Motor home diaries - 21st January

So, we were on the road for 8.30am. Our original plot was to go to 90 Mile Beach and this is where it all goes wrong… Or maybe not wrong, but to do a trip like this you need to set a route and stick to it. We took a detour to Paradise Beach and Golden Beach because we liked the sound of their names. This is a place where you can wild camp, but we needed to charge the battery to keep everything ticking over. It felt like 28 degs today so we would definitely need to use the aircon in the van and this required an electrical hook-up.

After much assing about we stopped at a local Tourist Information office and talked to really helpful staff and got some brochures to help us out. We decided to stop off at Stratford, a small town sitting on the banks of the River Avon! The site was lovely and clean and tidy so we decided to stay for 2 nights. We took this decision because it was going to be 35 degs the following day.

We stopped in a town called Sale to pick up some nice meat for the BBQ and salady stuff. Apart from that there, it was a break from the driving and my behind was shouting at me.

Sale was a lovely town, and as everywhere we went we had a lovely coffee. A flat white, nice and hot. The butcher shop was impeccable and clearly the butcher took great pride in his trade.

So, back to Stratford. The first night we took a dander into town and stopped at the only pub to have a beer. Stomachs rumbling we went back to camp and cooked on the camp BBQ. The first time I’ve ever eaten steak and salad sitting on the banks of the River Avon.

This site was $25 per night, including power; Sean and Louise ran it. The showers were spotlessly clean, the owners very helpful and friendly.

That night we joined 2 other couples. One expat living here since 1966 and the other from Frankston, Vic. Barbara and Dave had retired and bought a motor home. Ole Dave loved bikes and he had a 3 wheeler in an enclosed trailer towing behind the van. Mary and Robert looked and sounded like retired hippies, they had 5 kids and used to love going wild camping. They would get up in the mornings and bathe in the rivers. The kids were all grown up but are still keen campers.

We drove 289 kms to get to Stratford.

Each night we were in bed by 10.15pm absolutely drained but content.