Brunch at Jens on George aka Factory And Field Waffles. We were recommended this place on day one. A bit far out of our way but the 45min drive was worth it. Friendly staff and delicious waffles. Kelsie and Ethan needed a second helping each to get through their ice-cream and sprinkles. Mum had Caramel waffles and Dad had Bacon!

Then mini golf at Rich River Golf Club. Great to see the water feature running for the first time in all our visits. Another first was identifying a rock sculpture as a map of Australia including Tasmania. This started with Kelsie almost losing it over the repellent immune flies. A temporary reprieve when it started to drizzle made life bare able until Kelsie went full circle and befriended 3 of the flies and was encouraging them to hitch a ride on her. Mum and Dad could only raise an eyebrow.

Dinner was at another recommendation. The Pastoral Hotel. Alarm bells should have gone off when we found out the previous owner was something of an internet celebrity for his business decisions during the COVID lockdowns. However, we were told the new owners had raised the standard of food and the prices were reasonable, so off we went. And the results are mixed. Thursday’s theme night was ‘Pasta $20’, There were actually only 3 pasta dishes on the menu, Carbonara, Vegetarian Lasagna, and a variant of Bolognese. There was a Penne Amatriciana on the specials board, and 2 random ‘specials’ on a mini chalkboard on the bar, A chicken something and a mushroom something, they were that memorable. efficiency of choice was obviously not high on the list of the management priorities. The kid’s menu was the largest we’ve seen so that’s a plus, Ethan stuck to his chicken nuggets and chips. and Kelsie had Fish and Chips. The dinosaur chicken nuggets looked like an ingams special, but the Fish was a nice fillet of fresh fish.

A side of Garlic bread was soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside, not mass produced and heavily processed like some others.

Mum and Dad had The Amatriciana and the roast of the day (beef) respectively. Mum enjoyed the pasta but found it too spicy, Dad had a try and thought it tasted like it had been burnt in the pan over ‘well roasted’. The roast of the day was up and down, some of it tasted great, some not quite right.

The kid’s facilities were reasonable, Kelsie and Ethan did not enjoy finding the huntsman hiding in the toy shelves, thankfully this was just as we were leaving. The air blower keeping the fireplace in the main bar during the winter months looks like it needs an upgrade, and one of the other bistro patrons was a dead ringer for Sharon from Kath and Kim, if Sharon was a bikie.

An experience to be sure, and one that made the Holbrook hotel from 2022 seem like the 5 stars Ethan gave the Riverbank.