Benalla and Change of Plans

August 3, 2018

Having lost all the time with our engine problem our planned Murray River trip was abandoned some time ago and we were planning to go to Tasmania at the end of September.  However, due to several factors we have decided to put that off until early next year and have changed our ferry booking to February 15th. We will then stay in Tassie all year (yes including Winter) as we have had Winter this year in temperatures probably worse in some areas than Tassie’s East Coast; we are now acclimatised Winter Caravanners!

We were originally going to take this van to Tassie and then, when we came back, trade up to a newer or new off-road van. We have been accumulating new stuff recently, not the least of which is the Kayak and also a generator, all things included we need to get rid of some items and get back to carrying only what we need to so it is making more sense to go back to Brisbane before the year end, change the van and re-organise ourselves!

So here we are at Broken Creek Campground, just 14km North of Benalla, planning out our route back Northwards as Winter is ending and Spring begins in another month.

We are staying here for about 8-10 days as there are quite a few things to see in the district and it is a very pleasant spot to relax.  This is a private campground set up by the owners over the last 3 years, and still a work in progress.  At $10/night (and 4th night free for us Full Range Camping members) you get water, drop toilets and hot showers and lots of space with only one other Winter traveller in a caravan here plus the site “helper” in a tent!

Our plan from here is to go over to Elmore (about 150km) to catch up with Ann and Mike who we were with in Alice Springs for several months; they have finished their travelling, sold their Melbourne house and set up home in Elmore (about 50km North of Bendigo).  From there we will zig zag North across the Murray and through NSW, expect to be back to Brissy by end of November….more soon…