Day 35 (March 6) - Inverleigh to Melbourne

Friday 6 March

After breakfast, a new neighbour pulled into the area near where we'd camped. We told them we were leaving soon so they were welcome to rearrange things into our spot once we'd gone. They told us they were waiting for someone else to join them, so when another van turned up a minute later and pull up near our neighbours we thought nothing of it. After hearing a bit of chatter outside however, we took a look and quickly deduced these newcomers were not, in fact, the anticipated visitors, but (in the eyes of the original neighbours at least) some interlopers who had parked their rig uninvited into a spot they (the originals) had carefully prepared for their friends. The newcomers, on the other hand, felt campsites should be filled on a first-come first-served basis and that the others had no right in reserving this spot when they (the newcomers) wanted to use it. We decided this would be the perfect time to all go for a morning walk and let them sort out their differences! Well... the situation wasn't perhaps as heated as this account may make it sound, they were still relatively civil, but there was certainly an element of crank on the part of both parties!



We walked from our camp site about a kilometre down to the main road from Inverleigh to Winchelsea. It was a very peaceful walk in its own right, especially by contrast to the little tiff we'd just left! The water was lovely and still at this time of morning, the air was fresh and still and not much traffic was out on the road to Winchelsea. We found some fairly deep 4WD tracks around the Bell Bridge over the river and the kids explored around the bridge for a while.

After returning to our campsite we found the long-anticipated friends of the original neighbours had turned up in our absence, meaning there were now three caravan setups plus ours crowded into what was quickly becoming a logjam! So we finished packing up our site and navigated our way through the traffic and onto the (relatively!) open road to Inverleigh!

Having slept near Inverleigh for several nights now, we felt obliged to do some spending in one of the local shops, so pulled up at the Inverleigh General Store. This one was a real corker, and such a contrast to our experience in Winchelsea last week. The food was delicious, there was a good range of products and, key difference, the staff were friendly! We were going to grab a small bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice when the shopkeeper, hearing our discussions on trying to buy fresh local juice, informed us that the 2L bottle was only about $1 more than the 500ml one we were considering. We got a couple of sausage rolls and a yoghurt muesli slice, both of which were absolutely delicious! It was an appropriate high point on which to leave Inverleigh, and we would definitely return to this delightful town again!

We stopped for lunch at Hovells Creeks, near the town of Lara. Just as we were scooting past this area on the highway, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a couple of cars crossing what looked to be a flooded bridge. We turned off and went back to investigate and, since the car was a bit muddy felt we had to follow the other cars through!

We also enjoyed lunch on the grass.

From here it was pretty well straight up to Melbourne. We stopped for a new gas bottle at Bunnings and got a replacement caravan strip light for one we bought in Warrnambool which turned out to be faulty. Then it was straight to Aunty Pam's! It was lovely to see her again after several years! Their upstairs area has been recently renovated so we moved things in there - it was nice to have a bit extra space around us again! We had a good catchup, and then my other cousin Ian, his wife Sarina and their three kids came around. After a bit of joint work on Aunty Pam's camera surveillance system, we all headed out to Kentro restaurant in Oakleigh. Oakleigh is full of Greek restaurants, of which Kentro was one, and we had a delicious and very filling meal!

Greg, Mim, Ian, Judah, Penelope, Bek, Matt,
Hamish, Jessica, Sarina, Aunty Pam

After dinner we went back to Aunty Pam's where the kids had a ball playing 'sardines' (hide-and-seek but only one person is hiding and everyone else is seeking). It was a really enjoyable evening!



-- Greg