Have you ever..........?

Have you ever taken a $1 a day van hire? We did. Peter has always wanted to, so when we needed to get to Sydney for a cruise, we decided to try it. Peter has been on the mailing list from Imoova for years now, and now was a perfect time to try it. The van can only be booked last minute, so we were looking for a few weeks to get the timing right. We were about to book flights when we received a phone call about a 4 berth fully self contained motor home. So we booked it. We needed to be in Sydney by Monday, and this relocation was to be picked up after 9am in Brisbane and dropped off before 3pm in Sydney three days later. We knew it was doable as we have travelled the Bris-Syd, Syd-Bris many times. 

When we arrived at the pick up place, we got a smaller van (still 4 birth) than we were told, but it was ok, although the step up to the bed was hard to get up and more difficult to get out. I used one of our suitcases to climb in and out of bed. The van had everything we needed - a bed and a toilet! TV was a welcome bonus and the two lounges that convert to another bed were comfortable.

Our first stop was Grafton Hotel Motel 5, where we have stayed before. They provide free self contained camping if you have a drink or meal in the hotel. We met up with family and had a lovely dinner there. Next day was a log drive to Tea Gardens Country Club, where we have also stayed before. The Club provided 4 spaces for members with self contained vans. We had another lovely meal and trivia night. The third day we drove through rain into Sydney. We did drive pass some "BIG" things: a big dog at Glenreagh near Coffs Harbour;

and a big Oyster at Taree.

For relocating one of the vans, one pays $100 holding bond and from that is deducted $25 booking fee, and $1 a day hire. They also refund $100 for fuel upon receiving receipts. The biggest 'annoyance' was the $1000 security bond which is only accepted by Visa or Mastercard credit cards. This is refunded some weeks later, however, one must pay the 2% credit charge.

Would we do it again - maybe. It was ok and was a cheap way to get to Sydney, however the amount of days - or lack of - leads to a rushed drive and long days. Certainly not relaxing.

Great Western, Our Wine Village

The Victorian Grampians wine-producing area includes a lovely small town called Great Western. It is home to some of the world's oldest vines and we were lucky to be able to see them, and taste their fruit. We have driven through Great Western on previous trip, but never stopped. We stayed at Great Western Racecourse, a lovely area with a great manger living on site. There are some powered areas @ $10 per night, non-powered is donation only. Toilets and shower ($1 per minute for hot water) are available, and there are lots of trees, so it is wise to select the right site for you. It is close to town, quiet and peaceful – only four of us there when we stayed. We enjoyed it so much we stayed three nights. View from our window!

It was winter when we visited and overnight and mornings were cold. Days were crisp but sunny. We even had the car covered in frost and ice one morning.

Great Western was first settled in the 1840's as a sheep grazing area, and became popular during the 1850 gold rushes, when vines were first planted by the miners. It is believed the name came from one miner who told the gold commissioner the towns name was Great Eastern (which was the name of a famous steamship). Another miner pointed out that the gold fields were in the west, and that Great Western would be more appropriate. The first vines were planted by two Frenchmen, Blampied and Trouette. Following in their footsteps, Henry and Joseph Best planted the first commercial vineyards. Henry and Joseph Best originally set up a slaughter yard to provide the miners with meat. They soon moved into wine making. Henry Best purchased 73 acres of Concongella Creek frontage in 1866 with the first vines planted in 1867. He named the property Concongella.

We went to this winery first and tasted the 'old vines' wine. The Best brothers planted a little of everything and the wine is a blend of the best of them. The wine changes each year and I really wasn't fussed with this years wine. The others we tasted were ok. I like sweet wines. I wish I liked different wines more than I do, but I like bubbly moscato, and there was none to be found in Great Western. We were told how the brothers had an argument and Joesph moved on to plant vines at a vineyard close by and named it Great Western Wines. This winery is now known as Seppelts Great Western, and sadly wine is no longer made there.

Both brothers built tunnels under their winery to store the oak casks and bottles of wine. Seppelt's tunnels are more extensive and a tour costs $15 per person. Best wines, with the earlier tunnels, provide a free self guided tour. We went to the Best Winery first and as we are more interested in the history rather than the wine, did the self guided tour. WOW. It is only a small one piece A4 sheet, but it tells one all one needs to know, not only about the historic tunnels, but about the vineyard in general. This is a must do in Great Western.

... and of course a wine tasting after. The staff were wonderful and answered all our questions about the wines and the history. The Stables Cellar Door is a great place to taste the wines after visiting the historic underground cellar.

Wines have been made at Best's Wines since 1867, and the winery has only been owned by two families. Henry Best and his family ran the vineyards until his death in 1913, his son ran the winery until he sold it to the Thompson family in 1920. Our next stop was a drive up to the old mine, which was very overgrown and difficult to get to. We then went to the Seppelt Great Western winery to do their underground tunnel tour. We got there 90 minutes before the last tour so we could have a drink, but the tours were not running. Peter also wanted to try the sparkling beer they are famous for, but they had run out of that also. They told us to try the local pub. Nothing is made at Seppelts Great Western now, although the vines are still producing, everything is shipped in. We were able to look around.

 ... and also were able to look at the old cellar door, which had an opening in the floor to look down at part of the underground tunnels.

Great Western was purchased by Hans Irvine after Joseph Best's death in 1888. Irvine established the sparkling wine industry in Victoria. In 1918, Irvine sold the winery to South Australian Benno Seppelt.Seppelt is famous for their heritage listed tunnels of underground cellars, each named after famous people and known as 'The Drives'. The tunnels were built by out of work miners over a period of 60 years. They are the largest underground cellars in the Southern Hemisphere.

We went to the local pub, The Great Western Hotel, to get some sparkling beer, but they were all out as well.

So we went for a walk around the town, not a very long walk as Great Western is a town when driving though 'if you blink you will miss it'. The Salingers Cafe, established in 1861, by Emmanuel Salinger as a general store and was originally a wooden building. In 1899 the wooden building was moved back to make way for a brick store and attached home. Emmanuel died in 1911 and his daughters ran the business until 1940. Today it is a well known cafe that is very popular on weekends.

There are many old buildings in the main street, and the old gaol is in the park opposite Seppelt's winery. The park is really good and there is plenty of caravan parking in and around the park for day visitors.

Minyup – 'Coopers Crossing' – home of the Flying Doctors

How lucky were we to be staying at Rupunyup and to see a sign to 'Coopers Crossing'. We were not big fans of the TV series “Flying Doctors, but neither did we have our 'heads in the sand'! Of course, being so close we were going to visit.

What a lovely little town, The fact that it had remained relatively unchanged meant it was a perfect set for The Flying Doctors. The name Minyip is believed to mean 'ashes' in the local Aboriginal language. The first Europeans to the area were were in 1836 with the exploration by Major Thomas Mitchell. Squatters moved into the area after the 1850's gold rushes. The town was established in the 1870's by former gold miners and German settlers from South Australia. The area is a wheat growing area and the railway arrived in the area in 1886. Many silos were built to store the wheat and some have been painted – another blog post!

Minyip became famous as the setting for the TV series Flying Doctors in 1984. There are a number of historic buildings and we did the Heritage walk. There are plaques situated around the town and a brief brochure that we picked up in Rupanyup.

Many of the historic buildings in the main street were used in the TV series and a display can be found in one of the shop front windows showing film set scenes.

The town is set up for the tourists and well worth a visit.