Great Ocean Road Trip 2014

Day 6

Waanyarra - Echuca - Moama - Yarrawonga

Rained for the first time this trip overnight. I had to get up and rescue our chairs and the washing line from getting wet. It was so hot last night we had every window and vent open to keep cool and so it was a nice relief to get a decent breeze through at 2.30 - it brought rain with it as well unfortunately.

We woke to overcast and rainy skies too and so quickly packed up and hit the road.

Our objective of today was to spend as much time in Echuca-Moama as possible. Our trip there was fairly quick and we were able to park for as long as we wanted in the visitors centre which was great. It was only a short walk to the Echuca Port which is an historic trust listed precinct.

We had arrived just in time to board a paddle steamer the PS Canberra for a 1 hour paddle along the Murray River - cruising between NSW and Victoria along the border. Canberra was built in 1912 and has been in faithful service in various roles ever since. She raises steam on wood alone - no oil based fuel - and there is a plentiful supply of river red gums to satisfy her boilers.

The kids got to steer her along the journey which they all found great.

After our paddlewheel, we walked the pretty streets of Echuca both in the old Port section and in the town itself. We had pies for lunch at the bakery - except for Cayden who devoured 3/4 of a loaf of fresh bread!

We found a couple of great shops along our walk - one an old fashioned lolly shop and the other the Echuca Chocolate Company.

We all came put of both shops with scored treasure - fudge, Hershey bars and boiled lollies..... and Chocolate Port!

From Echuca, we loaded up our bounty and drove East. We basically followed the Murray River staying on the Victorian side.

Our campsite tonight is on the bank of the Murray River just outside of Yarrawonga. It's a pretty spot with lost of cockatoos and other birds but also lots of campsites as it's the Australia Day Long weekend . Lucky we beat in some of the masses that wanted to camp here too.

Tomorrow we cross the border and head for Jugiong to spend the long weekend before heading back to Sydney.