I'll Follow the Sun (Echuca)

  While all of you (in the northern hemisphere at least) are enjoying the  summer, we're enduring cold, rainy, generally miserable weather. So we decided to head north to the sun for the holiday weekend. What holiday weekend, you ask? Why, the Queen's Birthday! We chose Echuca:

 In case you're wondering how to pronounce the name of the town we visited over the holiday weekend, the girls will tell you:

   
   We took the kids out of school a bit early on Friday, in hopes of beating rush-hour traffic. We didn't, but still enjoyed the drive...possibly because the girls were enjoying a movie on the iPad. We stopped about 2/3rds of the way there at a recommended bakery in a town called Heathcote for some treats. Andy got a pie (meat, not fruit, in Oz) and we both got these delicious cheese-and-cauliflower pastry rolls. (My parents are probably very shocked that I ate cauliflower and liked it. Of course, it did have a lot of cheese.) Despite the cold, the girls wanted ice cream from the store next door. Crazy kids.
   Driving out of town, we were stopped by at an RBT, or random breath test. Aussie police take sobriety checkpoints one step further by requiring drivers to take a breathalyzer test. Essentially, an officer leans into your car and puts a plastic tube in your face, and tells you to blow into it. Sometimes they do these stops on a large scale, termed a "booze bus," which is a bit of misnomer since they aren't providing any booze, just trying to prevent "drink driving" as they call it. The strongest thing I'd had all day as coffee though, so they sent us on our way.
   We got to Echuca, a lovely town that dates back to the early colonial days. It's on the banks of the Murray river, which divides the states of Victoria and New South Wales. Actually, we stayed in Moama on the north side of the river, and hence in NSW. We checked into our motel, a cozy little place right on the banks of the river. Andy bbq'ed the tri-tip we'd brought while the girls explored a bit.
   Saturday morning we headed into town to explore a bit. We checked out a great used book store and got a few books, and then visited an incredible lolly shop. One large table was devoted to American junk food. $10 box of Pop-Tarts, anyone?

How about Fairy Floss, aka cotton candy?

Later that afternoon our friends arrived and we headed back down to the banks of the Murray river to inspect all the debris left by recent flooding.

"Asleep" on the couch waiting for the restaurant at the Casino to start serving dinner.

Wide awake on the bed watching a movie.

Singing songs to entertain 4-month-old baby Eli outside our rooms:

Andy demonstrating his special talents:

   On Sunday, we had breakfast in our rooms and then went to the Steam Rally Echuca, a major yearly event that showcases steam engines, vintage cars, and  "more than 500 exhibits of working yesterday." It was especially timely for Aliya, who had been studying the "olden days" recently at school.
   The highlight of the event is the Burning of the Dunny, where they set an outhouse on fire and put it out with an old fashioned fire brigade.

Next up was a parade of steam engines and rollers, tractors, cars, etc. We took a lot of pics, but unless you are Pap or Grandpa, you're probably not all that interested so I compiled a bunch into one picture. Click on it for a larger view.

The miniature railroad reminded me of the one near Fairview Park.

These ladies made thousands of scones, served with cream and jam, over the weekend.

Sheep shearing, which I didn't enjoy watching as the poor guy kept getting cut (the lamb not the dude.)

Alanna and Ashleigh. Here, if you're a girl you spell it Ashleigh. Ashley is a boy's name.

Baby Eli enjoying his first bottle...of beer.

Must be on holiday if they're having Cocoa-Pops for brekkie.

Enjoying a bit of tennis outside the motel.

On Monday there was a parade of Paddle Steamers, in honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

 

Another A-team: Alana, Ashleigh, Aliya, and Aimee.

In case you're wondering, the flag on the bow of the boat is the Murray River flag.

After the parade we walked into town to see the sights, have a picnic lunch, and take a cruise on a paddle steamer.

A view down the street.

Going for a ride on a paddle steamer. This one is called Canberra, after the capital of Australia. Aussies pronounce it Can-bra.

Group photo!

Kids all got a chance to steer.

   
   While on the river, we saw a few houseboats. We discussed how fun it would be to come back in summer when it was warmer, and Andy and I mentioned how much fun we had houseboating in Lake Powell. One of our friends gave a call and it was $3000 for the weekend to rent! Thanks anyway!