SA - Getting Home
- Ken Fredric
- Apr 6
- 12 min read
Updated: May 9
Day 57 - Casterton - Wannon Crossing VIC, 07 April, 2026
Today was our first day of exploring parts of Victoria that we hadn't seen before, while working our way towards Bendigo where we'd be catching up with Meg's family, and housesitting for her brother at the end of the month.
Once again, the morning was dull after overnight rain, with the promise of more rain to come during the day.
We had a short drive to our first destination of Coleraine, to check out the Glenelg Fine Confectionery shop. Before doing that though we jumped in the back of Mata and put our cold weather clothes on as we'd underestimated just how cold it would be. For a small country town the shop was very impressive, with any type of chocolate and other sweets you could possibly want. After having a good look around we bought a few items, mostly for gifts.
Before leaving town we drove to the historic railway station for some photos, but with the rain becoming heavier we didn't loiter too long.
The next town along the way, Hamilton, which is the largest town in the area, is the location of the Reg Ansett Museum. We drove straight to the museum, paid the small entry fee and were first shown a twenty minute video of Reg's history, particularly centered around the Ansett Airline.
We discovered that Reg had been involved in a lot of other enterprises, apart from the airline, including being a taxi driver, bus and travel company operator and of course being a pilot.
The museum was jam-packed with exhibits and memorabilia of all of Reg's businesses, but mostly focused on the airline that he first started in the 1940s.
Leaving Hamilton we drove for another half an hour, into the Grampians, and parked up in a walking trail car park for lunch.
With lunch out of the way it was another short drive to our lodgings for the night at a free camp at the Wannon Crossing Campground.
The rain was still on again, off again, so we stayed inside for the remainder of the day.
Day 58 - Wannon Crossing - Ararat VIC, 08 April, 2026
We were pleased to wake up to sunshine this morning, but we weren't pleased about the freezing temperature, about 5 degrees.
Our only clear plan for the day was to drive through the South Grampians to Halls Gap, which had been badly affected by bushfires in early 2025.
As expected, the roads were steep, narrow and windy driving through the Grampians. Apart from stopping at a lookout early in the drive, we carried on directly to Halls Gap.
The town was buzzing with holidaymakers, so we didn't bother stopping at all, apart from a photo opportunity in the main street looking back at the Grampians.
Leaving town we had a plan to drive some more around the Grampians, to Lake Wartook, and drive right around the lake, which would take most of the day considering we couldn't drive very fast on the mountainous roads.
Not far out of Halls Gap we stopped at a couple of lookouts for photos, but they were heaving with people who were going walking on the many trails around the area, and there were no parking spaces anywhere, so we stopped even trying to go to any more lookouts.
The plan to drive around the lake came unstuck when we came to the dam wall, which was where the road ended!
Modifying the plan on the fly we decided to divert to Stawell to see what it had to offer.
In Stawell we visited the dump point, then pulled up beside a park for lunch.
With lunch done we drove up to the Big Hill Lookout for great views back across the town and surrounding countryside, with the Grampians looming over the town in the background.
After a quick look at the still-working gold mine on the outskirts of town, we carried on to a free camp beside a lake just outside Ararat.
Although the day had started out sunny, it was only 18 degrees when we parked up, and a cool breeze was blowing, so we stayed inside for the afternoon.
Day 59 - Ararat - Bendigo VIC, 09 April, 2026
With all our touristing done for now, it was time to head for Bendigo to spend some time with Meg's family, and to have some work done on Mata, because a rattle had developed in the engine a few weeks ago. We'd lined up to be at the Toyota dealer at 1:30 P.M to have the noise checked out.
Heavy rain had woken us up during the night but it had stopped by the time we got up.
Thankfully we got to mostly drive the back roads, with our first stop at Avoca to take a look at their silo art.
Our only other stop was at Dunolly for a bakery morning tea and to take some photos of a couple of historic buildings.
Arriving in Bendigo we were too early to go to the Toyota dealer so we parked up in town and went to a great Chinese restaurant for lunch.
Absolutely stuffed after a big lunch we went to the dealer where a mechanic diagnosed a fault alternator as the cause of the engine noise, and also contributing were noisy V-belt tensioners.
We booked Mata in to have those issues fixed, and also to have the 100,000 km service done at the same time.
With all that done we drove to Bern and Helly's place and got settled in for the next few nights.
Day 60 - 81 - Bendigo VIC, 10 April - 2 May, 2026
After a couple of days relaxing and not doing very much apart from trips to Zac's place to feed the dogs, we had an outing on the Saturday.
We went to the farmers' market in Bendigo to stock up on fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, etc, and a bottle of local Shiraz for me.
We were going to have lunch at a brewery in the central area, but it was a little too early so we parked up and had a wander around the Conservatory Gardens admiring the many roses in full bloom.
Close to there we visited the Yi Yuan Chinese Garden that had many paintings around the walls, statues, ponds stocked with Goldfish, fountains and the Guan Yen Temple. Although a bit cold, it was very relaxing walking around the gardens and temple.
That took us to lunchtime so it was just across the road to Bendigo Brewing for beer tasting and great pizzas for lunch.
Feeling a bit lazy after not doing too much for a couple of days, and eating too much, we had a wander around the property later in the afternoon, taking the Kelpie Pez with us, who showed us around. This was the first time we had seen the dam full after recent rains.
We had a nice outing the next day to the botanic gardens, followed by a nice lunch at the Botanic Hotel.
After staying with Bern and Helly for a few days we moved to Zac's place when he returned from a trip to the Gold Coast.
Our mission for the next couple of weeks was to help with any work around the house and property, while Zac was working full-time. It was quite rewarding, but very exhausting, as we set about with varying tasks including mowing, line trimming, moving piles of dirt, relocation an outside water pipe that was blocking a gate, rewiring the clothes line, fitting two internal doors, removing wall panels and putting in insulation, cooking, cleaning, etc.
Another large task we undertook was to empty the large shed so Zac could clean and coat the floor, before moving everything back in.
All this was interspersed with trips into Bendigo to stock up on supplies from Bunnings and the supermarket, and two trips to Kangaroo Flat to drop off and pick up some chainsaw chains that needed sharpening.
One Saturday we met Bern and Helly at the Goornong pub for lunch, and they came over to Zac's later in the day bringing with them a pile of food including loads of huge prawns.
After spending about a week and a half at Zac's place it was time to move back to Bern and Helly's place to prepare for the housesit the following week.
On the Saturday after moving back to Bagshot, to celebrate Bern's 60th birthday, all of us, including Lilli and Andrew who drove all the way from Sydney, went on a foodie walking tour of central Bendigo. Two other ladies from Melbourne were also on the tour, that started at the Bendigo art gallery.
We were taken to several top-notch restaurants where we consumed very tasty local food and beverages, including wine, beer and cocktails. The tour ended up at Bendigo Brewing, where we'd been a couple of weeks earlier for beer tasting and pizzas.
The next day we all gathered at Zac's place where we celebrated Bern's birthday some more with Champagne and cake.
We settled in to the daily routine of feeding and caring for the two horses, four sheep, dog and cat for the next week, with only a couple of outings for food shopping, and to take Mata into the Toyota dealer for her 100,000 km service and to have the alternator and belt tensioners replaced.
One day during the week we went into Bendigo to do some touristy stuff that included visiting the huge and impressive Catholic cathedral, the much less impressive Protestant Church, a walk around Lake Weeroona and a nice lunch at Whitby's Restaurant overlooking the lake.
On the second last day in Bendigo we went out for dinner with Zac and Hayley to the Huntly Hotel.
After all the work that had been done to Mata, we booked her in for a wheel alignment on our last day of housesitting, to make sure everything was right before our long journey home. That unfortunately led to having to purchase four new tyres at just under $400 a pop.
Day 81 - Bendigo - Darlington Point NSW, 02 May, 2026
After packing up all of our belongings and saying our goodbyes, we left Bendigo travelling north on the first stage of our homeward journey.
Although we had a long way to go we still wanted to conserve fuel as much as possible, so we travelled at 80 km/h.
We had a drive of around 340 km planned for the day, with some touristing to do along the way, the first of which was visiting Iddles Lane in Rochester. Iddles Lane documents, in paintings and stories, the life of prominent homicide detective Ron Iddles, who had an impressive hit rate of 99% at solving crimes.
Needing a rest stop we pulled up in Mathoura, where there was some silo art, metal sculptures and the public toilet walls were covered in wall art.
Our next stop was Deniliquin where our first stop was at a statue of the three muses, outside a church. After checking out their average silo art we went to the visitor information centre/museum to have lunch at the Crossing Cafe.
Leaving Deniliquin we hit the back roads, which eventually turned into unsealed roads, but in good enough condition that they didn't slow us down.
Darlington Point was our stopping point for the night, at a free camp beside the Murrumbidgee River.
Day 82 - Darlington Point - Tullibigeal NSW, 03 May, 2026
After visiting the dump point in Darlington Point we continued our journey northwards towards home.
It was a relatively short driving day, so we took our time driving on the back roads, with our first stop at Griffith.
As with many places we visit, we headed up to the town lookout first, stopping on the way up at a very impressive water tank art installation, that depicted the local produce, food, industry and wildlife in vivid colours.
A little further up the hill we stopped briefly at the underwhelming lookout, before continuing on out of town.
The next stop on our northwards journey was the small town of Rankins Springs, where there is an impressive array of rusty metal sculptures at Wally's Junk Art Gallery, including vehicles, machinery, animals and even a Dalek and a Tardis.
Our second last stop for the day was at Weethalle, where we pulled up to check out their silo art installation and to have lunch.
The last short drive for the day was to Tullibigeal where we set up for the night in their free RV camp. The patchy rain we'd experienced during the day was persisting, and there was a strong wind blowing, so we didn't bother setting up outside.
Day 83 - Tullibigeal - Forbes NSW, 04 May, 2026
Our day started out dull, overcast and with patchy rain, conditions which persisted right through the day. It was cool enough to force us to don our cold weather gear for the day.
Although it was going to be quite a short driving day, we had a lot to see along the way, including the Lachlan River Sculpture Trail that runs from Condobolin to Forbes.
The first part of the drive for the day took us to Condobolin, where we pulled in to the visitor information centre, where the Utes in the Paddock art installation also resides.
We took some photos of the utes before the persistent rain became heavier, so we hightailed it to the information centre for some shelter, and to have morning tea.
Before leaving there we took a few more photos of the utes in the paddock, then started driving the Lachlan River Sculpture Trail towards Forbes, 100 km away.
The sculpture trail features twenty five unique sculptures by renowned Australian artists, that showcase the area's history, art and natural beauty.
While we found some of the sculptures not to our tastes, the majority were very impressive pieces of art. A selection of favourites included the giant Aboriginal man with a fishing spear, the 'bird in hand' sculpture and the giant Goanna.
That brought us into Forbes where we set up in the free RV park for the night adjacent to Lake Forbes.
After parking up we noticed an injured Galah under a tree struggling to move around, and looking very bedraggled with the rain, so we called wildlife rescue, who eventually came and rescued it.
We had plans to walk into Forbes to look around, but the rain persisted through the afternoon so we stayed indoors for the rest of the day.
Day 84 - Forbes - Mendooran NSW, 05 May, 2026
Before leaving Forbes this morning we checked out the last of the Lachlan River Sculpture Trail sculptures, filled up with130 litres of diesel and stocked up on a few supplies at the supermarket.
We had a really easy driving day in front of us of only 250 km, so we once again took our time and mostly stayed on the back roads.
The only stop we had for the drive was at Wellington where we pulled into the Pioneer Park for lunch.
After lunch it was only another 100 km to our stopping point for the night, behind the Royal Hotel at Mendooran.
To support the pub we had dinner there and a couple of drinks later in the day.
Day 85 - Mendooran - Bellata NSW, 06 May, 2026
With a bit over 300 km to drive for the day. we weren't in any hurry to leave camp early. And also, the overnight temperature had dropped to 4 degrees, which was another reason to not get out and about until the sun started to work its magic.
This was the first morning we'd started up the diesel heater for a very long time.
The first part of our drive was to Gunnedah, which we did with only a short rest stop in Coonabarabran along the way.
In Gunnedah we stopped off at Woolies to pick up a few things for lunch, then went to Meg's mum's place for lunch and to have a catch up for a while.
The second drive for the day was to the Bellata Golf Course, a free camp on the course itself where the only payment requirement is to have a beer at the clubhouse when it opens at 4:00 P.M.
After doing our usual catching up with blogging, planning and socials, we went to the bar for a drink before retiring back to Mata for the night.
Day 86 - Bellata - Kumbia QLD, 07 May, 2026
Today was all about driving as far we could easily manage, in order to have a shorter driving day the next day, which would be the last day of our SA odyssey.
Leaving Bellata we drove to Moree, then on to Goondiwindi, where we stopped to fill with diesel and to empty the toilet cassette.
Continuing northwards we drove to Moonie and stopped for lunch, before continuing on for another 200 km to the small town of Kumbia, where we set up in the free camp in the Apex Park for the night.
Day 87 - Kumbia - Howard QLD, 08 May, 2026
On the last day of our trip we only had 240 km to drive.
It wasn't far to our first stop at Kingaroy to empty the toilet cassette and buy our favourite chili lime peanuts from the peanut van.
Our only other stop was at Kilkivan for morning tea.
After 87 days and 10,000 km, we arrived home around lunchtime and started the big job of cleaning out Mata and settling into our newish house again.
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