Days out in Victoria - Sunday 20th September – Sunday 27th September

Sunday 20th

The first day with the car and we didn’t go very far just outside well 30km from the flat in the dandenongs to the town of Emerald to catch the puffing billy railway. Its an old fashioned steam train and with open side windows and you sit on there if you like, it winds its way through the hills and flowery meadows to lakeside. We had an hour looking around before we were back on the train to emerald.

Monday 21st

We left early and headed north towards Echuca / Moama on the Victoria and NSW boarder. Just before we left Corinne’s parcel from home arrived and it was very exciting she got more presents. On the way we stopped in Bendigo in the Victorian goldfields area, which was one of the original gold boom towns. It was a pretty nice place and we spent a little time there. In the afternoon it started to rain and we arrived at the spa resort in the evening. The room was gorgeous and had a huge bed and double bath.

Tuesday 22nd September – 2nd Wedding Anniversary

So its been 2 years since that sunny day in Cornwall since the wedding crazy how time flies when your having fun. We’ve both agreed that this has been the best way to celebrate and share our first years of marriage. So after waking up and having breakfast and getting dressed we opened our cards which were all very nice, we didn’t have presents as we have decided that for our anniversaries we are going to go on little mini-breaks. So out and about in Echuca we looked around the old dock area after booking tickets for the paddle steamer Emmylou.

On the docks there is a bloke who cares for rescued parrots and he had 3 with him, a Sulphur crested, Galah and a very friendly corella called rocky who he sat on Corinne’s shoulder and she fed him. The docks and shops were old fashioned like the way they were back in the day. It was soon time for the cruise on the Murray river, the paddle steamer was gorgeous. The sun had come out and it was a glorious day on the river the views were awesome and the milkshake wasn’t bad. The parrots were out and about drinking at the water on the banks of the river and nipping in and out of there nests.

Once the cruise was finished we booked a table for dinner at Oscar W’s for the evening. We then took advantage of the spa for the afternoon, the steam room and roman baths. The restaurant in the evening was amazing the ambience and the décor, the windows overlooking the river and the lights on the gum trees and the food was second to none.

Wednesday 23rd September

Deciding that Mildura was to far to drive for the one night (600kms) we stuck around Echuca having breakfast close to the river and checking out the great aussie beer shed. The have the biggest collection of classic and modern day beer cans, old aussie antiques like the first fridges and what not. The place was well cool some of the cans and merchandise they had were amazing. The owner was larger than life guy called neil and he was trying to set up his dad with a group of old ladies on the tour.

Thursday 24th September

Quite day whilst deciding what to do over the weekend we did get some shopping in replaced the walking shoes that were looking a bit sorry for themselves.

Friday 25th September

It was a wet day in Melbourne we went into the city for the grand final parade of the 2 AFL teams Geelong and St Kilda (Wolfie’s team). It wasn’t as good as the previous year because of the rain the players sat in the back of the pickup truck instead of the in the trays. We had a look around federation square and got some free vegemite samples and posters.

We got some food ready and drove to the ‘drive-in cinema’ and watched UP it was amazing the cinema was well cool. You tuned your radio in to get the sound

Saturday 26th September

GRAND FINAL DAY - we started by having a look around the south Melbourne market which without a car is hard for us to get to. It was ok not as good as the Prahran market which is our usually haunt, they do however have amazing dim sims they were sooooooooo good and we got extra to bring home. We done the rest of shopping before getting back ready to watch the game and what a game both teams gave their all but unfortunately Geelong just came out on top it was a sad day for saints fans. It was cool though gonner have to get a guernsey and football to send home.

Sunday 27th September

Final day with th car and we used it to for a trip to Torquay and half of the great ocean road to Kennet river. First stop an hour outside Melbourne was Torquay the famous surf town and home to Bells beach – top class world surf spot which unfortunately wasn’t working. Corinne after a look around the shops scored a dress from the reef outlet shop. After a little bit of a drive and some kangaroo spotting we stopped at the airey inlet lighthouse for a hot choc and cake at the café which was very nice, before continuing onto Lorne.

We had lunch at Lorne and a walkabout the town, watching the kids feeding the Cockatoo’s and the waves rolling in. It was then onto Kennet river top koala spotting place and there were a few about 25 or so along a couple of km’s off road. Some were sleeping and some awake eating which is basically a koala’s day. We had feed some king parrots close to the beach before having dinner at the Wye river hotel inn over looking the stormy seas outside.