Since last September, we've been planning a little holiday away in Swan Hill. Just less than 3 hours away, by train direct from Castlemaine; a bit further north (and thus warmer) on the banks of the Murray River.

It has taken a long time to happen; we planned to go from Sunday to Tuesday (avoiding the busier weekend), but we needed to have nothing else on, no-one staying in Finsbury, and a good weather outlook. And finally, in late February, it has all come off.

We are staying in a cabin in a caravan park on the banks of the Murray River, a short walk from the train station and from the centre of town. And we are lucky; it may be a standard little Jayco cabin, but it is right on one edge of the park - just across from Swan Hill's Riverside Park - and we have the river just in front of us.

And, while it is a nice place to stay, the big thing is that we are up here with nothing much to do! Sit around, read a book, swim, walk along the river.........; at home, in both Castlemaine and in North Melbourne, there are always things needing doing. We try to have "Sunday Funday" every week, but it doesn't always work.

We (and Alison especially) had planned to go out somewhere for dinner, for at least one of the nights - but it didn't come off. There seemed nowhere especially good; the cabin has a quite reasonable kitchen; there are good ingredients available.... we ate in, both nights. And very nice it was; just very noisy with the loud screeching of the thousands of corellas along the river who cannot keep quiet at dawn or dusk.

Having a little break like this reminds us how much I love the Australian countryside, and how good it is to just stop sometimes.