That's it folks!

Monday, July 10, 2023
Wy Yung, Victoria, Australia
Tuesday July 4   Corlette to Orange         
 Farewelling Paul and Bev we headed south again.  It was drizzling and cold when we left and the windscreen wipers weren’t turned off all day!   We let the navigator decide which way to go without our usual checking and double checking.  The fact that it skirted Sydney was enough for us.  All of a sudden we were in a National Park on an incredibly narrow, winding road that took us down to a ferry at Berowra.  What a surprise! 
We waited long enough to spot a café on the other side of the water,  so called in, expecting it to be a warm snug place with a lovely view of the water.   Wrong…it was cold, so with a takeaway coffee in hand we journeyed on. The drive was beautiful and who knows it was quicker than an alternative that went through outer Sydney suburbs, but there was next to no traffic or traffic lights so we were happy.  
Through the rain and clouds we did manage to get a few glimpses of the rocky canyons of the Blue Mountains  
Come lunchtime, the weather didn’t inspire our usual picnic, so when we spied a café on the top of a mountain we were sold.  What a surprise it was to find it was a totally vegetarian café with lots of “vegetable based meats”.   Rick said “I’m not eating that shit!”   There was a option of a cheese and tomato sandwich…but in the end we each had a hamburger, one purporting to be chicken and the other smoked chicken.   The products looked vaguely like chicken, but tasted of nothing much at all.  Rick decided his original assessment was right! 
Our Servas hosts in Orange, Adam and Wendy, were both working from home, so we were requested not to arrive too early.  We were warmly welcomed about 4pm.  We were their firsts Servas visitors and they were quite excited to be hosts.  They were a delightful couple, we had wonderful conversations and a delicious dinner. 
Wednesday July 5  Orange 
We left the workers in their home offices and went out to explore Orange.  The weather continued to be dismal, so our first stop was the village of Lucknow that has a huge hide outlet, selling leather boots and clothing, Ugg boots etc.  Rick treated himself to a pair of Ugg boots and promises not to wear them shopping!
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 Next was the village of Millthorpe, a beautiful National Trust registered historic village.  Being midweek and awful weather, most retail outlets and cafes were closed.   We did some window shopping, checked out the historic building and found a really warm and snug coffee shop that had top quality service, coffee and cake.  We hung out there for quite a while, but decided to find lunch somewhere else.
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 We’d planned a couple of other places to visit outside Orange, but on checking, the cafes in those areas were all closed, so we headed back to Lucknow where we found the perfect venue.  The sun even came out for about a moment!  By the time we’d finished lunch, it was raining again, so it was off to the supermarket to buy food to make dinner, hoping the forecast of improved weather would be right.  It wasn’t!   
 It didn’t stop us from driving to the “Pinnacle”, a rocky outcrop with a steep few hundred metres of  steps for access.  Just when Wendy reached the top, the rain started again in earnest and apart from admiring the rocky outcrop itself, she saw nothing much at all!   This continued to be the situation as we drove up and over the summit of Mt Canobolas.  
Back at the house we brought out the harp and guitar and cooked dinner.  Our hosts were delighted and declared they’d better withdraw from Servas because as guests we’d set the bar too high!! 
Thursday July 6 Orange to Myrtleford 
We left Orange before 8 and headed for Wagga Wagga.  The roads were in a really bad state thanks to the recent wet years with serious pot holes in the bitumen.  After about an hour of driving, Wendy realized she hadn’t seen anything of the countryside as she simply couldn’t take her eyes off the road for a moment. 
In Wagga we met another Servas member for lunch.  We had planned to stay with her, but she was renovating, so we decided to drive straight through to Myrtleford.  On this trip Wendy has been knitting a “shrug” for Kezz and was getting close to being finished so while Rick took over the driving, she knitted furiously, taking no notice of where they were going.  Rick meanwhile turned the radio on and that meant the navigator didn’t talk to him.  Big OOPS.  We realized far too late we’d taken a wrong turn, adding about 50km to the trip.   
This of course, after a lovely long lunch, meant we ended up arriving at Kezz’s at Myrtleford in the dark!!  Kezz had dinner ready for us and she and Rick played guitar and sang into the night  
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Friday July 7       Myrtleford 
The drizzling rain continued as we headed off to Stanley to buy some fruit trees to replace those which died due to the wet conditions in the last couple of years.   They wrapped up the trees in a big plastic bag with the roots wrapped in hessian and we proceeded to tie them down on the roof of the BT.  That’s when the rain came down in earnest of course!!  Wendy got thoroughly wet as she didn’t bother to dredge her coat out of the truck!! 
We proceeded to Beechworth, to Bridge Street Brewery where we monopolised the fire to dry off and warm up.  We were really fortunate that our buddies Sandy and Carolyn were both available to come and lunch with us so we had a fantastic catch up. The afternoon was much finer, so Wendy did a walk, then we hung out with Kezz, Cam and Illipi. Kezz cooked up a storm, both special seed crackers and a wonderful dinner.  Wendy gave Kezz the completed shrug 
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Saturday July 8  Myrtleford to 15 Mile Creek Camp
We had a nice slow start to the day then headed for 15 Mile Creek Camp, enjoying the familiarity of the drive as we passed through Oxley where we used to live.  
We were heading to a multiple birthday party of the 4 daughters of our friends Megan Benne and Tony Keeble.  Megan’s mother Dianne was a dear friend of ours who passed away when we lived in Chile.  Megan and Tony spent a week of their honeymoon with us in Antofagasta.  Their 4 daughters turn 21, 18, 16 and 13 this year, all considered to be milestone birthdays, so the family decided to have one big party to which family and friends would be invited.  We were rather honoured to be included.  It was a wonderful event and gave us a great chance to reconnect with their extended family and friends.   It became a 12 hour event with some short speeches, good food and a splendid slide show!
We stayed overnight at the camp, sharing breakfast with others who stayed.  Just down the road live our friends Mike Burston and Carol Kunert who have a huge walnut orchard.   Mike was home, so we enjoyed a coffee and chat with him and discovered Carol was in Melbourne.  We picked up some of their first class walnuts then as we too were headed for Melbourne, we contacted Carol and arranged a rendezvous at Michelle’s place.  This really has been a great opportunity to see so many friends and family scattered on the east coast.
Most of the afternoon was spent playing Rummikub with Robert and Michelle.  More converts to the great game!   A perfect way to finish a trip that while had the target of Cape York, enjoying activities with friends and family along the way was also really important.
All that remains is the trip to Wy Yung.  Needless to say we’re also looking forward being home and inserting ourselves in our various activities there.
Thanks to everyone for hosting us, sharing time with us, keeping up communications…
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Comments

Rod
2023-07-09

What a fantastic finish to a great trip. Loved the bit where a wrong turn offers the unexpected. Wrong Turn Fun would be a good theme. Orange is the coldest town we have visited. Good to read it continues its work.


2023-07-10

Great picture of Rick and Kez playing the guitar.

Sandy
2023-07-10

Loved the family music picture!

Merran
2023-07-10

Such a wonderful ride I have been on with you on your journey! Enjoy being home xx

Maureen Hickling
2023-07-11

We just caught up with the last few entries of your trip blog. We've really enjoyed reading about your travels and seeing the pictures. Welcome home! I imagine you must be there by now.

2025-02-10

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