Day 2 Sunday 18/2/2024 Rochester, warm 32˚

Up with the sunrise, thanks to the kids in the van behind us. While Woody roams for miles, I take a short walk over the bridge. After breakfast, it’s off to the Sunday Makers and Growers Market behind the shire hall.

In the heart of town, we find Iddles Lane, with a mural by Tim Bowtell honouring the local Iddles family. Twins Ron and Barry Iddles were born in Rochester and hospital staff at the time nicknamed them Widdles & Piddles. Barry grew up wanting to be a chef and achieved his dream of becoming a popular chef and restaurateur. Ron, inspired by TV cop shows became known as Australia’s Greatest Detective having investigated 320 homicides with a success rate of 99%.

The urge to go further afield takes us on a drive to Ayson’s Reserve in Elmore. It’s a favourite freedom camp of ours and we want to check its condition. There are only a handful of campers here, the grass is neatly mowed and the river looks lovely. It really is on an inviting reach of the Campaspe. Continuing on, through sheep paddocks and maize, we want to see for ourselves the silo art we’ve heard about at Colbinabbin.

Now the folks of Colbinabbin must have been on steroids when they invited Tim Bowtell to paint their silos. It took 8 weeks during Covid lockdown in 2020 to paint all 7 silos with stories of their town. There’s also a storyboard walk to complement the silos and we’re delighted to spot a picture of a now departed caravan mate who once lived here and was a fire-fighting volunteer.

The Colbinabbin pub has been refurbished and is looking pretty schmick. It’s been getting some favourable reviews and allows pub camping out the back. We check the menu over a cold beer. Yep, it’s worthy of a revisit.

We return to camp on a different road, this one flanked by vineyards. Back at camp, there’s a refreshing southerly breeze blowing. We cook spicy chipolatas on the camp kitchen BBQ which is suitably located to catch that breeze. Of course, we eat dinner on the deck overlooking the river.

Accom: $42.00