31 October - 1 November 2012

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The start to Wednesday felt like summer as it was 20 degrees by 8:00 am and on its way up to 33. We headed west to Stratford and spent a few hours in the town centre. Rachel was very impressed with the Dutch delicatessen and the peanut cookies she picked up and continues to remind me that 'if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much'. We stayed out of the heat after lunch by utilising the local library's internet terminals before hitting the road.

Not far along we arrived at Sale in the Gippsland region. This is in no way a tourist town but nice enough nevertheless. We dawdled around doing our usual................. hunting for books and CDs bargains and had a bit of success. I stopped off at the local barber for an overdue touch up and the gentleman in charge was arguably the best I have ever been to. Late afternoon we sat by the town lake while many of the locals were on their afternoon jog...really I should have been running along side of them.

Next we were off to visit friends who generously offered to take us in for the night. David and Rachel were great and a fun evening was had by all. Our hosts not only provided us with a lovely room but also wined and dined us and we were very grateful.

Thursday started early as David and Rachel needed to head off for work so we were up with the sparrows and had breakfast together. We stayed at the house for a few hours after our friends headed off as the change that was expected finally touched down and it was black, windy, cold and wet.

As the elements eased we left Sale and had lunch in Yarram. It was not long before the unfavourable conditions set back in. The worst thing was the wind and it was blowing a gale as we made our way to the small coastal community of Yanakie near the Corner Inlet. We did stop at a few other coastal spots on the way down but the weather was so bad there was no option but to drive through.

Conditions were that extreme we even nabbed a unit for the night rather than our usual powered site. It was a nice change but clearly a required one as the coastal gusts even made our more secure surroundings shake under the weight of its intensity.

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