Welcome back!!

Junee is a medium size town in the Riverena district of New South Wales with a population of about 4,400.

Its also on the main railway line, and is exactly half way between Melbourne and Sydney, and in 1952 the largest wheat terminal in the southern hemisphere was built.

The biggest attraction in Junee is the Licorice and Chocolate Factory, and that's what we came for!
We had been through Junee so many times and had never been to see the factory, so that was my birthday present.

The factory itself is a renovated old flour mill, and its run by a family that produces everything organic.

There is a lovely coffee shop inside where we had a lovely coffee with homemade scones and cream. We had to wait over half and hour for it because a bus load of tourists had arrived unannounced from Canberra, but while we waited a lovely girl that worked there, asked if we would complete a survey on what could be done in the town to get more people in to visit. She was such a lovely girl, in her early 20's, who was studying to be a school teacher, (I cant remember her name) but she was so passionate about her town and gave us a history lesson of Junee that was really interesting.

When we had finished our survey, our coffee arrived, so that waiting time went quick really. 

After our coffee, we went on a tour of the factory, and our tour guide was our lovely survey girl. It was a very informative guide, telling you all about the history of the building. They have bought another building in Corowa, up on the border of NSW, right on the Murray.
They bought this huge building for one dollar, which they are going to renovate and make into a Whiskey and Chocolate Factory.

So we did the tour, learning all about the organic licorice, and watching them coat different things in Belgium chocolate, with a few different tastings....yum.

After the tour, they always finish off with a game of "Licorice Bowls"

You have to pair up, but not with your partner, then throw this great big lump of licorice high  up into a chute, the licorice goes down the chute, then knocks over "bowling pins". You are scored by the number of pins you knock down, and if the other partner who didn't throw the licorice, catches any, that is counted as two.

 

Well my partner and i did no good.....but can you see that person standing right up the top of the stairs with the hat on????

Yep that's Ed....and of course he won!!!!!!

He and his partner, were crowned "Vertical Licorice Bowling Champions" and were given a box of licorice each...clever Ed!!

These photos are of the gift shop upstairs, and where we were seated for the tour

These photos are of Junee itself

We had a really great day :)

We left Wagga on Sunday morning, we had really enjoyed ourselves there and could have stayed longer, but it was time to move on.

We had a place in mind that we were heading off to, but couldn't find it, so we kept going and ended up at Yarrawonga. 

Its a lovely town right on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. and located right on the beautiful Murray River.

Its twin sister town is Mulwalla, and that is over the bridge in New South Wales, with Yarrawonga being on the Victorian side.

It has a population of over 5000 people, and its main attraction is Lake Mulwalla, which was formed by damming the River. As you can imagine, it is a very popular town for fishing and i think there are more boats in Yarrawonga than there are cars!!

We went to the tourist information centre, as we wanted to camp by the river and they directed us to the nearest camp spot. Well trying to get a camp spot on the Murray River is near impossible as its so popular, and the locals will set up camp now....for the Xmas break!!!

Some of the camp spots that are set up are just like home, they bring everything, and i mean everything!!

So we found a spot back from the river a bit, which i was a bit hesitant about, (snakes), but there were a few others camped there, and a lady camping on her own, had her dog with her, so i thought he will keep the snakes away, turns out the dog was deaf, as well as nearly blind.....so fat chance of that!!!!

It was a nice camp spot but the weather turned so hot, so we only stayed the one night. 

Now this is what happens when you don't do your blog every day....you forget where you have been and what day it is!!!!

I have forgotten a day...my birthday....Ed took me for a drive into Junee from Wagga, and we had a great day, so i will finish this  off and start another blog. So apologies for the stuff up of the dates....i am going to blame the heat....we had the worst day yesterday with the heat....but that will follow on from our day at Junee.

So if you can follow all of what i have just written.....well done you!!