The dogs had a last run down to the creek and we took a last look around our beautiful campsite.
Steve turned the van around, (after checking puppies were on board!). Laura hopped in and we started up the track, All was calm and peaceful; the creek burbled gently over rocks, the superb Blue Wrens were twittering in the grass... When suddenly a scream pierced through the stillness!!!
Laura was grabbing her foot and screaming loudly! Steve looked over, saw a humongous Bull Ant in her shoe and immediately followed the time honoured procedure as follows:
1. Sit woman down and tell her very firmly to shut the hell up;
2. Reach behind seat and pull out instant ice pack from First Aid (whilst patting woman on knee);
3. Ignore woman's persistent screaming and tear open packaging with teeth;
4. Punch ice pack (not woman) with spare hand to activate (other hand still patting knee reassuringly);
5. Apply ice pack to woman's foot whilst removing woman's nails from shoulder,
6. Talk soothingly (albeit very loudly so as to be heard over screams);
7. Repeat steps 3-6 as needed until either woman stops screaming, or until deafness occurs, whichever happens first.
Important note: ice pack cannot be refrozen but makes a handy gag if woman's screaming continues :)
Below is a Bull Ant next to a normal ant. Enough said!
We then drive half an hour towards Benalla, laughing about aforementioned Bull Ant, when suddenly BOOM CLASH CLANK! Aarghhh what now?!
Have we blown a tyre? Did we hit a wombat or a shredded truck tyre?
We pulled over and got out and there was a large space on the roof where the $400 Max Treds were supposed to be! Oops!
A bloke pulled over and said "you lost something 500m back mate"! Steve quickly dd a u turn and went back whilst Laura legged it on foot to look for the tie-down ratchet!
Just as Steve got there, he sees some bloke putting them in his 4WD! So he flashed his lights, screeched to a halt and explains very nicely that they were in fact, his!
All good, the bloke handed them over, Laura found the ratchet, we re-pack the roof and continued on. As we do!!
And it's only 11am!
By now it was warm at 30 degrees and sunny and there were what Laura thought were little yellow butterflies in the long grass at the roadside. Turns out they were actually some kind of grasshopper. Still pretty though!
We stopped in Benalla for fuel and a snack, around 12pm ($1.28) then headed on towards Echuca.
The rest of the drive was uneventful and we just enjoyed the drive, passing through apple and cherry orchards and fields full of hay bales.
Outside Shepparton were the famous painted cows, grazing next to the river.
Everywhere was bustling as people got ready for their New Years celebrations.
We got a great spot under a shady tree, right next to a dam full of yabbies!
It was so crowded it was actually unsettling and as we watched, our hearts were in our mouths as there were several near collisions.
We popped into Echuca to restock the pantry and then spent the evening next to our private water feature. The owner has a pet goat and a toy poodle and it was so cute to see them playing together.
The evening was spent beside the dam after having our first hot showers for 3 days (yes we still washed at Burnt Bridge but it took a lot more effort for a lot less warm water!)
The over excited teenagers further around the dam were getting noisier by the minute so At 11.30pm Laura went over and told them ever so nicely to can it so the rest of us could sleep!
Well they did and so we did :)
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