Christmas Crackers – Vegemite & Chrissie Lights

Ararat, Vic Dec 2025

Day 1 Friday 19/12/2025 Home to Ararat, 25.5 – 32◦

It’s a busy but fast run through the city. At last, there aren’t any roadworks on the western end of the West Gate Bridge now that the West Gate Tunnel has been completed. But wait, what’s that sign, more roadworks to come after Christmas. It looks like we’d better plan a different route for the trip home.

Sitting here watching the scenery go by, I’m sure something is running up my shorts and biting me. Then Woody complains of the same problem. Soon we’re both slapping and shouting. The sky is grey, it’s spitting with rain and a muggy 32 degrees, the traffic on the Western Highway has thinned out now. We can breathe easy, except for the ants.

We stop at historic Beaufort to walk the streets. For a highway town it’s a pretty place that has kept its old shop verandas, the timber fire station, and the band stand that it seems still gets used by local band enthusiasts. The most popular place for visitors though is the handsome and well cared for bathrooms that this town provides.

Important stuff out of the way, we have a chuckle at the window of the Vegemite museum as Woody’s brother, Woody the Elder used to make Vegemite at the Kraft factory in Port Melbourne. For international readers, Vegemite is a yeast-based spread made from a beer brewing byproduct. Doesn’t that sound delicious? You see, there’s an art to spreading Vegemite on toast and it’s all about getting the right amount of butter mixed in. This art is taught to children from the moment they can sit in a highchair, and you know that you can rest easy when their little faces are happily smothered in brown stuff.

We grab a pie at the bakery and notice that they sell ‘Ants in your Pants’ coffee, hmmm appropriate. We eat lunch in the park near the band stand and watch the passing parade.

The Acacia Caravan Park is on the western outskirts of Ararat. It’s a family owned and independent park and the proud and friendly owners have allocated a nice grassy site for us. There’s a covered BBQ area, a camp kitchen, and an inviting pool along with cabins, motel rooms and fenced caravan sites for dog owners to run wild.

After a sweaty set up, dinner is a Christmas ham salad outside under the awning. It’s a warm evening and thunder clouds roll by as we watch our host’s Christmas light display come on. Chevy Chase would be proud and so would Aldi.