Future Directions

Now the question we have to answer.  Is the sun rising or setting on the Jayco?

Torvo Tales

We caught up with Torvo today for a bit of a chat.  He was practicing his poses.  We saw his "Leopard" -

his "Woolly Mammoth" (he was missing the tusks)

and his "Do You Think I'm Cute" poses. He is learning fast.

James Adds a Growth Ring

James' birthday is a few days off but a committment in New Zealand meant the family celebration had to occur a little early.

Torvo, the latest addition to the extended family, demanded a disproportionate share of attention from everyone during the day including from the Birthday Boy.

Not only is James 15 he has also passed his father in height. Things are rapidly changing out Donvale way!

Happy Birthday James.

Jack's Grand Final

Jack's team played off the Grand final for this season today.  They played against a team that was of comparable skill but had a Michael Jordan playing for them who dominated play.

In one great passage of play Jack ran this ball through the wall of opposition to goal.  I had not seen the team play for a few weeks and was amazed at the skill improvement that had occoured over a short time.  The boys may not have won but they certainly made the opposition work for their win.

Family Expands

There was great excitement in the camp today as Torvo was welcomed into the household.  Cooper introduced us.  As I left I could hear the education starting on both sides of the relationship.  It could be a fun night tonight!

Home from Orange

Orange is a reasonable sized city so it was easy to spend a day walking around the town and catching up on the history of the area.  The humidity was high and the skies reflected the amount of moisture in the air.

We stayed in a park close to town that proved convenient if a little industrial.

Heading back to Melbourne took us through some rich cropping country on our way to Wangaratta for a night.  The locals built a sculpture and light installation to celebrate the production of grain in the area

From the Park we were able to walk to the centre of town along the levee bank that protects the town from the Ovens River in flood.

From Wangaratta it is an easy run back to Melbourne.

On to Orange

The Orange area in a fertile valley at the base of Mt Canobolas (an extinct volcano).  The place was first settled in the 1850s and they continue to grow all sorts of fruit, wine and other produce as well as dairy.
We decided on a walk around the area including the well established Botanic Garden.

We also decided on the Federal Falls Walk on Mt Canobolas.  The walk was nearly bigger than we were.

As it turned out, the Falls were more of a drip!

Climbing down and then up some of the 60 degree trails meant that provided we could avoid heart attacks, we were always going to sleep well that night.

However the Mount offered spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.

Move to Manildra

From the Wellington area we turned south and passed through the town of Molong with a range of historic buildings along the main street.

Manildra is the home of the largest flour mill in the southern hemisphere (and not much more) but we used it as a base to explore the area including Parkes (in a deluge).

and some other little towns including the hamlet of Cumnock that hosts the "Animals on Bikes Trail"

Wellington Area

We camped in the Wellington Caves Complex grounds just outside Wellington.

The flood mitigation infrastructure in the area includes the huge Burrendong Dam.

There was a vegetation conservation park in the area where volunteers are maintaining a series of environments to preserve indigenous vegetation.

The Caves in the Area were used to mine phosphate and during the mining they found the bones of ancient Australian fauna and megafauna.

Wellington

From Young, we took the road north to Wellington to meet up with the Inchleys.

Wellington turned out to be another little gem of a town, well kept and with plenty of attractions in the area.  Our first walk was to the top of Mt Arthur that overlooked the town.

We had lunch at the oldest continuously operating pub in Australia that started in the 1820s.

Back at the park at the Wellington Caves Complex we had a number of evening visitors before the evening cards championship.