Our Victorian Visits

As we travelled south towards Melbourne we had the opportunity to catch up with friends we had met travelling around Oz in our van and mates I had worked with for over 20 years.

Camp Blair Morwell

First stop was Steve and Carol's (and Roxy) place at Morwell just north of Melbourne.  We had met these guys last year camping at Gregory Downs in far north west QLD and then by coincidence/ plan at several other free camps as we travel around north QLD.

MKR - flattie chef

Over two nights of memorable dining – Steve’s famous seafood chowder and Kerry’s flathead fillets  we had a laugh, played ladder golf and let the girls beat us at a board game called Sequence (that’s our story and we’re sticking to it!).

a lunch of good looking guys!

Second stop was a quick lunch at Williamstown with some of the guy’s I had worked with for over 20 years. Some retired and some still working (someone has to pay the taxes!).  An hour wasn’t long enough but it was good to see the guys again and take a quick drive past the Williamstown Dockyard gates where I first visited as a young sailor in 1973 and many times after in my working life. Sad to hear that the Dockyard was likely to shut-down after serving the Navy since WW2 – so much history and current skills in jeopardy.  Hopefully they can find a project to keep it going.

Pre-dinner photo at E&J's

Next stop was Esther and Johns’s at Endeavor Hills near Dandenong. We had met John and Esther on our first trip around Oz in 2011-2012 up at Mataranka in the NT and had kept in contact ever sense. Despite Esther working and being very busy they found time to catch up, cook us a roast lamb dinner and take Linda out for a girls shopping outing to the Dandenong  Markets.

We head south towards Portland next week but are so pleased to have had the opportunity to catch up with new and old friends.  Hopefully we will see you “out there/or at our place” in WA - sometime in the future and it was great catching up!