Saturday, May 24, 2014

Echuca…………Day 61

23 and 24th May 2014
Yesterday, Day 60, started off wet. the rain lifted around lunch time and we didn’t do much. John & Denise went for a drive to Huntly while we hung around camp.
After breakfast John decided to wash his plate.
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After lunch we took the van in for its repairs. The correct part had arrived for the water heater and it works. The tap arrived for the vanity basin and was fritted with no more leaks. We have our fingers crossed the leaky window has been fixed, but I am not holding my breath.
Anyone staying in Bendigo try the Gold Nugget Caravan Park. They looked after us when we had to keep extending our stay and gave us every discount they could. they were very helpful and made our long stay a pleasure.
Saturday saw us all packed up and ready to move on to Echuca – a VERY long drive of 87 kms. We stopped at Rochester for morning tea where we saw a man hanging up a French Flag alongside the Australian flag. They were beside a monument to Hubert (Oppy) Opperman, Australia’s first World Champion in Cycling. The French Government have given the town a grant to help build the monument because of the high regard they had for Oppy.
He won the Australian Road cycling championship in 1926,1927,& 1929. He won the Bol D’or in Paris in 1928 & was highly placed in the Tours de France in the same year. He also won the Paris to Brest to Paris road race in 1931. No performance enhancing drugs in those days, just grit & determination.
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We got to Echuca at lunch time and after a bit we went for a drive around town to get our bearings. Here is my first paddle steamer I saw.
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While at the banks of the great Murray River, I saw a rare species of tree - -  a thong Tree.
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We had a drive around town and here are some photos.
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Hope to see more tomorrow.

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