Bendigo

14 – 19 August 2023

Once we had settled into camp for the first time since April, and after giving the trailer a thorough clean to remove some mould that had appeared, we set about enjoying our time in Bendigo. We visited the Greater Bendigo National Park a couple of times in search of the Purple-gaped honeyeater – again successfully. We also returned to Bell’s Swamp and Castlemaine Botanic Gardens for the possibility of better photos.

On Wednesday we were joined by John and Judy, Townsville friends who have been “grey nomads” for a couple of years. We last saw them in Mount Compass in November 2022. Once again we enjoyed a couple of great days with them. Unfortunately the weather was awful – daytime temperatures in the low teens and an overnight low of -3.9! Definitely not the best weather to be camping in. We had booked to stay for three nights in Bendigo but extended for two more when rain was forecast. We didn’t want to have to pack up wet, especially when it was so cold, and we were happy with our ensuite site, so staying on was the logical thing to do.

This was around the time we were getting up. 

Apart from birding and socialising we restocked the fridge, freezer and pantry ready for the next part of our journey. We visited the Bendigo Pottery Centre where we saw there are a number of artisans as a well as the well-known local pottery. It was an interesting way to spend an hour or so.

Eventually we had to move on and were lucky to have a nice sunny morning to pack up. We weren’t sure where we would end up, but decided to set the GPS for Waikerie (on the way to Gluepot) and decide where we would stop once we were on our way.