Thomas & Petra…we are off then

 We went on Friday to the Sydney caravan show in Rosehill. It was fantastic and we found our new caravan but we only have to decide for which date we will order it. After our  loop we discovered what we missed and which upgrades we need.  We will start soon our next 

 On our next days we did the obligatory visit to our old venues and it was every time a big hello and hugging. We went food shopping and drove around the block. We had great dinner with our old colleagues and at our temporary home. Damien came back from Sydney and we all had a great time around the dinner table.  Nothing has changed at our old workplaces same same but without us and that was great.  After our daily routine we took the dog out for a walk 

 Early start this morning because we had nearly 600 km in front of us to drive to Bowral where all started. The drive was boring and at 4 pm we drove into the driveway of our friends Jen and Damien. Big hello some drinks, palaver, and dinner. We got the granny flat.  We finished our loop after 10 months 19 days and 38000 km without any flat tyres or accident. We only lost once the windscreen and a few screws here and there. So proud of us what we had achieved 🌅🥂🏆 Well done, I guess! Our next chapter will start from Bowral - again 😂

 After a good breakfast we dressed into our cycle gear and drove to Beechworth. We stopped at the local mountain bike park. Great place with a lot of tracks, more old school style, narrow and rocky. After some rounds we cycled down to the new track. Epic indigo trail. OMG what a fabulous new XC trail all what you expect from a mountain bike trail. Windy trail with good grip up and down, little bridges and awesome climbs. The best of the small loop a descent of nearly 3 km with fast high corners and plenty of jumps. One of our best rides we ever had done.  Back in town we had a nibble in a brewery not as good as the one in Bright, a nice sweet treat from the bakery, and a stroll through town.  A bit tired we drove back to the caravan, packed down the awning, cooked dinner, charged the cycles and loaded them back on the car. Great day 

 We left Echuca and had only 180 km to drive to our next destination for 2 nights. Petra found a little campground in Milawa. After we arrived we set up our van and hopped in the car and did a beautiful rod trip through this mountain area. We wanted to explore this part because we might stay there over next Christmas.  First stop was Beechworth only 25 km away. An awesome little town with everything we need and spectacular mountain bike trails. Short stop at the information centre.  Second stop was Yackandandah . Small beautiful town with old buildings, shops and mountain biking trails.  Third stop was Mt Beauty around 65 km away. A great beautiful drive through the country side and mountains. More for winter but had also some xc trails. Forth stop was Bright. We had to drive over a mountain pass with fantastic views, looks like Switzerland. Bright is very touristy and a long stretch. A lot of trees along the road in all kind of colours. Autumn. We stopped and had a nibble in a brewery

 The rain finally stopped and this morning we could pack up nearly dry. Only issue all outside was covered with sand. 10 am we left and drove another 350 km south east to Echuca. Along the Murray river and vineyards. We reached our destination around 3 pm small drive through site with turf. Only overnight stay. 

 Next stop was Mildura. We booked us in for 2 nights in a caravan park with power because we expected heavy rain 🌧 for the next days.  We left early this little village and drove south east. Reached the border to Victoria and had to get rid of all our fruits because of quarantine regulations.  The drive was interesting and we passed through Renmark, and the Murray river valley . We didn’t know that the region was a huge growing area for wine 🍷 and fruits.  In the afternoon we drove into our campground, close to the river. We saw pictures of the flood damage from December 2022. Puhhh.  Set up and enjoyed the last sun and dinner. We had lovely neighbours an old couple from Tassi.  During the night the rain 🌧 started and it was not nice this morning. After breakfast we drove to town, did laundry, food and hardware shopping, fuel stop and back to the caravan park. The ground was soaked and everything was very wet. We switched on our heater and had dinner inside. Parmesan & herb crum

 After a cold night and a great sunrise 🌅 we had a very quick breakfast, packed up and left 8 am. 10 km in our travel we reached Blinman, highest town in South Australia, little old mining town, now great place to visit.  Bought coffees and homemade bread. Had an interesting chat to fellow traveller about a caravan.  After 45 minutes of break we drove through the Flinders Range, what a beautiful drive and winding road, loved it. Great views and plenty to see.  We decided to travel further than we planned and stopped in a very small town with a difficult name. Parked our caravan next to the local sports oval. Nice toilet and hot shower.