After our final Beccy Breakfast, we farewelled our friends and started our trip home. We had decided to go via Sydney instead of the Broken Hill route. There is flooding along the way so we will have to keep an eye on the weather and river levels.
On the road towards Victor Harbour we had a very close encounter with a large kangaroo. It bounced onto the road 40m in front of us. Fortunately it continued jumping on our side of the road, away from us and managed to avoid a messy end.
We stopped at Strathalbyn for coffees and to buy food for the critters. I found a parking space 300m from Woolworths. The coffee shops were busy so I tried the coffee from The Old Market Shed. My coffee was fine but Anita didn’t like the poor attempt at making her a piccolo. This magnificent bank building was on the opposite corner.
We refuelled a couple of times because it was Saturday afternoon and open fuel stops became few and far between. We had a stop at Peake for the critters. This is wheat and sheep country with a population of only about 100. Next to the hall there are two quality tennis courts, a sports field and a skate park. The only store is the post office.
We crossed the border into Victoria just past Pinaroo on the Mallee Hwy. We decided to stop for the night at Underbool, a small wheat town where the police station is unattended, the pub is closed, and the General Store has been closed for a very long time. There is a post office and apparently the bowling club continues to operate. The park opposite the police station has nice grass for the critters. For a $10 donation we stayed the night with power and access to toilets and showers.
I took Tilly for a walk past the closed pub. There are three sheep statues in the park – a ram, ewe and lamb. These would not be very interesting except for Tilly’s reaction to them. She furred up and hugged the ground. I was worried she had seen a snake or a dog that I had not noticed.
Eventually I realised she had been frightened by the statue of the lamb, which was “looking” in her direction. Even after I showed her the lamb was not alive, she was very wary.
Committed Travellers 