Days 169-171 – Ballarat (25-27 February)

Left Hamilton heading for Ballarat 180kms NE.  Our main reason for going to Ballarat was to collect mail.  We stayed 20kms outside of Ballarat at a place called Lake Burrumbeet.  Not the best caravan in that it didn’t cater for tourists at all and was full of permanents.  However we did have a grassed site and other than the permanent sites the park was maintained fairly well.  Unfortunately Lake Burrumbeet is a very dry lake.  It covers an area of approx. 2400 hectares.  It began drying out in 1997 and became completely dry in 2004.  Predictions for the lake are dire with a decreasing rainfall and no forecast inflows.  It is very sad to see this is a result of the drought.  In its day this would have a fantastic area to visit and there is evidence of some nice camping sites and picnic areas and of course the caravan park would have been in its prime.  This is only one of many lakes such as this that we have come across in SA/Vic.  Ballarat has stage 3 water restrictions meaning they can now water their gardens (drippers only and no lawns) twice a week.  This has been reduced from no outside watering at all. 

Ballarat is a town with a lot of history.  It is the home of the Eureka Stockade - “the 'Eureka Stockade', is a key event in the development of Australian democracy and Australian identity, with some people arguing that ‘Australian democracy was born at Eureka’.  In addition, the principles of mateship, seen to be adapted by the gold diggers, and the term ‘digger’ was later adopted by the ANZAC soldiers in World War I.  The rebellion came about because the goldfield workers (known as 'diggers') opposed the government miners' licences. The licences were a simple way for the government to tax the diggers. Licence fees had to be paid regardless of whether a digger's claim resulted in any gold. Less successful diggers found it difficult to pay their licence fees”.

There are some lovely old buildings in the town centre and the main street Sturt Street contains the Sturt Street Gardens. The gardens are on the median strip of Sturt Street and contain significant statues, bandstands, memorials and trees (see pics).  The Avenue of Honour stretches for 22kms and a tree has been planted for each soldier who enlisted as a resident of the urban area of Ballarat.  3,771 trees have been planted.  Its a nice old town and reminds me of a ‘mini Melbourne’. 

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Day 168 – Grampians National Park (24 February)

Spent the day in the Grampians National Park.  What a spectacular park.  Majestic mountains the highest being Mt William which is 1111m high.  We picked a perfect day to go not too hot and it was clear and sunny when fog had been forecast.  Its quite a big park with lots of great walking trails and lookouts.  There was no charge to enter the park which is a first.  Easy to spend a few days here to do it justice.  Some great designated camping spots some with loos and showers.  Halls Gap is a small township about 1/2 way into the park.  Some of the rock formations are in the shape of all kinds of animals and amazing how they are balanced and formed.  Rock climbing and abseiling can be done in the park with organised tour groups and it would be a fantastic thing to do (if you like that kind of adrenalin kick).  Surprisingly there are a couple of lakes that we weren’t expecting.  We visited Mackenzie Falls which were flowing even though there isn’t a lot of water around.  In January 2006 a lightning strike caused a fire in the park with 131,000 hectares being burnt.  It took fire fighters 18 days to declare that they had the fire under control.  Its great to see how the bush has regenerated with new growth, all looking very healthy.  A lot of black tree trunks with new green growth stands out.  We read that not only fauna needs fire to survive but the heath mouse also relies on fires.  After this fire the heath mouse population exploded – this is because their diet is new plant shoots and as the growth gets old and deteriorates, the heath mouse’s population declines – one for the quiz night.  We stopped at Lake Bellfield for morning tea and some very friendly crimson rosellas decided they would join us.  They were very cheeky and obviously used to getting fed by picnickers.  We spent quite a bit of time with them.

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Days 163-167 Mount Gambier - Hamilton, Victoria (19-23 Feb) Week 24 (6th month on the road!)

We crossed into Victoria inconspicuously about 15kms outside of Mount Gambier.  No fanfare like crossing the WA/SA border, no one to check if we were carrying any prohibited veges/fruit.  Although the only item we couldn’t bring in was fresh fruit but not including fresh fruit salad??  Work that one out.  An abrupt change in weather also reminded us we were in Victoria, cold, blustery and grey with fog forecast the day after tomorrow.  Yep, sure is four seasons in one day.  We are heading to the Southern Grampians.  On the way we stopped at a town called Casterton.  Casterton’s claim to fame is that is the ‘birthplace of the kelpie’.  Of course we had to stop here having our own.  The original ‘kelpie’ was born in 1871, her parents being a pair of black and tan collies imported from Scotland.  The female pup was called ‘kelpie’ which means ‘a malignant water sprite haunting the fords and streams in the shape of a horse’.  She was an ordinary collie to look at, long haired, black and tan, with lop ears that pricked up when she worked. Kelpie was swapped for a horse with the new owner called Jack Gleeson leaving the district to go to NSW.  On his way he was given a young dog called Moss.  Moss was smooth coated and jet black with pricked ears.  Moss was mated with Kelpie and the progeny created the bloodlines of the kelpie breed.  There is a walking trail around the town that has five unique sculptures depicting the life and times of the kelpie dog.  From here we continued on to Hamilton which is a town of 10,000 at the foothills of the Grampians.  There are lot of shops in the town (much more than Busselton) which is surprising for a smaller population.  We have noticed that the further east we are heading the cheaper groceries are, for example 1kg Woolies cheese regular price in SA was $8.99 and it is $6.99 here.  A cup of coffee in SA and Vic has cost no more than $3.50.  It is cold here we have had nights down to 6 degrees!  Too cold and the days are more like autumn not getting much higher than the mid 20s which is nice for exploring particularly if they are sunny. 

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Map of Victoria

6 months of wonderful experiences – a rundown on what we have seen so far!

Copy of an email sent to family and friends 20 Feb 2010

Hi everyone

We we are now going into our 6th month travelling and it seems like only yesterday that we left home.  Can't believe how quickly the time has gone!  Must be a sign of having too good a time.  In case you aren't all looking at our blog on a regular basis (yes we know) thought we would jot down some of our experiences and things we have seen so far.   You'll have to look at our blog for further details of our adventures - here it is http://hansensaroundoz.blogspot.com/ (feel free to leave comments, nice ones).

• Kayaked with turtles in Exmouth, WA
• Stood at the bottom of a dormant volcano in Mount Gambier, SA
• Gorged our faces with exotic tropical fruit in Carnarvon, WA
• Dived the Navy Pier in Exmouth, WA (reputed to be one of the best dive sites in the world!)
• Came face to face with a Grey Nurse shark whilst diving the Navy Pier
• Dived and snorkelled the Ningaloo Reef (we still reckon it beats the Barrier Reef and yes we have done the Barrier Reef)
• Ran for our lives out of a farmstay in Port Lincoln on a forecast catastrophic fire day (OK slight exaggeration)
• Experience 45 degree heat one day to 22 the next - work that out!
• Stuffed our faces with the best freshest prawns ever in Exmouth, WA
• Watched a 12m underground blast at the Super Pit in Kalgoorlie
• Saw our first wild koala in Adelaide hills
• Went for a boat ride along the mighty Murray River in Mannum, SA
• Feel sad for the dire water situation in SA, still in drought conditions
• Great White Shark cage dive at Port Lincoln, SA
• Free camped with road trains on the Nullabor (not our choice)
• Had a tyre blowout on the longest straight stretch of the Nullabor
• Still in awe at the magic of the Pilbara - nowhere else can you see colours and a landscape quite like it (everybody should experience it)
• Wiped our feet as we left Port Hedland, WA
• Took at bite at the spectacular Australian Bight
• The Sturt Pea must be one of natures most beautiful flowers and how it grows in dry red dust is beyond us
• Saw many many minesites in north WA -  hmm wonder about the rehabilitation in such remote areas
• Can now appreciate why the miners get paid so well - living in the isolated, remote, hot dusty environments they deserve lots of money
• Walked atop dry riverbeds in Carnarvon WA - unbelievable but water sits 17m below the surface!
• Got saturated by blowholes in Quobba, WA
• Bought delicious wood fired bread from the roadside in Colton, SA
• Watched with dismay the ocean disappearing before our eyes at Streaky Bay when we were experiencing days over 40 degrees and we couldn't go for a dip because of the huge tides
• Stood under London Bridge at Sandstone, WA
• Found the whitest beaches in Esperance, WA - we think they are the best beaches anywhere so far.
• Watched the new year fireworks 250m in front of us on the foreshore at Streaky Bay, SA
• Rescued a pelican with a broken beak at Streaky Bay, SA
• Went to the only cow race in Australia at Mt Compass in SA
• Swam in the Southern Ocean, brrrr
• Seen the bluest lake at Mount Gambier, SA
• Loving daylight saving - WA big mistake not voting it in!
• Lost count of the numerous kms we have walked including through botanic gardens
• Had our fair share of mishaps with the car, radiator, water pump, replaced 6 out of 8 tyres but she still goes and goes, she just goes!
• Overheated going up the hill to Trevor and Margy's place in Adelaide Hills - never seen so many hills and windy roads and bends - after flat WA shock to the system
• Went horse riding in Adelaide hills - thanks Jazz and Margy for being patient
• Visited Hahndorf a lovely German influenced town in the Adelaide Hills and had the best hot Belgian chocolate
• Traumatised by the nuddies at Maslin Beach, SA - please old men cover up!
• Kayaked around the Ships Graveyard at Port Adelaide
• Toured the Royal Flying Doctor depot in Kalgoorlie, a must do so very interesting
• Saw our first woylie, rufus bettong and potoroos at Warrawong Sanctuary in Adelaide
• Toured the best tasting chocolate ever at Haig's Chocolates in Adelaide and got good sized samples.
• Looked at the 'stick figures' at Lake Ballard in WA, hohum
• Watched the best lightning display at Sandstone WA - combined with the colours of the Pilbara - just magic
• Went to the furthest tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in SA and watched the ferry cross to Kangaroo Island
• Met some great people along the way and yes we're coming to stay and rekindled some great old friendships

Phew and we still have 3 states and 2 territories to go and we haven't seen all that we want to see in WA yet.  

Are we ready to go home - no way not yet.  Still too much to do and see and we're having fun!

The one thing we would love to do and won't be doing is Tassie.  Unfortunately once we got the final quote (over $2000) on the ferry Spirit of Tasmania and this coupled with the fact that most of the sights we want to see are in National Parks and hard to do with the dog, decided we wouldn't do it this trip.  That will be our next trip when we can do it in a little more luxury, fly with our ff points, hire a car, chalets and no dog!

So for anyone who is looking at this email thinking they would like to do a trip like this, then we say JUST DO IT!  Life is too short and all the reasons/excuses why you aren't/can't will always be there.    Hope to see you on the open road.

Love

John, Karen and Coco

6 months of wonderful experiences – a rundown on what we have seen so far!

Copy of an email sent to family and friends 20 Feb 2010

Hi everyone

We we are now going into our 6th month travelling and it seems like only yesterday that we left home.  Can't believe how quickly the time has gone!  Must be a sign of having too good a time.  In case you aren't all looking at our blog on a regular basis (yes we know) thought we would jot down some of our experiences and things we have seen so far.   You'll have to look at our blog for further details of our adventures - here it is http://hansensaroundoz.blogspot.com/ (feel free to leave comments, nice ones).

• Kayaked with turtles in Exmouth, WA
• Stood at the bottom of a dormant volcano in Mount Gambier, SA
• Gorged our faces with exotic tropical fruit in Carnarvon, WA
• Dived the Navy Pier in Exmouth, WA (reputed to be one of the best dive sites in the world!)
• Came face to face with a Grey Nurse shark whilst diving the Navy Pier
• Dived and snorkelled the Ningaloo Reef (we still reckon it beats the Barrier Reef and yes we have done the Barrier Reef)
• Ran for our lives out of a farmstay in Port Lincoln on a forecast catastrophic fire day (OK slight exaggeration)
• Experience 45 degree heat one day to 22 the next - work that out!
• Stuffed our faces with the best freshest prawns ever in Exmouth, WA
• Watched a 12m underground blast at the Super Pit in Kalgoorlie
• Saw our first wild koala in Adelaide hills
• Went for a boat ride along the mighty Murray River in Mannum, SA
• Feel sad for the dire water situation in SA, still in drought conditions
• Great White Shark cage dive at Port Lincoln, SA
• Free camped with road trains on the Nullabor (not our choice)
• Had a tyre blowout on the longest straight stretch of the Nullabor
• Still in awe at the magic of the Pilbara - nowhere else can you see colours and a landscape quite like it (everybody should experience it)
• Wiped our feet as we left Port Hedland, WA
• Took at bite at the spectacular Australian Bight
• The Sturt Pea must be one of natures most beautiful flowers and how it grows in dry red dust is beyond us
• Saw many many minesites in north WA -  hmm wonder about the rehabilitation in such remote areas
• Can now appreciate why the miners get paid so well - living in the isolated, remote, hot dusty environments they deserve lots of money
• Walked atop dry riverbeds in Carnarvon WA - unbelievable but water sits 17m below the surface!
• Got saturated by blowholes in Quobba, WA
• Bought delicious wood fired bread from the roadside in Colton, SA
• Watched with dismay the ocean disappearing before our eyes at Streaky Bay when we were experiencing days over 40 degrees and we couldn't go for a dip because of the huge tides
• Stood under London Bridge at Sandstone, WA
• Found the whitest beaches in Esperance, WA - we think they are the best beaches anywhere so far.
• Watched the new year fireworks 250m in front of us on the foreshore at Streaky Bay, SA
• Rescued a pelican with a broken beak at Streaky Bay, SA
• Went to the only cow race in Australia at Mt Compass in SA
• Swam in the Southern Ocean, brrrr
• Seen the bluest lake at Mount Gambier, SA
• Loving daylight saving - WA big mistake not voting it in!
• Lost count of the numerous kms we have walked including through botanic gardens
• Had our fair share of mishaps with the car, radiator, water pump, replaced 6 out of 8 tyres but she still goes and goes, she just goes!
• Overheated going up the hill to Trevor and Margy's place in Adelaide Hills - never seen so many hills and windy roads and bends - after flat WA shock to the system
• Went horse riding in Adelaide hills - thanks Jazz and Margy for being patient
• Visited Hahndorf a lovely German influenced town in the Adelaide Hills and had the best hot Belgian chocolate
• Traumatised by the nuddies at Maslin Beach, SA - please old men cover up!
• Kayaked around the Ships Graveyard at Port Adelaide
• Toured the Royal Flying Doctor depot in Kalgoorlie, a must do so very interesting
• Saw our first woylie, rufus bettong and potoroos at Warrawong Sanctuary in Adelaide
• Toured the best tasting chocolate ever at Haig's Chocolates in Adelaide and got good sized samples.
• Looked at the 'stick figures' at Lake Ballard in WA, hohum
• Watched the best lightning display at Sandstone WA - combined with the colours of the Pilbara - just magic
• Went to the furthest tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in SA and watched the ferry cross to Kangaroo Island
• Met some great people along the way and yes we're coming to stay and rekindled some great old friendships

Phew and we still have 3 states and 2 territories to go and we haven't seen all that we want to see in WA yet.  

Are we ready to go home - no way not yet.  Still too much to do and see and we're having fun!

The one thing we would love to do and won't be doing is Tassie.  Unfortunately once we got the final quote (over $2000) on the ferry Spirit of Tasmania and this coupled with the fact that most of the sights we want to see are in National Parks and hard to do with the dog, decided we wouldn't do it this trip.  That will be our next trip when we can do it in a little more luxury, fly with our ff points, hire a car, chalets and no dog!

So for anyone who is looking at this email thinking they would like to do a trip like this, then we say JUST DO IT!  Life is too short and all the reasons/excuses why you aren't/can't will always be there.    Hope to see you on the open road.

Love

John, Karen and Coco

Days 161-162 Mount Gambier (17-18 Feb)

 

Wednesday night John and I went to one of the local Rotary meetings.  They have 3 clubs here.  This particular club is the oldest in town and formed in 1928. They were up to meeting number 3989!  They have about 30 members.  A very friendly club.  It was held at the local RSL club.  We must start going to the RSL’s more often as generally you can get well priced meals and drinks.  Had a go on the 1c pokies and lost my $1.00 (damm!).  Following this we revisited Umpherston Sinkhole to see the brushtail possums feeding at night.  Saw a couple, they are tame to a point particularly if you have food for them (not a good thing).  The baby was cute and was keen to jump on mom’s back when she climbed away.

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Thursday we did a tour to Blue Lake.  Blue Lake is a dormant volcano with the crater bottom sitting below the water table.  The lake supplies Mount Gambier with its water.  The water is pristine, they only add minimal chlorine too get rid of any bacteria that may be present.  The lake is 1km by 600m wide and is 70m deep.  It holds 36,000ML and approx. 10% is drawn per annum.  The water temperature ranges from 10-20 degrees and averages at 16.  The most amazing feature of this lake is how blue it is during the summer months.  There have been many theories and the latest scientific explanation is that during winter when the water is cooler, calcium carbonate is more dense and is suspended closer to the surface turning the water a blue/grey colour whereas in summer as the water temperature warms the carbonate can move down towards the bottom leaving more pure water towards the top, hence its blueness.

        

Day 160 – Mount Gambier (16 Feb)

Weather has improved somewhat and is lovely and sunny so we spent the day sightseeing.  Our first stop was Little Blue Lake about a 10 minute drive from town.  Little Blue Lake is a sinkhole and is the local swimming hole.  The facilities around it are maintained but unfortunately the lake does have some blue green algae but not enough to really stop you getting in (if it was warmer).  The water temperature varies from 10-15 degrees and we were told by some locals that is more than 35m deep.  It would be fantastic to have a dip on a hot day.  Our next stop was Mt Schank, about 15 minutes drive from town.  Mt Schank is a dormant volcano and one of the youngest.  It is a 158m steep climb to the crater rim but well worth the effort.  I ventured into the bottom of the crater (unique thing to do) and it was great.  So quiet.  The trek down was via an overgrown track and there were lots of lizards but no snakes thank goodness.  It was very hot down there and no shade but I’m glad I did it as is it not something you can do often.  After the walk up to the top John opted to stay put.  I read on the display down in the carpark that there is no guarantee that even a dormant volcano won’t erupt again but would follow an earthquake.  Sobering to know I would have had a warning whilst down there!  Our next stop was the seaside town of Port MacDonnell, 27km south of Mount Gambier and the closest beach.  Amazing the drop in temperature here and similar to the Eyre Peninsula in that the ocean is very tidal and it was out.  We found a bay called Camel Rock and it had lots of white rocks on the beach which we hadn’t come across before.  The Southern Ocean sure is cold though, wonder how often anyone gets in the water.  Next we stopped at Ewen Ponds which is reported to be a good snorkelling and diving site.  The only place in Mount Gambier where you can swim in caves without a certified divers licence. There are three ponds that link and the maximum depth is 11m.  The water is so clear and it was a magic place and we were tempted to get in but again in water that is somewhere between 10-15 degrees would have been very short lived.  Dry suits are recommended.  Apparently there are lots of plant and fish life in the ponds and it is very interesting.  Next time.  One thing we did see were heaps and heaps of cows and some of the farms we drove by supplied Devondale Dairy.  It seems that farmers just open the paddock gates and the cows walk themselves from one to the other across the roads – quiet farm roads so little chance of any accidents. 

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Mt Schank from crater rim	Mt Schank from crater bottom

Skippy

Skippy is a souvenir (you know, one of those that clip on and you can a pack of 12 for $5) and we had bought a pack when we did our African safari in 2007 to give to the village kids etc.  We had him perched on the front of the hire vehicle (Landcruiser troopie) whilst in Africa for 6 weeks and he survived all weathers and rough roads.  We thought he might have got pinched but he made it back albeit weather beaten minus his hat and flag.  Interestingly, the locals were worried and puzzled by him as they don’t know what a kangaroo was and many thought it was some kind of voodoo doll which probably stopped him from getting pinched! Once we got home we dumped him in a drawer and he was forgotten about until we were packing to leave on this trip and decided to take him with us,  So far he has been on front of the car for 23 weeks!  John has sown him up but he is still in one piece.   We wonder how long he will last before he deteriorates entirely.

  

 

Days 158-159 – Mount Gambier (14-15 Feb)

Since we arrived on Thursday the weather here has been pretty wet and cool so haven’t been able to get and explore too much.  We have certainly experienced variances in weather since we crossed the border into SA.  Seeing what is happening in the other eastern states and the variances we have been through WA does seem to have more consistent weather and doesn’t seem to get the extreme weather patterns.  We are looking forward to get to some consistently warm days don’t know where that will be.  So we decided to do a tour to the Engelbrecht Cave in the middle of the town site.  It was very interesting.  The cave length is 700m with the majority either filled with water or forming lakes. Buildings including 19 houses have been built above the cave as well as roads.  The thickness of limestone from the cave roof to the surface varies from 17-40m.  It is constantly monitored for movement.  The water level remains fairly constant and about every 100 years the cave fills to the top with water and then subsides.  Over the last 8 years it has dropped 2m.   There is no life whatsoever in the cave due to the 100% humidity and nothing for creatures to feed on.  The temperature inside the cave is a constant 16 degrees.  We could only get to look in two chambers that are dry and to see the rest you need to be a certified cave diver.  On average they get 400 divers a year diving in the caves.   The access points for the divers are fairly steep and you would have to be keen to carry all your gear with you.  The water depth varies from 1-10m and water temperature is 10-15 degrees, so dry suits recommended.  In the second chamber the diver access gap to squeeze through is about 1m and the initial water depth is 1m and there is no room for error as on the cave floor is volcanic ash and if it is kicked with a fin it is like talcum powder and will smother vision in no time in fact even with powerful torches you wouldn’t be able to see your hand in front of your face.  As there is no current in the water it takes 3-4 weeks to settle.  Hence this cave is only for the very experienced.   It was believed there was also no life in the water, however recently divers came up with a creature that looks like a centipede.  No one could work out how it could survive and research showed it has been found in other caves overseas and the centipedes feed off each other.  They blend into the limestone and are very hard to find which is why they haven’t been seen before.  The history of the cave is that a german called Carl Engelbrecht bought the site in 1885 and built a whisky distillery believing the hole in the ground was a well and consequently he dumped his waste down there as well as the local butcher, townsfolk even human waste ended up down there.  In 1964 the local council starting looking into the cave for tourist potential.  Four divers braved 100 years of rubbish and dug through it to enter a dark muddy tunnel and discovered a relatively small lake with a very silty floor that was 17 feet deep.  They reporting it wasn’t suitable for tourist development.  In 1979 there was renewed interest and the Lions Club decided to beautify the cave and started cleaning it up, it took 6 years.  The cave was opened for tourism in 1986.  Some trivia for you, there are 600 caves in Australia and the south east has over 250 of them.

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This afternoon the weather picked up and we went for a walk around the Crater Lakes Recreational Park.  Very well and nicely maintained park that is situated around the 4 craters, Blue Lake, Valley Lake, Leg of Mutton Lake and Browne Lake.  Leg of Mutton and Browne Lakes are dry lakes.  The parkland covers a huge area and included a wildlife park, picnic areas. many lookouts over the lakes and lots of walking trials and it is so green!  We walked up a very very steep track to Centenary Tower, 190m above sea level and got some great view of the town and Valley Lake.  Later we stopped at Blue Lake to take photos.  Blue Lake is very interesting in that during the summer months it turns a vivid blue and during winter is a green grey colour.  When we do the tour we’ll fill you in on how this phenomenon occurs and post some more pics.  

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Our Travel Tips

Here are some tips and things we have learnt that may be of interest to those who are thinking of travelling.

Hansen’s around Oz travelling tips

• If you can afford it get a van with an ensuite, not all parks have clean amenities and it is much more convenient than having to cart your gear to the showers everyday.  Can also use when free camping.  Downside is that you have to cart water around which is heavy.  Suggestion: only fill up tank if free camping.
• If using park amenities shower in your thongs, germies on the floor, argh.
• Get a washing machine installed in your van if you don’t have one. They soon pay for themselves and no need to have washing hanging around. Ours is a 2.5 kilo and I would do a load every 2-3 days. Some parks don’t maintain their machines and you never know what’s been in them before your stuff.
• Make sure your van has a/c you’ll need it. Reverse cycle ideal.
• Invest in a 15-20 litre water container particularly when travelling the top end and north WA - long distances between roadhouses, towns. And you pay big dollars for water up there.
• Invest in a jerry can, if driving into headwinds fuel economy drops and again long distances between roadhouses.
• A gazebo is great to have on hand, take it to the beach and for shade to sit under it outside your caravan.  You can buy special pegs that screw into beach sand – well worth buying takes the worry of your gazebo blowing down the beach.
• A caravan awning is a must. Gives you extra room particularly when in a spot for while. Ours is the old style where the roof is threaded through the side of the van and we have poles and guy ropes, newer vans have rollout roofs and 4 corner poles which are much easier to put up. Invest in the sides.
• If you plan on free camping, consider investing in solar panels (about $2K), word from travellers is these are better than a genni. If you can afford both, get both as a backup for each other
• Have a battery charger on hand. Yes we have had car and van batteries go flat at the same time when free camping.
• Have some wooden blocks on hand for balancing the van. We have sometimes had to sit the back van tyres on them for balance.
• Check date on all tyres, they have a 5-6 year lifespan. If buying new check the date.
• Don’t believe the pictures on websites, they rarely depict what the parks are really like. Sometimes we think it isn’t the same park?  Have an open mind. The Australian Caravan Parks reports is a good resource, other travellers submit their experiences about parks they have stayed at. Check out http://home.vicnet.net.au/~badger04/welcome.htm
• Avoid booking ahead and paying deposits in parks (not always possible during school hols). Stay as flexible as you can. We only pay for the first night before committing. If you don’t like somewhere you want to leave asap.
• Join the park associations for discounts, ie. Ozparks, Family Parks and Top Tourist.
• Try and avoid carting too many kitchen appliances. The thing we use the most is our Weber Baby Q and an electric frypan. I use my electric frypan for baking cakes and they turn out well. Can also use the Weber for baking. A couple of saucepans for vegies is ample and a small frypan for eggs etc is handy.
• Four plates, cups, bowls, knives, forks etc is ample for 2 people. Plus a couple of serving dishes, platters for nibbles, etc. Tend to wash up more often as things have to be put away to avoid clutter in a confined area.
• Where possible shop at Woolies or Coles they generally are cheaper than the independent stores.
• Airtight containers are a must. In some spots ants are a problem (ie Exmouth) and everything had to be packed away even unopened chips. These ants ate through everything.
• Scattering ant dust or talcum powder around your van tyres and anything else touching the van is recommended. Check out the ant situation before setting up as it may not always be necessary.
• Get some good sandfly repellent and after bite stuff – you will get nailed eventually.
• A fly swat is a must.
• If you are a reader and are in a place for a couple of weeks, consider joining the library as a visitor.
• Check out the park laundry rooms and/or office as many have bookshelves with a swap 1 for 1 deal. I’ve picked up a few good books this way.
• Always visit the visitors centres (even if you think you know the town), you always find somewhere interesting to visit.
• Get to know the locals if you can, they offer invaluable advice on their town/area and often give you ‘gems’ of information.
• Other travellers also offer good advice and places to visit.
• Check out the fishing regulations in each State as they do vary.
• Invest in the ‘Camps 5’ free and budget camping book. Great resource when free camping.
• Get set up for free camping as often these are the best spots and at no cost.
• If free camping try and get to your spot early to choose the best spot and spread out as much as you can so you don’t great crammed in. They do get busy.
• We have an EvaCool portable fridge/freezer. A great investment. Engel/Waeco are other brands. We leave ours in the car so we always have cold drinks and food on hand even if going out for the day. Also allows extra storage as you van fridge will get full.
• Leave your snorkelling gear, bathers and towel in the car as you never know when you will come across that lovely spot for a dip.

Days 156-157 – Mount Gambier (12-13 Feb)

Rain finally stopped but still very overcast and cool with risk of further showers.  Moving parks today as the one we checked into yesterday (no frills) not at all nice.  We have found one closer to town and walking distance to the lakes.  Mount Gambier is SE of Adelaide on the Limestone Coast, has a population of 25,000 in town (similar size to Albany) and 7,000 rural.  It is smack bang halfway between Adelaide (436kms) and Melbourne (450kms) and 15kms to the Victorian border.  Closest beach is a 30 minutes drive at Port McDonnell.  It is a town built on the slopes of an extinct volcano with three craters, Blue Lake being the biggest.  The town is built atop the Engelbrecht Cave a water filled cave that certified divers frequent.  There is a lot to see here and we have lots of exploring to do and have booked in for a week.  It is very green here compared to the dry brown areas we have been travelling through and it is so nice to see.  Also cooler here averaging low to mid 20s which is a nice relief after the heat we have experienced. 

Our first sightseeing was the Umpherston Sinkhole.  This was originally a cave formed by the dissolution of the limestone causing the top of the cave to sink to the floor creating terraces and the perfect environment for a sunken garden.  It is about 25m in depth and 50m wide.  In 1884 James Umpherston set out to create a “pleasant resort in the heat of summer” by constructing terraces, rock walkways and planting ferns, shrubs and trees.  There was a lake in the bottom where locals would take their rowboats and have picnics - don’t think it would get that wet any longer.  It is very lovely with free bbq facilities and tables and chairs to relax.  At night the gardens are floodlit and possums can be seen feeding.

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Day 155 – Enroute to Mount Gambier (11 Feb)

Awoke in Robe today to a heavy mist followed by rain and it stayed with us all day!!  25 degrees, thunderstorms and showers had been forecast and torrential ran persisted all day and it was so cold got to 21 degrees!  Who would have thought such a big change after all the hot days.  The good thing is it cleaned the van and car which were so dusty and with the drought here means no washing vans or cars in parks.Over the last few days Robe and Mount Gambier have been quite a bit cooler than Adelaide upto 10 degrees and this is quite common apparently.  Despite the rain we decided to still head to Mount Gambier 133kms north east.  Along the way we stopped at Beachport a nice coastal town with a population of 400.  We grabbed a takeaway coffee after getting drenched and cold finding a coffee shop but it was well worth it. Delicious coffee.  They have a feature here called the Pool of Siloam which has a salt concentration seven times greater than the ocean.  It is extremely buoyant and is supposed to have therapeutic qualities particularly  for those with arthritis.  Apparently some locals are in it everyday and swear that it helps their arthritis pain (But in these conditions we weren’t  game to test it). Also found out that the ocean temperature is about 12-15 degrees this time of year and gets down to 2 degrees in winter, straight off the antartic.  No thanks. 

We also stopped at a very interesting place called the Woakwine Crossing (12kms north of Beachport).

“The McCourt family moved to the area in the 1880s and soon realised that without richer land to complement the rocky high country living on the land would be difficult.  In 1957 Murray McCourt decided to ‘have a go’ at constructing a channel from the swamp through the range to Lake George.  The South Eastern Drainage Board assisted in designing and planning the proposed channel, however these plans were not adopted as Mr McCourt believed the process was too costly.  Instead he decided to take a risk by having almost perpendicular walls.  This type of development had never been seen in Australia before and there were obvious risks associated with the plans such as slipping of the steep walls.  However, Mr McCourt along with assistance of one of his workmen, set to prove that it could be done. 

The results

• Length of cutting: 1km
• Width at bottom: 3 metres
• Depth at deepest point: 28.34 metres
• Material moved: 276,000 cubic metres
• Time taken on construction – Work started May 1957 completed May 1960

The cutting was a huge engineering feat for its time and is a remarkable example of how the land has been drained, ploughed, cultivated and sown to pasture, making the area efficient and agriculturally sustainable.

It is certainly very impressive particularly when you consider it was done by two men with fairly basic machinery, bulldozer, scraper and ripper and of course explosives.  Unfortunately it was difficult to get good photos due to nature of the lookout and the drizzly weather but hopefully what we have gives you an idea. 

Our next stop was a town called Tantanoola famous for the ‘Tant tiger’.  The tant tiger was a creature who for a long time, 100 years ago, terrorised farmers by killing their sheep.  Eventually it was shot and was stuffed and now stands on display in the local pub.  An interesting tale.

Finally arrived in Mount Gambier.  Still raining and getting heavier!  There seems to be a lot to do here with the volcanic craters and sinkholes so off to the visitor centre tomorrow to find out more about what we can do.  Stay posted!

We were due to go to Tasmania next and had already gotten an earlier quote from the “Spirit of Australia” of $1,200 for the return voyage.  This included the van, but as this was issued in peak season we decided to get a revised one…….. MISTAKE! as they now realised the original quote was one way!!! Needless to say this big increase (over $2000) coupled with the few parks allowing dogs and of course many National Parks that we’d be unable to visit because of Coco has resulted in Tassie being scrubbed for this trip. Sad really as we had really worked ourselves up to going, sad also for Tassie Tourism!

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Days 152-154 – Robe (8-10 Feb)

With very sad hearts we left Trevor and Margy’s place in Adelaide hills for Robe.  It would have been very easy to stay with them indefinitely – they are such a nice couple and made us feel so welcome and it was great to reconnect after a long absence.  Thanks for a great time guys!  But we have to keep moving, so off to Robe we go.  Robe is a popular tourist coastal town on what is known as the Limestone coast.  It is 330kms south east of Adelaide.  Easy to see why it so popular it is a very nice town with some lovely looking homes and a great main street offering lots of eating options and some lovely boutique shops.  It has a population of about 1700 but swells to 10,000 during peak periods.  We are in a nice caravan park that is on the beachfront.  Tuesday we went for a snorkel and were out very quickly – it was so cold!!!  The water temperature is about 15 degrees – its like stepping into an ice bucket even though it was a hot day!  I had my new wetsuit on so could stay in longer than John but was glad to get out as my toes and fingers were definitely prone to frostbite.  It was a shame as it was very nice with lots of brightly coloured sponges and a really nice kelp forest that I swam through.  I only saw a couple of fish.  It would have been nice to have stayed in longer.  Did a tourist drive that incorporated a 40 foot Obelisk that was built in 1855 for $460!  It was painted red and white stripes in 1862 as ship captains had difficulty differentiating it from Long Beach’s sand hills. The Obelisk is at risk of falling into the ocean because of the eroding limestone.  The rugged coastline around the Obelisk is very picturesque and would be great snorkelling if the water wasn’t so cold.  The old goal is a historic site and was quite impressive just hard to photograph and give it justice.  We have enjoyed our stay here and move on tomorrow to Mount Gambier.  Robe is a very nice town with a great rugged interesting coastline and some fantastic snorkelling sites if only the water was warmer!  Some great kayaking spots too!  When the tide goes out it leaves exposed some wonderful rock pools and looking into the water around the rock pools you can see the kelp forests and colourful sponges.  Hardly any fish life unfortunately.  Robe is a great place to visit.  John reckons if we can find something like this in Qld then he will be hooked.

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Days 150-151 – Adelaide (6-7 Feb)

Saturday we drove to Mannum which is a town on the Murray River. It is known as the houseboat capital.  It is 85km east of Adelaide.  Trevor’s brother Graham lives there and has offered to take us out for a spin on the river in his boat. It was a great thing for us to do. The river has dropped 2m in the last ten years and you see boat moorings which are now in land quite a way from the waters edge.  It is unlikely that the rivers level will ever rise that much again. We saw one of three paddle steamers the PS Marion built in 1897 that is available for hire and occasional river trips, it still is the original. Houseboats that are usually rented out this time of year sit in dock because people believe the river is too dry or shallow to hire one out.  This part of the river can be anywhere from 2-6m deep but this is only because it is between lochs.  It is very sad to see the river this way and the predicted rainfall for coming years is not encouraging.  There is a lot of negotiation between Victoria and SA Governments for Victoria to release water into SA but nothing seems to be happening in a hurry.  It appears the smaller towns are missing out and getting water into the cities takes priority (due to more votes probably) resulting in many farmers having to move off their farms and this in turn means having to buy our produce from overseas.  Water allocation for existing farmers along the Murray is not working either with State water over allocating available water.  The water situation for this part of the world is pretty dire indeed.  Everywhere is so dry and brown it must be so disheartening for those living here.

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Sunday saw us going to Port Adelaide, 14kms northwest of Adelaide. We took the kayaks so we could kayak along the Port Adelaide Ships Graveyard. We kayaked the one at Garden Island.  Upto 25 ships have been scuttled in this area.  We only paddled to the first one as it was so hot and still and the others were just too far away.  We were out for about 1.5 hours.  The paddle to the first wreck was past lots of mangroves, apparently there are upto 18,000 in this area.  Despite being hot we enjoyed the paddle.  From here we went into town for a picnic lunch and were meeting Trevor and Margy for a 1.5 hour boat trip around the port.  The port was celebrating a Flotilla for kids with cancer so there were quite a few things happening including both bridges being lifted for the flotilla of boats to go under.  This is quite a rare occurrence so we were lucky to get some shots.  We wandered around the markets – typical markets similar to Fremantle markets except this one had tonnes and tonnes of secondhand books – never seen so many in one place.   We met Margy and Trevor who had two of their nieces and two nephews with them who were coming along for the boat ride.  The boat ride was quite interesting and and took us out to the heads and back.  It was a relief to get into the air conditioning.  After this the four or us went out for dinner at a local pub.  Trevor and John shared a crab platter and Trevor experienced his first attempt at eating crabs proper with bib and tools.  They also had soft shell crab which left a lot to be desired.  After stuffing our faces we went home for ice cream and coffee.  

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Days 148-149 – Adelaide (4-5 Feb)

Phew a few busy days to catch up on!  Eventually got the car back with new water pump and fingers crossed it all works!  Coco and I went for a walk in Belair National Park one of the few parks where dogs are allowed.  We ended up walking for 1.5 hours as I got lost and took a trail that didn’t exactly go to the exit as I thought it would, despite this it was a lovely walk through a very nice park.  It would be good to see it in winter when it is green.  Margy and John decided to go horse riding one morning.  My one and only experience of horse riding many years ago was not memorable for the wrong reasons hence my reticence to get on one again, but Margy being a very patient instructor talked me through the process, even got into a trot and that was it for me.  At least I got on!  John hasn’t ridden for a few years but he looked like he knew what he was doing. They even had a gallop up a very steep hill on the way home.  As a reward the horses (Jazz and Spratt) got hosed down (they love it) and got to spend the rest of the day devouring the lawn (they love that too). 

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The next day was a big day, we spent the day in the city, visiting the Migration Museum (very interesting), the botanic gardens (very lovely) and Haigh chocolates (even lovelier).  Many walks/trails and gardens such as the Mediterranean, herbs, cactus, waterlillies and fig walk make up the gardens.  The garden comprises 84 hectares in the city centre, are very well maintained with lots of green lawns which is nice to see in such a dry brown State.  Now to Haigh’s chocolates – well these are very delicious hand made (yes hand made) chocolates and we went on a tour of the factory and learnt all about the cocoa bean and the process to being a chocolate.  We had samples - very generous samples and complimentary tea and coffee all for free, although its impossible to walk out of there without buying something!  They are committed to the environment and help environmental awareness by being the first chocolatier to make the bilby easter chocolate.  They also make frogs, native fish and more recently panda chocolates.  Unfortunately you can’t buy their chocolates readily they only have stores in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.  They can be bought online.  We recommend them.

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Days 145-147 – Adelaide (31 Jan – 3 Feb)

Had some luck today in that Trevor has a nephew who is an IT whiz who offered to look at our external hard drive that we used to store or our pictures from this trip and all the stuff off our home computers.  This drive somehow got corrupted before Xmas and we couldn’t use it which was a real blow to us.  Quotes to get it reinstated were about $2000 with no guarantee of success.  Anyway Charles was able to restore the drive for us (thank goodness) for the fraction of the cost.  We were so relieved.  We had a couple of nights showing Margy and Trevor our videos and photos of Africa, Maldives and Sri Lanka from a couple of years ago. Hope they weren’t too bored!

Visited the Warrawong Sanctuary on Sunday night for a nocturnal guided walk.  Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary was first established in 1969 when dairy land was revegetated with native trees and shrubs to attract native animals and birds. In 1982 the 35 acres was enclosed with feral-proof fencing. Once the fence was completed, the bird population flourished and the release of many native animals began, including the elusive platypus.  On 1st January 1985, Warrawong opened to the general public for the first time.  Today, Warrawong is home to 100 species of birds and many native mammals, most of which are nocturnal and highly endangered.  We were part of a small group and spent 1.5 hours walking around the sanctuary.  It is very well set out with 5 habitat areas.  The feral fence is 8 feet high and is very effective at keeping foxes, cats etc out.  We saw bandicoots, potoroos, brushtail possum with baby, tammar wallabies, rufus bettongs and a woylie.  We spent some time looking for a platypus but unfortunately didn’t see one (only a very quick poke at the surface). There are 15 in the park. 

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The next day Monday (1 Feb) John had to return the car to the radiator mechanic as the new radiator we had had fitted the week before was not holding water.  the result was we had to get a new water pump (more unexpected car expenses).  The car had to be left overnight so Margy and I drove to collect John after lunch and had fish and chips for lunch at a lovely beachside spot called Moana.   We also went to Port Noarlunga which has some good snorkelling spots and we walked out along the jetty to exposed reefs (low tide).  Looked great for snorkelling and very accessible from the end of the jetty. There were a few school groups snorkelling, and kayaking. It was a perfect day for it, warm and very calm water.  I actually bought a 2mm 3/4 wetsuit for snorkelling and kayaking.  I’ve been wanted one for a while and they were on special so I grabbed it.  Later that day Trevor wanted to put a separator into each of his beehives (he has 5) to keep the queen bee out of the honey chamber (so she doesn’t lay larvae in it) so the honey can be harvested at a later stage and John helped him by smoking out the bees to make then docile (see pics).  Something he hasn’t done since he was about 12 years old! 

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