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Published: October 7th 2010
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On Thursday morning we bade farewell to Wilma. It had been a very cold night in Wangaratta, as it often is, but we had been extremely comfortable and as warm as toast at Wilma’s. After doing a bit of shopping in Wang we headed off to Mansfield which was about one and half hours drive away. We stopped for a quick cuppa and Beesting in Mansfield Botanical Park and then headed out to the Reeves’ (Simone, Mark, Zoe, Ken and Beth) house which is about 9kms out of town and then a short distance along a gravel track. All of the family were out at various places but we were greeted like long lost friends by Spotty the dog. When we had visited soon after our arrival in Aus, the caravan was surrounded by water. There had been a lot more rain since then so we were a bit concerned about what we might find inside the caravan which had been parked up for over four months. We needn’t have worried - there were a few hints of dampness on the outside of some drawers - probably condensation - but that was all and they soon rubbed off. What a relief!
We spent the afternoon giving everything a good clean although it was all in pretty good shape.
Late in the afternoon, Julie, a good friend and neighbour of the Reeves,’ popped in and invited us to her place for a ‘glass of champagne and cheese and biscuits’ as she had noticed that we were at the house on our own. She dashed off to ‘mow the lawn’ and as we didn’t need much persuading we followed a few minutes later. Julie’s house is about 3k further along the gravel road and is in a wonderful location with fabulous views. Julie is a teacher but runs a small B&B business as well and as she was expecting guests the next day she wanted everything to look at its best. The ‘lawn’ was huge but she was tackling it on a ‘ride-on’ mower. It still took a long time to do but we didn’t mind as we were enjoying the views, our drinks and cheese and biscuits. Once she had finished we had a chat then made our way back as it was beginning to get dark. By the time we got back some of the family was home and they
made us very welcome indeed. Because we hadn’t yet connected the caravan up to the electric, little Beth gave up her bedroom for us that night - thank you Beth for letting us use your very comfy bed.
After supper it was time for Graham to experience ‘The Shed’ that we had heard so much about from Sarah and Darryl. More friends, Bernie and Doos, arrived to join us for supper and Julie from along the track returned. The Shed has its own stage together with amplification equipment, microphones, lighting etc. Mark gave Graham the stage and insisted he sang a few songs, some of which he joined in with and Julie also accompanied on a piano accordion. It was a pretty special night, especially for Graham, but we are not made of the same stuff that Sarah and Darryl are. We went off to bed at about 12.30am but, apparently, the dedicated party people carried on until about 4am!!
Friday morning we were up and about quite early but for a while we were the only ones!! Later on, with guidance from Mark, Graham connected the caravan, ‘SWEETIE’ to PIE so they were together again! For those
who haven’t “twigged”, the car registration is PIE so Sarah duly christened the caravan SWEETIE - hence the constant references to Sweetie Pie. Graham towed the caravan to the front of the house where SWEETIE could be connected to the electric. Practise of unhitching followed, the legs put down, the roof put up and the electric switched on. Everything worked! - the lights, the fridge - it was fantastic! We struggled to put the roof up but we hoped that would get easier with use. This would be our first night in SWEETIE but as Mansfield is very close to the Alpine Mountain Range, and snow was still visible on the mountain tops, the nights are very cold at this time of year. Luckily, there was a useful little electric fan heater already in the van so it went on to warm it through. Friday nights are band practice nights - Mark sings with a ‘rock band’ called ‘The Strap-Ons’. He had left late that afternoon to go to his brother’s house some 20k away for the practice but, at that time, Graham was having a well earned snooze so he followed on later. By then it was dark and
he struggled initially to find Geoff’s house - an old Cobb and Co staging post - but he managed it eventually. Graham returned quite late (although much earlier than Mark) and thoroughly enjoyed his foray into the world of heavy rock music!!
We slept like logs on our first night in SWEETIE so we’re looking forward to starting our adventures with SWEETIE PIE!
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