From Gums to Salt Bush

We left the gorgeous Wilmington today feeling quite proud of ourselves, some how we'd managed to find a gentle meandering way into it and a down hill road out of it - not bad considering we'd crossed a mountain range to visit there.

Last night we slept amongst the gums with a creek trickling by and a campfire glowing, tonight we are amid the red soil, arid plants and 20 other campers, not to mention a highway right beside us. But both are intriguing in their own way.

After a quick walk along the wharf at Port Arlington this morning we re-stocked the fridge and headed to more of Kate's chosen sights. Poor Will, first a walk along the red cliffs that Flinders mapped so successfully that the maps were still in use until after WW2, then a picnic outside the botanical gardens and then a wander around the Australian Arid Gardens, where Kate was overjoyed with seeing a flowering Sturt Desert Pea. Will expressed the appropriate amount of joy in having helped me create the opportunity to see something that had been on my wish list.

Will's day was topped off when heading along the Sturt Highway we were over taken by a Winnebago - really, not his best day. It did help us in the end as we were able to cruise along a little easier with the Winnebago taking the head wind off us. The Patrol is a lot like the first car I ever owned.  My dad proudly told me "I've found a car for you, it's in an old blokes backyard. I reckon we can get it for $200, it just needs a set of tyres."  We did get it, we put on new tyres and that 'Little Green Frog' got me to and from Benalla and Traralgon many times, as long as I stayed under 90km per hour!!  The fact that the RACV man new me by name, even when I wasn't in my car is irrelevant to this tale.  These days I take a mechanic with me wherever I go.

It was weird to look up and see not a galah or parrot on the road but emus, 2 of them, just wandering around. Not to mention the sheep and cattle grazing by the highway, wouldn't happen on the Hume. Mind you, we haven't seen a pot hole since leaving Melbourne.

Everyday is something new, first time I've ever travelled so far without a sleep; too many new things  to see and experiences to share. How lucky am I?