Once we got onto the highway it was easy going and extremely picturesque . The fields of gold along the way were glorious we guessed they were canola , I will have to research this later. After nearly four hours we finally reached Echuca. Eric consented to stop so that I could photograph Shetland ponies but would Not stop for sheep. We drove past our lodgings which looked very uninspiring straight to the historic port of Echuca .
Due to our slow progress on the road we missed out on our paddle steamer that day as I was determined to go on the Emmylou ( turns out she was a reconstruction) the steam engine was from 1906 though) we should have gone on the Adelaide - never mind ! We sat beside the Murray fir an hour watching the spectacle. I was very happy that I had watched a mismatch of All The Rivers Run to get into the vibe.
We stopped in at a cellar door which was filled with handmade wine barrels - great Father's Day gifts but far too difficult to transport . We bought a bottle of red instead as we were trying to support local produce. The woodwork shop was fascinating , a strapping lass called Donna was hard at work on the lathe - I mentioned to EJ that I had lathe lessons from Graham Gallop in my youth and now need to unearth my Timber go let when we get home ( I hope the girls haven't thrown it away!) . I purchased two tricky wine bottle stands one for EJ Nd one for Lin and Rob, i also bought myself a Redgum pen stand and a pen which was handturned by the local men's shed. I felt sorry for the blue healer who was caged below the counter though.
We picnicked by The Murray River and visited a penny arcade where our pennies were quickly swallowed up - poor kids in those days were severely ripped off . We also watched reel movies about the silent screen day , memories of pap when I saw Charlie Chaplin gracing the screen . We were so immersed in examining the penny games that we lost track of time. When we went Tom it some fudge the attendant was all packed up and ready to go home. At least I found out on the relationship barometer that I was cold and EJ was selfish .
Feeling quite peckish we stopped at the local bakery to have a pie ( Eric's choice - as I am inot a pie devotee ) it was fine for a mince pie. He also bought some rolls and after I had peeked into the local candle store and walked out after I realised it was just overpriced Dusk products- we ducked into the Echuca chocolate shop which I had read about the evening before( straight after watching Hestons chocolate special) the shop was a delight and after sampling the chocolate ports we settled on the white chocolate port which is to be served chilled over berries, since we had come in for chocolate they kindly threw in a product of our choice - we chose coffee bean - yum!
We arrived at Room For U ( trades and truce special) at 5pm , we were allocated room 7 , which although straight out of a Sullivans set was huge!! That night The Star Hotel with live music was on the cards but closer to the time my bronchitis had really started playing up and EJ was tucked up in bed with the heater on, so we decided on a night in which I must say was sorely needed. After fiddling with the hot water I finally had a steady spray happening so I was able to have a much needed shower. Dinner ended up being pesto, cheese and hokum minus on our rolls which was just what the doctor ordered!
