Wednesday 3rd January We departed from McDonalds’ Nunawading car park at 8 am before travelling through Yea, Bonnie Doon and then onto Wangaratta. We arrived at our accommodation at Howman’s Gap Alpine Centre near Falls Creek.
The day before we left I hurt my back and my doctor told me to should rest in bed for the next 4 days, however after taking Nuromol I felt I could sit in the bus, my back ached at first but I coped.
Thursday 4th – We spent the next day exploring Falls Creed and Bright,. Falls Creek is quite lovely and we walked around Bright. My back was OK while I walked.
Friday 5th – We were allowed to sleep until 9 am and then went to Mt Buller. We stayed in the Ski Alpine Lodge Mt Buller. This was the worst night as my back played up, it took four people to take me to bed.
Saturday 6th – We had a rest day, I laid on the couch with a heat bag and talked to people. Others went walking around town.
Sunday 7th – We left Mt Buller and travelled through Myrtleford to Wangaratta on our way to Albury. We had lunch at the Vines Hotel where Ned Kelly used to sneak in through a long tunnel built for him to keep away from the Police. I had a snitzel with veggies and gravy. We walked around Glenrowan and I bought a T shirt. We stayed the night at the Fountain Court Motel in Albury.
Monday 8th – We did a boat cruise on the Hume Weir and a ride on a paddle steamer… A night out at the Albury RSL Club for dinner.
Tuesday 9th – Early start today as we travelled to Parkes. we stayed at the Parkview Motor Inn a kilometre drive out of Parkes and went into town.
Wednesday 10th – It was my birthday on this day. We had a full day at the Elvis festival. It was a fun day with lots of laughs and lots of music. Went to the pub for dinner. The Elvis Impersonator (Dean Rais) sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me a CD he had made. I also got an Elvis stick on tattoo.
Thursday 11th – we left Parkes and the Elvis Festival after having had lunch at the Elvis museum and headed off to Narrandera on the Murrumbidgee river – our last night together.
Friday 12th – From Narrandera to Echuca and a river cruise in a paddle streamer which was fantastic then home.
It was an excellent trip, except for my back for the first few days. I would go with this group again, last year we went to Tasmania and it was just as much fun…
Story by Erin Smith