Sacramento to Portola

We left Sacramento – after checking out of the Raddison – and still chuckling over the bomb we hoped we had left for our noisy neighbours – set off with TomTom taking us back to the cafe in Roseville. We did not have the ham and eggs! But a much smaller breakfast which was still very filling before we continued up the Sacramento valley towards Oroville.

One of the greatest bits of this trip has been listening to TomTom, our other passenger; massacre the names of the places we visited. Everything was pronounced phonetically like an early Schwarzenegger film with Sarcramunto being one of the best!

With some of the instructions we awaited the repeat while observing the road signs in an effort to understand what we were meant to do! This was greeted with cries of ‘Oh that’s what he meant’ and great hilarity!

Anyhoo the Sarcramunto valley is dedicated to growing crops – we saw cherry trees, olive trees, vineyards, orange groves, walnut trees and miles upon miles of rice paddy fields, as well as many other crops that we could not identify.

Continuing up the flat plain we passed the smallest mountain range in the world – the Sutter Buttes – Chris tried to get a picture of them, but the haze and the vegetation along the roadway were not co-operating. Tony would like to point out that we were about 40 miles away from them as well!

We continued on to Oroville where we stopped to pick up a salad lunch before going into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, suddenly we were going uphill for the first time in nearly 10 days, and the car could not cope! The road got steeper as we were now following the North Fork of the Feather River, there was a vast expanse of brown grassy area with cattle followed by a short parade of broad leaf trees on the lower slopes and then as we climbed higher we were into conifers.

We started off with the railroad to our right and then we lost it in the hills, in no time at all we came to a stopping place and realised that the railroad was more than a thousand feet below us in the canyon, and there was plenty of the canyon left above us as well!

We stopped in the shade of a tree and enjoyed a superb salad from Wendy’s a much better fast food chain than McD’s. Then we rolled down hill for a considerable distance before we met up with the river and railroad again, but this time we were on the canyon floor as well. With our underpowered car a sharp lookout for following traffic was needed to keep out of the way since passing places were few. Having a Peterbilt truck looming in your mirrors was a bit like the film ‘Duel.’ With frequent photo stops we continued on our way down the valley heading towards Portola and our next hotel.

We passed the honeymoon tunnels wishing we could see a train and then Tony spotted a headlight which coincided with a stopping place. Hurriedly exiting the car we got ready for photos and filming – Chris armed with the DVD camera was concentrating on making sure all was captured, unbeknown to her Tony waved the ‘pull the horn’ signal to the driver, he did and the film shows the resulting jump! Magical moments!

After watching the train we continued down the canyon, stopping to look at the Keddie Y a famous spot where the lines diverge to go north to Oregon and East to Salt Lake City. The view is amazing even though there is only about a foot of space to stand on above the tunnel entrance with a sheer drop down to the railroad. We realised that this was a popular spot to view trains from as there were two folding chairs chained to a tree with a padlock – see photo.

Continuing down the canyon we eventually reached Portola, passing Williams Loop on the way. We found the Railroad Museum, but as it was now late in the afternoon it was closed, so we set off to find our hotel.

We were looking for the town of Graeagle (pronounced grey eagle by most people), but by this time it was getting dark quickly as the sun had set behind the mountains and this was when we found that we did not have the full hotel address. Eventually we stopped and asked the way, and realised we had gone in almost a complete circle, successfully missing the hotel by half a mile!

Although the River Pines Resort was 10 miles outside of Portola we were pleased we had selected it as we were surrounded by forest, along with masses of birds and other things that made noises in the undergrowth.

A bit of a panic next morning as the shower only delivered hot water. Used room next door and then we left to go down to breakfast in Portola. Incredible scenery but unlike the UK you cannot slow to appreciate it as the speed limit is 55 and that is the speed that all traffic wants to go at. Still with the air con off we were ok for the hills and the bigger lorries are fitted with an exhaust brake which can be heard a mile away so you do get some warning. We did not wish to be a statistic with a 6 wheel tractor unit and two trailers on top of us.

Portola is a railroad town and it is situated in a wide valley with plenty of space for a rail yard. The town is pleasant and Main Street is very wide with room to swing a team of horses around. The rail traffic is slow at present with the recession but at one time it was very busy as the town had an overpass built to ease the frequent disruptions of long trains awaiting crew changes and the principal passenger train, the California Zephyr waiting servicing and a thorough window wash before entering the canyon.

Businesses in small towns in the middle of nowhere have to give good value as the people will go elsewhere. We used two of the cafes out of the four that were there and we were not disappointed. We arrived at the Museum and introduced ourselves and then went on a walkabout around the yards photographing the stock that was on display while our instructor made ready the two engines booked for us to drive.

Craig Timmins was our instructor he showed us around and gave us a safety talk and then we climbed up onto a Southern Pacific GP9. We knew they were big but that is quite a climb first time of trying. Chris got the giggles at this point as we clambered in the cab and Craig took control and wheeled us around the track instructing us on what to do and where to do it. Then it was our turns to trundle backwards and forwards around the yard. We came off the Geep and then onto another SP engine, this time we were on a switcher. Easier access but the visibility over the hood was terrible as the number boards were mounted right in the way. We had to admire the men who worked the switchers as the riding was terrible with every joint and change of direction of the track banged up through the frame and into your body. The Geep was a limousine by comparison. Outside of the loco horns are loud, inside, well you can imagine what it was like!

After spending the day in the museum we returned to the hotel to charge the cameras and vegetate, watching the bird life of the forest, we saw tree creepers, crested blue jays and many other birds we did not recognise. We had just got the batteries charged on Chris’s camera when we saw a deer peering in the back window of the room, looked like it was saying ‘what you up to then?’ Of course the camera would not co-operate so that we could capture this amazing moment – although Tony did get a picture of the deer returning to the forest.

We were in Portola so that Tony could take a close look at the Western Pacific route through the Feather River Valley, the scenery is spectacular and we were also very lucky in the number of trains we saw along the route, as there is a definite slow down in traffic with the recession starting to bite. The days were still warm but the temperature fell at night and we should have put on an extra blanket!

On our final day in the area we drove down to Reno, if only we had known it was so close to Portola – poor research folks! We could have had another night in Portola. If you like gambling, with your life or your money then you may well like Reno as the hotel/casino we were booked into for just one night allowed smoking in all public areas except restaurants. That is more than enough about this hotel for the blog, suffice it to say, if we go back to Reno, it will be just to pick up a car to go anywhere else!

The contrast between forests and desert is a shock after all that greenery. A transit of the flat lands with crops and cattle ceases and it is hot dry and miserable. Don’t walk off the main road around here as you would be in trouble very quickly. You enter Reno through trading estates and low rise factories but the general impression is a valiant attempt to make use of a quarry with a fairground in the middle.

Sacramento

This is the bit where the female of the species panders to the wishes of the other half as he satisfies his long held dream to visit the route of the Western Pacific Railroad across Northern California. Strange as it is she is also looking forward to this bit having been in the room when Tony’s videos and DVD’s have been playing. She is looking forward to seeing if those gorges are that deep and the hills are really that high.

We picked up the car, but it was not the expected model, we were told it was the equivalent! Read the small print! We do not recommend anyone to buy a Hyundai Accent, especially the base model; it is a very small car, especially for us two! It did not have central locking and only has a meagre 10 gallon (American gallons at that!) tank, so the petrol disappears fast! It was described as a compact, we did not want a barge but compact does not mean small or compact, it means underpowered and crap.

The drive from San Francisco was a bit hairy as it was the first time Tony had driven a left hand drive and we were on the freeway almost immediately after leaving the car pick up point. It is not helped that you are injected via some very tight bends into the fast lane of the Bay Bridge. The speed limit may be 65mph, but we had to go faster than that to keep up with the traffic and not cause an obstruction. Turning off the air conditioning produced a remarkable improvement in performance!

We later realised that this part of the route was originally an interurban or tram route which explained the tight bends and the fact we were deposited on to the Bay Bridge in the left hand i.e. the fast lane.

After sometime we had had enough and turned off and out of the bagatelle board that is the Interstate, to travel on the back road to Sacramento. For a back road the traffic was heavy and signs warned us to travel with full headlights as despite the full sun, visibility was poor in the haze. The Sacramento River delta is a vast open plain with high dikes and is not unlike the Lincolnshire fens but signs advertising Walnuts and Pistachios and soft fruit are rare in the East of England. Arrow straight roads and some big bridges followed by mile upon mile of vineyards and orchards lead you to Lodi. This is an impressive place for the number of flowers and trees within its city limits. We stopped for lunch and looked for various buildings including the Round House Tavern as we want to model it, very interesting building, but we did not wish to eat or drink there!

We travelled on to the Radisson hotel in Sacramento and disturbed the staff. (This was to be the first of several occasions). The Radisson Hotel at Sacramento is not a very inspiring rest stop and evidently most of the staff thinks the same as they were surprised when we checked out on the length of our stay!

The reception staff had not completed any course on the subject and a request for information for vineyard tours produced a series of telephone numbers and no clue as to what was a good bet. A request for laundry bags and for them to be collected from our room involved two departments, but the laundry did do a good job. The hotel itself consisted of a series of serried ranks of motel-like chalets in the mission style, a sort of Californian Butlins. A lack of parking produced a parade of vehicles past the room at odd hours. The weekend found the place full and noisy, next-door was at full volume late at night. Having seen the redneck that was staying in the room we called the front desk to try and shut them up. A phone call to the room produced no response and they called the security man who banged and banged on the door and still nothing. Security then called for permission to use the pass key and he got in to find the inhabitants blotto. We had more noise the following night but we got up early on our last morning and hung the please clean my room notice on the handle.

When we arrived in Sacramento we needed some cash so we tried to find a bank. Do not worry with GBP travellers cheques in the USA it is very hard to find a bank or Foreign Exchange company that will change them! The first thing they ask is ‘Do you have an account with us?’, and when we say no we are travelling in the States from the UK, they tell us they cannot change them.

There were only two places we were successful, the first was in Melbourne at American Express and the second at Bank of America in San Francisco. Everywhere else we had to go through a long rigmarole of having our identity verified, and phone calls to head office to see if they would change them. One bank even offered to give us a straight swap of pounds to dollars, until we pointed out that there were one and a half dollars to the pound! The bank in Sacramento did change a few once we told them that we had been able to do it in San Francisco – but it is very wearing on the nerves!

Having got some cash we then tried to find the local shopping Mall, but missed the turn, eventually we found ourselves at a Wal-Mart, so we were able to get some more vital fluids and nibbles and to get the current lot of photos put onto disc. And we saw a very wide lady, one of many that we saw. Yes we know it is pots and kettles, but we are not that bad!

Then as we were nearby we drove to Bruce’s Train Store, using the TomTom to guide us as we had still not found a map of Sacramento (eventually and grudgingly we got a free map from the hotel, after asking where we could find a map!). We spent some time in Bruce’s (and a quite a bit of money) with some knowledgeable staff. What a store and what stock! If they did not have it they could obtain it and will ship it worldwide.

The next day we went into Old Sacramento, a fascinating place on the Sacramento River, but the main point of interest for us was the Railroad Museum. This is a very well laid out museum, which we were told had learnt a lot about Railroad presentation from the British National Railway museum at York. Lots of locos and carriages and trucks, as well as life size dioramas depicting historical moments in American Railroad history, such as the ceremony held at Promontory Summit to complete the last link in the First Transcontinental Railroad across the USA forever known as the Golden Spike, this took place on 10 May 1869! Both Old and new Sacramento are extremely wooded with vast avenues of foliage shading the sidewalks which made the visit very pleasant.

We tried breakfast in the hotel, but were not overly impressed; however we thought we would give dinner a try. We did not repeat this as the meals were very spicy and salty and not at all worth the cost. So after we had done some train spotting the next day we went to have a look around the area for a meal. We had seen a Starbucks (drive thru one!) and Subway – as Maddie says they get everywhere! The guy in Subway was having a conversation and was not keen to serve us so we tried the Pizza place.

We were warmly welcomed, invited to choose a drink – they served a locally brewed lager which was better than we thought possible as we had had some experience of micro breweries and some leave a lot to be desired and an after taste. Tony chose an 8” Pizza and Chris a salad. When the food was delivered we had an 18” Pizza – just a little bit too big! And Chris got a green mountain!

After explaining the mishap, we were given a second beer on the house, money refunded and an 8” Pizza delivered. The young lady serving us told us that her Mum & Dad owned the franchise and that her Dad came from Islington. Well to cut a long story short, Chris’s great grandfather was born in Islington too. It would appear that we have found a cousin as Fred’s mum’s name was Emma Bevis and that was Chris’s grandmother’s name too!

Needless to say we continued to patronise this eatery in the evenings for the rest of the week, except for the Friday when we all went to the brewery/restaurant that makes the beer Fred & Margot serve.

For full details of the pizza place see:
http://expo.extremepizza.com/zgrid/proc/site/sitep.jsp;jsessionid=ajBcGKXKLu-f

During this week we visited Modesto, Lodi, Stockton and Roseville amongst other places looking at scenery and trains, both on the move and parked in railroad yards. Small town America is quaint, different and mostly very pleasant, the oldest buildings are very late Victorian brick built and for the natives that means historic. These older buildings are mostly close to the railway tracks, the new estates sprawl west or east depending on the freeways, and we can see where the song ‘Little boxes’ came from! Like the UK modern designs they do not alter much from new town to new town and from road or rail they do look very similar. The ‘grid’ system adds to this as various eateries vie for corner space adjacent to the petrol station that is part of the chain.

On Sunday morning we went to Roseville and we found yet another good cafe for breakfast – we thought we would try the ham and eggs. Well it came on two plates as the ham was huge – see photo– and there was no room for anything else on the plate! Tony was fascinated by the garden size railway running around in the cafe at picture rail level we also had a good view of the Amtrak station.

Later on we visited Lake Folsom – great fun watching the people putting their boats into the water doing a circuit of the lake and putting them back on the trailer before going home! And some of them really did take that little time on the water.

The striking thing about driving on the Freeways in this area is the Oleander bushes, they cover the roadsides and safety barriers for mile after mile seemingly without gaps and whilst we were there they were in full bloom, all along the median strip, successfully screening on coming vehicles on the opposite side of the road. Off the main roads and far enough away from the interstates the land is very quiet except for agricultural traffic and birdsong.

We did not get to fly the kite in Sacramento, as there was no wind for the whole of the week, only the promised very hot temperatures – we peaked at 100°F!

We are still here

Hi folks

We have not forgotten about the blog - it's just that the last couple of weeks of our grand adventure passed so quickly and without easy access to wi-fi - so postings have been delayed! More will follow shortly.

San Francisco

The fog that delayed our arrival on Tuesday continued the next day, but we had been booked on a bus tour by the hotel concierge at a special rate (the same we would have paid as seniors if we had booked it ourselves!), however, the tour proved to be very entertaining. We were lucky enough to get the front seat, so had a spectacular view! We were picked up from the hotel at 10am and taken for a tour of downtown SF while other passengers were picked up. At 11am we started the actual tour and it finished at 3pm, so it was good value for money. See http://www.towertours.net/ for the full info.

We saw the main tourist spots, the Civic Centre, Golden Gate Park, the painted ladies, cable cars and trolleys, Lombard Street, Twin Peaks and we drive across the Golden Gate Bridge which was shrouded in fog. The guide was very informative, and had some predictable jokes but a good way to get your bearings around the city and to refer to maps while someone else drives.

The next day was perfect visibility and we took the cable car down to the San Francisco Maritime National Park and looked at the historical ships that are part of the Maritime Museum. This has to be the best value for money exhibit available in the whole of California, $5 each to tour the ships; it was valid for 7 days, so we could go back anytime we wanted. Fantastic morning, and next door a pretty but small beach and we flew the kite. After a reasonable lunch we travelled on the F line historic trolleys all the way from Fisherman’s Wharf to the end of the line at Castro. This is the headquarters of the gay area for SF and some colourful characters were to be seen.

The next day we caught the F line again to go to Fisherman’s Wharf but the trolley was over full so we got off at the Ferry building and went into the small museum about the cable cars of San Francisco, before continuing on to the Wharf. We went on a tour of San Francisco bay which included a trip under the Golden Gate Bridge and a tour past Alcatraz. Great fun! After lunch we took the N trolley to Ocean Beach, where Chris had a paddle in the Pacific Ocean. In the evening we discovered a great pub called Lefty O’Douls, great food, great atmosphere and friendly staff.
See http://www.leftyodouls.biz/ for the best place in town not mentioned in any of our guides to San Francisco. We met a guy there from London who is working in SF for a year, and goes there for the ambiance beer and food! He really recommended it!

On Saturday we planned to get to the cable car museum, the long queue even that early caused us to change our plans, instead we caught the F line to Fishermans Wharf again and visited USS Pampanito a World War 2 submarine on Pier 45. How on earth 80 men lived and worked on board for 75 days at a time is beyond us, don’t believe the films it is not easy to slip through the bulkhead doors to pass from one compartment to the next! The bunks were really small, and there were only enough for half the crew and privacy went out the window, sorry porthole!
Later on we went back to Ocean Beach to fly the kite there, caused a lot of excitement to one young lad, but it was totally ignored by everyone else!

Sunday after going back and forth to Lefty’s (Chris left her camera behind first time) we caught the Ferry to Oakland to visit Jack London Square. We had stopped there on our train trip from LA to Seattle and knew that the trains travel down the middle of the road. Also at night the place looked really interesting. It is not! Yes the trains run down the road, we saw some as soon as we got off the ferry, but apart from the huge Barnes & Noble book store, there is nothing there just yet another shopping mall! There was a farmer’s market on the go, but there seemed to be a lot of farmers creating jewellery and fancy goods! Also there was a guy playing the Sax and singing – good voice, great player but a lousy selection of songs. Still we found an excellent pub, The Fat Lady, and had a fun half hour there before catching the ferry back to SF.

We don't like flying

We finally arrived in San Francisco about five hours late thanks to fog at SF airport. This was the end of the line for us as we had had another awful Quantas flight thanks to their inept administration and lack of organisation. The crew on the aircraft did try to salvage something from the debacle but basically there is little hope when your try to make sure everything is organised:-
1. Travel agent contacted Quantas when ordering the flight to ensure gluten free meal for Chris and extra legroom for me
2. All confirmed on March 17
3. We emailed the airline in Australia, after the first mess of a flight
4. They responded to this advising us to ring their free help line number and Chris confirmed yet again that we needed a Gluten free diet and extra legroom.

We arrived at Melbourne Airport and checked in and the clerk had details of all requests, including gluten free meal, which was supposedly on board but Tony still had no extra legroom. The seat was even worse than before but he did have the aisle seat so he could stretch out his leg as recommended by their agent, but the only problem with this is other passengers and crew moving through the plane seem to be unable to do so when others are sleeping without hanging on to the seats or walking into passengers in the aisle seats or walking on his foot!

Came the meal and we were approached by the steward and we asked for the Gluten free meal and surprise! There was no record of this on board. All of the other Gluten free meals had been issued but Chris had been listed only as a special meal. No one asked what her requirements were so we are led to believe that this statement is BS.

Steward Troy did manage to obtain a first class meal of Lamb Shank or chops with a fresh salad for Chris which was a larger portion than the one Tony was given. The crew did work well to sort out the muddle but we wonder, what is the point of ordering the service that both Virgin and Qantas offered and neither could deliver as promised?

A bloody awful flight, with the fart and his wife in front of us unable sit still, and the girls behind us giving them back-up. LA airport and a 747 400 with about 95% occupancy and immigration cum Homeland Security work very slowly. Japanese travellers fearing Swine flu are wearing masks but not over their noses and it was hot and getting hotter but, we were on time. We were not let through quickly as promised at Chicago and we had to be scanned again. We, unlike a lot of passengers had filled in the paperwork correctly though!

This has to be one of the worst run airports of all with no direct links between terminals so we have to run the gamut of panhandlers posing as charity workers who are trying to shake you down. They are aided by confusing signage, blurred announcements and the fact you have been awake for more than a day.

We arrived at the next terminal after dragging the cases around for 300 metres in what is now HEAT! Lack of information again and staff doing their utmost to look busy and oblivious of customers and we clamber upstairs via the escalators and arrive at Homeland Security again. Surly staff and lack of interest will cause yet another incident and it will be someone else’s fault when it happens and, despite checking that I had removed all of my metal gear my wristwatch was not detected by machine or the member of staff. O Hell! What hope is there?

We eventually got to the American Airlines area along with the other passengers to be ignored by the staff and we were confined behind glass for the duration. When they were happy we were good and cooked we were then informed that the flight would be delayed due to problems at SF. More and more delays and then more delays were announced.

Our contract to fly with AA was arranged by Quantas and our paperwork was clearly marked that we were still intercontinental passengers but, the dead ringer to the sister from Doc Hollywood with the withering look informed us that our carrier bag was. “One too many and would have to be left behind!” Chris repacked the contents and only afterwards did we think to put the laptop inside and thereby reduce the numbers.

We got onboard the MD 80 and on seeing Tony’s hat the chief stewardess enquired if we were Australian. Being punch-drunk from travelling he blurted out that we were flying in after seeing our daughter and this was our anniversary present to us. We were right at the back just in front of the engines. The staff made ready and our anniversary was announced over the Tannoy and we were presented with Champagne (two glasses) and two packets of nibbles. The plane filled and we got ready to go and received the quickest safety bulletin and demo, ever.

Not too fast, after start up we taxied out and stopped in the middle of nowhere to sit and wait for clearance to taxi the rest of the way to the perimeter. Stop again and after 40 minutes we moved onto the runway and took off. Oh the noise! But we were moving. After more than an hour and a half we were informed that we would have to wait to land. While we had stuttered around we awaited our promised refreshments which consisted of two or three plastics cups of iced water and a separate delivery of one tin of coke, for us to share, with ice.

The noise in the aircraft was awful and was similar to being in an empty van with growling wheel bearings and differential problems. It eventually landed and we rattled to the terminal and after a long wait with some relief we got off. We are not doing that ever again.

Final days in Melbourne

On Saturday Maddie & Chris went into the city to find a wedding dress for the big event in October. Pleased to say we were successful, a bit emotional as well – it is a beautiful dress and Maddie looks fabulous in it. Meanwhile Dan & Tony went to Anaconda which is Oz’s version of Decathlon, all things for all sports, and then we all met up at the MCG so we could watch Dan’s team Carlton in the Australian Football match.

The MCG is an amazing venue; we could see the whole of the ground from our seats and the match was fast and furious, much more exciting to watch live than on the telly. It got rather cold when the sun went down, and as Dan’s team were not doing too well, we left just before the end of the match to avoid the crowds, there were over 69000 spectators and they would all be leaving in a rush to get to the trains, trams and car parks!

In the evening we went back to the Rosstown Tavern for yet another great meal, this time we were in the Bistro, it’s a bit like a canteen, you book a table, and when the counter opens at 6pm, everyone rushes up to place their orders.

Nothing much happened on Sunday as Chris was not very well, the planned family picnic and the visit to the October wedding venue were cancelled, and we just vegged out.

On Monday Maddie was a domestic goddess while we finished off as much packing as possible, then we went into the city. We caught the tram all the way in and first of all visited The Shrine, where not only all the soldiers who died in WW1 are commemorated, but all of the soldiers who signed up, they are recorded in alphabetical order, with no rank, and those who have duplicated names have their service number recorded as well. We observed a re-enactment of the sunlight ceremony and then as it was grey and overcast we went for lunch rather than go back up the Rialto tower, as we would have spent a lot of money to see clouds!

After lunch we returned to the Immigration Museum, first of all we went to the special exhibition area and saw a very interesting display of photos, films and artefacts detailing the history of immigration to Australia by sea. After that we finished viewing the main exhibition, the bits that had washed over us on the first day of our visit.

In the evening we met Dan at a pub called The Retreat, it is in the suburbs and has a number of mementoes from the Australian series The Sullivan’s, (the pub featured in the series and the bar has been kept the same), this was fascinating to Chris as she used to watch the program when Maddie & Patrick were small. Excellent food as well!

Unfortunately we did not get to fly the kite in Melbourne, as first of all the weather, than Chris’s cold and finally all of the trees defeated us in this endeavour. However, the kite has had a tour of the city in our bag!

From Melbourne to Canberra and Back

On Monday we started our little adventure around a small, very small part of Australia. We piled into Dan’s brother’s car, they had swapped cars for the week as Lachlan’s is bigger than Maddie & Dan’s, and drove out of Melbourne to join the Hume Highway driving north towards New South Wales.

We arrived in the wine area at Rutherglen in time for lunch and after checking into The Wine Valley Motel walked into the town centre for a Parker Pie. These pies are famous in Oz and baked on the premises, very tasty and filling.

At 1.30 we were picked up by Peter of Grapevine Getaways. He seemed to be the local ‘Del Boy’ and we were joined by Jim & Maureen who were also staying in the motel, and set off to visit some of the local wineries. Starting off at All Saints where we were disappointed in the wines, plus the server was not very interested in serving anyone! We also went to have a look at the cheese tasting, but it was $20 (£10) to try just three of them so we did not participate.

The next winery was Cofield, what a difference; the guy serving was really friendly and wanted us to enjoy our visit. The first thing we saw when we walked in was an enormous cat called Plonk. He was stretched out in front of the gas fire, lying on his back with his back paws stretched out towards the fire. The wine here had a much better flavour but they do not export to the UK, so we could not look forward to some of it when we arrive home.

After half an hour we left to go on to Buller winery, another fantastic wine, very friendly staff and we purchased a bottle to say thank you to Maddie & Dan for our great evening on the Tram restaurant. But they don’t export!

On to Pfieffer winery, again great wine, friendly staff and once again a shame they do not export. Next we visited Killeen & Stanton, more great wine, but beginning to feel a bit the worse for wear, so asked Peter to stop so we could pick up some snacks to have a soak up! We must remember to spit out and sup water between tests! Finally we went to the Campbell winery, and they do export to the UK– hooray – fabulous wines once more and friendly staff. Available in Waitrose!

Tuesday, after a great breakfast delivered to our rooms, we drove on to Canberra – a long 3 hours away. The first thing we saw was a sign warning us of road works for the next 125K – they meant it too! The Hume highway is being upgraded to be dual carriageway from Rutherglen to Canberra, and there must be hundreds of men and women working on the project. There were on site facilities to make concrete, huge pieces of earth moving equipment, and they really tried to keep disruption down to a minimum.

We arrived at Canberra and booked into our hotel before going in search of lunch, then we separated, Maddie & Dan went to view the Parliament House and we went in search of a kite flying spot. No luck, but we did discover that Canberra is not pedestrian friendly, so we went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We had been invited to dinner with friends of Dan & his dad. Carole & Brett made us very welcome and fed and watered us royally, yet another good meal with lots of wine and laughter.

The next day we went first to Regatta Point where there is a museum chronicling the history of Canberra, how it came about and why it is situated in the middle of New South Wales. It was very informative with excellent displays and visual aids for children & adults. The best bit was a map with specific streets highlighted, by pressing on the highlights, children read out the name of the street, the person it is named after and what that person’s role was in the development of Canberra.

We then moved on to the Australian War Memorial which is also a museum. There are rooms for each theatre of war Australia has been involved in, from the Boer War to the present day. We spent a long time in the First World War rooms, before meeting Maddie & Dan for lunch. They had been to see the more modern displays.

After lunch we split up again and we went to see the Boer War exhibit and then some of the exhibits about wars since 1945, the entire museum is very moving. We also visited the research centre and were shown how to access the information available on the Internet in respect of Gallipoli.

In the evening with the help of the staff in the hotel and ‘Madnav’ we found the Turkish restaurant that Carole & Brett had recommended – more great food! A strange place that manages to make a living in what appears to be another office building and if you arrive on foot from direction we took, it is only the front of the building that has a sign.

The next morning Maddie & Dan went for a tour of the Parliament House and we went to fly the kite. We found a spot near the water front just by the Old Parliament House, and it flew just long enough to record the event!

We left Canberra about 1pm to go back to Melbourne via the coast. We tried to find some lunch to go but the stores in Canberra are outside the city centre and we could only find industrial areas. So we continued on down the road.

Well we drove through the Great Dividing Range – what fantastic scenery – way too majestic to record on film. Then we continued down to Lakes Entrance and 90 mile beach, which we had flown over the week before! We had a walk along the waterfront and a browse around and a coffee and cake. Maddie won the prize as for $4 she had the most enormous apple twist we have ever seen!

We continued down to Eden where we found a motel overlooking the Tasman Sea and a fantastic pub, for more good food, beer and wine! Early in the morning we got up to watch the sunrise – overwhelmingly beautiful, then after another hearty breakfast we set off on the final lap to Melbourne.

In 5 days we covered over 900 miles, saw masses of fantastic scenery, 2 wallabies and a Lyre bird and when we look on the map we have seen just a minute part of the continent of Australia.

Thank you Maddie & Dan for organising this for us and for all the planning & driving that you did, we had a ball!