On to Heathcote

 Tuesday 11th

After waving farewell to the Smiths our first stop was just down the road in Benalla. The plan was to visit the I shop then coffee at the Art Gallery overlooking the river. That plan fell apart when the ishop was closed for renovations and the Gallery closes on Tuesdays!

So It was a walk over the bridge to town where we found the temporary ishop which had a creatively decorated bicycle at the front door and a very helpful assistant, who pointed us to another coffee shop.

We then spent an hour strolling around the wall murals, some of which I hadn't seen when I was here with June a few years ago.

We then returned to the Botanic Gardens surrounding the Art Gallery where there is a very moving memorial to Weary Dunlop


Shortly after leaving Benalla we realised that we had left our pillows behind so we aimed for Seymour to restock and found a pleasant park for our lunch. 

After checking the weather forecast for the next few days we decided to forgo Ballarat and the Grampians on this journey and head for Heathcote.

Interestingly the only van park in Heathcote is on the opposite side of a small creek to the main street, with 2 crossing spots. The ladies in the ishop were very friendly and assured us we should try the local Shiraz so we decided to stay for two nights. Many businesses in the town only open Thursday to Sunday as it is a weekend target for Melburnians, but the fancy bakery is open 7 days so it became tomorrow's coffee target.

Wednesday., 12th October

The rain began in earnest overnight but we were able to get out and about. First stop was the bakery for a coffee. We had found 2 wineries that advertised open 7 days, as the majority of them only open weekends. Still it was just as well I rang to check as we were the only visitors to both.

First stop was Shiraz Republic. Water over the roads were increasing as we travelled around the area but we had no trouble moving on to Munari Wines where we had a delicious platter for lunch overlooking the vineyard.


Then it was time to hunker down in the van while the predicted Rain Bomb got serious.

Thursday 13th

It became obvious as the morning progressed that we wouldn't be going anywhere today...both creek crossings were underwater  by lunchtime so there were no bakery pies for lunch today.

We witnessed an example of the result of being in too much of a hurry this morning. As I returned from the shower one of our neighbours was backing his car up to his van. By the time I hung up my towel he was driving off. No sooner had I said to Michael Boy he gets going fast we heard an almighty crash as he went over the speed hump. His van had jumped off the towbar!



For the first time since leaving home, both the tv and my beading came out from under the bed as we were left with no other choice but to stay another night as all roads north were closed.

As the late afternoon approached the park managers trudged past with a few dinner items heading for the camp kitchen....their house was flooding for the first time ever....heard that a few times this year!

We watched with trepidation as the water crept across the grass in front of us, so I checked out the raised area around the back of the park just in case. 

Around 6.30 one of the permanent tenants came to tell us the water level was dropping....phew. 

Friday 14th

Fortunately one of the creek crossings had cleared so we headed over to town to check out the Bakery and check on the state of the roads out. Bad news all round, the Bakery was closed and the road north was still closed and unlikely to open any time soon.

As it was Friday, and despite the road conditions some previously closed businesses were up and running.....like the brewery. So we settled in to contemplate our next move.


As we returned to camp we got chatting to one of the r ok ad we workman who told us to how he E and his crew had travelled down from Bendigo to help out. The main road is likely to be closed for some time but the way around the back of Lake Eppalock is clear.

Michael had a chat with our neighbours who were very keen to get home to Renmark and were looking to travel in tandem. Arrangements were made to set out for Bendigo at 7am and see how we go.

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