On the way back from the Grampians, I stopped off at Maryborough.
Miners, over thirty thousand of them, rushed here in 1854. Within a decade, companies were mining rich, deep gold leads around the town, the last of these still producing gold in 1918.
A couple of months ago, after the passing of my dear Dad at the grand old age of 100, I headed out for some R & R, choosing the Grampians.
Three hours north-west of Melbourne, the Grampians is a series of rugged sandstone mountain ranges and forests. It’s one of Victoria’s most popular holiday destinations for camping, climbing, scenic drives and bushwalking.
A few weeks ago, I escaped the house and headed out into the Yarra Valley. Warburton is a village sitting in a nook surrounded by dark mountains with the Yarra River gushing through. For some reason I’d never been there. What a delightful surprise.
With Melbourne’s lockdown droning on, I decided some form of creativity was needed before my brain gave up the ghost completely.
Continue reading “Is This the Road to Stratford?”After the long drive from Melbourne and the checking out of the wheat silos, I decided to leave the exploration of Benalla to the morning. I came out of my motel on the edge of town early to discover an almost solid wall of fog. Still, intrepid traveller that I am, I headed in and I’m glad I did. I don’t know why I’ve never been here before but I have to say, it’s a lovely town, built around Lake Benalla.
There are advantages I discovered, as a writer, to having a new virus flitting around, one being that, what with not being allowed to visit my father in his care home, no movies, no shows or Melbourne’s Comedy Festival, I had more time for projects I’ve been putting off for far too long.
One of these was a re-editing of my book, Hangi, Haka and Hobbits, relating my experiences while road-tripping around both islands of New Zealand. Now 10,000 words less (can you believe it?) it’s trim, taut and well, hopefully terrific.
Continue reading “Hangi, Haka and Hobbits: Notes from New Zealand”
On the final leg of my two-day trip around the Bellarine Peninsula, I wound around from Point Lonsdale to Queenscliff. 
I left Geelong early, keen to allow as much time as possible for my first look at the east coast of the Bellarine Peninsula.
A short time ago, I had a couple of days free and I made use of them to get away from the city and into some fresher air and less noise. The Bellarine Peninsula was the best place to head to make full use of just two days.
Sliding down a muddy incline at a football ground on the worst day of winter and wrecking the ligaments in your foot, is not conducive to travel. A moon boot and crutches make exploring the world difficult, hence my lack of blogging for a while.
Planning to the Nth 