Tassie to Melbourne, Kaniva and Lochiel

April 27, 2021

Well after a two year hiatus we are again hitting the road. Poor health and of course COVID 19 has kept us tied to Tasmania for the last two years, but tonight we head off on the Spirit of Tas and then we are westward bound. Once we hit South Australia Philip will finally decide if we continue west or head north to Alice Springs.

April 28, and we are 3rd vehicle off the Spirit and on the road by 6.45. We are heading towards Daylesford where we stop for some breakfast before driving out to Blampied to visit friends for a couple of hours. The morning soon disappeared catching up but we had to get on the road with a 3 1/2 hour drive ahead of us to reach Kaniva where we are stopping with more friends for the night.

We spent a wonderful late afternoon and evening with Kerryn and Alwyn. Philip went out with Alwyn to look at them seeding Canola. He then assisted in escorting the 18m ( when in operation mode) air seeder along the main highway to another property to continue seeding.

Kerryn and I checked out the garden and went for a short walk, watched the sun set and caught up on family and friends. Kerryn is a fellow quilter so of course we talked quilting for a while and I admired some of her work.

April 29 Thursday.

We shared breakfast with Kerryn and Alwyn before Alwyn had to take off to help with Seeding. Kerryn and I walked down the road to the bus stop to see her granddaughters before they headed off to school. Once back at the house we did a quick check of the van and left Kerryn just after 9am. Next stop was the painted Silo in Kaniva for a quick photo before turning onto the highway heading towards South Australia. Another stop to look at another set of Silos at Coonalpyn and then onto Murray Bridge.

We decide to take a route around Adelaide, so much of the next few hours was new roads to us, driving through Palmer, Mt Pleasant, Williamstown, Gawler, Balaklava and eventually stopping for the night at a tiny dot on the map called Lochiel. It’s been a lovely drive, even if Philip kept saying he had no idea where we were. Google maps had it all sorted. After arriving at Lochiel we walked down to the dry lake to see the “Loch Eel”. Quite the tourist attraction with numerous families stopping and walking down to see it. As the evening closes in the sky is turning pink and orange and the temperature starting to cool down from 26 degrees. We had to break out the shorts and t shirts today. Let’s hope it stays that way.