We had a great nights' sleep as it was surprisingly quiet considering we were in the middle of town but it was a bit strange sitting outside in pj's drinking coffee while the town kids were lining up nearby to catch the school bus!! Having power meant a long drawn out breakfast with multiple rounds of toast for everyone and then we spent an hour or two sorting out wardrobes - pulling the summer clothes out of storage and putting away the winter woollies. When we were finally finished we drove into Echuca, a town about 20 minutes away famous for its paddle steamers. We drove down to the Wharf and parked the car then walked back into town along the river watching the paddleboats go by. The kids asked lots of questions about life in the old days as we walked along the Murray Esplanade looking at all the old shops and pieces of machinery. We found a fantastic bakery for lunch and sat outside in the sunshine chatting to lots of different people who all stopped to pat the dog! I called into a coffee roasters further up the street and got Nick and I a take away cappuccino. While there I tasted some delicious local Port and Tokay and ended up with a bottle of Tokay too!! We walked along the high street to tourist information and picked up some brochures on areas further along the Murray then walked back along the river before visiting a huge sweet shop that Nick took the kids into to spend their pocket money. While they were inside I sat on a bench next to a café until everyone started jumping up out of their seats as a snake was slithering along the pavement. Suddenly everyone had their cameras out and were taking photographs and the snake seemed trapped - I felt quite sorry for it being stuck on a busy street!! Once full of lollies we walked back to the car and headed home, stopping off at a bookshop to buy the boys some more reading books that should last us the rest of the year. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun while the kids played and eventually I went off to the butchers and grocers to buy dinner. We ate quite late as it was such a warm evening and once we'd finished we went for a walk and checked out all the local houses and gardens. We had to put the air con on so that the kids could fall asleep and we then slept with the windows open - our first hot day in a long time!