Barham Colonial Motel

... offering to show us around the owner of the pub has also been very generous to us travellers, letting us not only use his and his wife's bikes to get around but also giving us his old car to get to and from work. It's more of a golf buggy than a car, with no power steering and only four gears. Not only has no roof but also has no doors. Not exactly practical for back home but it's much appreciated in the stifling Swan Hill heat. <br><br>

Just a quick stop over in Hay for the night. Hay seems to be quite a farming town with alot of sheep shearing.<br>It was a very hot day in Hay so it was a great relief to see a nice clean cool pool in Hay Caravan Park. We had a quick dip before having a ...

... signing up to charities) I was also back looking for employment. <br>Which is how I ended up on a plane to Melbourne, then a four hour train journey into the outback.<br>I'm now living in a little town called Swan Hill which is on the boarder of New South Wales and Victoria. <br>I'm working in a bar/bistro called the Federal Hotel (which confusingly is not a hotel at all).<br>My adventure into the 'outback' (I put this in inverted commas because to call it the 'outback ...

Had a nice cool ride up to Bendigo this morning. Stopped in Kyneton for morning tea, arriving in Kangaroo Flat (a Bendigo suburb) about noon.<br><br>Went out for a drive around the area to see where the recent bushfires had made their marks. Quite extensive damage around here, but this upcoming fire season may be even worse. Did my best to help, bring in 25-30mm of ...

... well hidden from Ben (Kristy's fiance) and his mates because they're not MacLeod's biggest fans! One of the boys who plays for MacLeod though is called Benno (I'm assuming that's his nickname) and he was wearing a top with his name on it, which we managed to steal off him for Kristy who spent the rest of the day wearing it and saying "**** if Ben sees this I'm so not getting married anymore...but **** it he's got the same name" fair enough.<br><br>All nine of us were ...

Set off this morning to go on the paddesteamers. We all had an enjoyable time and then pushed the excitement levels to the next step and went on a horse and carriage ride. Was nice to step back in time but was gald to leave it all behind after going to the penny parlour (although the boys seemed to enjoy it) and the old 3 stooges movies - sorry for those that are fans but they don't do ...

The boys didn't want to say goodbye to Sam as he went to off to school as we don't know when it will be next until we see him (or the rest of the family) again. Very sad....aawww! Not long after we left Melbourne behind and headed towards Echuca (near the Murray River). It's not really on the way home but Jeremy wanted to go to see the Paddlesteamers. Got in not long after ...

... a break in Mildura, then followed the river back into Victoria to run down the Murray Valley highway to Swan Hill for the night. First big day on the road, about 650km so far.<br><br>Had a 50's style meal at the local RSL and hit the bed early. Bike parked safe under motel canopy for the night.<br>

... Softball Championship in the Netherlands. She is quite an inspiring person and when you comment on this, she just smiles and shrugs. After visiting her, I looked through an antique shop, and we visited the local farmers market. We then headed off to Lake Boga. We drove around there for a little (it's not a big place), and then settled down to have a picnic lunch. After that we went to the Flying Boat Museum. During WWII, the RAAF set up a repair depot ...

... one of these before so was trying it out a little bit, it's a heavy car but I tell you it picks up speed like nothing else I've been in. Ben drove for a few hours while I sat there patiently, waiting, it would be mine, oh yes. It got dark outside and I waited. It started to rain and I waited. Eventually we had to have a comfort stop and Ben gave me the nod, here I go. The question on many of your lips will obviously be "Is it as good as the Peppermint Rocket?" (This ...