Great Girls Road Trip

I’m going to rewind the story a bit, because I left out a chapter that has some great scenery.

The train pulled into Adelaide around noon on Monday. I spent the afternoon doing a bit of power shopping then headed out the next morning on the drive to Cohuna, Victoria (even after visiting there I get a smirk on my face every time I think of the town name). Although, Cohuna’s not directly on the route from Adelaide to Melbourne, a former school mate from Black Hawk East now lives there and since I was in the neighborhood, I popped by to see Michelle Quinn (Neiman).

The break of a 15 year draught has left nearly all of Australia unbelievably lush. The grass is green, the cattle are fat, the sheep are as happy as sheep ever get and wild flowers come out to celebrate. The drive to Michelle’s took about 8 hours, but it zoomed by with rolling hills covered in small grain blowing in the breeze, canola fields in full bloom and the breathtaking displays of wild flowers.

I also had the quintessential Aussie experience of ending up in the middle of a herd of sheep. While cruising down a country road, a mob of sheep appear on the road. I put the car in park and just let them and the herder move on past.

 In exchange for a place to stay for the night I had to promise not to tell her teenage kids any incriminating stories. It was great to catch up with her and meet her husband, kids, dogs, horses and cows.

Sorry there aren’t any cow or dog pictures.  The rain and drizzle of the day took the fun out of photography.

In addition to the farm tour, I got a side trip to see the Murray just below flood stage. Most American’s won’t appreciate the significance of that sight. After a decade and half of debilitating drought, this entire river system was virtually dry and feared to never recover. The Murray River is at the heart of a great political debate of water rights and has pitted urban verses rural interests and should be a case study for the western states of the U.S. (Sorry for that digression)

After a day of riding around in a ute doing farm stuff (which is great way for a transplanted farm girl to spent her day) I drove to Melbourne to meet my friend Melanie and head off to Bendigo.