Great neighbours when camping, are worth their weight in gold

Do you get excited when an invite arrives.

I do !

As then I check dates to see if we can allow a few extra days to throw in a holiday as well.

This month we have been lucky to be able to attend our nieces 30^th birthday and a few weeks later, an engagement party. A 60^th birthday is also looming up quickly

And all on the beautiful Bellarine Peninsula

Our trip to the 30^th birthday did not involve our caravan as we also had a family function in Melbourne the same weekend.  We accepted the offer of a bed for the night from our Melbourne host so dinner, drinks and lots of laughter concluded a                                                                 fun filled few days.

Two weeks later we were on the road heading back to the Bellarine Peninsula, where our caravan park of choice is the Bellarine Bayside at Portarlington.

                                                 www.bellarinebayside.com.au

Site fees for three nights are equal to one night in a motel so we can see the benefit of having our caravan.

Many retirees will purchase a van with the intent of doing “The Big Lap “; or families will purchase a van so they can enjoy holidays that fit into their budget.

But we all have that one thing in common; we are all members of the “ Caravan owners enjoyment Club " That great  Aussie country style caravan wave as we travel along that stretch of dark coloured road shows that we all have that common interest of acknowledging other caravan drivers. 

Whatever the reason for our initial caravan or camper purchase, we all have the same agenda: to enjoy our life, to respect everyone and to offer advice, help and friendship when it is required.

Our ensuite site at Portarlington looked straight out across the bay. So relaxing; enjoying the changing colours of the water and the dancing antics of the sea birds.

We have always found that the weather can change quite dramatically so we awoke to quite a bit of rain on the Saturday morning. The engaged couple were a bit stressed, but the party had to proceed anyway. The wet weather was just a minor distraction, but it did not dampen the enjoyment of celebrating  with Bethany and Will, their parents and relatives from South Australia.  Me, well I just had to reassess my outfit choice. Certainly not weather for open toed sandals. That is the thing with caravans, there is only limited storage space, but we all make do!

Off and on it rained but the wind that came in the next day was horrendous. Now I am, let’s say, a sturdy size, and I struggled to stand upright.

We managed a  wander around the Queenscliffe market , as it is in a slightly protected area, followed by a catch up lunch with a longtime friend. If you are on the Bellarine during market season check them out. There are some very clever people down that way.

Hubby enjoys watching ships come through the heads but that certainly was not an enjoyable Sunday pastime.

Fed up with being blown backwards every time you tried to walk anywhere we gave up and headed back to the van.

And we were very happy to discover the friendship, help and camaraderie of our caravan site neighbour. He had seen that the wind was causing havoc with our awning so he tightened it up which prevented any damage. Isn’t it so reassuring to know that there are people who will keep an eye on your stuff while you are out. Dave, on site B9/10 Bellarine Bayside, 25^th March, thank you.

I love seeing posts on all the caravanning and camping pages, where people are so willing to offer support and ideas. This is what caravanning and camping  life should be about , help and support to other travellers.

Life is about constantly learning and in turn this allows us to be able to share our new found knowledge.

Happy and safe travelling everyone.

                                www.visitgeelongbellarine.com.au

                                 www.visitvictoria.com

TatFest, a typical country festival

Where is the best place to find an awesome Devonshire tea ?

Well in my opinion, it is a small country town and it is so much better if there is a festival or market happening.

And we were very fortunate as we  found a very tasty plate of scones at Tatfest.

Autumn is a wonderful time in Victoria, and so many towns take full advantage of  the cloudless blue skies and warm sun , to throw out the welcome mat to those tourists exploring the countryside.

If you are travelling around the country, or just wanting to take a day trip away from your home town, then it is not hard to find a festival or market being held somewhere close by.

The annual festival held at Tatura piqued our interest so we decided to wander across to the Goulburn valley town and experience it ourselves.

TatFest is held at Mactier Park , which is graced by tall trees and a large expanse of lush green grass.
What a wonderful surrounding to sit , relax and enjoy the music , or wander around and take in all the stalls.

We arrived right on lunch time and a quick look around soon proved that the lunch choice was going to be a difficult one, as the menu options were many and varied.

Do I have a spring roll or perhaps a lamb roll , or just go straight to dessert and have pancakes. But I saw that the line for baked potatoes had shortened so I joined the queue. I am a sucker for a good baked potato, and hearing the whispers from those in close proximity, it was settled that Karen's Baked Potato stand was the right place for me. A fresh from the oven baked potato topped with all the trimmings and a bottle of icy water and my lunch was organised. Hubby chose a lamb roll and there were no complaints from him either.

A chair in the shade , enjoying a nice lunch while listening to the buskers and chatting to a friend made for a memorable lunch. 

Two friends relaxing and enjoying a chat

Kids on the grass next to us were having a ball, rolling around and pushing each other over with such vigour that you would swear that there would be broken bones. But no, they were  all safely encased in Sumo Wrestling suits. What a great activity to keep the kids entertained while families relaxed. 

At the back of the park were the Zorb balls. Kids climbed in and ran around inside them to propel themselves along the grass. It reminded me of my childhood when I ran inside an old water tank to race it down the hill near my home. I do think the plastic walls of the Zorb Balls looked a lot safer than the metal  walls of an old water tank.



















The abseiling wall was also getting a continuous use. I guess it wasn't really that high and it was being manned very safely but certainly not the type of activity for this senior person. Those that had a go seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The S.E.S and CFA did a great job with their displays in this area.

Next stop is  the petting zoo. This activity is much quieter and the very young toddlers have a great time patting the goats and rabbit.

The younger family members  had so many things to check out, I would think that by Sunday evening there would be many tired little bodies around.

We can hear the whoosh of a flame so wander over to check out the noise. And in the carpark is the RAAF guys with their Hot Air Balloon. Sunday was too gusty for the balloon to be used so there were no tethered flights available, but there was still information shared and you had the chance of standing in the balloon basket. 
We had a fun time chatting with these guys. Great ambassadors for the Airforce.

               https://www.airforce.gov.au/displays/air-force-balloon

While I was standing in line waiting for my baked potato, I started chatting to the lady behind me and she was informing me that she was one of the volunteers serving Devonshire tea.
So now was a suitable length of time between lunch and afternoon tea to hunt out these home made scones.
Tables and chairs were set up in the Tatura Senior Citizens club rooms, and for the price of $5 you were served a cup of tea or coffee and home made scones , with home made jam and nice thick cream. So glad that I chatted to Veronica whilst waiting in line for my lunch.

Oh , so very, very tasty. And so much better than mass produced scones.

Veronica and Kaye serving the Devonshire tea

The bright shine of the jewellery and the pleasant smell of candles enticed you along the path to check out those displays. The naturopath tent was informative and I tried some tea made with fennel , which brought back  memories of my Father as he used to grow it back in the 1980's. We left with some tea samples : I wonder if they will help my insomnia. 



All in all TatFest was a very enjoyable day. It was not expensive and there was plenty of entertainment for all ages.



Congratulations to all those involved and thank you to all the sponsors , as without sponsorship, these events would not happen. 
And as a tourist , it gives us a reason to visit other towns.



With all our grey nomads and retirees  travelling around , I think a country fair , market or festival is a great place to sit back and relax while learning about the area .