Calliope River

It's possible to camp on both sides of the Calliope River but the south side is the nicest as you can camp right next to the water with easy access to the river, whereas the right side has quite high river banks.

It was so relaxing and I had lovely neighbours so ended up spending 4 nights.  Next door in their Cub camper were Simone & Trent with Charli and Ashleigh their 2 daughters (and not forgetting Ralph the Cairn/Foxy cross).  Simonne is a very keen photographer and Trent a talented pianist - as well as good cook (thanks for the pancakes with bacon Trent!).


Another very kind neighbour was Jan a retired chef who conjured up wondrous casseroles on his wood fueled camp cooker - apparently the trick is to caramelise the onion first (with a little brown or raw sugar) and then cut it back with tomato.

Whilst trying to leave, just before I arrived, one of Simonne & Trent's trailer wheels came rolling past the front of their car ........... wheel bearings!  They'd limped back just before I set up camp and so I was greeted with this sight on arrival.

How many folk does it take to lift a Cub Camper?

On Sunday we drove into Calliope where a Camp Draft was advertised at the local racecourse (about 5km out of town on a dirt road!).

Unfortunately it had ended at lunchtime so we missed all the action, however we enjoyed walking around looking at the horses and chatting with some of the competitors. including a farming couple from Foster in South Gippsland who were up here having a lovely time combining a holiday with competing in the camp drafts  (with 3 of their horses).

In the photo above I'm not kneeling down, Simonne is nearly 6 feet tall!

Most evening we enjoyed a blazing campfire (driftwood) on the riverbank - we really needed the heat from the fire as the temperatures overnight were hovering around the 3 C mark, although the day temperatures were in the mid 20's - perfect weather.