Nomading - Cobram - 27 January - 9 February 2023

We had purchased a new caravan last year and had it made up with our own specifications. We received it just before Christmas and intend doing an extended trip up the centre this year but we thought it might be a good idea to take a short trip away to get used to the van and to uncover any issues we may have with it. We decided to go to Cobram to stay as this is one of our favourite destinations and after much toing and froing we chose to stay at the RACV Resort. A lot of this decision was based on the fact it was going to be a hot week and they have a fantastic pool area at the resort. We booked ahead because we were unsure about how many people would be around for the weekend after Australia Day, we didn't have any problems getting a booking but the park is quite full. So yesterday we did the drive from home to Cobram, a long drive for us of 6 hours but we thought it was worth doing seeing we would be stationery for the next two weeks. We arrived mid afternoon and were set up soon after arriving, we didn't do much for the rest of the day.

With shopping to do the next day we had a lazy start with a coffee and read at home. After this we drove to the Woolworths in town and then drove home to have an early lunch. On the way to Woolworths we noticed the Saturday Market was on so after shopping we stopped here and had a walk around before returning to our van. I bought a very nice salami from one of the stalls and I am looking forward to adding this to a pasta dish later this week. After lunch we changed into our bathers and went over to the pool area where we spent a very happy couple of hours. The temperature reached 37 degrees today so it was very pleasant frolicking in the water. There was supposed to be a cool change in the afternoon but it didn't happen and it is only now around 8.30pm that the heat is leaving the air. We can't complain we have been waiting for summer to happen and now it is here we should appreciate it.

Sunday morning we intended to visit the Cobram Visitor Centre to pick up brochures to study so that we could plan our time in and around the area. Unfortunately the Visitor Centre has closed from when we were last here and as the closest Visitor Centre is in Tocumwal, a town we intended to visit anyway, we took off over the bridge into NSW and drove through the town to the Visitor Centre. It isn't that long ago that we were here but there has been lots of changes. The Visitor Centre is now a quarter of the size it was and the available area in the original building has been separated into individual shops one of which is a cafe/coffee shop. There has also been a second storey added to the building that was housed by a pub/entertainment area that didn't do too well and was only open for a short time and has now closed down. The remainder of the town looked familiar to us, we didn't drive down to Town Beach but the riverside camping still had a few people camping/caravanning down there. We spent a little while in the Visitor Centre with the very friendly Susan and picked up the information we wanted before driving back to the park for lunch.

After lunch we thought about taking a drive to Corowa to visit the Whisky and Chocolate Factory, it was only 54 minutes away and it had been raining off and on all day and this seemed like a nice way to spend a few hours. Robb doesn't really drink but does like an occasional Whisky and in our travels we have found lots of Gin distilleries but not many Whisky outlets so it seemed like a bit of fun to visit here and do a tasting and learn about the varieties of Whisky on offer. When we arrived there were two other couples there so after finding a table we studied the menu board and decided to do the offering of 6 Whisky tastings for $20, this seemed like pretty good value to us. Our host was very knowledgeable about the blends in the Whisky and it was a most enjoyable experience. We decided on 4 blends that we liked but chose one to take home with us. We walked over to the chocolate factory and chose chocolate covered Macadamias to purchase and then before leaving we took a walk around this beautiful building that could quite easily have been abandoned but has been beautifully restored to house the Whisky and Chocolate factory and there is also a cafe attached and a larger venue perfect for conventions and special occasions. We took a very leisurely drive home that took us beside Lake Mulwala before turning up the back of Cobram. On arriving back to camp we quickly changed into our swimming gear and took ourselves down to the pool area for a very quick float before returning back to camp for dinner.

Monday morning before leaving our camp I put the washing in and set the washing machine to wash, unfortunately it didn't work and gave me an error message, we couldn't work out what the message was because the one manual we didn't have was the one for the washing machine. We searched online for the manual and found the site but they did not have a owners manual attached so we contacted the company and they told us what the message was so then we contacted Dreon at Olympic Caravans to see if he could help and after going over all the possibilities he said he would organise a plumber to come and inspect the van the next morning. So we left that with him and set set off for Shepparton, the idea with this trip was to discover all the things we needed for our van that we hadn't previously thought of and Robb soon discovered we could not set up the same clothes line that we had on the previous van and we needed to think up something new. We drove to Bunnings with one idea in mind but then came out with another that as it turned out worked better for us. You can't visit Shepparton without shopping at the SPC factory outlet so that was our next stop and I am proud to say I managed to fill the shopping trolley. Once again we filled in our afternoon in the pool before returning home for a lovely Tikka Masala dinner.

We were expecting a call from Dreon this morning about our washing machine so we decided to catch up on a bit of cleaning and if we did go out to stay close to home in case a plumber had been organised. We drove to Manto's produce to see what they had on offer, it is stone fruit season and we were hoping to pick up peaches and plums. We arrived at their shed and found they had moved so drove to their new address which is a shop front near the shopping centre of Cobram. Robb selected peaches but unfortunately there weren't any plums on offer. From here we drove down to Thompson Beach hoping to have a drink overlooking the water but sadly the cafe here wasn't open either. When we hadn't heard from Dreon by 12.00pm we thought we would give him a call, as it turns out he had the day off so it looks like we will have to wait until tomorrow. Most things were closed that we wanted to do so we thought we would drive to Numurkah to visit one of the advertised breweries, Morris Brewery, when we arrived we found it was just a hotel but they did have a special local pale ale on tap so we thought we would give it a try. After that we had a quick look around Numurkah before driving back home.

We heard from Dreon first thing this morning and he suggested we find a plumber in town to look at the problem and Olympic Caravans will cover the cost so first thing this morning we stopped at the office to ask for suggestions of plumbers in the area. They gave us the mobile number for the plumber they use for the park and we gave him a call and explained the problem and he said he should be able to get out here on Friday, we will keep our fingers crossed. From here we drove to Mitre 10 to pick up another part needed for our clothes line and I also wanted a shower mat as the floor of the shower is quite slippery. We picked up a coffee at McDonalds on the way back and on return sat and had a read while enjoying our coffee. I had a few things to catch up on and once everything was taken care of we drove to Byramine Homestead outside of Yarrawonga, where there is a brewery we always visit while in the area. The brewery offer a good range of beers and ciders but the main reason we have returned so many times is their amazing Ploughman Platter's on their menu.

Our first stop today was to be Rich Glen Estate, an olive oil farm outside of Yarrawonga but when we arrived we found it had permanently closed and they now had a Provedore and an Orangerie in Yarrawonga. We were going to drive into Yarrawonga after Rich Glen anyway to we loaded the address into the GPS and took off. We found the Orangerie, we weren't that interested in that although they do have a lovely range of beauty products. The Provedore was a couple of doors down from here and it has been beautifully set out and has a great range of products including olive oil, wines, pasta, fresh vegetables, jams, sauces, lollies and chocolates. While we admired the shop and the range of goods on offer it is no longer the same experience as visiting the estate. There is a small cafe out the front of the provedore but at the estate there was a larger cafe with seating outside on the lawns and under the verandah. There was also a wider range of goods at the estate and as I said earlier it is all about the experience. We walked the streets of Yarrawonga on leaving the store and then hopped in the car to drive over the bridge into NSW and into Mulwala. We stopped at the Water Ski Club and ordered a drink and sat outside overlooking the water. Robb wanted to take a photo here to send to his friend Andrew who lived in Mulwala for a few years. On our way back we drove around the river to where the paddleboat was moored and checked out the times, we thought it would be fun to do a lunch cruise, we will need to book ahead.

We had a plumber calling around today to help with the problem with our washing machine, we had planned to stay in for as long as we needed. Luckily it was a very quick fix and thank you to the lovely Lucas for his help. It was nearly lunchtime by the time everything was fixed so we thought we would just drive to Monichino wines for either a tasting or a drink under the the trees in the lovely lawn area outside the winery. But alas, like so many of the businesses in the area it was closed today, I think Covid restrictions in our state have a lot to answer for. We were only 9 minutes outside of Numurkah so we thought we would drive to How Now Dairy to try their cheeses. When we arrived at the outlet it was open but when we walked inside we found that they weren't really prepared for people to visit. the owner had apparently taken the majority of cheeses to the Melbourne country markets and there was very little left. We tried a few and they weren't too bad but the prices were not equal to the product. We didn't purchase anything here and decided to just drive back to camp.

When we visited the Visitor Centre in Tocumwal the other day the lovely lady on duty mentioned she came from Berrigan, we had never been to Berrigan so thought we would take a drive to see what is there. When looking for directions on Maps I noticed a circuit from Cobram to Berrigan then Finley and finally Tocumwal before crossing the bridge back into Victoria. The whole trip was only one and a quarter hours driving time so it sounded like a nice way to fill in a morning. We drove into Berrigan and could see the bakery straight ahead of us and thought this would be a good stop for our morning coffee. The bakery is in a very large old building and there were tables inside and out, most of them full, there was a bike riding group and a few other tables taken up by large groups of friends catching up, it was a lovely atmosphere and everybody was happy to greet us as we walked in. We chose a booth along the wall and Robb ordered our drinks, while we were waiting we struck up a conversation with one of the ladies working here and learnt a little about the area. It looked like a family business, the girl who made our coffee looked like she was only sixteen and the lady we were talking to was at the other end of the age bracket, she directed us to the couple of murals in town which I photographed. We purchased a loaf of bread before leaving thinking it looked pretty good and planned a dinner of soup and bread. This was a lovely experience and before leaving town we visited the murals we had been directed to, the murals referenced Berrigan as being the birthplace of Australia's first volunteer bush fire brigade, something for the town to be proud of. Leaving Berrigan we drove on to Finley, we had visited Finley last time we were here but you never know what you will find in visiting a town again. We stopped off at an Op Shop that was open, we love searching for treasures in these shops and did come away with a tray to go under the Weber that we needed. We finished our circuit in Tocumwal where we drove to the old bridge to take another look. This is a fantastic structure and I took a few more photos of it while we were there. We had lunch when we returned to the park and then quickly changed into our toggies for our afternoon swim, we were a bit disconcerted because we had the pool to ourselves all week and there were a couple of people in there today but we managed to be polite to them anyway.

We were taking a lunch cruise today on Lake Mulwala on the Paradise Queen, I had phoned up last night to make a booking and was told to be at the mooring at 11.45am. We arrived in plenty of time and walked over to the boat and paid before finding a seat on the top level. It was a pleasant cruise, we had taken the same cruise a few times before but it is a nice way to fill in a couple of hours. We had a BBQ lunch and a couple of drinks and enjoyed the commentary by the captain. This particular boat had an incident a couple of weeks ago when it had been swamped by a large wave on the lake and had to be nursed into shore, we knew this but we are daredevils and that didn't worry us at all. We would recommend this short cruise if you are in the area.

We have organised to purchase strawberry seconds from a local farmer for Robb to make jam but thought it might be fun to visit the Big Strawberry again. We always hope for such a lot from these outlets hoping to find an abundance of fresh produce for us to choose from but now they seem to just offer a range of preserved jams, sauces, wines and toppings. There wasn't anything we were interested in, we can make our own jams for a fraction of the price they are on offer for. We thought we would have an ice cream while we were here and sat outside in the garden to eat. On the way home we noticed a sign advertising the sale of peaches and nectarines and called in here to see what was on offer, we picked up 1kg of peaches and 1kg of nectarines.

We started our day by picking up our jam strawberries from the farmer who had been recommended to us, from here we drove to the hardware store to pick up a few items we needed to fix a water problem at the van. We thought we would drive to Tocumwal from here to have a drink at the hotel we had lunch at last time we stayed there but unfortunately it is closed on Tuesdays as is the one over the road from here. We drove back to Cobram after checking that the Cobram Hotel was open today and called in there for a drink before returning to the van. After lunch we visited the pool like we have every afternoon we have been here. We spent a bit of time in the pool talking to one of our neighbours, it was quite warm today and there were a lot of people swimming, or floating like us.

This is our last day at RACV Cobram Resort. As you will read in my blog above we have been a bit disappointed about the number of venues that have either closed or moved to other outlets, not their fault and we understand this. the handling of Covid in Victoria has just devastated the small towns we have visited and it is difficult to see how these areas will be able to regain their previous glory. Apart from this we would have to say we have had a great stay here. We have visited the pool every afternoon and I am going to miss it when we return home. I thought Robb might allow me to put a pool in so that we could enjoy an afternoon swim but really how many days would we get to use it?