First job of the morning was to check out the tyre repair place. Yes, they could help but they might be a while. So we went up to the bakery for a coffee. We were sitting down reading the Melbourne papers and having coffee when the tyre repair guy walked in. Bad news I'm afraid, the tyre can't be repaired. They didn't have the same tyre that we already had installed but they could fit something comparable. At $275 each, we weren't rushing to change all six tyres but we eventually decided to change two. The tyre replacement would take more time so Georgi went window shopping and Lenny had a haircut. When we got back to the bus, the story had changed again! It seems one of the wheels (the one with the flat tyre) ... read more

After an early morning coffee in Deni, we drove firstly to Barham and then across the bridge to Koondrook in Victoria. Victoria is where Lenny was born (and we will get down to Gippsland soon). Kerang is on the Murray River (west of Koondrook) and has a variety of small lakes and other bodies of water which make it ideal for irrigating (and bird-watching). We spent some time looking for (and at) birds and they spent time looking at us before flying off!We came across several monuments relating to the Burke and Wills expedition and wondered how the explorers could have performed such travelling feats. They travelled over 3,000 kilometres (from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria) in less than six months.Upon entering Swan Hill, we saw a large sign advertising the Regional Art Gallery so ... read more

It was planned to have some quiet time with Catherine and Ben but that was a little tricky as at least one of us felt less than 100% at some stage while we were in Canberra, Day 1 we had a late start and then lunch with Catherine at a local cafe before she went to work. Then we went to the Telstra Tower, Canberra Botanic Gardens (briefly) and then to the Bank (which was next door to where Catherine worked). Great bank - they just keep giving us money when we ask for it! Day 2 was the Library, the Portrait Gallery and National Gallery. The library has "treasures" on display and they did not disappoint. An historic exhibition by William Strutt (including paintings of Burke and Wills as they left Melbourne and Bushrangers in ... read more

Wellington has a really nice caravan park at the caves complex but we couldn't stay to tour the caves as we had to get down to Cowra where we were meeting Mel (Lenny's sister), Steve and Regan who were on their way to Noosa in Queensland for School Holidays. We did have time for a coffee before we left though as there wasn't likely to be much open as we headed south. Turned out that Molong (a little town) was holding a market day which preceded its Show Day and it was all happening at Molong. There were stalls and rides and exhibitions of motorbikes and cars and you could even get a ride in a helicopter (as well as a Harley trike). We stopped and had a late morning tea (or early lunch). Georgi had ... read more

After we had checked out the view from the lookout at Moonbi (see yesterdays blog) we headed off to Tamworth where we stopped for coffee. We looked for a supermarket to do some shopping but could only find an Aldi in the town centre, so we took the Oxley Highway westwards and came across a small woolies in West Tamworth where Georgi shopped. From there it was to Gunnedah where we couldn't find a petrol station so, after lunch, we decided to keep going and to fill up at Coonabarabran where we planned to stop for the night. During lunch (on the side of the road) we spied a cute parrot and Georgi grabbed a photo. We have since identified the parrot as a Red-rumped parrot. The road from Gunnedah to Coonabarabran is quite hilly (and ... read more