An amble through Victoria’s Goldfields region.

Day 3 Friday 10/10/2025 Redesdale to Newstead, overcast with strong winds

I stand in the shower looking up through the roof hatch to a bright blue sky. It is however short-lived as the clouds roll in.

The drive across to Chewton is a pretty one. Green paddocks with fluffy sheep, rocky outcrops and stands of gums. Once we cross the low ridge the ground becomes dry, there are tiny miner’s cottages, mud brick homes and much debris from the mining past. Chewton with its higgledy piggledy houses of every era is always intriguing to us.

We stop in Castlemaine to visit the pharmacy and when I come out of the shop, I find Woody at Kmart drooling over a $9 Breakfast Maker! It seems that the other night we’d been talking about electric pizza makers and already he has started searching for one. This $9 marvel can apparently cook one egg, and a slice of bacon, and …wait for it….a bun! I would have thought that a frying pan had been invented for that very purpose, but no, the world needs a breakfast maker. Ooh, that storage bin would be handy on the van. Wouldn’t it?

A few minutes later we’re in Newstead, the breeze is lighter and Toothless has found us a sheltered campsite. The Newstead butchery has a fine reputation for quality meats, so while Toothless and Mrs. Doubtfire drive into Castlemaine, Woody walks down to the town to pay the butcher a visit. The wind continues to be annoying but by late afternoon it is pleasant with snatches of sunshine.

Toothless cranks up his new barbie and cooks our ginormous T-bones. He cooks them, well, to a ‘T’. They are tender, tasty and the best since those ones in Mudgee back in, what year was that? The wind drops out, and we sit around chatting until dusk, when we can no longer admire the Aldi plastic tablecloth that looks so much like real crochet.

Accom: $10.00, toilets, showers, dump point, water available. Towing Kms: 54Kms

Footnote: We tried the breakfast maker when we got home, and I reckon it should be called a slow cooker. Step 1. Cook the egg, Step 2. With the egg still in place, cook the bacon, (while the egg overcooks) Step 3. Cook the bottom bun (while the egg & bacon get another blast), Step 4. Cook the top bun, (while everything else is still in place) Step 5. Slide everything out and eat, “What d’ya mean it’s a little dry?”