Our Big Trip of OZ - 24/09/11 - ~16/01/12: Friday 25th Nov – Monday 28th Nov

Friday 25^th Nov – time to look for gold so off to Ballarat we went all ready to seek our fortune and to freeze our ass’s off. First though we had to take a detour into Geelong where the boys caught a glimpse of “Skilled Stadium” (the boys favourite Oz rules team home ground so we found out). Now the big job of finding a reasonably priced van park in Ballarat. After making lots of calls we settled for “Shady Acres” park which allowed pets but was not so kid friendly so we found out. The first words that came out of the managers mouth was “we don’t have any facilities for kids” and even the games room had a big sign on it “NOT FOR THOSE UNDER 10”. He also advised that ‘we cater for dogs, not for kids’. WTF?! “yeah, whatever buddy” Anyway we ignored all the warnings, ensured the kids didn’t crap on the grass and set up!

Saturday 26^th Nov – our day in Sovereign Hill. This we absolutely loved. It was cold and wet the whole day which we felt was to our advantage as it kept the crowds away – and this it did. The boys had their ponchos, we had our brollies and so it was a great day. Mark and the boys went on the underground mine tour (another one), we all had a go at “olden-day” bowling (Scott called it), did a little panning, watched gold being poured and the rest of the day was spent exploring the village. It was a great place and definitely worth the money.

Sunday 27^th Nov – typical Victorian weather. The day started out wet then by lunch time our camper was all dried out and we were able to pack up. Before heading off we had to check out the lake and gardens and go for a ride on the tram that only runs on weekends so to our luck, we just happen to be in Ballarat on Sunday. The boys checked out the tramway museum as well.

We left Ballarat mid afternoon and headed north to Echuca, about 3 hrs away (as this was where the weather was going to be good according once again to Mark). Our original plan was to go south-east, down to Lakes Entrance and along the coast but unfortunately the weather was not permitting this so plan B – head to Echuca and see what happens. So we ended up bush camped on the Murray river about 5kms from Echuca.

Monday 28^th Nov – we spent the morning exploring Echuca. The boys were cranky with us at first because they thought there would be nothing to do in Echuca but…..once they saw the paddle steamers – it all turned to fun. Of course we had go have a ride on one so we chose “PS Pevensey” which happened to be the famous paddle steamer used in the mini-series “All the Rivers Run” and it was kept just like that so we sat on wool bales during our ride. Scott of course was so fascinated that he spent his whole time going around the steamer trying to work out how it worked. The wharf was good to see with the buildings kept just as they were back in steamer days.

So after Echuca…where to next? I guess Mark should just check out the weather first….