day in Daylesford but after a number of fellow campers asked us 'are you here for the gathering?' we thought we had better find out what this was all about. It was the 60th Annual Highland Gathering and Daylesford had been taken over by men in skirts - not so strange for Daylesford you might say - but no, Scottish Kilts & Bagpipes were here en masse for what is a huge day. Starting with a street march of all the competing bands they then move on to Victoria Park where all day there are competing bands, Highland dancing competitions, Solo drumming events and the day concludes with a massed band presentation which was really quiet spectacular. Now we didn't stay with the Scots all day, we dropped in & out of the events and in between had a look around town, visited the monthly farmers market where we bought a bottle of the local Red, very nice, and some home made beetroot relish to bring home.

We had lunch back at our little home and spent some time dozing in the sun before wandering down to the lake in search of photo opportunities. We went for a walk along the river for an hour or so before returning to the oval for the Massed band finale. We had thought that we would just wander into town for dinner at the pub but changed our mind when we found out that tonight there was Carols at the Lake and a sausage sizzle. And...Santa was coming. That did it, we were staying in and playing local. What a night. We brought our chairs and our bottle of Red down to the lake, settled in with our sausages, layers of clothes against the cold and joined in with the many locals singing carols and waiting for Santa. The Carol singers were a scream - the local music teacher and a helper and I'm sure they were making up the words as they went along but it was such fun nobody minded. The kids sang & danced all night and I bet they slept well later on.

Santa finally arrived in a old vintage car and was immediately mobbed by the excited kids. He couldn't get out of the car for about 15 mins but he finally managed it and made it over to his grotto under the tree where he was surrounded again. It was at this point we decided the freezing cold had made it through our clothes and it was time to head back to our little home and settle in for the night. Once inside the heater went on again, and stayed on all night this time - lesson learned - we watched a movie, finished our bottle of Red and declared the day a huge success. Leaving more clothes on than off we slept all night warm & toasty and only discovered how cold the night had been when we stepped outside to race to the bathroom. Very chilly!

Sunday morning was not so nice, cold & overcast, so we ate breakfast inside before heading into town to the Heritage Railway markets. It was so cold and windy here that even at 9.30am many stalls had packed up and gone home. We did a quick walk around in search of just one stall - Daryl's Peanut Butter - we found it braving the conditions, bought 2 jars and went back to town in search of a warm cafe and a coffee.

Once warm again it was time to head back to Jubilee Lake to see how we went packing up for the first time. Would everything fit back where it came from again. All went well and like the set up I'm sure we'll get better at this part too with lots more practice. A leisurely drive back to town and sooner rather than later we were home again thinking how much fun we had had, even with the cold nights, and looking forward to doing this again & again.

On Monday night we had a visit from Vicki who was visiting Melbourne for work. We jumped on a tram and went to Lygon St for dinner at Sale & Pepe and what a yummy dinner we had. Vicki & I shared an amazing seafood pasta special with huge prawns, yabbies, Morton bay bugs, scallops, mussels, squid & topped with a crab & napoli sauce. So good and so big that even Bill got to pinch some of it as well. It was great to see her again & I think she enjoyed both Lygon St and her time in Melbourne.

Our plans for a getaway the following weekend were thwarted by the weather once again and while it looked like we had made the wrong decision on Saturday morning we were very glad later in the afternoon when the storms hit. So a quiet weekend at home getting a few things done around the house, a walk to the markets for provisions for Sunday's dinner & a yummy steak for dinner at The Rising Sun. Yes we walked over in the rain.

So with Christmas now just a couple of weeks away it's time I get cracking with the cards and the Christmas shopping. Tomorrow will be a busy day. I'd best get the tree up too. Hope all your preparations for the big day are on track also. I'm off now so I'll leave you with the final picture of the massed bands from last weekend

until next time.....