September

Saturday the 1st of September
The first day of spring and when we climbed out of bed it was beautiful morning. The sun was shining and there was no wind at all, lit the fire and cooked our breakfast of toast and poached eggs washed down with a nice cuppa.
The birds were out in force and we noted cormorants, galahs, willy wag tails, swallows getting mud for their nest, kookaburra's, corella's going about their business. We were somewhat surprised to see wood ducks landing in trees around us and more so when we noted two of these ducks nesting in the hollow of a river gum right near our camp. We have never heard of ducks nesting in the hollow of trees before so it took some coming to grips with. Though there is the photo of the female coming out of the hollow with the male standing guard, it is still hard to believe!
We had a happy camper drop in on us and we had a chat for awhile and he told us that the dead Koala has now been removed from the road no doubt the victim of a vehicle of some description. We haven't spotted a Koala on this side of the highway we normally only spot them at Finley Beach.
Liz was to do a little hand wash and then we drove into Tocumwal to get the paper etc.

We drove straight to the newsagents and parked up; after buying the paper we went for a walk along the levee bank and was amazed at the condition of the river gums there was no new growth and they appeared to be dyeing. There was the culprit, hundreds and hundreds of Corella's and the ground around the trees was a mess of new growth leaves etc. These Corella's are bighting off the new growth leaves retarding the trees growth.
We then went into the IGA supermarket and bought another box of milk. Around to the garage sale run by Lions members and we thought the goods where a little overpriced so no purchases were made. The day was tremendous with the sun shining and the sky's as blue as and no wind. We were concerned the shops may close at midday so we had to be quick in purchasing what we wanted. The op shop was open so we had a look and purchased a few items such as two camp saucepans complete with lids for fifty cents each and a couple of toys to add to the toy box at home for the grand kids.
Then we ventured over the eastern side of Tocumwal and had a look at the old railway station though still in use it has a rail museum inside, unfortunately it wasn't open today.
Then we had a look at the old Terminus Hotel near the rail station and you could imagine the train passengers having a few quick ones before the departure of train. We are not sure how old it may be, however along the front of the hotel all the windows are stained lead glass with " Billiards Room" worked into the glass with lead. Its a wonder that the hoons haven't busted the windows which would be a pity.
Back to camp for a late lunch and then as the day was so great we sat in the sun reading our books and listening to the Geelong V Sydney game. We had a couple of speed boats go up the river and they certainly had waves bashing into the already eroded banks. Then later after our evening meal which was cooked on the campfire and eaten outside for a change. Lets hope this nice spring weather continues. After our meal we came inside to watch the Collingwood V Essendon game and then off to bed after an absolutely wonderful warm day by the Murray River.

Sunday the 2nd of September
Another great day with just a hint of fog on the river, again a cloudless blue sky with no wind and that is the way it would stay all day. We didn't arise until 9-30 am this morning I had a sleep in for it was Fathers Day. We had breakfast outside and were joined by our resident magpie who Liz insists on feeding toast and a blue wren was eating insects from our wood heap.
After breakfast we drove into Tocumwal to buy the paper and a carton of custard for I want custard and banana's for sweets with our dinner this evening. I received a call from Carol and Robert both wishing me a happy fathers day and then I rang my dear old Dad wishing him the same. I received a call from Jill later in the day.

I was still taken with the old Terminus Hotel and its beautiful stained lead glass windows so we drove back over and took more photo's and found the hotel was built in 1908 and it has been well maintained. It was still early to go inside to check out the interior something we will do tomorrow and probably knock back a few ales.
We arrived back at camp at midday and then I decided to put a line in the Murray to see what I could catch in the way of fish. Whilst I was having my lunch I heard the rod behind me fall and when I looked it was on the way to the water. I had a fish on and it fought the good fight and when I landed it there in all its glory was a Murray Cod though not as big as the one I caught at Gin Gin Weir when measured it was a keeper. Needless to say it has now been cleaned and I will have it for dinner this evening for Liz does not want to eat any more fish. Liz reckons she takes enough fish oil capsules.
After lunch I checked the water level of the batteries which were ok and then settled in to listen to the St Kilda V Carlton football game. To listen to the commentators it wasn't much of a game and they stated that both teams had settled in to where they should be on the ladder. The final results were St Kilda won by 15 points. It was such a sunny afternoon that we were able to see the two canoeists going down with the current of the Murray River, though it was different story when they were peddling back against the flow of the river. They were really struggling even though they were hugging the bank. With the sky so blue we were to witness the gliders that Tocumwal is famous for. They were riding the thermals, there were two of them and it was hard to get a photo. They were gliding in and around our area for at least thirty minutes and it was great to see and the bonus was no noise.
We sat out until the sun went down behind the trees and then it became a little colder so we came inside and watched the Richmond Lions V Port Adelaide game which was a draw, the first this season.
We had our evening meal and watched the Brisbane V Bulldogs match which Brisbane won easily, We watched the movie and off to bed after another good day.

Monday the 3rd of September
The birds awoke us this morning with their various calls and especially the warbling magpie that was reminding us that it was time to give him his breakfast. The river was still flowing fast though it was obvious that the river level had dropped by 175 millimeters over the past few days. The catchment in Queensland is dropping away for they have not had rain for the past fortnight. As usual the fire was lit and then we had breakfast in the brilliant sunshine and fed the magpie a few crumbs from our toast. He is walking up to our feet and doesn't move when we hop up. We burnt the last of our wood and started to tidy the camp for we will be having anymore fires, all our meals from here on in will be cooked on the gas cooker.
We had a couple of happy campers come around from the camp grounds further up the river and we chewed the fat for awhile before discovering that they have a caravan and a campervan and have been camping here for the past seven months. I suppose you could call them squatters, we have found a lot on the road this year some with very good new gear and others with less than desirable vehicles a sign of the times.
It was around 11 am when we drove across the bridge into NSW and Tocumwal to buy the newspaper to check all the football results for the finals commence next week. My beloved team the Saints will not be in the final series this year.
Bought the newspaper and then drove along the levee road that keeps the flood waters of the Murray River from entering the town proper, we drove around to the football grounds to see if we could get access to the Town Beach road. It was blocked off so we looked around the football ground and watched the bowlers at the Bowls Club for awhile and then around to the Op Shop and bought a couple of items, everything was either two or one dollar very cheap indeed with the proceeds put back into town facilities. As it was 1 pm we went around to the bakery and the smell before we walked in was very nice and we bought pies, sausage rolls and a vanilla slice each which we took back to camp to eat along with a nice cup of tea.
We started packing away the gear for we are leaving in the morning and whilst I was doing this Liz was washing and wiping the Suzuki and running the chamois over the Motorhome which took some time. We will have our final happy hour watching the waters of the Murray flow towards South Australia. We sat out in the beautiful sun and Liz was to give me a haircut before we came inside for our evening meal and usual as soon as the sun disappears the cold of the night comes down. Again tonight we will watch a bit of tellie and read our books before going off to bed.

Tuesday 4th of September
We both slept well on our last night on the banks of the Murray River and awoke to another very nice morning with blue sky's and very sunny. As we had packed away last night we had breakfast in the Motorhome. As we were eating we could hear the warbling of the Magpie outside the door no doubt calling for his share, though this morning we ignored the bird. Whilst we were eating three Major Mitchell Galahs landed close on a gum tree stump hanging over the river and as I grabbed the camera unfortunately one flew away. When I went outside to dismantle the satellite dish etc I noted that the Murray River had dropped again. So over the last two days the river has dropped by at least a metre.
We left our camp site and drove to the railway line where we hooked the Suzuki up to the Motorhome, whilst there the bloke from the railway work gang came and confirmed the drop in river levels and indicated that next year he and his wife would be doing what we are doing now. He estimated that we would see him again next May when they hope to clean and repaint the pylons and girders of the bridge to complete the overhaul. At the moment they are only replacing the rails and sleepers due to the level of the river, he was to tell us that a houseboat had been trying to get under the bridge and couldn't for the river was to high.
We were on the road and the traffic had picked up especially the road transports though most were twin trailers carrying grain into Melbourne, there were only a few interstate semi trailers and B-Doubles. Our first stop was to buy the newspaper so Liz could get the double page spread of her beloved Collingwood players.

Then we turned onto the highway which bypasses Shepparton city centre and found that we were again passing many fields of Canola with their rich yellow flowers and then the many orchards some with irrigation passing along the front of them and close to the houses. We were wondering if this was a good environment for Mosquito's.
We were to pass Gurduara Sahib, Place of Worship no doubt for those from India of which religion we are not sure. Then decided to get off the highway and go into WOW! for a look around for it was so early. No wonder we had no problem parking the WOW! Store is now closed so we walked over to BCF and spent the best part of an hour looking at the boating, camping and fishing items. We purchased a couple of things and then we were back on the road towards Melbourne.
We linked up with the Murray Valley - Goulburn Highway and it was great when we hit the duel highway for the traffic was becoming much busier and before we knew it we had arrived at the Calder - Woodburn Rest Area which is to be our stop for the night before we go into Melbourne tomorrow. It was only 11 am when we pulled in and selected where we would park which is near a power outlet and I just happen to have the key, so tonight when things quietened down I plugged into power for the night and then turned on our electric blankets among other things.
By the time we had a look around and set up it was lunch time though just before we had a bloke pull up to enquire about our motorhome and tow car. That conversation lasted for a good half hour and he indicated that he to would on the road next year with his wife after buying a motorhome.
We noted the Canola crop nearby was not flourishing like the crops that are under irrigation back up the road. It is obvious that they have not had much rain in this area for awhile. After lunch I had a poppy nap and it was time to have our last happy hour on the road so I had a few more than normal. There is no need to get out the Satellite equipment and set up for we are picking up digital television so we will just relax and watch the comedy shows this evening before going off to bed.
Kilometres travelled 112

Wednesday the 5th of September
Last night the news predicted high winds and storms for today and true to their forecast that is happening this morning. We arose at 5-45 am for the wind was picking up and the motorhome was rocking as were side on to the wind. When I went outside the sun was just rising through the trees and the sky was blue and unless you experienced the wind you would have thought it another good day.
We had our breakfast and cleaned up and unhooked from the free power and of course closed the power box and we were on our way at 6-45 am bound for Melbourne. We were still on the Murray - Goulburn Highway and the going was easy for it was two lane most of the way. We were lucky in a sense for the wind was either at our rear or side on, It wasn't long before we arrived at Nagambi and being early there were few stores open including the newsagency.
There was canola crops everywhere I do not think we have so much under cultivation in previous years. Before we knew it we were taking the turnpike to the Hume Highway then into Melbourne.

Jen sent us a Sims to see where we were for she was concerned about the high winds. We sent a Sims back indicating we were only 100 kilometres from Melbourne. The wind increased dramatically and luckily it was on our rear and I couldn't believe the fuel consumption it had dropped from 16 litre's per hundred Kilometres to 10 litre's per hundred that was the wind pushing us up the highway, hills and all.
We were to see the last of the farmland only 50 kilometres from Melbourne and cattle and sheep were grazing and the birds were making hard work of it trying to combat the wind. For about the next 20 kilometres we had the wind on our side and it wasn't nice for the motorhome was veering dependant on the wind gust, As we were now on the Hume Highway there were plenty of interstate trucks and they were passing us at the rate of knots so to speak. The trucks were doing up to 120 kph with the wind assistance though we felt sorry for the caravans and motorhome's pushing this wind heading north in the other lanes.
We turned off before the Western Ringroad and threaded our way through the traffic towards Thornbury and again we did no get to many green lights, though I didn't mind for it gave me a chance to familiarise myself with peak hour traffic once again. Nothing has changed just hold your ground and be ready to apply the brakes quickly for vehicles diving in and out of lanes and always filling the spot in front of us thus reducing my stopping distance. These drivers do no understand that we need more distance to stop quickly especially towing a car one day we will run up the back of a vehicle that dives in front of us and the law states it is my fault for travelling to close to the vehicle in front!
At least we did not have to compete with trams for the road this morning just commuter trains going into the Melbourne City Centre.
We finally arrived at Jen and Robs place at Thornbury at 9-30 am and set up the motorhome for the next few days. We were lucky in that the motorhome is facing into the wind and it is now starting to rain and would do so on and off all day. The wind has reached 100 kph and is gusty as well; we are glad we made the decision to come in early for there are reports already of interstate trucks losing their loads on the Western Ringroad due to the weather.
We had a cuppa with Jen and gave the boys their gifts and then we all went up to the shopping centre and visited Sam's discount store and then into Aldies for a few more grocery's for home and the newsagency and then home for lunch.
During the afternoon I had a poppy nap in the motorhome and when I awoke the motorhome was rocking and the rain was tumbling down and it was almost horizontal. We will only use the motorhome to sleep in tonight as we will eating and doing the usual things inside there house.
Kilometres travelled 160

Thursday 6th of September
The wind had not abated much when we awoke this morning and the motorhome was rocking in the gusts. We went inside for breakfast and Jen had the heater going which was little hot I had to shed a pullover.
After breakfast Liz and Jen walked Ollie to school where they showed the maps of all our travels to his class and Ollie was to explain to the class where we had travelled over the years. Liz was in her element in amongst the school children and I believe they read a few books to groups of children.
When they returned home we went to Ray's for a gander and bought a new melamine set of plates etc for the motorhome and a lcd lantern they were on special and in their latest catalogue out today.
Back home and had a cappacino then onto the shopping mall in Northcote. First as it was lunch time we sat down and ordered a large prosciutto pizza along with chips for Lucas and two pies for me washed down with latte for the girls and cappacino for me and Lucas. Lucas was to have a child's cup and saucer which looked neat especially more so given he was given a marshmellow with it as well.
After lunch I went into Coles for few items while Liz went to the hairdressers for a haircut. I had a look around the plaza and mall and took a photo of the artwork at the front of the building and the background of large rocks. Apparently this area was a large tip which they have rejuvenated and it now really looks nice and if you didn't know you wouldn't guess its previous use. The building itself is 7 stories high with the bottom floor for shops and cafe's of all descriptions and from the second floor it is all flats and townhouses. Back home and I started to pack away items that may come loose for given the weather of today with a temperature of only 19 degrees celsius with a wind gusting up to 89 kilometre per hour and the same predicted for tomorrow we are not expecting a smooth trip on the Spirit of Tasmania to Tasmania and home.
The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and using the computer to catch up on the news from home and Queensland before our evening meal.
Tonight we are having roast pork with all the usual roast veggies which we going to have last night. Jen had already cooked a nice chicken and rice dish thus the bake meal was postponed until this evening.
We do not intend to do much tonight other than enjoy the company of Rob and Jen and children before going off to bed.

Friday the 7th of September
Gusty winds and rain all night and it would not decrease during the day, the forecast for late afternoon was for more gale force winds and the possibility of hail and rain. Luckily we were only to see rain and high winds.
We had breakfast inside with Jen and Rob and the kids and said farewell to Rob as he went off to work, Oliver went off to school and that left Jen and Lucas and Liz and I. During the morning Jen was to drive me up to the Safeway Supermarket for they had squirt juice on special for $10 a carton very cheap so I bought two cartons and few other things for lunch and tea tonight.
We had our lunch and then received a text message from TT-Line indicating that free to air television was not available due to maintenance and only movies would be shown tonight. Well that was not well received by Liz who was looking forward to watching her beloved Collingwood play Hawthorn tonight. Jen checked out tt-line facebook page and found that it had been a rough trip last night on the way over and a caravan was damaged when a semi trailer moved in the high sea's. I suspected that the satellite signal could not keep adjusting to the rough weather conditions so I sent them the following message on Facebook.
" What's this text message about free to air television not available on tonight's journey to Tasmania? Was it that rough last night that the automatic satellite dish could not function properly. Is tonight going to be another rough trip? What about the football tonight?
And the reply back was. "Spirit of Tasmania Hi Jim. Thanks for your enquiry. The reason for this is because we're currently in the process of installing Foxtel. Unfortunately, during the installation process, we're unable to show free to air TV and we do apologise for this. We have portable entertainment players available to hire from reception, but very sorry to say you'll miss out on the footy. We're still set to sail regardless of weather conditions as the ship is equipped with stabilisers to handle it. We look forward to having you on board tonight and sure you'll enjoy the journey regardless! Cheers
Now there are two things wrong with their reply the first being the old free to air satellite dish uses the same satellite as Foxtel and you only really need to replace the free to air box with the Foxtel box and it works. Me thinks that there could have been a bit of damage last night.
The second is that I was always told by seafarers that stabilisers could not be used in really rough weather for there is the chance of one being damaged or lost and causing all sorts of problems to balance.
However we have to accept what they say and if we have a rough trip tonight then it will the first we have encountered since using these Bass Straight Ferries since 1998. After our lunch we said our farewells to Jen and Lucas and coupled up the Suzuki and we were bound for Port Melbourne and the ship.
We left at 1-30 pm and when in traffic it was the old game, foot on the brake and accelerator for as outlined previously the drivers do not always show good sense and that was to happen again today. Considering we only had 15 kilometres to go from Rob and Jens place we thought we would travel reasonably fast in traffic what a joke.
On several occasions we had to wait for three sets of green lights for the traffic in the crossing lanes would the block us and by the time they cleared there was a red light again and the nearer we were to the Victoria Markets the worse it became. However you could say we had plenty of time to look about especially when crossing the Yarra River and near the Crown Casino. At last we were on City Road and heading to the Ferry or should I say to our parking spot to have our evening meal and watch the terrible weather on Port Philip Bay. It would be true to say we have never seen the bay with such large waves so close to shore.
I do not really care for after a few pots of the favourite brew who cares. We will now settle in for a few hours to read our books before boarding. In all it took an hour and a half to cover 15 kilometres and we wonder why we love the outback of this country.

Saturday the 8th of September
Yes it was a rough trip last night on the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry though having a late late happy hour ensured that I went off to sleep very quickly. When I awoke at around 5-30 am we were already tied up alongside the wharf at Devonport though we were not allowed to disembark until 6-30 am. Last night we discovered they had installed foxtel on the ship and it was up and running so we were able to see the Collingwood V Hawthorn which Hawthorn won easily. We stopped at my sisters place for breakfast and then we headed into Launceston.
Well, that's it. Our Cape York Odyssey is over and we both agree that we have enjoyed the past four plus months especially the wonderful people we met along the way and a few of the other variety.
In all we travelled 8354 kilometres in the Motorhome and another 4326 kilometres in the Suzuki spending over $2200 on fuel for both vehicles. Already we are planning our trip on the Australian Continent next year.