Rally Report:
WARBURTON WEEKEND WET WET WET

Hi everyone, well it has come around to my turn to write the monthly rally report for October at the Warburton Caravan Park, so here it is:

WET

But I suppose you would like some more info than that. Gill and arrived around 11 am on Thursday morning in the rain. The park is very green with the sites they had us on right next to the river Yarra as the original location was too wet. Did I mention that it was wet, oh yes I forgot and muddy too. We set up the van in the rain and that was it. With heater on and the rain coming down we caught up on some reading for a couple of hours in the warmth of the van, did I mention it was cold also!! With a dose of cabin fever setting in we went into town to have a look around, dodging the down pours. Meanwhile the van site was getting wetter and wetter. I had resorted to digging diversion drains so that we could get in and out of the van. All the while in the back of our minds we kept wondering how high the river would come up. Not much else to report for Thursday as it was too wet to do anything. The rain continued most of the night.

Friday morning loomed with grey skies and guess what, more rain but not nearly as heavy, you know that fine drizzle stuff. We went up to Mt. Donna Buang, there were no views to be had because of the rain clouds enveloping the mountain. We did manage to spot 4 lyrebirds though, fantastic to see them. On the way back we stopped and did the rain forest walk, that was great too, now I know why it is called a rain forest!!!

Ken and Beverley were first there about 11 am, we shared a coffee and complained about..... you guessed it, the rain! Soon after Marilyn and John arrived, they had a great tan from their trek north but they were really feeling the cold this weekend. We sat around most of the afternoon chatting and talking about their trip. Vanessa and Mick arrived later in the afternoon and we set their van up facing Ken and Beverley for a bit more protection from the wet stuff. Last to arrive was Geoff and Sheena. Sheena was very concerned about the location of their van and the rising river, but Geoff had it set up well so that they could do a quick escape.

By now guess what time it was, happy hour. The ten of us congregated at the Winnells for a couple of drinks before we headed to the local pub for tea. We had a great evening there, the food was good and well priced. And yes it was still raining. Back at camp after the pub we had a couple of night caps and hit the sack, as well as being wet it was now quite cold.

Saturday morning showed some improvement with patches of blue and sunshine, but these were short lived. Some went for morning coffee after rising at 9am, but it was not a morning for getting out of bed too early. Ken’s sacrificial anode in his hot water system was a project for us to get into as it needed to be replaced, but it was not coming out no matter how hard we tried. This will definitely be a job for the next caravan service.

The weather started to clear in bigger patches so we went off for a walk along the Yarra river trail for a couple of kilometres, very enjoyable. Geoff, Sheena and I went for a drive up to the Upper Yarra Dam. Very nice spot with quite a few campers and caravaners set up on the big grassy sites. It is a great spot with good facilities, no power and $7.20 per person per night!

The three of us got back and happy hour was in full swing so we got our chairs and joined in. This was later to be followed by dinner comprising of corned beef (from Gill’s Dreampot) and cabbage with vegies supplied by Vanessa, Marilyn and Beverley and pasta from Sheena’s kitchen. There wasn’t a whole lot left for Lucy to have for her dinner! I forgot to mention that it had not rained for about an hour now. We even had birthday cake for desert to celebrate John’s major birthday milestone. The evening progressed into more merriment, we could even see stars that night, but it was getting colder. Beverley came up with some interesting statistics regarding our monthly rallies. Did you know that it has rained at some time on all rallies except the first rally at Daylesford and the rally at Portarlington!!!! Let us hope we can break this trend at Mansfield.

Sunday morning arrived to a beautiful day, broken clouds with blue skies and of course time to go home for all except Gill and I as we are off further north on our annual trip.

Despite the rain, wet and muddy ground, we all had a good time with great friends. We all commented how nice it would be to sit by the river at the caravan park when it is drier and warmer!!!!! Beverley is ever thankful to her willing band of wheelchair handlers.

See you all at Mansfield in November.

John and Gill Booth

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