Rochester

25 – 26 March 2023

We had booked to spend a few nights at Little Desert before returning to Tasmania so we needed to start making our way towards the west of Victoria, with a view to spending some time in the Grampians. Because we prefer not to travel too far in one day we decided to make Rochester our next destination. It would be a little bit out of the way, but we had never been there so it seemed like as good a place as any to spend a night.

We left Winton Wetlands and drove through Shepparton, where we made a quick stop so Mick could pick up some camo wrap to use on his tripod. We were lucky that on a busy Saturday morning we were able to find the shop we needed, and get a parking spot right out the front. We continued on and had another stop at a rest area before we made our way to Rochester.

We had chosen this spot because the caravan park is located on the Campaspe River, and the reviews were good. It’s a community owned caravan park so the overnight fee was very reasonable when compared to some other places we had stayed, and the facilities were top notch. There was a large, and well equipped camp kitchen where Mick spent some time editing photos. Our site was good, but we were positioned in such a way that we didn’t get any shade - again! - so we were grateful for the camp kitchen and trees nearby.

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk but couldn’t get down to walk along the river from the caravan park. We could see some of the damage caused by recent floods, with a small pontoon almost completely destroyed. Rochester, like many communities, still has a lot of work ahead.

The beautiful old pub has pride of place in Rochester's main street

Before we left Rochester we went in to town where we did some grocery shopping and had a coffee. As with many of these small rural town, there were lots of empty shops. From there we continued our journey with a free camp near Ararat as our intended destination.