Departing Melbourne Tomorrow

Lunching at Brian and Louise’s local RSL on Friday.
L to R: Louise, Rod, Dearne, Brian

We depart Melbourne tomorrow morning having achieved everything we set out to do during our three day visit. On Friday we took a drive 60km south to Frankston where we took up Brian and Louise’s kind offer to store the electric bike and a few other odds and ends while were are in Tasmania. Unfortunately with the jeep going, we have lost some storage space so rather than be lifting things in and out of the motorhome each time we stop, we have parked them during our Tassie time. Thanks guys – we really appreciate your help.

The little jeep is now ‘spic and span’ and ready to be delivered to Brent and Jo next Friday. We are hoping for fine weather and clean roads this week so our hard work is not undone. We would like to replace the jeep when we get home with a similar vehicle that we can tow behind the motorhome. If anyone is considering selling their 4WD Suzuki Vitara 3 or 4 door, 2005 to 2010, preferably auto but not essential, in good condition (mechanical and body), a reasonable km reading and with an electronic neutral switch to the transfer case, please feel free to flick us an email.

Rod with his Visa taken from him at the Victoria Hot Rod Show in Melbourne

This morning we made our way into the central city to spend some time at the 2015 Victoria Hot Rod Show. The show is traditionally held over the Australia Day long weekend each year and the Victorian Hot Rod Association brings in the cream of Australia’s hot rods, customs, street machines (old and new), vans and classic vehicles in a stunning range of colour, chrome and class. We were told that there are over 160 vehicles on display in ‘show case’ condition and attendance over the 4 days is expected to be around 25,000. There were some incredible vehicles on display along with their incredible price tags. Like many hobbies or passions, the ‘return on investment’ is not always that good.

Also of interest to us was the shows venue, the Royal Exhibition Building. Completed in 1880 for Melbourne’s first international exhibition, the building was inscribed on the World Heritage list on 1 July 2004, becoming the first building in Australia to achieve World Heritage listing. With its restored interior, expansive galleries and soaring dome, the Great Hall offers a magnificent setting for trade shows, fairs and community events. We were truly impressed with the whole set up.

Our plan tomorrow is to drive 160km south west to Lake Colac and to a free campsite in Meredith Park beside the Lake and 11km south of Beeac. While we appreciate it is the long weekend, we are hoping there will be a bit of space we can tuck in to. The plan is to spend a couple of nights there but if this does not work, we will go onto Plan B whatever that will be.