This morning I had breakfast delivered to my room, as you can do in a motel, or when I stay in my tent, although I have to get it myself and clean up after. The selection in the motel is greater than in my tent, and generally tastier, however, when I feel the urge to cook something myself, it is usually better than bought stuff.... I departed Parkes and travelled towards Melbourne, being a generally southerly direction....

I remember stopping at this very spot in Forbes in 1980 whilst travelling north from Melbourne and eating a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich. It still looks the same. Hope they changed the water since then. The highway is not what it was then. It is now a much wider far less bumpy road.

Continuing on through the south west slopes and plains of NSW I came upon something I remember from my childhood.... Every time we travelled as a family both here and in America we would pull into these fruit disposal places and dad would make us eat as much fruit as we could so he wouldn't have to throw so much away, something about starving ethiopians, I never got that.... Anyway, needless to say he, or more likely mum, would suffer the consequences of filling three young boys with fruit a few hours later!

This was an old abandoned rail bridge over the flood plains south of Naranderra.... looked cool in the bush so I took a picture of it...

Then it's out on to the eastern edge of the Hay plains which extend south to the Victorian border and west to the SA border.

Eventually I reached the Victorian border and crossed the Murray river. Imagine what this was once like when the draw bridge would be raised to allow the paddle steamers up and down the river....

Into Victoria and the scenery rapidly moves form flat plains to the rolling hills that make up the Goulburn valley. I arrived at Shepparton and decided to be a Tim tourist. So I found the hospital site I was born at.

It's no longer an old old old wooden building, It's now a very large very modern conglomerate of buildings and a doctor and nurse training centre. I couldn't get a picture of the buildings as it occupies a whole block. I asked a nurse about it and she said the old hospital was removed about 8 years ago. 

I decided to go find Dookie agricultural college since it's only about 25 km's from here. That is where my father was a teacher when I was born in 1961. I went back there after I finished high school to do a certificate in farm management in 1980. I didn't like it much.... They didn't like me much....I didn't stay...

From Dookie I decided to proceed the back way through Alexandria and Lilydale to My cousins place in Melbourne. These are a couple of orchards in the Goulburn and Yarra valllies. 

Along the way I came across Cathederal mountain in the upper Yarra valley. When I was 17 I spent a weekend climbing and walking the length of this pair of hills. That was cool! Today I was happy to drive past and take pictures.....

Some  really AWESOME gum trees still standing in the maroonda ranges and below maroonda reservoir. Those trees are easily 1-150 feet tall

I can remember coming to maroonda reservoir for picnics many times.  

I finally arrived in Melbourne where I landed at my wonderful Cousin and her husbands place. Thanks Ky!!

824Km with diversions!

I woke up this morning and remembered why I generally don't like staying in motels..... I'm certain there is a regulation somewhere, which is global, that motels acquire their beds from the local cement works! The cement works have a government run contract to supply all their local motels with beds made from a cement slab with a thin layer of packing foam on top! The motels which refuse to comply with the government run concrete slab bed regulation, which is fantastic for local cement works businesses, they are forced to purchase beds disposed of from homes for the incredibly massively morbidly obese person. I know this as the motels which do not have the aforementioned concrete beds have beds which are more the shape of a large pot hole in the road, a nice looking shape until you lay on them and the main body sags all the way to the floor, at which point you are once again laying on a concrete slab.
The forecast rain didn't eventuate overnight but it now looks like it will be arriving any time now. An excellent day for road travel.
Have a fantastic day people

By the way, if you click on a picture it will become much larger and you can look at them in more detail....

So I woke this morning way too early abuzz with confusion as to which direction to head.... So I lay about deciding that I should get up and get going, having decided to head to Melbourne and visit my cousin. I decided to drive at least half way today, nothing new for me to see between here and there. I got up, packed everything, I hope! and departed Toowoomba at 7:37.
I stopped at the roadhouse at Goondiwindi for morning tea, which I sat in the garden where there were several tables and chairs to eat, and observed an odd looking man staring intently at 2 women with a baby. Nothing unusual about that except that he was painting his fingernails with nail polish, he finished one nail, rolled a cigarette which it turned out was more than tobacco, I was down wind of him! he then continued painting his nails, still staring intently at the women. When they left he turned his attention to me. A very odd looking man, dressed in average human clothes, but a face to scare children and the elderly. So there he is, a couple of tables away just staring at me as I ate my sandwitch, painting his nails, puffing his joint..... yeah... I left quickly..............
As far as Dubbo there was a fairly constant flow of roadworks... booooooooring................

The Kaputar ranges, just east of Narrabri (below). I used to travel this part of the highway very regularly when I was married as my inlaws lived at Coonabarabran.

The Dish at night near Parkes. Been there in the daylight and always wanted to see it at night, pretty cool!

I stopped at Parkes for the night as I was kinda sick of driving. AND instead of setting up the tent at a caravan park, I booked into a motel! The local forcast is for rain commencing over night and it was beginning to look like they might have it right and I just plain old chickened out of possibly having a wet tent on my first night! 

Overall an uneventful day of travel covering 846Km... Tomorrow another 650Km to Melbourne! More to follow...............................

As I contemplate my trip west with an actual destination in mind, Perth, I still haven't a clue which route I will travel upon! I'll decide when I leave my driveway I hope!!........