Trekkin

Day 49 – October 19 2012

Up early today, breakfast, packed camp & away by 8.30am from Echuca.  We drove up into NSW to start with, then across to Barmah & back across the Murray River, through Picola & joined onto the Murray Valley Highway in Victoria to continue our journey back to Canberra.  The country is very flat following the Murray River upstream & the roads are mostly long straits with the odd gentle bends.  The paddocks are very green with some wheat & some grapes, with dairy cattle as well. We drove through the major towns of Cobram, Yarrawonga & Rutherglen before joining the freeway a little south of Wodonga where the traffic intensity picked up noticeably.  Some hills at last, they are all green as well, there must have been a fair bit of rain around the Albury region recently.  We stopped for lunch at the Holbrook submarine at around midday & a stretch of the legs & back.  On the road again & we reached home at 4.30pm after driving a total of 606km & a behind the wheel time of 7.5 hours – a long day & a long way.  The country is noticeably drier around Yass – Canberra area, the grass is not as green as we have become used to in Victoria along the Murray River.

We quickly unpacked the car, surveyed the knee high grass, then headed off for grandson Jackson’s 9^th birthday dinner, the reason we travelled all this way in one day.  We surprised Jackson & little brother Austin when they answered the door & we got cuddles & kisses from them all night.  It makes it all very worthwhile – we treasure these moments.

We have spent a total of 7 weeks away from home.

8,741 km              total distance travelled

1,078.03               litres of diesel used

$1,754.45             total cost of fuel

12.333                   litres per 100km fuel usage

Car:                        Mercedes Benz GL 320 CDI 4WD

Caravan:              Kimberley Karavan

The places we have seen:

• Mungo National Park
• Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area
• Kinchega National Park
• Mutawintji National Park
• Flinders Ranges National Park
• Vulkathunha – Gammon Ranges National Park
• Lake Eyre National Park
• Wabma Kadarbu  – Mound Springs Conservation Park
• Painted Desert
• Moon Desert
• The Breakaways
• Mt Remarkable National Park
• Flinders Chase National Park
• Western River Wilderness Protection Area
• Lathami Conservation Park
• Cape Gantheaume Wilderness Protection Area
• Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park
• Cape Willoughby Conservation Park
• Lashmar Conservation Park
• Baudin Conservation Park
• American River Aquatic Reserve
• Coorong National Park
• Little Desert National Park
• Wyperfeld National Park
• Hattah Kulkyne National Park

Plus a whole lot more interesting places, towns & people we have met.

It was special travelling with our friends Helen & John plus Rose & Mike for the first part of our journey & being able to share the walks & experiences with them.  It was a special time that Tereza & I shared together.

Day 48 – October 18 2012

This morning we took the Scenic Drive in Echuca from the old port area downriver following the riverbank.  The bushland is reasonably dense & the dirt road in reasonable condition, we only drove slowly, we saw lots of small birds & glimpses of the river through the large river red gum trees. We stopped at the junction of the Murray River & the Campaspe River & had a walk round, a person was fishing off an old fallen tree & having no luck.  The Murray River is flowing strongly at this location & the erosion of the riverbank on both rivers is very noticeable & pronounced.  We continued the Scenic Drive, this time following the Campaspe River upstream, a noticeably smaller river with no discernible flow, until we reached Echuca township again.  A pleasant drive.

We parked at the old port car park & watched 2 paddle steamers arrive & dock, the “Canberra” & the “Emmylou”, they do sound & look good, with the thumping of the paddles as they hit the water & the blasts of their steam whistles.  We walked around the old port shopping precinct looking at some of the period style shops before heading off to “the best fish & chip shop in Victoria”.  Well it wasn’t, we were very disappointed & know not to go back there again.  After lunch we walked around the “new” part of Echuca, admiring some of the old buildings & window shopping.  We then headed off on the “Riverbank Walk”, a short walk along the Campaspe River from the old port to the bridge that marks the crossing place of the first punt used on the Campaspe River in the mid 1800s.

Then back to the old port & we sat on the bank & watched the paddle steamer “Emmylou” labouring up the Murray River & docking.  We sat there for a while looking at the passing river & goings on as wood was brought in & crews tied up for the night.  It was very peaceful & relaxing, apart from the odd wild duck squabbling over mates.  Back to camp & we sit listening to hundreds of corellas settling in for the night, squawking & squabbling & flying from tree to tree, they are really very noisy.  Another pleasant day.

Yesterday while sitting outside in the sun eating our lunch 2 crazy ladies walked up to us telling us how much they admired Ron’s hat with the feathers & asked if they could photograph it & off they went clicking away while Ron was proud as a peacock.  Today a school girl thought his hat was cool.  The feathers are certainly a conversation starter with complete strangers.

We had a great time in Echuca, it is a nice & interesting place.  We had an absolutely lovely trip, we have seen & experienced places & had a lot of laughs & the weather has never been bad enough to stop us from doing the things we wanted to.  All good things must come to an end, tomorrow we are packing up & leaving for home.  It will be a long 7 – 8 hours drive but we want to be home for Jacksons 9^th birthday dinner.  It will be great to see everyone again.

Day 47 – October 17 2012

Our morning started with a drive to the Murray River & under the road bridge at Moama, to a gently sloping riverside on an inside bend of the river that the locals call “The Beach”.  I’m sure on a hot day in summer it would be a pleasant place to be.  At the moment after the recent flooding it could be called “The Mud”.  Our next stop a little further downstream was the Moama Slipway, where riverboats are retrieved for inspection & any necessary repairs.  Next to the slipway is an old Murray River barge called the Ada that is awaiting its turn for restoration, there is a lot of work required.  This barge is huge, it must be over 30 metres long & 7 metres wide.  The slipway gives a good view of the port area & the wharf on the Echuca side of the river.  There is a lot of noticeable erosion from the last large flood, with lots of tree roots exposed & trees toppled into the river.

Next we drove over the river to Echuca & the historic port area.  There are lots of old restored working paddle steam boats here & we saw a couple of them steam off taking loads of tourists.  We had a quick look at the buildings then joined a guided tour of the wharf area.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable & interesting & the tour was over before we knew it.  After the tour we poked around the wharf area by ourselves & came across the old sawmill, with original steam driven machinery restored & in working order, again it was extremely interesting.  We explored the underground illegal bar at the Star Hotel across the street from the port & its escape route if raided by police.  We then walked down the street to the old Bridge Hotel & looked around upstairs where the rooms are set up as they were in the early 1900s, complete with period furniture & wallpaper.  It has been very well presented, complete with the squatters quarters.  Downstairs we had a pleasant lunch at the hotel sitting in the shade as it was a beautiful warm day.  After lunch we made our way back to the wharf, looking in at the working blacksmith forge & the woodworking workshop before boarding the paddle steamer Pevensey for an afternoon cruise on the river.

The Pevensey was the paddle steamer used in the television series & movie “All the Rivers Run”, but was renamed the “Philadelphia” for the duration of filming.  Another paddle steamer here, the “Emmylou” was also used in the show under its own name.  The Pevensey only had around a dozen passengers on our river cruise so it was very comfortable being able to move around freely.  The smell of the engine & the steam whistle sound is a totally different sensation than all the desert we have been experiencing for most of our trip.  Our river cruise was very comfortable, sitting on wool bales, a pleasant 22C & no wind, with the gentle pulse of the steam engine & the thrash of the paddles as we serenely sailed downstream.  There are lots of very nice & expensive riverboats moored against the bank & there are also some very nice homes on the riverbank.  Again, we see a lot more recent flood damage evident from the decks of the Pevensey.  All too soon we are back at the dock again, the captain using the current to guide the ship into its mooring, with a few well-timed pushes from the paddles.  This was a great experience.

We explored around the dock area further, reading our way through the well set up museum, before heading out into the general port area & wandering amongst the many old buildings.  All too soon the day was over, so back to camp after another great day.

Ron was in second heaven today, the water, the boats & the history, the only thing missing were some good long jetties with lots of wind.  All I have to say is “hallelujah” we are away from Little Desert, Big Desert & all the heat, sand, flies & SNAKES.  This place is lovely, the weather is good, the place is nice & very interesting, we just loved the leisurely trip by the steam boat.  Ron & I walked around the caravan park enjoying the late afternoon by the river & we were amazed that they have hundreds of permanent resident cabins (some are really nice – we can see why they are holiday homes)  & a token of about 10 caravan sites (I suppose so that they can call it a caravan park).

Day 46 – October 16 2012

A pleasant morning sitting outside having breakfast looking at Lake Hattah filtered through the river red gum saplings & watching & hearing the birds.  We had another visit from the family of apostle birds, though not as insistent this morning as they were yesterday.  We stayed sitting & enjoying the scenery until we decided it was time to pack & go.

The drive today was through a lot of irrigated grape vineyards & fruit orchards, I have never seen so much acreage of either previously, there are also a lot of very large irrigation channels & huge pumps in the Murray River.  Some of the land that is too sandy for agriculture is national park, typically near the river where it tends to flood a lot.  We refuelled at Swan Hill & stopped just outside at Lake Boga for lunch at a small park.  On display was a giant steam pump that was used to pump irrigation water for many years, from 1903 to 1952, capable of pumping 3 million gallons a day (13.6 million litres).  After Lake Boga the farming changed to some wheat & a lot of dairy farms, some farms had hundreds of Friesian milking cows in their herd.  The pastures were also supported by irrigation from the Murray River.

The twin town of Echuca-Moama was our destination for the day, so we found a spot in a riverside caravan park in Moama, on the NSW side of the Murray River.  The Karavan was just about set up when it started to rain & blow strongly, so we sat inside & waited it out for a short while, then took advantage of the washing machine & clothes drier to handle the backlog of washing we had. Our first shower in a few days was also very welcome, to wash some of that mallee sand & dust away from our small desert ventures.

To top the day off Tereza cooked a magnificent steak dianne for dinner & it was washed down with the last of a nice shiraz I had.  Another pleasant day after a 356km drive.

Day 45 – October 15 2012

An early start this morning with a quick breakfast & a start on our walk before it became too hot.  We walked the Discovery Walk from the Wonga Campground at Wyperfeld National Park, a distance of 4km, starting not too far from our Karavan.  This walk is interactive as every so often there is a small post with information about a particular tree or plant or bird, etc.  It makes the walk that much more interesting as you become a lot more aware of what is around you.  This desert mallee country is very sandy in places, particularly walking up some of the sand hills it was hard work.  A lot of the desert wildflowers are out in full bloom, with a lot more in full bud & about to bloom, it should look magnificent in the next few weeks.  There are also lots of birds around, a good indication of a healthy ecosystem.  We got to around the half-way point & walked up one more sand hill to look down on the “Devils Waterholes”.  This is a permanent soak in the bottom of a mostly dry, small lake bed & the area is full of birds, mostly galahs, corellas & cockatoos, with a couple of emus as well.  On our walk back to camp we noticed a lot of digging from echidnas but did not see any.  Some of the porcupine grass that grows here grows in a ring with a hole in the centre, it looks so unusual.  The last sand hill we climbed was the largest & there is a small lookout constructed near the top that gives fantastic views across the mallee in all directions, there are certainly a lot of sand hills around.

Back at camp we walked another 1 km to the grave of “Baby Cameron”, a lonely site on a small hill looking out over the Wonga campground that is the final resting place of 7 day old twin Donald Cameron who died in the late 1800s on the Wonga pastoral station close by.  It must have been so tough in those days, so isolated, little water, no medical help, a very poignant reminder.

The temperature was now 33C & it was very windy so we decided to pack camp & head to our next destination, rather than have an early lunch here at Wonga Campground.  The drive was uneventful, bitumen all the way again, (we are getting spoiled) with very little traffic, to the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park around 30km south of Mildura in north western Victoria.  We had a look at the display in the visitor centre first & it was interesting & informative, before driving the short distance to the Lake Hattah Campground.  At last, a lake with water in it.  We drove around the campground & found the best spot & set up, then ate a late lunch.  It was 33C & very windy, a big difference from the 11C & very windy of a couple of days ago.  We were greeted by a family of 15 apostle birds that were anxious for a feed, they surrounded me as I sat on the top step of the Karavan eating a sandwich, one even flew into the Karavan looking for a feed & I shooed it out again.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk along the lake edge amongst all of the new saplings, it looked inviting & cool.  Well, the walk only lasted a very short time when we came across an Eastern Brown snake around 2 metres long, the 2^nd most venomous snake in the world.  He looked at us for a little while before turning & slithering off remarkably quickly.  We kept walking & then spotted the same snake again, well, that ended that walk.

We then decided to take it easy & a little less risky this afternoon & take the Hattah Lakes Nature Discovery Drive, a 6.5 km loop around Lake Hattah, including Lake Bulla & Lake Arawak, all with water in them.  Well, we hadn’t got far on this drive when we saw our next snake, a large black one, slithering rapidly off the road as we approached.  This loop drive had numbered posts that went with a descriptive pamphlet that we had, so we stopped at each post & read the information about the special plants & other natural features near the area.  This was very interesting & again we became more immersed in the area & the information.  Near the end of the drive we came across a goanna basking in the sun, not concerned about us one bit. There were lots of birds to see & hear here.

We returned to camp, rested & watched the birds come to the lake to drink.  As the sun started to set the weather became cooler & the wind abated.  The birds became noisier as they started to settle down for the night on the trees around the lake.  We sat outside until dark, enjoying the cool & the birdlife, even the bats started to fly around looking for insects in the dusk.  I can hear a tawny frogmouth bird not too far away & another owl species calling in the distance, not sure which one though.

Day 43 – October 13 2012

Before we left Kingston this morning we stopped & took a photo of Larry the Lobster, the giant statue that makes a statement about the main industry in town, he sure is large.  We also had a look at the sundial in the park, this sundial is unusual in that it uses a person as the pointer, standing in a particular spot depending which month of the year it is.  We then headed to Cape Jaffa, an even smaller fishing village & from where the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse came from.  Cape Jaffa has an elaborate & new harbour complex built, with house blocks to fund it.  There are a few houses built there, but it looks way out of place, there is no other infrastructure around to support the community.  Again Cape Jaffa relies on fishing for survival & crayfishing when in season.  We walked out on the small jetty, the rails were lined with hundreds of terns facing into the wind & as we walked close they took flight, one by one.  An amazing sight.  From the end of the jetty we could see the platform rising out of the sea where the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse once stood.

We said our goodbyes to the sea & turned inland, where we stopped on the side of the road just past Naracoorte for lunch to finish off our fruit before we crossed the Victorian border.  We turned off the Wimmera Highway onto the Nihll-Harrow Road & followed it until we reached the central section of Little Desert National Park.  We stopped at the Stringybark Walk & had a short walk around the loop to get a feel for this desert & to wake us up, Tereza was sleeping & I started to get tired.  The wildflowers are just starting to come out, there are a lot of plants that will be out in a few more weeks.  One plant that is spectacular is a small orchid that just pops out of the ground, this orchid is so small, yet extraordinarily beautiful.   There are not many birds around.

We continued the drive to Nhill & then down to Dimboola, where we turned into the eastern section of the Little Desert National Park.  We only drove a short distance before we reached our destination at the Horseshoe Bend Campground on the banks of the Wimmera River.  There are around 15-20 campsites & we chose a nice one away from the other campers.  After setting up we went for a short walk along the riverbank, again admiring the wildflowers & the large numbers of all different species of birds.  It is very nice to be once again camping in the bush.  We had a nice BBQ & I’m a little tired after the 352km of driving today.  We had another good day.  The weather is starting to warm up again, it reached 20 C today.

Day 42 – October 12 2012

Thank goodness the wind has abated overnight & the rain has cleared, making packing camp a lot more pleasant.  We drove this morning to Goolwa, another old port town near the mouth of the Murray River & drove along the waterfront to get a feel for the town.  There are a lot of old buildings & houses from the late 1800s when the town was prosperous, some of the prominent buildings have been restored very well.

We kept on driving to Milang, another old port town on Lake Alexandrina, this town has not fared as well as Goolwa, being a lot smaller.  There are a lot of fishermen’s shacks right on the edge of the lake that are jostling each other cheek to jowl.  We took a walk out on the jetty, disturbing lots of birds roosting there & had a look at the old hand crane formerly used to load wool & wheat off boats & onto rail carts.  The town appears to have an active railway historical society with a number of preserved rail artefacts near the old railway station, now a visitor centre.  There are also a few old buildings appearing to be as they were left when the doors shut last century, slowly falling apart due to neglect.

On the road from Milang to Wellington we passed through the Langhorne Creek wine production area & the vineyards of Wolf Blass, a prominent winemaker, his vines were very well tended.  There are hundreds of acres of manicured grape vines in this area.  At Wellington a car ferry is used to cross the Murray River just upstream from Lake Alexandrina, so that was a bit of excitement, waiting for the ferry to come across the river, unload, then take us across the river with around 8 other cars.

We turned onto the Princess Highway & drove along the edge of Lake Albert before stopping for lunch at another small former port town of Meningie.  We had a short walk along the foreshore where they are revegetating the lake edge & put in a walking path.  I resisted the urge to walk out on the jetty, it was a short one.

We then followed the Coorong along, this is a very narrow salt water lake system separated from the sea by a narrow band of sand hills called the Younghusband Peninsula. The Coorong lakes system has a lot of birdlife in it & extends for nearly 100km.

Our final stop for the day is another old port town, Kingston, & the Caravan Park, right next to the old relocated Cape Jaffa Lighthouse.  This lighthouse was stuck out on a reef on the sea & two lighthouse keepers & their families lived in the lighthouse as well.  They must have gone around the twist locked up like that for months on end.  We decided to walk around town & the walk along the seafront is smelly from all of the rotting seaweed piled up on the beach from the recent wild weather.  Another interesting thing is that there are no waves to speak of, it is if the sea is protected by a large reef system, the small waves just lap onto the beach.  There is a long jetty & I resisted the temptation of walking out on it, but Tereza was insistent so I finally agreed to accompany her out on the jetty (tell another one).  It was reasonably cold & windy out on the jetty, again, we were the only people crazy enough to be out there.  After that we walked around town & admired some of the nice old stone buildings from when Kingston was a thriving port.  It was a nice long walk, they appear to look after the public facilities reasonably well & there are a lot of nice new buildings around town (some not so nice) noticeably along the seashore.  Tomorrow we will stop at a couple of places of interest before we are off to the Little Desert National Park, so we could be out of contact for a while.  Again another pleasant day, we did find a few jetties we had to walk out on to make Ron’s day.

Day 41 – October 11 2012

Last night was apparently extremely windy & raining heavily, according to Tereza & neighbours, I slept through it all, so blissfully unaware.  Tereza said the Karavan was being rocked by the sudden gusts of wind.  This morning our outside kitchen bucket was full to overflowing with rainwater & Tereza’s shoes left outside had been blown behind the Karavan.  I checked the weather observations on the Bureau of Meteorology website today & there were 4 different time periods last night that recorded wind gusts of 55 knots or more (100 km/hr) so it was definitely windy as well.

This morning we started out a little later than usual while waiting for the rain to clear & headed down to the causeway wharf at Victor Harbor, rugged up in our rain jackets & walked out to Granite Island, around 500m from shore.  The wind on the first half of the wharf was extreme & cold, but started to settle down once we started to get into the shelter of Granite Island.  There were not many people out walking, only us two.  There is a walking track of about 1.5km distance around the island so we walked around, going from the sheltered side into the full teeth of the raging gale was interesting.  The sea was very rough with large waves crashing into the rocks throwing huge plumes of spray up, at times splattering us with sea water.  When we reached the shelter of the café we took advantage of the comfort & had a very nice lunch of garfish & salad.   After lunch we walked around the island again, we had enjoyed the wild conditions so much that we decided to brave the elements & enjoy the vista from the other direction.  I think it was even windier & colder than the first time we walked around, with even more spectacular wave action crashing into the rocks & sending up huge sprays. Victor Harbor has a horse drawn tram to take people out to Granite Island but today they considered the weather too awful for the horse & he took me out there  (I must love him or I am crazy to do these walks with him).

We didn’t see any penguins, then again we didn’t really expected to because they come back after dusk, but we did see some sea birds & a Shingle Back lizard (it must have been too cold to move so it just sat there allowing us to walk up to it & photograph it ).

The walk back to town over the wharf was OK for the 1^st half, but around the middle we were back out of the shelter of Granite Island & being buffeted by the full force of the gale force wind again, we literally were blown back along the wharf.  In town we walked around the shopping precinct & admired many of the old stone buildings restored from the town’s beginnings in the mid to late 1800s.  Victor Harbor is a pretty little town with a lot of charm & character.  Most of the restoration work has been done very well & the artistic talents of the signs & seats are also notable.  We finished off our day with a bit of boring shopping then back to camp.  We walked around the large caravan park we are staying in & were about to venture out on another walk just as the next rain shower was coming through, so back to the Karavan for coffee & cinnamon donuts (an indulgence Ron craved for).  Another very nice day, even allowing for the wind.

Day 40 – October 10 2012

Up early & packed again.  We spent 2 wonderful weeks on Kangaroo Island, perhaps one week would have been enough to see most of the touristy sights but we never tired of finding new places to see.  It is so wonderful to see so many birds & wild animals that are not behind a cage in a zoo. Kangaroo Island must be a little piece of heaven on earth (we had good weather while we were there & that always helps).  We drove a short distance to the wharf at Penneshaw for the ferry back to mainland Australia.  It was showering on & off with the wind picking up a bit to around 25 knots, nothing near to what was forecast thankfully.   The ferry was full with around 50 cars & a bus on board, it is amazing how the crew manage to pack so many vehicles on the ship.  The passage over is only around 16km & was not too rough, the wind was behind us & we were travelling with the waves.  The harbour at Port Jervis is very small & the captain of the ship really does a good job in turning around & mooring us, the windage on this ship is huge as the sides are so tall.

The drive to Victor Harbor is around 56km & travels through rich hilly farmland, the pastures are so green & lush, the dairy cattle & the sheep must be absolutely thriving.  I didn’t realise there was so much good farmland in this part of Australia.  It was showering rain most of the way on the drive through the hills so I took things very warily, the winding country roads are a bit slippery & bouncy in places.  Coming down into Victor Harbor the view of the town is great, with Granite Island dominating the harbour.  Thankfully there was a break in the rain as we set up camp, as soon as we finished it started raining again, this time with fine hail & very strong winds.  We sat the hail out in the Karavan  & had lunch, then drove into the city centre to have a look though the museum.  This Victor Harbor museum must be one of the best small museums in Australia.  It is really put together very well & is extremely informative.  The volunteers looking after the place are also doing a wonderful job, so helpful & friendly.

We ventured outside the museum & were nearly blown off our feet, the wind was really strong.  We decided to go on a scenic drive.  We visited the Bluff, with views over Victor Harbor & also west along the coast.  We also followed the coast east & drove into Port Elliot & Middleton, the seas were really creating huge surf right along the coast & there were not too many people out in this terrible weather.  We stopped in town & ate at the 2^nd best fish & chip shop (proudly advertised) in all South Australia.  We had a big platter of really good assorted sea food & salad between the 2 if us, then back to camp.  A pleasant, though windy, day.