The home run.......

The following morning it was up, pack and hit the road to begin our journey towards home.  Not far down the road we stopped for a quick look at Yass.   We found a tidy little town with a very nice park.  

This we discovered was the Banjo Patterson Gardens and there was a verse of some of his poems on each brick fence post together with a sculptured bust of the man himself as you entered.

We drove on from here stopping next for lunch at Sandy Beach Reserve at Wantabadgery.  This is a large grassy park beside the Murrumbidgee River.  It was so nice here that we decided there and then to set up and stay for the night.  We were in heaven, warm day, sunshine and a beautiful river view, what more could we want.

I spent the afternoon reading and dozing in the sun and Bill was kept busy with the many birds. This cheeky little Dollar Bird kept him amused for quite some time.

The next morning we were on our way early and our first stop was at Junee.  Here we found another little town with a huge history having played a large part in the NSW Railways in the 1800's.  Another attraction here is the Licorice and Chocolate Factory and of course we had to find it.  We did, we bought and we enjoyed!

We stopped at Wagga Wagga for lunch at a free camp site, a triangle between two main roads, not nearly as appealing as yesterday so ate and ran.  We continued on to Yerong Creek, didn't see a creek, and stayed overnight at a campground behind the local bowls club.   The locals run it and for a small fee there is power, showers and toilets.  Seems the very large Redback spiders are free.  They were huge though Bill still insists that I exaggerate!  

Up early and Culcairn was our first and last stop in NSW that day.  Another small country town with an excellent bakery - why buy packaged bread when you pass country bakeries!

We continued on and drove back into Chiltern where we were spending that night.  We had decided to check out a few houses here as a possible new home base so had arranged to meet the agents.  All three houses were very different, all with possibilities and so now we wait and see what happens to ours.  In the meantime we will check out some other little towns.

Leaving the next day our final stop this trip was not too far away at Shepparton.  We were spending two nights here so that we see our friend Bryce compete in a Triathlon on Sunday morning. 

 We stayed at Lake Victoria CP on the banks of the lake and soon after arriving caught up with him and Suzie for an early dinner.

The event started at 6.30 am on Sunday so we were up and out before this.  After the beautiful weather of the previous weeks we got the shock of our lives when we woke to pouring rain and strong cold winds.  This might not be fun after all.  We found our competitor waiting to enter the lake for his swim and we all huddled under umbrellas while we waited.  Once he was on his way we all crossed the road to a nice warm cafe for breakfast.

We made our way back to the finish line and soon after we saw Bryce come out of the water and transition to the bike.  We left the cold park again and walked back to the van for a quiet rest.  Suzie was tracking him on an app she had so in plenty of time we returned to see him transition to the run section of the day.

Again once he was on his way we returned to the warm dry cafe for coffee and scones before returning to the park.  By now the rain and wind had stopped and the sun was trying to shine so we spent the next couple of hours in the stands cheering him on as he passed us each lap.

A little later we saw him on his last lap and Suzie joined him to run the last 100 meters home.  Well done Bryce and with 13 mins off his last time he was happy too.  We said goodbye here to let him wind down in peace, as they had to drive home that day too.  Thanks for a fabulous day, could have done without the rain and the wind as I bet you could have too but we thoroughly enjoyed the whole event and of course loved keeping Suzie company.

We spent the afternoon taking a walk around the beautiful lake Victoria and afterwards drove over to the SPC shop.  Never having been here before we were amazed at the prices and picked up a few things for our next trip away.  Back at home it was a very quiet and early night.

Next morning we said goodbye to Shepparton's painted cows and were soon on our way home hoping to beat all the peak hour traffic in the city.  All was going well as we trundled up the Hume when all of a sudden there was a noise followed by a distinct loss of power in the car.

The red light on the dashboard seemed to indicate it might be serious so we pulled over and Bill rang the Jeep Assist no. we have.   They said it had to be towed, but could not tow the van, so Bill asked to speak to a service centre first.  They said it could be driven so we decided to see how far we could get before needing the tow truck.  Not very far as without power and towing a couple ton of caravan we were only able to do about 60kph in a 110kph zone.  Not very popular with all the trucks on the road!

We stopped, called back and they sent a truck, he followed us to a safe truck stop for the van and Bill unhooked and was driven off into the sunset with the car.  I stayed with the van.  The car could not be fixed until the next day so Bill hired a car and came back to me where we spent a lovely night at the truck stop on the Hume Freeway.  And would you believe we had a great nights sleep!  We did get a few funny looks when people saw the little while Echo parked in front of the van.

The next morning Bill drove back in, dropped off the hire car, picked ours up all fixed and returned to get me and the van.  All better we continued on our way and before too long had the van stowed and we were arriving back at our place just in time for dinner.  We had been away for three and a half weeks, seen some amazing countryside, had fun with friends and could not wait to do it all again but first we had some bits to sort out at home before we leave again in 10 days or so.

Until next time........