Now in NSW



Costerfield gold mine ruins



Mon 7th - Wed 9th was as relaxed as last week, with gardening and more craft, the weather has really turned cold with frosty mornings.  I rode my bike to collect the mail and passed the remains of what was once a gold mine employing up to 700 workers 100 years ago.



Autumn in Costerfield



Thurs 10th - Took the Van to Heathcote for a new radiator and some belts to be replaced, he also reset the timing from the problem I had last week and was most apologetic.  Heathcote is a very Historic town and I walked up and down looking at some of the original buildings.  The highlight was a walk through the Valley of Liquid Ambers, the colours of Autumn were absolutely spectacular.  I found more material at the Op shop so had an early tea then made up another quilt.

Fri 11th - My last day so spent it packing the Van and getting the house ready for Margaret's return.  Drove into town for petrol, gas bottle refills and some shopping.  Margaret arrived at 9.30pm tired from a day and a half travelling.  She brought me some Irish tea towels and lovely Celtic monogramm bookmark.


Yabbie fishing


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Jan and dingo pup



Sat 12th - I got away just after 8, Drove to Shepparton to leave the 5 quilts I had made with a friend of Nell's.  Found an RV shop and bought edge stripping to do some maintenance on the Van at my next stop.  I arrived at the Dingo Farm at Nalinga after lunch to meet with the CMCA Goulburn Valley Gypsies.  The afternoon's activity was to catch a yabbie in the dam to have a yabbie race tomorrow morning.  Only 1 yabbie was caught between the lot of us (it was far to cold) so no race!!!  There was chocolate cake for all the mothers at afternoon tea.  At 5pm most went up to see the dingoes, and help feed some of them.  Alan had cooked a BBQ for everyone for dinner which was very welcome.  Then we sat around the camp fire under the stars till about 9pm and the cold sent us indoors.   

Sun 13th - I woke at 7 but stayed in bed reading till 9, there was a cold wind blowing this morning.  The fire was relit & I played a few tunes on my Ukulele while others sang. It started to rain at 11 so it was time to leave.  I had heard that the name of the area near us was Upottipotpon, so I had to go for a drive and find it, I wonder what the origin of that name was?   I drove to Corowa to visit a friend so am now in NSW.



My welcome to NSW



A week in the country

This has been a quiet week with my days spent doing some gardening, sewing and watching movies from Margarets large library.
Monday 30/4 - I put binding onto a second quilt and watched the movie 'Nell' in the afternoon.

Tuesday 1/5 -  The binding went onto a third quilt and I spent the afternoon on the computer, working out how to use the Hot Spot from my Smart Phone.  It took a while but I was determined to make it work.

Wednesday 2/5 - a neighbour gave me a lift into town to collect my Van from the mechanic in Heathcote, I had planned to get a Tune Up here after the problem in Sale.  Margaret had offered me the use of her little car while she was away so I was glad of that but happy to have my own wheels back.

Thursday 3/5 - I drove to Bendigo to see the Grace Kelly Style Icon Exhibition, this was fabulous and so popular it was necessary to purchase tickets to attend at a specific time of day. After checking out a few shops I had afternoon tea with one of Margaret's friends before driving home.

Pink Cliffs - Heathcote

Friday 4/5 - Went into town this morning, drove just a few klm out of town to see the Pink Clifs, a colourful reminder of the Gold Rush era in the early 1900's, on the way home I saw an Auction at a Farmhouse so decided to stop for a look, a real country experience but I wasn't tempted to make any bids!!!  The movie after dinner tonight was 'The Kiss'.





Costerfield Post Office



Saturday 5/5 - I started sewing my 4th quilt then finished the Christmas wallhanging I began at Tannum Sands last July.  I stripped the vinyl floor of the Van and put 2 coats of sealer on it.  A friend from Kilmore phoned to invite me to dinner, so I drove with the intention of staying overnight.  I hadn't seen Fay for over 20 years when she lived in Rockhamnpton, so lots of catching up on what we and our families were doing now.

Sunday 6/5 -  When I went to leave there was oil on the road where I had been parked.  Another call to RACV and I was missing a bolt from the Distributor!!!  No damage done so it was replaced and filled with oil before I drove home, the dogs were very happy to see me.  I put 2 more coats of sealer on the van floor then watched the movie 'Beyond Borders'.  Now have less than a week before it is time for me to move a little further north.

This was our view of Melbourne from The Edge