The best part of a week spent at Yarrawonga was punctuated by car stories.  When we weren’t on a golf course, we toured the nearby countryside, all in Helen’s car, all with Mike driving, all with navigational vagaries and all (almost all) highly enjoyable.  Mike had come from Philip Island (more cars), picked up Helen at Tullamarine and they’d driven up to the Murray.

We’d driven ATGANI over from Bendigo way and parked it in a crowded spot in the Yarrawonga Mulwala CP👎.  They were in a cabin which got the same rating!  Out in the country, near Tocumwal, we spotted an immaculate vintage car pottering along and some time later spotted another.  Both being red, a discussion (!) ensued as to whether they were the same car.  All was revealed when we drove in to the Tocumwal Golf (and Bowls) Club to have a look – one of our red vintage cars arrived, and then another and another and another.  Other colours too. 

We’d stumbled across a rally of 1 and 2 cylinder veteran cars.  And wonderful, they were.  No crazier than all the people we’d met at Lost Trades, these enthusiasts drag their cars around on trailers until they get to a destination and then all drive a short and slow distance to…lunch.  The furthest afield we met had come from Wollongong.  Motor cycles too.  Two stand-out favourites for us:  the polished metal DeLage and the “throne in front” tricycle.

As at Tocumwal, all along the Murray there are large and apparently prosperous “clubs”, pretty much all on the NSW side of the border, many with top quality golf courses attached.  As an aside, the borderline is set at the high water mark on the Victorian side of the river.  This is a stroke of seldom-replicated public policy genius, because it means that “river rules” are set by only one authority, not two (they may be rubbish but at least there’s only one).  Anyway, back to the clubs…news to me, but poker-machines were OK in NSW from 1956 but only from 1991 in Victoria.  Hence, the clubs were all set up in NSW and prospered by dragging pokie tourists across the river to lose their hard earned Victorian money in New South Wales dens of iniquity – very Sydney!

Further driving ensued.  I was keen to visit an olive oil producer to see how it all worked…and we were out of oil too.  A few years ago, I’d met the then-CEO of Cobram Estates who’d impressed with a marketing thrust that was all about freshness.  He reckoned overseas oils just couldn’t be as fresh and would probably turn rancid – therefore, buy his!  This was basically supported by Rob at Goora Madda Olives who took us through a “tasting”, thereby putting off some farm labour for him.  All pretty interesting, he was a good talker and we eventually departed cheerfully, having learned a bit and boosted the local economy a bit.

In our travels, we discovered the Big Wine Bottle at Rutherglen, the Big Strawberry (too pathetically small to even stop and take a photo) at Koonoomoo and drove on to the bumpy roads of Big Reedy Lagoon Wildlife Reserve.  Along the river, plenty of people were camped, but we chose a delightful picnic on the banks of the Murray, accompanied by literally thousands of noisy corellas.  And, of course, we played a bit of golf.

Non-golfers, skip this bit!  We played Yarrawonga, both Murray and Lakes.  Courses excellent; golf somewhat less so.  On a stinking hot 37° day, Helen and I played The Black Bull which is on the Victorian side (surprise!) and highly rated.  It’s the home of what might be the ugliest housing-and-golf development on the planet.  As to the golf course itself, we didn’t think it a patch on the Yarrawonga courses but I, at least, managed to maintain my scoring average.  It is indeed tautology to say, “Trevor played poorly”. 

Tumut beckoned for them. Echuca for us.  We departed in our opposite directions having spent (yet another) fine week with M&H.  Would we discover even better vanilla slice, would my slice be tamed, would Echuca/Moana be a more moderate temperature?  All we could do was go and see – what could possibly go wrong?