20th to 24th November 2008 - Bendigo Leisurefest.

Early November, Phil from Trailblazers RV rang me and asked if I wanted to assist him at the Bendigo Leisurefest. Marg and I decided to go and stay at a Bendigo CP for 4 days, if I didn't work or stay 7 days if I did work. We decided to stay at the Golden Nugget CP which had WiFi and was about 3 kms North of the Bendigo racecourse, where the Leisurefest was held. As it turned out, Phil did not need me to work, so we planned to stay for 4 nights and check out the tourist sites.

We left Thursday about 10am and went along Nepean Hwy, down South Rd to Beach Rd and along there to Station pier, through Beacon Cove (Port Melbourne) to West Gate Bridge along the Western Ring rd to Calder Hwy then off to Bendigo. We did stop at a Service Centre just past the Calder Thunderdome, where another 5th Wheeler parked beside us being towed by our twin brother (see photos). There is a lovely new Rest Area, south of Bendigo, we stopped there for a smoko. We arrived at the Golden Nugget CP about 2pm.

We arrived in Bendigo to a nice, sunny but cool day, we setup camp. Our site was beside a converted bus, there was a website advert on the bus for B.E.S.T. water filters (www.bestwaterfilters.com.au). This was good karma, as I have been looking at buying one of these BEST water filters. So I purchased one filter from Colin.

The camp amenities were very clean, toilets, showers, camp kitchen, etc.

Thursday afvo was spent sitting outside in the sun, Marg reading and me drinking a chilled refresher. Friday arrived with Marg having a migraine headache, so Friday was non existant. Marg spent most of the day in bed and I watched DVDs (Oceans 11 and 12) in the fiver
Saturday came and Marg was back in the land of the living, so off to check out the Leisurefest, we visited Phil and Chris at Trailblazers RV stand, very cold, windy and damp. Marg purchased a cooking book, we spoke to the Cobb cooker man, as we bought a Cobb about 12 months ago. I bought an evaKool 47 litres fridge/freezer. The Leisurefest was good, we also visited the other 5th Wheelers dealers, we will still stick with our fiver.
Left the show and drove to the shopping centre which was at the southern end of Bendigo, did some food shopping and visited Donut King.
Saturday night, we had dinner at the Bendigo RSL, got there early so Marg could play the pokies, she lost, had an excellent dinner Marg had a beef parma with chips and salad, I had a chicken parma with vegies.
Sunday, we visited the Bendigo Potteries, Marg bought salt and pepper shakers with a sugar bowl, plus a limited numbered plate, they look good.
Off to the talking tram on the southern side of the city, this tour took about 90 minutes.
After the talking tram, we went down the Central Deborah Gold Mine, this tour took you down about 60m underground, very interesting. On the way back to camp, we stopped and took some photos of the Catholic church.

Left Bendigo about 10am on Monday morning, after emptying the shitter at the CP. The drive home was pleasant and we both can't wait to be leaving next Easter for our 6 months sojourn north.