We took the opportunity to explore the local area while we were staying in Jingellic so headed for Corryong. The road to Corryong winds along the banks of the Murray River offering panoramic views of incredibly green fields with a backdrop of distant, snowcapped mountains. I had never seen snow in Australia before so was delighted. 

We stopped off in Tintaldra and had a look at the Historic General Store which has been beautifully restored and has the original little bakery out the back with a view over the Murray to die for. 

Corryong itself was a very smart little town with references to Banjo Patterson's famous poem 'The Man From Snowy River' everywhere we  turned. Once we had picked our way through the Man From Snowy River statues, tea towels, stubby holders, hats, t-shirts and so on we were ready to look at the splendid little museum in the centre of town. The museum houses an eclectic mix of local historic material and has a marvelous collection of old buildings which have been located in the back garden. The buildings include a school, bank, police station, cottage and the usual barn full of old farm tools. My sister Gill was with us on this trip and she said one of the things she remembered about travelling in Australia in the past was that, everywhere she went, there was always a barn proudly displaying old farming equipment. 

The following morning we set off for our next scheduled stop, Marysville. As we drove in we noticed how new and smart the town looked and found out the reason when we got to the visitor centre. Marysville was one of the towns almost completely wiped out in the bushfires of Black Saturday, 7th February 2009 when 34 residents were killed and around 90% of the town's buildings were destroyed. The townspeople appear to have a very positive attitude about the rebuilding and they have certainly created an attractive town.

 We decided to stop at a free camp in the middle of the forest at Anderson Mill (as you do when you have just read about appalling bushfires). The camping area was in a clearing surrounded by huge, towering Mountain Ash trees and it was beautiful with King Parrots touting for scraps and only a couple of other caravans there, probably because the track in towing a caravan was not for the faint hearted, but that meant it was very peaceful. 

It was only a short drive from Marysville into Melbourne and we had a wonderful time at Zoe's graduation. She missed her first one in the UK because she moved to Australia as soon as she finished at the University of East Anglia so it was fantastic to have a second opportunity, this time at Monash University, to see her pick up her masters.