Monday 8/6/2016, Home to Lurg, Vic, Clear, sunny 12.5 degrees

In April, Ginger Meggs (President Trump) decided to bomb Iran, for reasons we know not why. In retaliation Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, an action that sent most people brushing up on their geography of the Middle East. With the trade route blocked, oil supplies suffered. Since then, fuel prices here have spiked. They’ve now settled, albeit a little higher thanks to Albo’s (Prime Minister Albanese) bargaining.

We need to visit Woody’s brother, Woody the Elder, in Queensland as he is on the sick list. We top up the car and the diesel heater tank and hit the highway.

Traffic is very light, being the King’s Birthday holiday. This time we take the Monash Freeway through the tunnels and the Western Ring to pick up the Hume Highway north of Melbourne. At Wallan there is low cloud and I spot a mob of wallabies in a paddock. The highway is peppered with cursed potholes that peak at Euroa with a flock of absolute shockers. Let’s not get into politics.

We had intended to spend the night in Longwood but, as we are fresh as daisies, and enjoying the drive, we decide to press on.

We quickly find a freedom camp on WikiCamps that is just east of Benalla and Winton. There is no longer a town at Lurg, but a hall and a disused school. We unhitch the gate and enter what is now called Don McKenzie Reserve. Up the well-made track there’s a wide turning circle behind the school. We are surrounded by emerald green grass and swathes of wildflowers, pink and white and yellow. The little white weatherboard school is in good repair and there’s plenty of level ground for caravans. There’s an amenities block with toilets and hot showers. A shed that is now a neat camp kitchen with two BBQ’s. A book exchange resides in a dead fridge and out front there’s a granite fireplace. All of this for 10 bucks!

Within minutes we’re sitting in the sun, smelling the flowers, and watching over next door’s sheep. I now truly understand the word ‘gamboling’, as the little lambs tear about the paddock in sheer delight. The locals sell stubby holders* labelled “Lurg it’s a destination, not a disease”. How can we resist? We ring Kev and he zooms in with our $8 purchase. The sun drops around 5:00 and the chill settles to 5 degrees. We have home-made soup for dinner and turn on the diesel heating. I wish we could bring those little sheep inside.

Accom: $10

Fuel: $32.10 ($2.039/ltr) inc. Woolies discount.

Towing Kms: 286kms

*Stubby holder = beer can cooler made of wet suit material.

It’s good to be back on the road.