And Now......our Victoria story!

Sorry Guys, I first have to apologise for a stupid thing I have done; in my last story about Coober Pedy I forgot to make the movie public so you most probably couldn't open it, PLEASE try again!


So and now you wonder what we did in Victoria hey?? Well, you remember we had to make the decision not to go to the West but South?? That seemed to have had a purpose after all, because when we were in Alice, Fred got the message that he was accepted as an Australian citizen and that he had to come to the ceremony in Warragul as we have our postal address there and to do the pledge. We called the immigration to find out if he could do the ceremony somewhere else but that was not possible.
If we had gone to the West it would have been a major problem because we had to be in Warragul on the 18 th of November.

We already had a appointment to stay a few days in Port Augusta at nice people we had met on our trip and we got the idea, if they didn't mind, to leave our caravan behind and go just by car to Victoria and that was no problem at all.

and so we left our little house on wheels behind on this spot, but I'm sure it didn't mind at all, look at the view it had!

So we rushed in two days ( it was approx. 1100 km) to Victoria and we stopped somewhere in between in a small village Dimboola. There was a regatta going on and so nearly all cabins were booked out. But fortunately we found a place where they had a few cabins and we were happy as we already had driven more then 600 k's. 

The cabin was very old fashion inside but clean, the owners were very friendly and we had some nice entertainment from a guy who  also camped there with his own camper trailer and he liked to sing.

listen to this nice song....

Next day we drove further and the idea was first to go to Berwick to stay one night with family and then to Warragul for the ceremony. Before we got to Berwick we stopped in Dandenong at a car sales where a nephew works, to ask if they sometimes have cheap 4WD trade ins, you remember we want one don't you??
Bingo!! He had one came in the day before and despite the fact that it was worn out as well inside as outside, it looked as it wanted to say: "take me"!
My nephew would arrange the garage to look at it, if it's a good car and he would let us know.

After a good night sleep in Berwick we went to Warragul were we had a nice dinner with the family;

Next day, the BIG day, we had some time for doing shopping and relaxing over a cup of coffee as the ceremony was at 6 o'clock....

Becoming an Aussie is not just something, Fred was nervous as hell and had been practising on the pledge for hours haha. But as you can see he did it and became an Aussie of which he is very proud.

First have to sign in and give some details......

The pledge, it might be a bit to soft to understand but he really did it....

a beautiful plant (kangaroo paw) was handed over and some more Australian things...

together with some guests we enjoyed some real good snacks, offered by the council

After the ceremony we went to my aunt and uncles house in Warragul where we stayed the night after having a little party first, a few people were invited and we had some good laughs. Fred got an Aussie survival kit with all nice and funny stuff in it.

having a toast on a new Aussie;

Then we had a few days of visiting family and friends and then had to wait till the car (Yes! we bought it) was ready. But that seemed to be a major job, the delivery was postponed every time and we had to pack our things out of the car again and ask our family if we could stay another night, of course that was no problem. Our Ford was sold to family in Newborough and when we finally got the car (here it is);

we drove, me in the Ford and Fred in our “new” (its 14 years old) 4WD to Newborough. It was immediately a big challenge for both of us because it started to rain and not just a little bit, NO it was POURING! I don’t drive very much so I was a bit uncomfortable driving on my own and Fred had to find out where everything, like lights and wipers, were. The sight became very bad and the highway started to become a river, crikey what a disaster! But finally we made it and we first took a drink, pfff. Anyhow we are glad with our “new” car and the family is glad with our Ford.

The last night we were with a good friend in Patterson Lakes and next day we loaded the car with groceries, especially from Aldi’s because we hadn’t seen an Aldi for months, and hit the road back towards Port Augusta.

And OMG, we had to fill the tank up, us were told and we have seen it to, that our car has 2 tanks, one original and one extra tank. The original tank has 75 litre and the extra 100 ltr!!

OK, we are living on bread and water now after filling up the tanks haha (Joke of course).

Again with one stop somewhere just over the border,.... talking about the border, Djee I've been angry!! I had be given a whole bag with lovely lemons and a grapefruit from family and friends. When we came to the Victoria/South Australia border there was a sign, and I know there are more restrictions at borders but I hadn't seen it from South Australia into Victoria, that you were not allowed to bring fruit and vegetables into South Australia, fine would be $ 340.00, well I didn't dare to take that risk and throw the bag, with pain in my heart, in the bin.

Because we were nice on schedule we stopped in Hahndorf, a little German town and had a nice roll with a sausage and sauerkraut;

OK, I hope you enjoyed this story again. Next time I have to change the Blog picture as our Ford is no longer with us, I am very glad though that it stayed in the family because we had done so many k's and adventures together!

Cheers and till next time!