Aussie Road Trip Day Three

April 10th Driving to Stawell,Victoria

After sleeping in the Griffith Info Center parking lot, we headed to Maccas for breakfast and internet. We also had to choose our route, as there were a few options for getting to Stawell. Gaye and Peter had suggested going to Echuca if we could fit it in, as it had some wonderful tourist things to do. As we were ahead of schedule and supposedly on more then just a driving trip we choose to take the tourist way and headed for Echuca. 

Our first stop of the day would be Deniliquin, famous for the 1999 Ute Muster. This was when 2,839 utes paraded through town and wrote the town into the Guinness Book of World Records. This yearly festival has become such a hit that in 2010 a new record was set with 10,152 utes participating. In honor of this the town erected a one of a kind "Ute on a Pole". 

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in one of the parks, choosing to Aussie it up. To us this meant packing a cooler bag with food and carrying hot water and instant chai so we could enjoy a nice cuppa when we stopped. At this time I was also thankful for being smart enough to have packed an emergency bag, as I cut my thumb with the knife while making sandwiches. In the park were some fun info stations with which to take pictures of CC the Bear and next to the info center was a mosaic ute. 

1. Siyani with CC at the Ute on a Pole 2. CC with a Cockatoo 3. CC on a large heritage wood cutter 4. CC and Siyani at the Mosaic Ute

We continued onto Echuca, where we were excited to find the Port of Echuca, a heritage icon. The port is set up like Barkerville, with the heritage buildings still in tact and the employees dressed in period costume and the paddle streamers still running up and down the Murray River. We bought our tickets and enjoyed a ride on the PS Pevensey. It was during this ride that we also learned we were pronouncing our destination wrong. While we had been saying it phonetically (Sta-Well) we were told it was pronounced Stall. It was very cool to learn of the heritage of Echuca, the formation of this river port opened up inland Australia to settlement and was Australia's largest inland port. Echuca was also the nations main ship building area for river transport and today with its restoration gives a beautiful glimpse into the past. Of course when we boarded the paddle steamer we had CC the bear with us and one of the attendants said we could get a picture of him at the helm and afterwards he was also given an honorary first mates certificate. 

After our paddle steamer ride we explored the town and to my absolute delight found out that Echuca also boasts a wonderful chocolate/candy heritage. We stopped in at the Echuca Chocolate Company, where we experienced chocolate liquors and walked away with a white chocolate port. Then we hit up the candy store where I got a tin to add to my collection and we picked up some road trip candy. There were so many amazing shops and looking at the visitors guide so many more attractions but we didn't have time to see them all. Echuca will definitely be on our list for next time. 

 

We also did a bit of shopping at a sports outlet store, where Siyani got a complete re-stocking of Fox apparel, and once that was complete we headed out of town for a straight drive to Stawell. After two nights of sleeping in a car lets just say words can't describe the beauty and wonderfulness of a hot shower, some Chinese food and a big comfy bed. A wonder nights sleep in Stawell to get us rested for the next days adventure of the Great Ocean Road. 

The Sunset on our drive through Bendigo and into Stawell

Siyani really enjoying the bed.