What A Wonderful Weekend ...

Hi There ... We're Baaaack !!

We had the most gorgeous weekend ... let me tell you about it ...

We left home on Thursday morning, around 7.30am, in order to meet our friends at their place at 8.00am. We had an approximately 4 hour drive ahead of us ... not too long, not too short.

The weather was disgusting when we left home ... cloudy, rainy, cold. We were really worried that we would have to put up our tents in the rain ... not the most fun thing to do !!! However, as were continued to drive north, to our ultimate destination of Cobram, on the Murray River (The Murray River, part of which borders Victoria and New South Wales, is one of the longest navigable rivers in the world, stretching 2,700 kilometres from the mountains of the Great Dividing Range in north-eastern Victoria to journey’s end near Adelaide in South Australia), the weather gradually improved, until there was nothing but blue sky and sunshine !!! What a contrast to the weather we left behind !!

We arrived at Cobram, and our campsite on the river bank around lunch time, and then proceeded to assemble our tent, and other items. This didn't take too long, and then we were ready to relax. Aaaahhh, how beautiful ... nothing but a swiftly flowing river, sunshine (hopefully) and fresh air to contend with for the next few days. After we had settled, I phoned my mother at home in Melbourne ... the weather was atrocious, it was cold, and had begun to hail. Gosh, I was glad to be on the Murray !! Here's a photo of our camping set-up ...

We don't usually take the stripy shade house with us (it generally lives up at our caravan at Bonnie Doon, and we use it when we go down to the lake), but thought we might need some extra shade, as the tent doesn't give much shade around the outside. The blue tarp on the left sheltered our camp-kitchen. Not in the photo is also our toilet tent, and portable shower (aren't we fancy ... no roughing it for us !!!). We have the most comfortable mattresses in the tent ... they are self inflating, and feel like you are home in your own bed ... no more of those uncomfortable blow up mattresses for us !!!

We had a lovely dinner of hamburgers (we picked up some fresh bread rolls on the way), and settled in for a good chat around the fire. A reasonably late night for all of us, and a good night's sleep.

On Friday we awoke to more brilliant sunshine. Whoever ordered the weather must have done something right, as we couldn't fault it all weekend !! A relaxing day of sitting, chatting, reading, taking photos, swimming (yes, I even got in the water, but sorry, Greeneyes ... there was no mud ... it was all sandy !!!), and generally doing not much !! The men took the boat out and went fishing ... no luck, though ... don't think the fish were hungry (lucky we weren't, either !!). I got myself a bit of a sun-burn ... silly me, should've put the sunscreen on earlier !!! Chicky spent her days digging in the sand ... she built a whole island / mountain system on the edge of the river ... it was amazing. There were no other kids for her to play with, but she was an absolute angel, didn't whine at all, just had a wonderful time keeping herself busy ... she is the most wonderful child. We had some fun in the water ... it was great !!! Had yummy steak, fried potatoes, and salad for dinner. Chatted around the fire until late, again !

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, only warmer !! More of the same activities. We had a bunch of visitors during the weekend ... thousands of white cockatoos, squawking their way through the day. I have a little video I did on the still camera ... if I can figure out how to upload it, you can have a look (and listen !!) at the noise we had to contend with all day. They only quietened down when it got dark !! Lovely dinner again, nothing special, but everything tastes wonderful in the fresh air !! Spend the evening star gazing ... the Milky Way was really visible, and we spotted eight satellites passing over us. Fascinating stuff ... I love looking at the stars. Can't help wondering if anyone else, on some other planet, is doing exactly the same thing ... looking down at us !!!

The view from our tent site was amazing ... the above photos are just a couple of the many I took !! There was this interesting tree, with half it's roots exposed, directly opposite us. I thought it was incredible that it remained there, and hadn't toppled over. Have a look ...

We started out on Sunday slowly, had breakfast, and began packing up all our stuff !! It was the hottest day yet ... bugger ... shame we had to pack up and go home !! Got moving around 1pm, stopped for fish and chips in Benalla on the way, and arrived home around 5.30pm. The weather at home was OK, not as warm, pretty cloudy, but at least it wasn't raining.

It is now around 10.00pm Sunday night, we are all unpacked, have done some washing, and thought I might share some photos and stuff. I am really, really tired though, so may have to go to bed shortly. It's been a loooooong day !!

Well, that's about it for my story about our weekend ... there's probably heaps I've forgotten to tell you, but I will fill you in further when I remember !! Sorry if I rambled on too much. Hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine !!

Take care,

MEOW

PS. Don't know if you are all watching, or even receiving coverage of, the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. We have missed many of the events over the past few days, but the Aussie medal tally is amazing. What champions !!

AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE, OY, OY, OY