A Tour Experience - Shared by the Croydon Probus Club

The Croydon Probus Club

Twenty two members and friends of the Croydon Probus Clubs enthusiastically boarded the bus on Monday 15th of November at 8:15am. Our driver Helen skilfully got us to our first break for morning tea in Kyneton and then to lunch at Newbridge. In the afternoon we were suitably impressed by the extensive creations of the now deceased Spanner Man; his wife enlightened us thoroughly and everybody expressed their amazement at John Piccoli’s skill and persistence despite his polio impediment. On the way to Horsham we viewed the first silo mural at Rupanyup.

After 580km we made to the Westlander Motel, where check-in was smooth and dinner was yummy. We got an extra sleep-in of 30 minutes before our buffet breakfast at 8am and headed off to view the silo murals at Sheep Hills, Brim, Beulah and Rosebery with a morning tea stop at Warracknabeal and a tasty lunch at Hopetoun, where the wall murals are noteworthy. We headed back south to view our last silo murals at Patchewollock and enjoyed a very informative talk in the Stick Shed at Murtoa.

Dinner at the Westlander was scrumptious again and the camaraderie of the by-now-familiar fellow travellers was enjoyed by all. Most of us enjoyed the comfort of our rooms by 9pm and got a really good sleep before our breakfast at 7:30 am on the Wednesday. Packed and eager we were back on the bus by 8:45am and headed to the Sylvania Park Mohair Farm where Rowena Doyle impressed us with a very detailed farm history presentation. We spent way more than our allocated hour and reluctantly boarded the bus for our home stretch. Morning Tea was at Great Western and lunch at the racecourse in Wendouree before driving all the way back to Croydon where we arrived happy and relaxed at about 4:30pm.

After our extensive lockdowns, this trip was a welcome initiation to much more travelling to come. Some were relieved that Peter did not follow through on his threat of hours of singing on the bus, and everybody really enjoyed the silence during the last few hours, when even Peter ran out of things to say.

Looking forward to the next trip,
Hilla