Day 44 – October 14 2012

Today was bright & sunny, with clear blue skies, a lovely morning & not too cold.  We moved from the Horseshoe Bend Campground & drove the short distance to the Ackle Bend Campground, still on the banks of the Wimmera River.  We parked in the shade & walked the 3km loop walk from the campground, through typical mallee type country for that area.  There were an unusually large number of banksia trees, either dead or healthy new ones a few years old.  There was also quite a large amount of birdlife on this short, easy walking & fairly sandy track.  The last part of the walk followed the road back along the Wimmera River to the Ackle Bend Campground. It was 10 am when we got back to the car & it was 24C, what a difference from yesterday when it only got up to 11C.

We drove back out through Dimboola & headed north to Lake Albacutya, this adjoins the southern end of Wyperfeld National Park, part of the Big Desert Wilderness Park.  We drove to the Western Beach Campground with the intention of camping there for the night & enjoying the water views, alas, Lake Albacutya is dry & has not had any water in it for many years.  Lake Albacutya is recognised under the RAMSAR Convention for the protection of wetlands & migratory birds.  We stopped & opened up the Karavan & ate our lunch at one of the picnic benches in the campground, there were 2 other campers in the campground & they must have been enjoying the dry lake.

After lunch we decided to drive a little further north & try our luck at the Wonga Campground, a little further into Wyperfeld National Park.  It was easy driving with bitumen all the way to the campground, sheer luxury.  The Wonga Campground is very large & we decided to camp reasonably close to the amenities.  After setting up we explored the campground, checking out the toilets (long drop), the washrooms, (wash basin only, no showers, I am amazed that they even have that in this dry country) the large dining room (actually nice with a lot of tables & 3 BBQs) & the information centre, which was very interesting & informative (naturally).  It was getting a little late for a walk, as well as being a trifle warm, close to 30C today, so we got in the car & drove the 15km James Barrett Nature Drive.  About half way round this drive we stopped & walked the Mallee Fowl Walk, around 2km loop, to see an active mallee fowl mound.  Well, it was fairly uninspiring, a small mound of dirt with a sunken depression in the middle & no sign of any birdlife.  The only excitement was when a lively brown snake crossed the path just in front of us, it was certainly moving fast & quietly.  The vegetation is also uninspiring, scrubby mallee country with a few wildflowers out, not very interesting.  We may be expecting too much, we have seen so many very special & nice things on our trip that anything that doesn’t match we are a bit disappointed in.

Back to camp as the sun was starting to go down & we indulged in a delicious dinner of marinated chicken & fresh vegetables, finished with watching the stars start to appear in the clear sky.  Another pleasant day.