Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Holbrook NSW 17 April 2019 We left Ballarat this morning, determined not to take the short-cut across to Seymour, or the wimp's way via north Melbourne. Instead we struck out for Bendigo, following the Midlands Highway (almost a misnomer, I'm sure) until we reached Bendigo. Determined to take a rest we tried to follow the Caravan Parking signs only to end up back in the city centre again. Giving up we headed out of town until we reached a nice little park next to Lake Weeroona, on the outskirts, where they thoughtfully provided parking exclusively for vehicles over 7 metres. We stopped, bought refreshments, the children ran amok in the playgrounds and we took a rest before heading out across country toward Violet Town. The road is not a shocker, but it's not great, being uneven, bumpy and narrow in parts. We were all very releived after the 107km to reach Violet Town where we patronised the only shop opn and had some lunch. Two minutes east of town and you are back on t...

Ballarat Vic 16 April 2019 Today we went looking for the trams that once graced the city of Ballarat. They are in a museum next to Lake Wendouree and they have access to a kilometre or so of track that runs around the lake, up past the Botanic Gardens. We went in to the free museum and read all about the trams in Ballarat and their final demise as part of the public transport system of a modern city. We kept asking when the tram was going out and they seemed confused and they seemed confused as to wether it was 1030 or 1130 or maybe not at all but before long after they decided on an 'early run' and the driver went through his pre-trip routine and moved the tram out into the sunshine ready for its first customers - us! . We jumped on board the 1918 model 'M' and rattled and clanked and screeched our way up and down the track. The kids got to help moving the power pole from front to back when we had to change direction at the end of the track. They tried strap-hanging ...

Ballarat Vic 14 April 2019 We stopped near Glenrowan for lunch and then pushed on to Seymour, where the plan was to cut across country to Ballarat. When will we learn? The only way to travel through Victoria is to go via Melbourne. As it was it took us 4 hours to travel the 200km along the back roads, development roads, dirt roads, horse trails, even Bourke & Wills’ old track. We stopped at Kyneton for a refuel, get our bearings and an ice-cream and pushed on. I thought the GPS was going to blow a fuse, but between Judy’s immaculate directions and the ever-changing map we finally made it into Daylesford. The Daylesford district has a lot of vineyards around it and I think every drunken fool decided to weave their way home just as we steamed over the horizon. Finally we made it into Ballarat and our park, and not one damn minute too soon! The kids had a play on the jumping pillow, went to the kid’s club for an hour and then back to watch the movies on the big screen, snugg...

Holbrook NSW 13 April 2019 Left home just before lunch and cruised out to Jugiong where we stopped for lunch at the Sir George Hotel. No time for play in the park this time, had to head off to Holbrook for our first nights stay. The main reason for stopping at Holbrook was to give the kids a play on the submarine and a ride on the miniature train, which only runs on Sunday and starts at 10 o’clock. It is a train very similar to the ones that were at Kingston and it was a double lap ride around the Ten Mile Creek, with a bridge at either end. Ten Mile Creek is one of the former names of Holbrook, along with Germantown and others. Naturally enough, the connotations of the name Germantown were a bit on the nose by 1915 and so the good people of the town decided to adopt the name of the first Naval VC recipient of WWI, Lt Norman Holbrook, and so the town became Holbrook. The town is more widely know as the ‘submarine’ town, as it sports the superstructure of a full sized submarine,...

Seymour Vic 29-31 March 2019 Took a few days off and drove down to Seymour, where we stayed at the Big 4 and took the train into Melbourne to go and see the flower show. The train turned out to be a VLine bus as the train, which was coming in from Albury, was already full. And so was the bus as it turned out. The bus was pleasant enough and took us all the way into the Southern Cross station, which has about 70 bus slots in the terminus under it. From here we strolled across the road to the tram stop, jumped on the first one and were there at Carlton Gardens in a few minutes. The flower show itself was better than I had anticipated based on our experience from previous years. Somehow, the outside displays seemed more open and flowed better. The only downside was the continuing threat of rain which thankfully came just as we finished outside so we headed for the comfort of the Royal exhibition Building, as did ten-thousand others. The pavilion was full but not sardine-like and we w...