Day 1. Tuesday 18 June 2013

So, up bright and early (0545), shower, brekkey etc as required. We would like to be at Justine's place in Bannockburn at first light so that are on the road by 0800. Load the car (Terry of course) with the necessaries, get the house etc ship-shape and secure, get ready to go....and down comes the rain...weeeeeeee.

Huey and Murphy have conspired to ensure that there is enough rain to ensure that we both get wet and uncomfortable when we arrive at Bannockburn to finish packing the van and hook it up to Terry. So it rains all the while until we are set and ready to go...and out comes the sun. Thanks Huey and Murphy, you done good.

Say bye bye and off we go just before 0800. there is intermittent rain and the odd bit of fog, all the way to Ballarat (nothing unusual there). Chuck a righty onto the Sunraysia Highway near Learmonth and the rain stops, weather clears and becomes somewhat sunny for the rest of the day.

The Terry proves to be a good tow vehicle and we can sit near the speed limit quite comfortably. Stop at St. Arnaud for morning tea and Turiff (Google it), which is a bit south of Ouyen for lunch. This place is definitely a one-horse town but it has the cleanest public toilet (one cubicle only) in the country and a very small but newish war memorial. An interesting place for a quick stop.

Having lunch at Turiff...note the War Memorial in the background.

Got to Mildura nice and early, about 2.30 pm. Set up camp, had a chat with old Bob, the ex-truckie from Sydney, a brisk walk for nearly an hour followed by a couple of beers and tea. We will probably watch TV for a while and then off to bed.  Good-night for day one!.