Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 95 - Echuca to Wodonga

Our last day in a caravan park. From now on we will be “free camping”, if sticking our van down the driveway at my sister’s house and on the lawn in front of my aunt’s homestead can be called free camping. We have slept in, and although there is no real pressure to get going, there is only 90 minutes until checkout time. On our way out we will need to hit the dump point and stop using the internal toilet as much as possible.

The morning is clear and still, driving should be easy today. The trip to Wodonga is not a long one by the standards we have seen over the past fortnight. Adding a detour into Rutherglen will not create too much of an issue in time. The only “timetable” type thing on the agenda is Tracey is finishing work around 3.00pm.

This part of the trip follows the Murray Valley Highway and there is very little evidence of drought. If there are not green citrus trees, there are vines, and if not either crops with yields most farmers would only dream about. Wheat, oats, sorghum, barley and canola all get a go along here. Most will be harvested for grain, but in many places the outer rims are baled. I wonder if this is a plan to sell or donate to those with no grass, or simply an insurance against dryer times for their own stock, potentially out of view of the irrigation areas.

At one place, the area between the fence and the road has clearly been harvested. I suspect under the rule that homeowners are supposed to look after the verge area, the farmer has cleared the land of self-sown wheat and oats. I wonder if that has been taken for their own use or donated to those in drought. What it does make you think, why can’t this be done on a much grander scale? Obviously, debris such as fallen branches etc would be a hazard, but at a lot of points along the roads we have seen local clubs adopting roads, with a view to revegetating and cleaning them up, but what if these projects could extend to growing fodder?

Food for thought?

Rutherglen sucks us in, and we stop for a quick tasting to confirm which wine we want. I grab some of Tracey’s favourite drop – Robbie Burns Shiraz – and a mixed dozen of that plus some Campbells special reserve cabernet that I have become quite fond of. Walking the spectacular gardens, we are able to photograph roses and rows and rows of wine grape vines. Purchases in tow, we head back to the car and looking for a lunch break.

The town of Rutherglen will provide that without issue. Parker Pies is an establishment we have eaten at almost every time we have visited our sister. The slogan on the back of the tee shirts worn by the staff tells it all “Skinny people are easier to kidnap – stay safe – eat pies”. This we do, Robyn setting for a prawn pasty and me an award winning, steak and pepper pie. Robyn devours hers and goes back for more, this time a vanilla slice, which I photograph, enhancing the size of the treat, which is enormous anyway, and send it to our friends in Port Macquarie.

The slice is gone in no time and we drift back to the van which I have parked across three parallel parking spots in the street back near a service station. The price for full there was $1.45/litre, so I topped up the Cruiser and cleaned the windscreen.

We are now only 40 kilometres from our final destination for the day, my sister’s house at Wodonga. She lines at the back of a set of three townhouses and has suggested we park the van down the drive by the house. To my recollection, the driveway is long and straight and there isn’t much room at the end, although Tracey suggests another of her friends with the same type of van as us, parked there.

Upon arrival we look down the driveway, and Robyn gets out to take a look. The first thing I notice is the concrete mailboxes have already been knocked over – no it wasn’t me. Robyn steps out the width of the gap between the house and fence and then comes back to do the same at the back of the van. OK, so technically speaking it will all fit, but will there be room to open the van door, only trying it will tell.

As an added obstruction there are the eaves of the house to negotiate and a bloody big round flower pot, right on the leading corner of the house, but first I have to aim the Cruiser out into the middle of the busy road to start the reversing. I wait until the traffic is clear in both directions, turn on the hazard lights and start the process, only to find I have not gone past the driveway, anywhere near far enough and the van is trying to mount the kerb. I wander back out again, bity now traffic is coming. This time I get it right and the van disappears off the road and the traffic is all but unimpeded.

Now for the driveway, thankfully gravity will help here and all I have to do is guide it. Getting a bead along the fence, seems like the best idea, but I need to be as close to the house as possible so I will need to change tact at some stage to ensure optimum space. Robyn stops me, but the reversing camera suggests I have more than a metre to go before I get to the fence. She is being ultra conservative. I suggest to her stop me at six inches and that will allow everyone to pass once we have unhooked and the Cruiser is parked.

Unhooked the van is very front up. By lowering the jockey wheel, I can get it relatively straight, but I cannot get the front legs down, so back up again, get the legs in place and wind it back down. The back will require the chocks as they did yesterday on the uneven ground.

Set up done, we sit and wait for my sister to get home. I get a text, she is on her way, AND have you been in and sat down. Of course not, we don’t have a key, BUT she has left the door open for us. How were we to know this???

I throw some water across the dust encrusted Cruiser. The water makes it look clean, but the sun fixes that very quickly, and what was a shiny vehicle is back to its prewash down condition. It’s too hot, and I do not have the equipment to give the Cruiser the wash it deserves, it will have to wait until we get home.

Tracey arrives home and puts together a platter to nosh on while we go over the myriad of information we need to disseminate before we get too inebriated and start dribbling absolute waffle. There are calls to make and people to annoy. Bourbon and bubbly are the order of the day, while attacking dips, cheese and other delights. The discussion goes from this to that, covering family to the trip, including some of the myriad of photos.

A few more drinks and it’s time to make a few phone calls. The poor recipients of these communications are on the receiving end of jovial jaunt of the inebriated ones on this end of the phone. No one tries to evade us, seeking to join the fun. Aunts, cousins and friends are all targets of our “pleasantries”. We find our family are as jovial as the callers.

We snack, we dine on spinach pie from the van and even though Tracey suggests she might want more afterwards, another glass of Robbie Burns Shiraz satisfies her hunger. After dinner, its time for a real tour of the van. Addams Family is on the TV, which I have put in place, turned on and run the auto channel selection, just to show her. In the normal position, tonight the reception is perfect.

That will make it easy to retract tomorrow. We won’t be going anywhere early, as Aunty Kerre, one of the recipients of phone calls has let us know she won’t be home until early afternoon, assisting Aunty Caroline with an appointment. It’s hard to talk to her and not let the cat out of the bag about the hay which will be delivered on Saturday.

A sleep on, without any pressure to get on the go. Tomorrow will be a lovely start. Hopefully the rain that is forecast also starts. It will be lovely to sit on the verandah in Condobolin and simply watch the rain on the parched earth. With any luck, we will be rained in and we will have to stay more than the one full day planned.

Another day beckons, but for now bed.