Day 19 - Burning Bush

After another quick goodbye to Gilly early on Saturday morning (she was just on her way out for a run), we headed for the road, on a definite inland route towards the east coast. The trip was to be approx 1200km, across Victoria and across New South Wales. We had the test match on the radio and ate up the km's. A quick stop at Ballarat to get supplies from a cute bakery and then woolworths. We stocked up with food for the BBQ that we were planning for dinner when we got to our final stop.
We drove through a number of different towns. They all had a distinctly temporary feel about them. Hastily erected and not likely to last long. The houses varied from corrugated lean-to's to more permanent brick structures, ranging from totally abandoned to much loved, all on the same street. Every property has individual influences too. A lot are Wild West saloons, some straight out of 'little house on the prairie' and then there is the odd mansion which we assume belongs to the land owner. We also passed a brand new, bona fide castle complete with turrets!
Whilst we were listening to the cricket and discussing what they should be doing differently, the transmission began to receive interruptions every 30 minutes, to let us know the state of the bush fires that had occurred just outside of Ballarat earlier in the day. We were already driving in the opposite direction and the emergency services compiling of 2 water bombers and 40+ ground crew seemed to have it under control. The watch and act order never became anything more than that.
We pulled over for our packed lunch in what was essentially a lay-by with a bench. The roll and crisps we munched on in the back of Bruno were just the job to keep us going. Not the most picturesque spot we have been fortunate enough to visit but it served a purpose! And the cattle seemed amused by the company.
We arrived in Bendigo around 3pm having identified this town as it boasted several campsites, one of which must have a space, and was well into the journey giving us less to do tomorrow. The site was fine but the winds had really picked up and poor old Bruno was being blustered about. It's no wonder the fires move so quickly in these winds. We left the site to go and explore historic bendigo's highlight. Unfortunately all of the cafés in this area seem to shut at 3.30pm on Saturdays..random.
The buildings were very pretty thought. The town hall, law court, post office buildings had a certain grandeur, indicating their importance historically in a community such as this.
We cooked our first proper BBQ when we got back. Rissoles (still not sure what these are), chicken skewers, mushrooms,peppers, asparagus and for Clarkey, 4 big fat juicy king prawns, tentacles and all. We were chatted up by a bloke cooking approximately 45 sausages and creating his own chicken skewers. He was suitably impressed by our trip so far and our planned journey over the next couple of days. The food was bonza! There was a massive feeling of satisfaction munching through the meat and veg that we had delicately charred. By the time we'd finished congratulating each other and washed up, it was time for bed.