Sunday, October 30, 2011
Old Friends
Hi Everyone,
This will only be a short blog as I have been having a quiet time. I had a great time in Bright, doing another patchwork class, I actually managed to get it half finished, and hope to show it to you on the next page.
After Bright I drove to Wangaratta, and then to Strathmerton to have the reversing camera replaced. The Wangaratta caravan park I stayed in was quite lovely, except it had a peacocok roaming around and they are incredibly noisy! I would rather have roosters!
On my way to Strathmerton, I developed another problem, a fuse blew that was connected to my tail lights! I called into Cobram to an auto electrician, who happened to be the RACV so that meant as he "fixed" it there was no charge!
Unfortunately as I carried on to Strathmerton it blew again! I camped at the local rec ground, the night before and then sat it out with the motorhome bloke while he sorted out the camera. When he got up on the roof, he found the wires were all touching, ( a big no no!) and then he sorted out the fuse! No more problems, thank god!
Then I drove to Nagambie and have spent the rest of the week catching up on 25 years of news with my old Exmouth and Collie, friend Merrilyn. Drinking "bubbles" and talking! We haven't finished yet!
So good luck with your bets on the Mebourne Cup! keep safe and well,
love vicki
This will only be a short blog as I have been having a quiet time. I had a great time in Bright, doing another patchwork class, I actually managed to get it half finished, and hope to show it to you on the next page.
After Bright I drove to Wangaratta, and then to Strathmerton to have the reversing camera replaced. The Wangaratta caravan park I stayed in was quite lovely, except it had a peacocok roaming around and they are incredibly noisy! I would rather have roosters!
On my way to Strathmerton, I developed another problem, a fuse blew that was connected to my tail lights! I called into Cobram to an auto electrician, who happened to be the RACV so that meant as he "fixed" it there was no charge!
Unfortunately as I carried on to Strathmerton it blew again! I camped at the local rec ground, the night before and then sat it out with the motorhome bloke while he sorted out the camera. When he got up on the roof, he found the wires were all touching, ( a big no no!) and then he sorted out the fuse! No more problems, thank god!
Then I drove to Nagambie and have spent the rest of the week catching up on 25 years of news with my old Exmouth and Collie, friend Merrilyn. Drinking "bubbles" and talking! We haven't finished yet!
So good luck with your bets on the Mebourne Cup! keep safe and well,
love vicki
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Vicki in Victoria
Hi All,
Since leaving Mildura/Wentworth I have travelled with Carol and Rob, and Rob's brother Graeme and wife Hazel, to Corowa, in NSW, and back to Victoria. In this area you cross back and forth across the border almost on a daily basis! Half the time I don't know where I am!
We drove together to Pental Island, near Swan Hill, and had a very pleasant night with a big open fire in a "bunk" room that is open to everyone. celebrated Carol's birthday, with a cake and candle! Next day, off to Corowa, and I am having trouble with my reversing camera. We stopped at a place along the road that was a motorhome building business, Graeme had a hatch that kept popping open, they repaired it on the spot.
Arrived at Corowa and had a lovely 5 days, with the others in caravans, it meant we had vehicles to sightsee, and as Rutherglen is just down the road we went wine tasting , again!
Rob replaced my 2 way radio aerial , that fell off on my way from Dorrigo, Got a ladder and tried to fix my reversing camera, (again) and sorted out my tv problems. He and Carol are great friends!
After a wonderful 5 days we parted company, Rob and Carol to return to WA, Graeme and Hazel to go south to Portland, Vic. and me to head further east. I have been calling my friend at Nagambie, but no answer. After travelling to Beechworth, a lovely Township that has retained most of its, old style shop facades, got a great sweet shop, wonderful dress shops, a fabulous antique jewellry shop, (and No I didn't, although the temptation was huge!) and lots of lovely historic buildings dating back to 1860's. I continued on to Tallangatta, a little town that was moved in the 1950's due to the damming of the river (forget which one!) and Lake Hume was formed, apparently nearly as bigv as Sydney Harbour. On the way I drove around the Lake and crossed over on an unusual bridge at Bellbridge, (photo), and saw some very beautiful scenery. The usual hairpin bends and lovely mountain roads, but not too steep.
More trouble with the reversing camera, so I decided to backtrack to the motorhome place near Yarrawonga to see the people there. Spent more than 3 hours with "the man", but no luck! planned to get a new one, he could do it next week, so I slept on it. Drove to Numurkah towards my Nagambie friend and Hallellujah, she called me! She is away for a few days so we arranged for me to go there Thursday week. Bit the bullet and decided to go with the new camera, to hell with the cost! I have got pretty good with side mirrors, but it is vital for the reversing camera for backing into parking spots.
So to fill in the time I backtracked, again, heading for Bright as they are having their Spring Festival, including a patchwork exhibition!
I am at Myrtleford, another lovely highland town with Bright on the itinerary for tomorrow. Next Blog!
Love to all and safe travelling to all,
vicki
Since leaving Mildura/Wentworth I have travelled with Carol and Rob, and Rob's brother Graeme and wife Hazel, to Corowa, in NSW, and back to Victoria. In this area you cross back and forth across the border almost on a daily basis! Half the time I don't know where I am!
We drove together to Pental Island, near Swan Hill, and had a very pleasant night with a big open fire in a "bunk" room that is open to everyone. celebrated Carol's birthday, with a cake and candle! Next day, off to Corowa, and I am having trouble with my reversing camera. We stopped at a place along the road that was a motorhome building business, Graeme had a hatch that kept popping open, they repaired it on the spot.
Arrived at Corowa and had a lovely 5 days, with the others in caravans, it meant we had vehicles to sightsee, and as Rutherglen is just down the road we went wine tasting , again!
Rob replaced my 2 way radio aerial , that fell off on my way from Dorrigo, Got a ladder and tried to fix my reversing camera, (again) and sorted out my tv problems. He and Carol are great friends!
After a wonderful 5 days we parted company, Rob and Carol to return to WA, Graeme and Hazel to go south to Portland, Vic. and me to head further east. I have been calling my friend at Nagambie, but no answer. After travelling to Beechworth, a lovely Township that has retained most of its, old style shop facades, got a great sweet shop, wonderful dress shops, a fabulous antique jewellry shop, (and No I didn't, although the temptation was huge!) and lots of lovely historic buildings dating back to 1860's. I continued on to Tallangatta, a little town that was moved in the 1950's due to the damming of the river (forget which one!) and Lake Hume was formed, apparently nearly as bigv as Sydney Harbour. On the way I drove around the Lake and crossed over on an unusual bridge at Bellbridge, (photo), and saw some very beautiful scenery. The usual hairpin bends and lovely mountain roads, but not too steep.
More trouble with the reversing camera, so I decided to backtrack to the motorhome place near Yarrawonga to see the people there. Spent more than 3 hours with "the man", but no luck! planned to get a new one, he could do it next week, so I slept on it. Drove to Numurkah towards my Nagambie friend and Hallellujah, she called me! She is away for a few days so we arranged for me to go there Thursday week. Bit the bullet and decided to go with the new camera, to hell with the cost! I have got pretty good with side mirrors, but it is vital for the reversing camera for backing into parking spots.
So to fill in the time I backtracked, again, heading for Bright as they are having their Spring Festival, including a patchwork exhibition!
I am at Myrtleford, another lovely highland town with Bright on the itinerary for tomorrow. Next Blog!
Love to all and safe travelling to all,
vicki
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Mildura Country Music Festival
Hi Everyone!
I have had a hectic week since my last blog! I drove 1378 kms (about) to Wentworth to meet Carol and Rob, old exmouth friends, and Rob's brother and wife, for the CMF. I did it in 2 days really and the last day was 780km, I was totally stuffed when I arrived! I was driving on automatic pilot. The problem was my GPS twice got it into its head to take me "off road - sealed- that is" and I had a 57 km section of stony, corrugated, 6 flowing creek crossings! windy and hilly, etc. get the picture? that took me 2 hours to cover as I barely managed 30km per hour! Hanging on to the steering wheel like grim death! When I finally got back onto sealed roads I had to crank up the speed and was doing about 90-95 kkms per hour. That's fast for me! Had to fill the motor home with diesel twice in one day, that was a first!
Luckily the GPS decided to behave as I was arriving in Wentworth, as I would never have located the caravan park, as it was tucked away down by the river, The Darling, now. Next morning it was off down to the main street for markets and outdoor music, got very hot, and , darn it! I had to buy a top as I was soo over dressed! It was pretty warm out on the open listening to the music, you take your own chairs and that was the routine for the week. The advantage of staying at Wentworth is that all the acts, come to the several venues in town and we can walk to them, so that having a few drinks is easy for everyone!
A few nights we ( read Rob) drove to Coomealla, either the golf club or service club, and had meals there, and then listened to music in different lounges/auditoriums. These clubs are massive places, considering the towns are pretty small, but apparently they were all constructed before Victoria got pokies and everyone used to cross the river to gamble! I think we are pretty lucky in WA not to have them, with the accompanying gambling problems, although they generate money for local infrastructure.
Anyway the music was what we were here for! Pretty well all country and western, with country /rock and roll, folk, and a bit of old style popular. The musos' are very talented, and the backing groups are amazing, someone arives for their gig, gives the backing group some sheets of music, (unrehearsed) and they play like magic! I was mostly blown away by the quality! Got really wrapped up in some of them and spent a small fortune on cd's. The whole group of us (11) would buy some each and share them around and copy them on to our ipods. So of course, my ipod was full before I left WA, and I had already bought more cd's, so someone went into Mildura for something and I came out with an ipod classic - 160gig! I am filling it fast! The "acts" are noone I had ever heard of before, they are known as "independant" country stars, as opposed to Tamworth country music stars, but it is amazing that 95% of the venues and shows are free! Some of the Clubs expect you to buy a meal to get a reserved seat at the shows, but that is very cheap anyway, and sometimes you can get into the venue after the "diners" have been seated.
The accomodation of all sorts, has been booked out for months, I booked in about Feb I think, and only today has there been some departures, it winds up tomorrow after a big outdoor show at a oval in Mildura where every artist performs one song. We only had one day when we couldn't sit outdoors because of rain, and we were all transferred to the Wentworth services Club, a huge venue. Most of the time I haven't lasted the length of time at the venues, there is a lot of sitting, of course, and my light weight portable chair, is just not comfortable enough, but I have thoroughly enjoyed all the acts I have heard. Am tempted to book in for next year! I better wait a bit and see where I am! Obviously it overlaps with Dorrigo and I would need to decide whether I am going to do that again, or not, first. Probably patchwork would win out. Any way I must close, I haven't taken too many photos, so you may be saved the problem of looking at them! I will be checking out the camera in a minute!
Good health and good luck, and happy travelling to those on the move!
Love vicki
I have had a hectic week since my last blog! I drove 1378 kms (about) to Wentworth to meet Carol and Rob, old exmouth friends, and Rob's brother and wife, for the CMF. I did it in 2 days really and the last day was 780km, I was totally stuffed when I arrived! I was driving on automatic pilot. The problem was my GPS twice got it into its head to take me "off road - sealed- that is" and I had a 57 km section of stony, corrugated, 6 flowing creek crossings! windy and hilly, etc. get the picture? that took me 2 hours to cover as I barely managed 30km per hour! Hanging on to the steering wheel like grim death! When I finally got back onto sealed roads I had to crank up the speed and was doing about 90-95 kkms per hour. That's fast for me! Had to fill the motor home with diesel twice in one day, that was a first!
Luckily the GPS decided to behave as I was arriving in Wentworth, as I would never have located the caravan park, as it was tucked away down by the river, The Darling, now. Next morning it was off down to the main street for markets and outdoor music, got very hot, and , darn it! I had to buy a top as I was soo over dressed! It was pretty warm out on the open listening to the music, you take your own chairs and that was the routine for the week. The advantage of staying at Wentworth is that all the acts, come to the several venues in town and we can walk to them, so that having a few drinks is easy for everyone!
A few nights we ( read Rob) drove to Coomealla, either the golf club or service club, and had meals there, and then listened to music in different lounges/auditoriums. These clubs are massive places, considering the towns are pretty small, but apparently they were all constructed before Victoria got pokies and everyone used to cross the river to gamble! I think we are pretty lucky in WA not to have them, with the accompanying gambling problems, although they generate money for local infrastructure.
Anyway the music was what we were here for! Pretty well all country and western, with country /rock and roll, folk, and a bit of old style popular. The musos' are very talented, and the backing groups are amazing, someone arives for their gig, gives the backing group some sheets of music, (unrehearsed) and they play like magic! I was mostly blown away by the quality! Got really wrapped up in some of them and spent a small fortune on cd's. The whole group of us (11) would buy some each and share them around and copy them on to our ipods. So of course, my ipod was full before I left WA, and I had already bought more cd's, so someone went into Mildura for something and I came out with an ipod classic - 160gig! I am filling it fast! The "acts" are noone I had ever heard of before, they are known as "independant" country stars, as opposed to Tamworth country music stars, but it is amazing that 95% of the venues and shows are free! Some of the Clubs expect you to buy a meal to get a reserved seat at the shows, but that is very cheap anyway, and sometimes you can get into the venue after the "diners" have been seated.
The accomodation of all sorts, has been booked out for months, I booked in about Feb I think, and only today has there been some departures, it winds up tomorrow after a big outdoor show at a oval in Mildura where every artist performs one song. We only had one day when we couldn't sit outdoors because of rain, and we were all transferred to the Wentworth services Club, a huge venue. Most of the time I haven't lasted the length of time at the venues, there is a lot of sitting, of course, and my light weight portable chair, is just not comfortable enough, but I have thoroughly enjoyed all the acts I have heard. Am tempted to book in for next year! I better wait a bit and see where I am! Obviously it overlaps with Dorrigo and I would need to decide whether I am going to do that again, or not, first. Probably patchwork would win out. Any way I must close, I haven't taken too many photos, so you may be saved the problem of looking at them! I will be checking out the camera in a minute!
Good health and good luck, and happy travelling to those on the move!
Love vicki
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