Day 14, Thursday 5/3/20, Yackandandah, heavy rain 16-21 Gum boot time. The rain thumps down all night. Apparently, this is the tail of west coast Cyclone Esther. Both creeks in the park are running high and the park manager tells us that we’ve dodged a bullet as the innocent, but flood prone Commissioner’s Creek will peak about a foot below its banks. Lyn invites us to morning tea as she is baking scones. She and Phil regale us with tales of their past lives as publicans and it is a laugh a minute. Did you hear the one about the … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 14 – Yack

Day 12 Tuesday 3/3/20 Yackandandah, 10 – 29 light cloud We do a little grocery shopping for dinner as we’ll put on a roast for the Prado’s arrival tonight. We buy Gumtree pies for lunch and I can’t resist the Lamb and mint sauce pie. These pies are so good that the owner was awarded ‘Yackandandah citizen of the year’. The Prado’s arrive looking a little worse for wear. El Prado is recovering from a dose of ‘ship flu’ and Elle is sporting a black eye from cataract surgery. Phil, a mate of Toothless’ drops by for a chat. Toothless … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 12 – Yackandandah

Day 11 Monday 2/3/20 Yackandandah, sunny 28 Woody drives into Albury to do some shopping, I say shopping as he went for beer and came back with two new shirts. I meet my old school friend C for morning tea … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 11 – Yackandandah

Day 10 Sunday 1/3/20 Yackandandah, sunny 33 We finish the washing, clean the roof hatches and enjoy the sun. It is as pleasant as being in a garden here. Lush lawns, shady specimen trees and the little Yackandandah Creek bubbling. … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 10 – Yackandandah

Day 9 Saturday 29/2/20 Broken Creek to Yackandandah, warm 29 We wake early and pack up. There’ll be no lazy brekkies in the camp kitchen with this lot. As we drive out they’re already queueing for the toilets and showers with towels draped over their arms. We have a good coffee and gooey brownies in Benalla at Polly Pocket cafe and I buy a T shirt from the attached screen printing business. We pick up a few necessities and wash the van before ambling off through the King and Ovens Valleys to Beechworth and Yack. We settle into the Yackandandah … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 9 Yackandandah

We walk around Benalla and do a little shopping. Last night we had half a dozen camps here for the 60th birthday party on the weekend, but after lunch they really started rolling in. This property would be about 20 acres in size with loads of room for everyone. The weekend visitors are all packed in tightly and Woody is assuming that they prefer not to walk. Our peace has been shattered. Woody is getting anxious because they’re filling their tanks with Doc’s water. There’s a van under our kitchen window and a tent near our back bumper. We eat … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 8 – Broken Creek

Day 7, Thursday 27/2/20 Broken Creek, mid 20’s We have breakfast in the camp kitchen again as it is pleasant and sun filled. My shower got a little cool, so afterwards I threw another log in the choofer. That takes … Continue reading The Empty Esky Tour, Day 7 – Broken Creek