Day 2 Monday 12/8/2024 Charlton to Hopetoun 20 degrees

It was a chilly night, but we slept well, with a hot water bottle and two doonas. A freight train went through in the wee hours, but I barely heard it. Woody, of course, didn’t. It’s now a beautiful morning and nowhere near as cold as Melbourne.

As per normal we drive off with the TV aerial still up and wobbling in the breeze. Luckily a chap at the servo spots it when we are filling up with fuel. It happens so often that we no longer look sheepish about it. From the Calder Highway we zig zag west across to the Sunraysia Highway at Birchip. Now Birchip is worthy of a stop because it is the largest town we’ll see today, the home of The Mallee Bull (another of those ‘Big Things’) and Sharp’s Bakery, 5 times winner of the Victorian Vanilla Slice Award.

And speaking of Big Things of a bovine nature…many years ago there was a Big Cow on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane and close to my parent’s home. It always gave us a laugh to see young children climbing the ladder into that cow’s enormous udder.

Anyway, back to Birchip. It’s such a friendly town, bright and cheery and every time we stop here we’re guaranteed to be accosted for a chat on the main street. The IGA is spick and span, and we grab a chook in a bag for tonight’s ‘roast’ dinner. Dessert of course, will be vanilla slices.

Back on the road, it’s as a flat as a pancake out here. Long straight roads criss-crossing north, west, and north again, paddocks of green shoots to the horizon.

Hopetoun is a tiny town that has seen better days, but it does have a small, almost circular lake called Lake Lascelles. There are only a few powered sites, and we are lucky to nab 3 of them. Unpowered sites are also available all around the lakeshore. This is one of those places where you tend to go “Aaah” and your worries just melt away. Ducks and cormorants are mucking about in the lake and peace descends.

Elle Prado arrives in her motorhome ‘Betty Windsor’ and sets to furiously cooking vegetables prior to tomorrow’s border crossing. Dinner is a shared one in ‘Betty’. Elle provides the entrée of Asian dumplings. I warm the ‘Bachelor’s Handbag’ in the air fryer with peas and mash. Mother of Pearl provides the Birchip vanilla slices.

A campfire across the lake is reflected in the water. It is a mild and clear night.

Accom: $20.00, power, water available, toilets, showers, camp kitchen. Fuel: $69.54, Towing Kms: 138Kms

Note: Bachelor’s Handbag – A supermarket BBQ chook (chicken) that comes in a handy plastic carry bag.

Snot Block – A custard filled Vanilla Slice.