Culcairn 29 Oct 2013

Next morning it was bright and sunny and Peter went for a walk to take some photos. Stopped at some Op shops and then drove along an abandoned railway line and through the back-blocks to Culcairn, a pretty little town on the main rail track. Peter loved seeing the freshly stacked hay bales, as they reminded him of one his first jobs, slashing hay at Luddenham. Culcairn has managed to retain all of its original buildings, so it gives it an interesting ambiance. They even have an old milk bar with the original 1950’s booths. The flowers are getting better the further south we go and we are looking forward to seeing Wangaratta’s roses.

Holbrook 28 Oct 2013

In the morning we drove through the mist, along a windy and steep road and over the mountain to Moss Vale. We decided to head straight down to Victoria and then slow down, so we settled in for some highway driving. Stopped for the night at Holbrook, an old favourite. The bypass has just opened and Holbrook is now much quieter – the townsfolk appreciate it but the shop keepers said they lost some customers, although there are still plenty of craft and cafes open, so tourists are still stopping. Holbrook is named after Commander Holbrook who took a tiny sub up the Dardanelles during WW1. There is also a massive Otway sub in the main park. We have never really had a good look at it before, but this time we camped behind it and were able to have a butchers once everyone had gone home. It is a massive structure, 90m long that looks very incongruous resting between the rose bushes.

Victoria November 2013 Kangaroo Valley 25 -28 Oct 2013

After a frantic rush to get ready, we set off for our trip down south to some festivals in Victoria. We made a detour to the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, organised by the Shoalhaven Folk Club. Peter has decided to have a break from organising festivals, so we are looking forward to just enjoying the music and catching up with our ‘folky’ friends¬¬¬. There was a great variety of music from old favourites such as Jason and Chloe, Mick Conway (looking quite old), Johnny Huckle, Stiff Gins, The Wheeze and Suck Band and Phil Garland. We also enjoyed Kalascima, Chaika, Alanna and Alicia and Penny Swales. This is a friendly little festival, with the only problem being lack of on-site camping; however we ‘parked’ our RV in a paddock next door for 3 days, which solved the problem.