Back in to it and hoping to get in and out of Melbourne with this post so I will try not to dribble on and make it brief (if I can).
SEYMOUR
Last stop before we headed into Melbourne proper; we stayed at Seymour for 4 nights as we wanted a bit of a longer break from driving and also we wanted to head to Frankston on a Sunday to avoid the Melbourne traffic.
We stayed at the Goulburn River Tourist Park (Top Tourist) which was out of town by about 4km. The park has a great outlook and is well maintained and it is situated on the banks of the river. The park has about 80 powered and 30 un-powered sites; there is some kids play equipment and a jumping pillow but no pool. The amenities (2 blocks) were clean and quite good so no complaints my end; price off peak was $28 per night, they may do a weekly rate but I did not check, price was pretty good given the location and outlook.
There are a few attractions around Seymour such as the Avenal Maze, Puckapunyal Tank Museum, Lavender Garden & Miniature Railway; for the wine tasters there are 4 local wineries.
The park entrance; the river is to the left of the photo.
Our site; they did have some slab sites but they were mostly under trees and given the cool climate we opted for a grass site that had sun (when it was out) and a bit more room.
Would highly recommend a trip to Puckapunyal army base; getting in through the gatehouse (photo ID required) is free and you are issued a temporary pass and directions to the museum within the base, it is an experience just driving within the grounds. From memory it was about $10 each at the museum but well worth the money and it goes to the upkeep of the place.
After getting hopelessly lost just from parking the car to finding our way into the museum I ended up in a sergeants mess and accommodation area where I was duly escorted out a side gate and pointed in the direction of the museum building. Lin decided a photo of sergeant Dave with pucka pass attached was the order of the day.
Linda inside a gun turret; if only I could put a lid on it!!!
FRANKSTON
Headed in to Frankston (bayside area in Melbourne), keep in mind this was late September early October; we had several things in mind in coming to Melbourne, they were catching up with family and friends, being around Melbourne during grand final week and going over to Tassie (the latter did not eventuate).
We did not want to book us and the van onto the Spirit of Tasmania ship in advance as we did not know our exact plans or even when we would arrive in Melbourne. On ringing the booking office 2 weeks before we wanted to go we were told that the earliest date we could travel was the first week in December; this was no good for us as we wanted to be back in Melbourne Mid Dec. Although there is hardly anyone travelling to Tasmania for holidays at this time I forgot about all the Tasmanian's that had been on holiday on the mainland going home (lesson learnt). We will do this trip at a later date and will be wiser but after speaking with several Tassie adventurers the best time to over is Jan, Feb & March.
We did stay at a caravan park in Frankston but not much to blog as it was more a permanent park with about 20 casual/tourist sites. If ever you saw the news about the scammers from overseas flogging bitumen driveways cheap and not doing the work they were staying in the same park as us, it was on the news about 2 weeks after we left the park.
Frankston beach; not the best weather whilst we were down south but must admit it would be a great place in summer.
As you can see it was one of those bright sunny days with a light balmy breeze blowing; the beach was packed with holiday makers making the best of this glorious day in tropicana. Also if you look closely in the top right of the photo you will see the pigs flying. It was brass monkey weather; the people in the background were collected shortly after this photo was taken by the “loony bin” bus.
Had to take a photo of this magnificent automobile spotted in a car park; seems the bonnet catch is broken, only my summarisation given the amount of packing tape used to hold it on (roadworthy; what roadworthy!!!!).
Above: Linda with Auntie Sheila & Uncle Tony that live in Seaford; both are very fit and active and it was great to catch up. Sheila certainly keeps Tony on his toes.
Great friends of ours Gaz & Mauz who we spent a fair bit of time with whilst in Melbourne; the girls did all the craft and cooking whilst the boys did all the computer stuff and bullshitting. Had a great time guys and can't wait till your back on the road again.
Ran in to these two old birds at a pub in Melbourne; just shows what a chick magnet I am.
Lynn (left) and Helen are work mates from a previous life (Tyco and beyond) that we have known for quite some years. Thanks for lunch and all the reminiscing, it was great to catch up and hope we can do it again; my shout next time (if your lucky).
Not my idea of a good time but given Linda supports Collingwood off we went to the grand final parade held in the city centre. It actually was a great day and if you have not been to this do so if you get the chance as the atmosphere is electric.
Above: Mick Malthouse, the then Collingwood coach; the parade runs the whole length of Swanston Street.
Part of the Collingwood/Geelong crowd at Federation Square.
Clydsdales in the parade.
Linda's favourite part of any parade is the Scottish pipers and they put on quite a show
LAKES ENTRANCE
After leaving Melbourne we headed to Lakes Entrance; not able to tell you much about this part of the world as we were only here 2 nights and it pissed rain and was freezing cold so never got to look around.
We stayed at Eastern Beach Holiday Park which is only 200mt from the beach; the park has a huge fully equipped camp kitchen, swimming pool and the dreaded jumping pillow and a 3/4 acre playground (noise pit). The amenities look to have been refurbished and are very good. The price for powered sites in off peak is $30 per night or $180 for the week (7th night free); if the weather is good the rate is well worth paying for the location.
Our site; no slab but they have these eco mats which are a screen type mesh and do work quite well in keeping the rain and muck out.
Be careful if using truck stops; we pulled in to this one and we were followed shortly after by 4 long low loaders with demountable buildings; I am sure they got a giggle as I had to reverse back a fair way with the van and then exit out the entry, they had the whole bay blocked off.
Okay I am getting closer so will be setting out the next post to have up in a few more days (I hope).
Love to all our family and friends; keep well and to those that are, safe travelling.
David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
