Carriage House Motor Inn Wagga Wagga

... had no inkling, but was thrilled to pieces and we had a truly great evening, highlighted by a wonderful speech from his eldest son, Julian.

So, we are on our last day here. We leave this afternoon to drive back to Sydney before catching our flight to Perth tomorrow at midday. Pete's "kids" are coming round before we go - but it is really going to be hard to leave! We know we still have much to enjoy on our trip ...

... concerned about this bike riding..despite the training !!
Should I be foolish enough to post a photo of myself on a bike I already know my bum looks big in bikeshorts..so no smart **** or big **** comments thank you!!
Will sign off for now and see if this works!!

Wagga Wagga After delaying our departure 1 day we spent the first night away at the Rossiter family guest house and spend a great quick night over a couple of beers and a home made Rossiter Pizza. Great to catch up with friends and this will be one thing both Rebecca, myself and the kids will find the hardest over the next 10 months To all the people we missed on the way north we will catch up with on the way south next year

... to drop off our bags and had a nice chat with the rail employee. It never ceases to amaze me how nice people are! Then we headed to breakfast at a place called Mick's Bakehouse, where we had an amazing breakfast. If any of you ever make it through to Wagga Wagga, you have to stop at Mick's. The food was fantastic. And then we went to the railroad station to head to Canberra. Tune in later for more on Canberra.

... John had been telling whoppas and there wasn't actually a kangaroo living there, ready to pose for photos with foreigners... but he managed to redeem himself by producing a packet of Tim Tams to munch at this, the highest point in Australia. (The next disappointment hit me on arriving at a stone toilet building, which had been calling to me from the 'summit', only to find a sign declaring it 'locked for winter'... maybe ...

... the main street. This was the quintessential Australian country town and I wished that I was booked there - and not just because I had another 300km to drive. The town reminded me of the setting for the excellent film The Year My Voice Broke. The petrol attendant was very amused by my credit card. "Do you like get a dozen eggs for every $100 you spend?" I struggled on and thankfully things begain to progressively green up the closer I got to Wagga Wagga. An old couple I'd ...

A short drive (short in distance, long in driving time) North East of Melbourne is a town called Wagga Wagga (or simply pronounced Wogga) where we caught-up with some old friends from South Africa -Gavin, Chantell and their beautiful little boy Kyle (aged 4). Gavin and I have been friends for 32 years and he and his wife were gracious enough to put us up for the weekend in 5 ...

This morning we headed off to the Botanical Gardens where there is a miniature railway which runs each 1st and 3rd Sunday of the Month - and guess what - today is the 1st Sunday!! We decided to take a ride to see where best to take photographs. The layout is quite extensive and well thought out - it runs between the Botanical Gardens and the Zoo, to the ...

... to get into place we forgot to put up the TV antenna before we raised the van roof. This was rectified later by me climbing up our little ladder (thanks to Verina) and inserting the antenna into the clip, and Ted who poked the tree branches away with a long metal pole. Otherwise all well - did the week's washing which almost dried in the wind - the dryers finished it off OK. We went straight to the Visitors' Centre - these are grouse places in any town you ...

come here, and stay on a farm in a lovely little place called Hanericka Farmstay, seed how a farm really works and have an experience of the Aussie country life, with home cooking, horse riding and all sorts of stuff you will never find in a city. www.hanerickafarmstay.com
You will maybe even meet me if your lucky.