Today we left Seville after a lovely week staying with family and moving on to Dunkeld to visit with Hayley, Ben and Billy, more family, my cousins. It’s easy to forget how big Melbourne is and how long it takes to cross the city. It felt like we had already been in the car for ages, (and it had been hours) but we were only just getting out the other side of the city.
Once we cleared Melbourne it was a straight forward drive through some picturesque country. The further we got away from Melbourne the better it got, reaching the peak of prettiness as we arrive in Dunkeld, a town at the bottom of the Grampian National Park. Hayley works on Mt Sturgeon Station and we’ll be pulling up the van there for a few nights.
I love this area. Mostly farming, crops and cattle, but it’s the beautiful and dramatic River Red Gum trees that give character and theatre to the vista. Throw in the Southern Grampians and Mount Sturgeon and it’s easy to love.
We arrived with just enough time to get set up before dinner. Ben did a brilliant job of catering for our dietary requirements even if we were the butt of some of his jokes. We are hoping we may give him some material to feature in his up and coming stand up comedy routines.
Meeting Billy for the first time and seeing Hayley and Ben as parents was awesome. Honestly one of the happiest, easy going little dudes I’ve ever met. The girls loved having another house and toys to explore and Lulu a little play mate. It was funny watching her work out the dynamics of interacting with another little one and needing to share toys.
It was a lovely evening together but got the kids to bed and retired early. Unfortunately we had given very little notice of our visit and Hayley had to work but it was fine as we were keen to just have a lazy day catch up on some more school, washing and cleaning. Ben cares for Billy and the boys took us out to their farm to visit the cows and check on a few things. It’s great getting out on a farm and learn about the different ways to work and care for the land.
The following day Ben was keen to catch us a feed of yabbies from the dams so after a couple to trips setting the pots we took ourselves for a little self guided driving loop and finished with a delicious late lunch at the local gourmet hotel, Royal Mail, a must stop for beautiful food if you every find yourself here.
Part of Hayley’s work is caring for and managing a breading and release program for the Spotted Eastern Quoll. They have become extinct here on the mainland. But with healthy population in Tasmania and a few captive population, like the one here on the Mt Sturgeon property, there is hope of re-introducing them into the wild again. So we where lucky to get a private tour with Hayley.
Dinner was a feast, with a fine haul of yabbies and tapas accompaniment. It has been a very relax visit and delightful to get to know Billy and watch the girls meet and play with another little cousin (2nd cousin). Thanks so much Hayley, Ben and Billy for your hospitality, we loved our visit with you in your stunning patch of the country.
Whooooo what fantastic time with family it all sounds great the farm looks really big xxx