A Week Away in Mildura

The long weekend in Melbourne celebrating a horse race with obligatory drunkenness seemed a perfect time to head into the Victorian countryside with my wife, Caroline and our close friends Nick and Zoe. We hired out a houseboat on the Murray River in Mildura and planned a stop in Hall's Gap on the way back to break up the journey. And a long, boring journey it is up to Mildura from Melbourne. It is about 6 hours of driving, with the last 2 hours particularly mind numbing. There are some pretty little places on the way up, such as Bridgewater on Loddon.

Bridgewater on Loddon

But the drive is definitely worth the effort. Once in Mildura, and settled on the houseboat, time stopped and we all felt the strains of life melt away. We traveled a short way down the river and were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to operate the houseboat.

Zoe and Caroline in front of our Houseboat

We spent a little time in Mildura, but most of the time we were on the houseboat. The cafe and restaurant precinct around the Grand Hotel is the place to be, and we particularly liked a cafe called The Office, though Hudak's Bakery was also great! Mainly though we had barbies and salads, which suited the climate, about 5C hotter than Melbourne, but we had one day in the high 30'sC!

Grand Hotel Mildura

Our time in Mildura was utterly relaxing. It was a combination of easy food, good drink (including beers from the local microbrewery and a beautiful Nebbiolo from Trentham Winery), great company, laughter, freedom and slow paced living that made this one of the most relaxing times of my life. On the trip back to Melbourne we stopped in Hall's gap in the Grampians which is a natural beauty spot. A drive around the lookouts is breath taking while there is plenty of local wildlife including some very friendly kangaroos!

Kangaroos on the Rec in Hall's Gap

All in all it was a total recharge of spirit and energy which has put us all in good stead for the final burst of work for the year, through to Christmas, though saying that getting back to work was tough after such a relaxing time. I was also able to run again, which I hadn't for a few weeks due to a bad back and tight chest. Running in Mildura was very pleasant, though a bit warm while running Hall's Gap was better from a climate perspective but did include some sharp climbs that got the juices flowing! It would be difficult to find a better place to relax and spend time with friends than on a houseboat in Mildura on the Murray!

 Murray River Sunset

Our great friends, Nick and Zoe with us at Trentham Winery.