A bit of a surprise........

After our few days in a very hot Darwin we woke up the next morning under a quilt in our own bed.  I didn't have time to lay around as I had to be up and off to meet Mum at the Clayton RSL for a Seniors Week (now don't be rude) Jazz morning.  

I met Mum and two of her friends there and we had a lovely morning of jazz and a cheap lunch so all was good.  There are some perks to having a Seniors Card!

Now the next event was not totally expected.  I got home to find Bill already there with the news that he had just been made redundant.  He had the option of working his notice period of five weeks or finishing the next day.  I'll leave you to decide which he chose, considering he would be paid either way it really was a no brainer!  And so within the space of three weeks we had both become 'retired' old farts!  Now we just had to decide what we wanted to do next.

So the first thing we did was hitch up the camper the following Friday and head up to Maryborough.  Not really a spur of the moment thing, prior to us going to Darwin we had arranged to meet Cheryl and Shane there for the weekend.  They had hired a caravan for a couple of weeks to see if they liked the whole idea of wandering around as we do.

We arrived early on Friday afternoon, got ourselves set up, had a walk around Lake Victoria, loving the baby ducks and young swans, before settling down for a quiet night in.  The next morning we walked into town to have a look and find somewhere for dinner that night before coming home to relax and wait for Cheryl and Shane to arrive.  

The weary travelers arrived just after lunch having driven down from Swan Hill that day.  We let them get set up and then settled in for the afternoon with a drink and some nibbles while we heard all about their adventures of the last few days.  I think they had enjoyed themselves.

We had dinner that night at a local pub and the lamb shanks were well and truly worth the drive.  They were delicious!  We walked home and continued our catch up under the awning for another hour or so.

The next morning we enjoyed a quiet start, a walk around the lake under the watchful eyes of the resident geese, and then jumped in the car and drove over to Dunolly to see their market.  This market is held once a month and lines the Main Street.  We have been before and loved the quirky little town.  

We returned home for lunch and some quiet time before Cheryl, Shane and I went shopping for dinner that night and had a quick look at the grand old Maryborough Railway Station said to be the longest platform in Victoria.

Bill and Shane cooked the salmon while Cheryl and I did the salads and we enjoyed a lovely dinner once again.  Bill had been suffering all day with hay fever so took himself home to bed and the rest of us stayed up and played Banangrams for the next couple of hours.  Love it and have to find me one of those.

The next morning it was time to pack up and hit the road again.  We had some sorting out to do and Shane and Cheryl had to give the van back later that afternoon.  We said our goodbyes and both drove out to wend our way to our respective homes.  We came home through Talbot, Clunes, Creswick and ate our lunch in the picnic shelter at a very wet Daylesford Lake before returning to the big city.  

It had been a great weekend spent with good friends and we look forward to doing it all again one day.   But for now we have to work out what comes next 

so until then........