Here is most of our journey from Barkers Creek to Echuca. I am posting this from Nathalia on one of those beautiful chilly yet sunny days. Everyone else is currently riding to Cobram, but I'm waiting for school to end so that I can get a lift to meet them. Why? It's not my story to tell right now. But you'll be sure to find our if you keep reading our postcards...   Love and smiles,   Inca   Sunday 15th May - Barkers Creek We awoke this morning after a very relaxing Saturday night enjoying the beautiful scenery of Daryl's panoramic view on top of the aptly named Hill View Road. The kangaroos watched us, as if we were invading their space with this odd house shaped structure in the middle of the bush. We took some great photos of an amazing sunset.   This morning we made nesting boxes for rare marsupials such as the Phascogales, Ring Tail and Pigmy Possums and Black Cockatoos. A very educational experience for all involved and we managed to make 9 new homes for little creatures. In the afternoon I took forever and a day to mend my tire (turns out I had two punctures) and eventually Emily and I went canoeing around the damn before a somewhat ill advised challenge by myself to swim from the deck to the windmill at the opposite end. I got in the water and found that I couldn't breath any more and very soon chickened out.   Michael has great footage of me taking about 4 or 5 overarm strokes before very abruptly turning back to the waters edge from which I had just frantically splashed out from. Emily can be seen in this same footage, right behind me switching to back stroke, to see what I was doing and then following me back to warm dry land. She claims that she was prepared to go the distance but the proof of this will be revealed in future  'fresh' water swim opportunities. Personally I think she's bluffing and I should add that she will likely miss an opportunity to take a swim in the presently mighty Murray later in the week with Madame Allison , Thin Lizzy and myself.   Josh   Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th have yet to be written - stay tuned!   18 May Wednesday - Bendigo to Elmore We had to pedal 40km to get to Elmore with the sun shining, and beautiful landscape. After the ride we spent the rest of the day in a nice friend's house (Andrew, Liz and Sarah of The Taylor Project).   We met Matt, the day before randomly at a cafe in Bendigo and he happened to be a Theatre Director and offered to watch the play and give us feedback. We performed at the house in Elmore and he gave us some advice and ideas. It was very interesting and funny to do for him!   It was very interesting and funny! After this, we had a beautiful diner and great time for a heart circle.   Alison   Thursday 19th May - Elmore to Rochester We were up at an ungodly hour for the ride to Rochester. Fortunately their was a damn good blood red sunrise to greet us as we rode the 20km north to Rochester.   Performed at Rochester College to 100 year 9 and 10 students and the performance went down well.  The 'Rochy' kids were a great audience laughing at most of of the corny bits. The particularly rewarding aspect of the performance was implementing some of the script changes which included an extra line for the shower and a widening of the grandma/toilet role to include the grandma climbing out of the toilet! It felt good to implement these change and bring some of our own material to the play. Great job Alex for her exceptional commitment to adding more depth and relevant information to the water scene.   Nyssa was MIA most of the day having  caught the train back to Bendigo to get a wheel rebuild after many a broken spoke. Vanessa stepped in for Nyssa, playing a convincing Dad.   After some life admin and jaunt around Rochy for a coffee we returned to the school for the last period of the day with the spirited Year 9D science class. Alison and I fielded a fair few questions about getting dreads which the kids had a fair fascination with.   I retired to the sleeping space for a much needed  nanna nap. I had been feeling sketchy in the gut for a couple of days after a continued bought of the runs had been placed on the 'diarrhea diet' of white bread and Vegemite. Nyssa, having 'beefed' back from Bendigo was also suffering  a similar fate and too took up the DD. Everyone else enjoyed a fabulous dinner with an Inca pumpkin pie special too.   Thank you to Rochester College and Jim Strate who were amazing hosts. The school donated an enormous amount of excellent food including, importantly cheese, chocolate and cracked pepper. Yeah, yum!   Despite the D's and a shockingly early start it was a great day and all slept soundly in the weights room of the school gym.   Liz   Friday 20th May - Rochester to Echuca After a really nice dinner from food generously donated by the Rochester High School and the local Bakery as well as a relaxing and surprisingly deep sleep in the school gym after a much awaited warm shower, we had a hearty breakfast,  before we made our way to the Herbert Opperman memorial in the centre of town, opposite the Oppy Museum. This local much loved hero, also known as 'Oppy'  by the locals, is better known in France than in Australia - he was the best of the best - the fastest cyclist ever  on two wheels and ahead of his time - apparently they invented the rules just to slow him down! (or so our local knowledge has informed us!) So, we posed for a photo with the ever peddling Oppy, adding a few of the creature comforts we have come to love on our tour to his  'old school'  bike gear -  he looked mighty fine with his new iPod, polariod sunnies, skater helmet, and high vis vest! -  before starting our own ride off to Echuca.    Flat and straight was the road,  heading due north with the sun shining bright above our heads, as we rode through a quiet little hamlet called Nannella - It even  had a 'free beer' sign in its one little shop! We very nearly stopped.... but we still had a fair way to go! We also passed a little primary school and most of us had the urge to pull over and do an impromptu performance. But we kept on going.... only to find out by the Echuca locals that the school would have welcomed us with open arms! The Lesson learnt - we will be stopping at the next school we see on a back road....for a surprise performance...for sure!!   We met the lovely Julie at the Uniting Church in Echuca and she showed us to our snug little sleeping place located under the church! The space we would be using is a dedicated community space called STEPS which provides services to under privileged such as hair cuts, massages, counseling, warm showers, and even cups of tea and biscuits! We felt very lucky to have such a welcoming space provided to us. Yet again the generosity of people  and the local community was overwhelming.   Kate   Saturday 21st May - Echuca. Right on the beautiful Murray River. DAY OFF! A day of rest where we did things we wanted to do - absolute bliss....The farmer's market was a highlight of the morning.... and the $3 shop bargains.   While some basked in the sunshine (surprisingly present for this time of year) giving themselves Murray mud skin treatments, and daring to swim in its murky depths, others enjoyed long runs along the murky Murray River. Myself and Micheal were off on our own adventure. With the intention of joining those who said they would be utilising the sunshine and swimming, we jumped on our pushies and road to the waters edge. Having no idea exactly where the others were planning on their freezing dip, we peddled along a paved track until it turned to dirt. Here, we exchanged a cheeky grin and slight nod of the head (and maybe a "hells yes"), before we charged forward onto the dirt tracks, disappearing into the scrub of the Murray's great banks. With no hesitation, we tested the extent of mountain bike compared to road bike making up our hybrid!   Now, if I've learned anything from growing up camping every holidays in the bush, its that you should always wear proper footwear to hopefully prevent a snake sinking its poisonous fangs into your blood stream. But, maybe its youth, maybe its 'being free', maybe its apathy and maybe it naivety, we carried on our merry way, myself in thongs, Micheal with his bare feet.  We laughed about the annoying prospect of getting a flat while enjoying the steep, stoney dips in the path, the scrub on either side of us slashing at out shins.  Before long we realised that we were not going to find the others, and so we decided to take swimming matters into our own hands. We stopped at a section of river 50m down from P.S Ivy-SOMETHING, a small paddle steamer (hence the 'P.S') house boat, which we admired from the short distance away. Daring each other to jump in, we started to take off the items of clothing we didn't want to get wet, and right as we were testing the waters temperature with our feet, the owners of the P.S Ivy-SOMETHING, pottered across the river on their little dingy and hopped back onto the house boat. After some hesitation on both fronts, Michael decided to not miss out on the opportunity to hear these interesting peoples story. And thus, we strode over and introduced ourselves. Before long, we were discovering the inside of, what we were extremely impressed to find out was hand made from scratch by one passionate man, P.S Ivy-SOMETHING. What impressed us further was the fact that most of the material has been reused, refurbished or recycled! The steering wheel was made of an old circular shower curtain rod, the steering wheel stand was made from and old school sewing machine! Not long after that, we suddenly found ourselves wheeling our bikes onto the front deck, and slowly plodding down the Murray river towards the Echuca dock. And to think that they charge people money to enjoy a paddle steam boat ride, with an overworked, underpaid captain. We totally got the better deal! When we reached the dock, hugged our new found friends and thanked them for an awesome afternoon! We bounded of the boat exploding with excitement about our unplanned adventure and began riding off to tell anyone who would listen. The adventure however, was not due to end. As we rode off from the boat we passed three beautiful cars (classic chevvies) and their three chauffeurs waiting for the  bride, groom and wedding party they were driving around. One of the drivers had watched us leave the boat and was interested to see why two glowing cyclists were riding from a paddle steamer. And so, again, there was an exchange of stories. We are lucky that our adventure of riding from Melbourne to Canberra never seems to get old! Next thing, we were planking on the bonnet of the middle chevvy. If you don't know what plankin is... don't ask me, I have no idea how this ridiculous phenomenon of laying, stiff on your stomach on various objects has taken rural Australia by storm. But it has, and we do not go a day without it somehow entering our lives.   Hysterical with laughter at the unlikely events of our afternoon, we managed to ride our way back into town where we found some of the crew! And surprise, surprise, one of the locals was trying to plank on the seat of Kate's bicycle!   Before long our Otesha family were all back together eating too much donated bread before dinner and filling in each other about their awesome day offs!   Our first day off where we actually had a day off was  certainly a successful one. Can't wait till next time!   Em   Sunday 22nd May - Echuca This morning I woke up ready for the day. And the day was ready for me, the storms forecast were nowhere in sight and as the sun shone down through the wind. I love being outside. Back inside for packing, we were moving out of the lovely StEPS space at the Moama Echuca Uniting Church. We're all getting pretty well practiced at getting all our stuff together , including packing our two trailers, and cleaning  ourselves up out of our many temporary homes.  This morning we had extra food to carry from generous donations given to us, including our precious eggs, as we moved across town to the neighborhood house.   In our transition time Em and I went along to the morning service at the lovely church who had hosted us. The storm rolled in and we met together at her Neighborhood House  just before it hit. There we had a meeting to plan our day and we made good progress with the new e-waste scene we are developing. Vanessa took on clarifying what we are tying to communicate, and she sure does make things look great on paper.  I really like seeing our ideas as something concrete. There are so many issues surrounding electronics,  and so many issues surrounding sustainability, we have a challenge.  Another big decision with our play is the exchange of our Hopeful Homie role as we evolve our play and crew members work into their strengths and we each challenge ourselves.   On a different note, some of us went to the lovely, warm Echuca pool and spa. I loved the feeling of being supported by warm water, flying, gliding, and being in a completely different element. Warm water and cleanliness is also very welcome.   Tonight I felt so lucky and grateful to be here, living this life, here, in this place. This feeling was inspired by looking down at my dinner plate and seeing a beautifully prepared meal, and opened my thoughts to how beautiful life is right now.   Our after dinner  daily logistics brief happened well. We are set to be out of here in the morning, on the road again. A 60ish K ride, turning right from here and heading along the Northern bank, Murray river riding here we come.   I need to sleep now. It is a precious thing. Good night.   Rahkel