Day 17 – Mortlake to Home

We woke up feeling very level today, which was a good feeling.  The sky was blue but it was a bit “crisp”, to say the least.  Never-the-less, we were keen to get going and made an early start.

Mortlake on a crisp sunny morning.

Once on the highway heading towards Geelong, it was very pleasant cruising.  The weather was treating us kindly, the road was in pretty good condition, and life was good.

This is a very beautiful part of the country, and seems to have received more rain that other areas we had recently travelled through as there was a lot more greenery around.  Whilst there is cropping here we did notice more sheep and cattle than previously.

At one stage we went through a memorial drive of pine trees, which was very impressive.

Memorial Drive.

The closer we got to Geelong we saw more and more of the historic dry stone walls that feature through this area.  It is fantastic that the land owners have taken the effort to maintain these walls, which are eons old.  They obviously solve two problems – doing something useful with all the rocks in the ground while providing useful fencing for livestock.

Miles and miles of historic dry stone wall fences.

In some areas there were still obviously problems with the rocky ground and piles of stones were obvious.

Plenty of rocks everywhere awaiting a useful purpose.

Near the town of Cressy we turned off the Geelong Road towards Inverleigh, and then eventually onto the Teesdale-Inverleigh Road to visit Ann’s brother Brendan and his wife Kaye who have lived in Teesdale for many years.  It was great to catch up with family news over a cup of coffee and Kaye then suggested that perhaps we could have lunch in Bannockburn, just 10 kms or so away.  They thought it might be a nice way to end our Short Adventure.

The Teesdale-Inverleigh Rd had its challenges for Bertha.

Bertha at Brendan’s.

We followed them into Bannockburn to our destination at the Station Café, which is actually in the old bluestone Bannockburn Station.  What a place!  Fantastic food featuring local produce and wines.  Lovely surroundings with tables in various period decorated rooms inside and tables and chairs outside, including under a huge oak tree.  We would definitely recommend that you visit this lovely café destination if you are in the area.  It certainly was a great way to end this trip.

Bannockburn Station Cafe.

Finally we had to go our separate ways so it was back on the Geelong Road, over Westgate Bridge, through Burnley Tunnel, along Eastlink, and pretty soon we were home.  This is actually a very direct trip, mostly on freeways (or tollways) with only a few sets of traffic lights from one end to the other.

Back in the big smoke – and traffic.

So now we are home at the conclusion of our 2016 Short Adventure in Bertha, our Birdsville motorhome.

Now we need to clean Bertha inside and out and get ready for our next adventure.

Still living the dream …

Stay tuned…..