Days 196-197 – Bright, Vic (25-26 March)

After trying to catch trout in the river edging the caravan park John decided to try his luck at a trout farm so we drove to the trout farm in a town called Harrietville – 30kms south of Bright.  Lovely little town and the trout farm was well organised.  They had quite a few ponds with varying sizes of fish and ponds with breeding stock.  It was very cheap at $13/kilo after they had cleaned the fish.  I was coerced into catching a fish (not happy).  We caught three good sized fish and the total cost was $20.  Very cheap compared to what you would pay in a restaurant.  That night we went to a Rotary meeting in Bright.  Nice club with about 34 members.  Quite a proactive club and their big thing is a waterslide that they operate at the river during the summer months.  Our last day spent exploring a town called Wandiligong which is 4kms from Bright (opposite end to Porepunkah where we are staying).  In the gold mining days there was an influx of Chinese to the area and a Chinese bridge stands as a reminder of days gone by.  Later in the day Coco and I went for walk along the Ovens River in Bright.  For dinner we had our trout which was absolutely beautiful.  We dined by the river, how nice is that.  The over friendly duck is back and Coco was so jealous and the duck was totally not bothered by her all even though I’m sure Coco would have liked to harm it.  The duck is not at all interested in me (or Coco) and won’t leave John alone even to the point of chasing him when he tried to run away from it.  It really is very funny. We have just worked out why we are getting invaded by kids and found out school holidays have stated in Victoria – time to move to NSW they don’t start until next week! 

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Day 195 – Mt Buffalo NP, Vic (24 Mar)

Spent a wonderful day at Mt Buffalo National Park about 10kms north of Bright.  Mt Buffalo boasts The Horn which is highest peak in the park at 1723m.  The Horn is the farthest point of sealed road from the park entrance and is 30km away.  It is a steep windy drive through the park to the Horn.  It is then a 750m walk to the summit which reward you with magnificent views of the Australian Alps.  The views really are spectacular and we have seen nothing quite like it. It was truly impressive. Parks Victoria have really done a good job with their walking tracks and have cut steps into the natural existing rock.  We are still being very lucky with the weather and it was perfect 27 degrees and we saw it at its best.  However it would also be great to see it with snow! Apparently this area gets very little snow nowadays compared to what it used to get years ago.  Mt Buffalo is a snow skiing area but is more of a beginners slope and tobogganing and snow tubing.  Lake Catani is one of the many features of the park and it popular for canoeing however we didn’t kayak today as we were conscious of leaving Coco in the van any longer than necessary and there were some walks we wanted to do – can’t do it all.  The park was much more speccie than we thought it would be and well worth a visit.  There are lovely snow gums that feature in the park and they have started to change colour, on one walk I walked through a snow gum forest it was lovely.  Another feature of the park is the gorge – never expected to see anything like that.  It was a hugely steep cliff face with a waterfall (Crystal Brook) that actually had gushing water falling over it.  The gorge is popular for rock climbing and abseiling and hang gliding.  In fact they have a launching pad specifically for hang gliders.  On a clear day you could see Mt Kosciuszko, today they were burning off so not such a good view. The whole park was fantastic and some wonderful views and granite boulders.  Funny how some of them look like things and animals.  We took 277 photos but you’ll be happy to know we’ve reduced them to 39 for the album below. We are both really impressed with this part of the world (central to eastern Victoria) it is very pretty and one of the nicest areas we have seen.

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Day 194 – Bright, Vic (23 Mar)

Just back from a bike ride into Bright.  We travelled 19.3kms and it took us 3.38 hours. Before you say anything it took us so long as we had Coco with us and we had to ride slowly for her to keep up with us and stop along the way to give her a rest and it included time we stopped in town for lunch.  It is a warm day 26 degrees and she trotted all the way.   A big day for her (and John).  On the way to town we did part of a bike trail called the Rail Trail and this took us along the edge of the Ovens River.  A nice ride and quite rough in parts.  We crossed over the river via a suspension bridge.  Lots more trees starting to change colour so more pics below.

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Day 193 – Bright, Vic (22 Mar) Week 28

Went into Bright today.  Bright is one of the prettiest towns I think I have ever seen in Australia.  It is very green with lots of lovely gardens and trees with mountains as the backdrop.  Bright (and this whole area) is renown for having four seasons with autumn being its most colourful.  We are about a month too early to really enjoy the autumn colours but already we can see that the trees are changing colour.  It would be spectacular to see.   It is a stunning area and the town of Bright is quite delightful.  Would be great to see it in winter when there is snow in the district.  Lots of cafes, restaurants and nice shops.  Just outside of town are the old tobacco sheds which comprise 26 rooms (yes 26) of bric brac and antiques including books, records, crockery, cutlery you name they had it!  Amazing so much stuff.  Also amazing that a lot of the stuff they were selling is probably stuff we would toss or give to Good Sammy’s and it wasn’t cheap.  There are heaps of walking and bike trails around the town and we are very close to Mt Buffalo and Mt Beauty.  We saw a brushtail possum in the park last night.  Not sure what he is eating, looks like a chestnut we have seen a lot of chestnuts for sale in this area.  There are lots in this park apparently and the odd wombat.  Saw another echnida today driving into Bright - the fourth we have seen – they are really cute.  This one got really close to John right up to his feet which surprised us.  John went for a kayak on the Buckland that borders the caravan park to catch trout – yes they are in there but no joy.  On his way to the shower he was accosted by a duck!  He saw the duck land on the river and onto to land and John ‘quacked quacked’ at it and it came waddling up to him and wouldn’t leave him alone.  It was so funny this duck just kept nibbling his arms and then started climbing up him and landed on his head.  It was hilarious never seen anything like it.  It followed him to the showers and eventually headed back to the river. Unfortunately my photos of the duck and John aren’t good but hopefully you can see the funniness.  later in the evening we heard quite a commotion outside the van and I thought it was a koala but it was actually two brushtail possums arguing with each other.

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Days 190-192 – Lakes Entrance to Bright, Vic (19-21 Mar)

Spent the last day in Lakes Entrance getting ready for our departure to head up the Great Alpine Road through the mountains.  239kms.  Speaking to a few locals we get the impression it is not too bad however none of them were towing a van so we will see.  We really enjoyed our time in Lakes Entrance and recommend it as a destination.  We left on a cloudy but warm morning heading to Bright which is in Victoria’s high country.  Our first stop was Omeo which is the beginning of the ski country.  A small pretty town where we stopped for lunch.  Up until here the road wasn’t too steep or windy however from here onwards the road did definitely get more windy and steep in parts.  Going up a couple of mountains we were in first gear doing 15kms/hour – slow but the good old pajero got us up there.  Of course going down the other side was just as steep in fact on the other side of Mt Hotham much steeper going down then going up.  It was also a very winding road.  For me as passenger it is a lovely drive with magnificent views over the mountains but a lot more stressful for John being the driver.  At one point the road markings change from white to orange – we guessed so they can be seen in the ice and there are red poles along the edge of the road used as marker to show the edge and also the depth of the snow. We stopped at Mt Hotham which was like a ghost town not a soul around except for a few sightseers like us taking photos.  Heaps of accommodation around so it obviously revs up during the skiing season.  It was very very cold here only 14 degrees with a wind chill factor of –5 degrees (I reckon).  It was very sunny with blue skies but cold.  Amazing to see the town so quiet not even a cafe open to get coffee!  Along the Great Alpine Road lots of signs attest to the bad weather, ice and snow which you’ll see in the photos.  Chains on tyres would be an absolute must.  Parts of the road are closed in severe conditions.   Mt Hotham is 1861m high compared to Mt Kosciuszko which is 2230m high and is the highest point in Australia.  It took us 5 hours to get to Porepunkah (5kms north of Bright) where we are staying due to the slow climbs and a couple of stops along the way.  The park we are staying at is in a town called Porepunkah (Pore-pun-kah) 6kms north of Bright and the park is on the edge of the Buckland River and it is a very pretty park.  Poplar trees (they look like poplars) line the riverbank and are changing colour and dropping leaves making it quite a spectacular location.  We are one of a very few tourists here at the moment – the majority of the vans in this park are annuals.  Nice bushwalks on the edge of the park as well as along the river. 

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Days 188-189 – Lakes Entrance, Vic (17-18 Mar)

Beautiful weather here – high 20s and sunny.  Went back to Lake Tyer to kayak – it was very enjoyable and relaxing.   John had a bit of a fish with no success.  It was actually so warm we went for a swim in the lake – imagine that, swimming in SE Victoria in autumn!  Apparently being so warm (33) is unseasonal and a few of locals were struggling with the heat!  Went to the local Rotary meeting.  Small club with about 20 members and about 10 attending last nights meeting.  They meet at a local cafe and the food was delicious, fish and chips and a apple/berry crumble.  It was exceptional value.  The next day we went to Coluqhon Forest.  Very pretty and quite a thick forest.  Well cared for by Parks Victoria with many walking trails, a great bike trail and horse riding trails.  We may go back and have a picnic lunch.  The first time we have heard so many bird calls – it was lovely.   On the way back we stopped at one of the few fishing boats that sell prawns and seafood direct from the boat.  A kilo of cooked prawns for $18 and five cooked Moreton bay bugs for $9.00.  The first time we have had bugs so we had a quick lesson in how to eat them.  They were delicious – similar texture to a crayfish but sweeter. 

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Days 184-187 – Lakes Entrance, Vic (13-16 Mar)

Left Yanakie heading SE to Lakes Entrance (220km).   We are in what is known as the Gippsland region of Victoria and it sure is pretty.  Fairly green, lots of trees and some really nice towns that we travel through.  The Gippsland is very popular for holidaymakers and easy to see why, it is quite lovely.  The towns are generally close and always a choice if cafes for a well earnt coffee break.  Our plan is to find a park in Lakes Entrance that we like where we can stay for a week or so.  Done a lot of short stops recently and looking forward to slowing down a bit.  Lakes Entrance has a population of 5,600 and really caters for the tourists, 22 caravan parks, numerous motels, B&Bs etc.  During summer and school holidays the population multiplies and you would be paying up to and over $50 for a caravan site and they are very tight, not enough room for us to get our annexe up.  Luckily we are here in the off peak season, a lot of tourists around but not so busy that we can’t escape the crowds.  Wouldn’t want to be here in peak season, would be far too crowded. We have been lucky since we have been here that the weather is just perfect, reaching mid to high 20s in the day and the nights fairly mild.  The Lakes Entrance is interesting in that it sits at a man-made channel that links Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea with a 400 square kilometre network of inland waterways known as the Gippsland Lakes. All the lakes are intertwined. At its edge is the beautiful ‘90 mile beach’, this is a real beach with a drop off and waves!  The first real beach we have seen since WA I think.  There is a footbridge over on a lake known at Cunninghame Arm that takes you to the beach.  Obviously the emphasis here is on water activities.  Many marinas, jetties and small touristy towns encroach on the lakes.  It it a very nice area to visit and live I am sure. One of the few places so far that I could consider living (at a push).  We went for 5km return (yes John did it too) to the Lakes Entrance along the beach one way and along an inland track on the return. It took three hours and hard walking in very soft sand.  It was a good walk.  Lots of dolphins at the entrance which we watched for a while.  Went for a drive to a lovely town called Metung (about 20kms west), sits on the lakes edge and is aimed at the ‘discerning traveller’ which means it has upmarket accommodation.  Small town with a lovely boardwalk along the marina and lake edge. They make great coffee here.  John threw a line in at the end of a jetty and got chatting to a couple called Jim and Barb (not to be confused with Kim and Barb) who lived across the way on the lakes and just cruised around in their yacht as the fancy took them.  They were a nice couple and we chatted with them for a while, they gave us a bag of freshly caught mussels which we had for dinner.  They were very nice.  One of the eastern staters we have met who prefer WA to the east coast – howzat!  Went to Lake Tyers (10kms east) which is yet again a lovely town sitting on the edge of yet another lake.  John went out on a fishing charter with a local guy (didn’t catch anything except an undersize flathead) for a couple of hours and Coco and I went for some nice walks along the lakes and sat on 90 mile beach – yes it goes on 90 miles.  A very pleasant way to spend the morning.  We are going back tomorrow to do some kayaking on yet another lake we have found.  

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Days 181-183 – Wilsons Promontory, Vic (10-12 Mar)

Spent the last two days discovering Wilsons Promontory National Park.   It is known to the locals as ‘the Prom” and is the southern most tip of the Australian mainland and overlooks the Bass Strait.  What a beautiful spot.  Wilsons Promontory is a tourist icon and tourist mecca for many Victorians and other eastern staters and it is easy to see why.  The park protects 50,500 hectares.  The Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park covers the shoreline. There is so much to do here and camping facilities are excellent in the park.  There are 480 sites, a few powered and ablution blocks.  It is such a popular spot that during peak periods sites are balloted and hopeful campers don’t know until a few weeks before the event.  Activities include nature walking, surfing, snorkelling, kayaking, fishing, swimming. photography etc.  It would be a photographers dream particularly at sunrise or sunset.  Easy to fill in a couple of weeks here. The Bass coast has some beautiful granite mountains as its backdrop.  In fact the beaches reminded us very much of the Esperance beaches in the Duke of Orleans National Park, even a squeaky beach.  We got a two day pass and saw as much as we could.  Did a few walks through some beautiful areas including a rainforest and fern gullies and kayaked the Darby River.  On one walk there were so many blackboys (grass trees) in one spot it was amazing.  Interesting how different the walks are considering some leave from the same car park.  There is a lot of wildlife around, wombats, wallabies, emus, unfortunately we didn’t see any but I’m sure if we were there in the evening we would see something.  In February 2009 lightning set fires in the park and burnt for 36 days and covered a huge area.  There is obviously a lot of evidence of this around and some walks in the park are still closed or have just reopened.  It is great to see the new growth.  Don’t recall hearing about the fires in WA but it might have overshadowed by the Marysville/Kinglake fires. 

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Days 177-180 – Melbourne (6-9 Mar)

The weather in Melbourne has been really wet and not conducive to doing too much. Fortunately we have been to Melbourne many times and done a lot of the touristy things so didn’t have the need to get out and explore.  We were really here to ride out the long weekend.    It was a long weekend and Victoria has experienced the worst weather event on record.  Hail the size of golf balls, flash flooding, winds up to 100km/hour and at one point 19mm of rain in 18 minutes.  Must be awlful for those people camping this weekend, suspect some might go home early.  We went to Victoria Markets (a must do when in Melbourne) and some of the city streets looked like a tornado had gone through (probably had).  Lots of leaves, branches down on the ground.  Went to the Caravan and Camping Show on its first day and it was so busy and it was huge, never seen so many caravans in one place.  They all look the same after a while.  It was worthwhile going although we didn’t have a ‘wish list’ like we had last year in Perth. 

  

Queen Victoria Markets, Melb          Spot John eating lunch at Vic Markets

Day 176 – Healesville (5 Mar)

Had a great day at Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary.  Quite a drive about 75kms NE of Craigieburn.  A pretty drive.  The weather held for us as they were predicting thunderstorms but as it turned out it was a perfect day for wandering around the park.  Healesville purely focuses on native wildlife and all of their animals have been bought to them for rehabilitation and released where possible and those that can’t stay at the park for educational purposes.  The sanctuary is at the forefront in Tasmanian Devil research.  Unfortunately the devil is in a perilous dilemma with a disease called the facial tumour which is devastating populations in Tasmania.  It is a cancer that is highly contagious and there is no vaccine, treatment or cure, the result is a painful death.  The sanctuary is breeding healthy devils and in the event the devil is wiped out in Tasmania they will be able to repopulate with healthy devils.  Very sad to think this is happening but it encouraging to see many groups are doing all they can to save them.   The park is very passionate about saving the devils.  During the day there are many talks with the keepers but unfortunately we couldn’t do them all.  There is a great platypus exhibit but we couldn’t take photos as it was too dark and you can’t use flash in the exhibit.  But we saw at least two.  They dine on yabbies and there were heaps in their tank that they were gobbling through.  Of course lots of kangaroos, a few koalas, wombat, dingoes.  It is a great park and the day flew.  One of the highlights is the animal hospital.  It is so well equipped probably puts some local hospitals to shame.  The vets and nurses who work there are so dedicated and obviously very experienced with native wildlife.  Many carers are attached to the park and whilst we were there one came in with a brushtail possum and another with a joey who were there to see the ophthalmologist.  They even had a frog with a dodgy eye waiting to see the specialist.  Carers are welcome to visit at any time with their animals and make their lives as carers so much easier.  The two big wildlife groups in Victoria are Wildlife Victoria and Help for Wildlife.  The big thing is to rehabilitate and release where possible and any animals/birds that have to euthanised are used for research purposes.  At set times during the day the public can view staff doing evaluations on animals/birds bought in and/or operations via a screen setup outside of their consulting and operating rooms.  The vet explains beforehand what they are going to do and afterwards tell you what the outcomes area.  Whilst I was there they were evaluating a kookaburra that someone had dropped in.  It was very thin and they suspected it had been hit by a car. The vet had come out and explained the circumstances and what they were going to do.  On the screen you could see them anesthetising it and checking it over, they took an x-ray.  Afterwards the vet came and told us that that judging by its injuries it would have been hit about 5 days ago and would have been on the ground since then and that it was 1/3 less in weight than it should have been indicated that it wouldn’t have eaten in the time since it was hit.  It had five fractures in one wing and a dislocated shoulder.  The wing could be fixed but the shoulder not so easy to mend and she doubted it would make it successfully.  Unfortunately the vet decided the best thing was euthanasia.  It is extremely interesting.  Shame there aren’t more facilities like this around the country.  All the animals they work on are bought in via carers the public and of course animals in the park.  After this we were planning on driving to Marysville (one of the towns destroyed in last years fires) but by this stage it was quite late in the day and Marysville was another 30kms away and the threatening rain had started so we heading in that direction and once we saw some of the forests that had been burnt stopped and took some photos as we wanted to get an idea of how it was recovering.  It was amazing to see how green the forests were particularly when you see how black and parched the supporting tree trunks are.  Nature is quite wonderful how it picks itself up and gets on with it.   It is quite lovely in the hills area around Healesville, Marysville and the proximity to the city (1 hour drive) makes it doable.  It is easy to see why people want to live in these areas (9000 live in Healesville) but you can see how quickly these towns would have been destroyed and there was not chance to get away from the fires.  The wildlife sanctuary had to put their fire plan into action and moved their 200 animals to parks closer to the city. This is the first time in 75 years they had had to do this.  The park and its carers took in many injured animals and up until recently were putting food and water drops in fire affected areas for the native wildlife.  This area reminded us a little of the Pemberton area except much more lush and denser forests. 

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Day 175 - Hanging Rock, Vic (4 Mar)

Left Daylesford today to head towards Melbourne.  With a long weekend coming up and not realising until too late has meant we weren’t able to get accommodation on the coast which is where we should be heading.  the only place we could get into has been on the outskirts of Melbourne in a suburb called Craigieburn (20kms west).  Doesn’t work out too badly as we want to go to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary (55kms north east of Melbourne) and  the caravan/camping show starts at Caulfield racecourse on Tuesday so we’ll hang around for that then head to the coast after the long weekend.  It seems anywhere within 2 hours drive of Melbourne in any direction is choccas this weekend with many parks been booked out 12 months in advance.   En-route we stopped at Hanging Rock.  This rock was made famous by the narrative Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay written at the end of the 18th century and later became a movie.  It is about a group of schoolgirls and their teachers who went for a picnic at the rock and three of the girls and a teacher mysteriously disappeared.  There is no proof to the story and it is just a legend.  Get the movie, it is very good.  The rock is said to be one of the best examples in the world of a volcanic feature known as a mamelon.  It was formed six million years ago when a particularly stiff type of lava formed a rounded pile of layers on the surface as it was squeezed through a narrow vent in the earth.   The lava in Hanging Rock has a particularly high soda content and the action of rainwater has resulted in an unusual rock known as solvsbergite, or soda trachyte.   This type of rock is only found in outside of the region in Norway and Sweden.  Since its formation, the mamelon has been exposed to considerable weathering and erosion, resulting in the unusual rock formations that can now be seen on the site.  The summit is 718 metres above sea level and 105 metres above the surrounding plain.  Anyway didn’t really know what to expect and it was just lovely.  Lots of trees and ferns amongst the rocks and much greener than we expected.  There are steps and a tarred walkway to the summit which makes it easier to climb and the view are very pretty from the top.  Unfortunately the pictures don’t do it justice but gives an idea of what it was like. 

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Days 172-174 Daylesford (28 Feb – 3 Mar)

Drove a huge 50kms on Sunday to Daylesford NE of Ballarat.  Daylesford is in an area known as the ‘spa country’ due to the number of natural mineral springs.   It is about an hours drive from Melbourne and is very popular for weekend drives and holidays for Melburians.  There are lots of cafes, restaurants, boutique shops, B&Bs, day spas and wellbeing getaways around. It is known as the place to come to relax, rejuvenate and regnerate.  There is a bookshop in town that has 14 rooms full of books, new and secondhand – wonderful – spent some time in there – not cheap.  Each room has a theme, ie one is Australiana, another one is comics, childrens, a room for music including cassette tapes, vinyl records, cds.   The town and in fact the whole area reminds us a little bit of Margaret River only more hilly and no wineries. The landscape is very similar.  It centres around Lake Daylesford which is a lovely lake where you can hire paddleboats, canoes and swim. There are natural springs dotted around where you can fill up your water bottle. The Hepburn Springs Regional Park borders the town and there are some lovely walks through forests.  There is a great chocolate factory about 8kms away where they make the best truffles and centred chocolates.  Their chocolate base comes direct from Belgium.  It has been very chilly since we have been here, down to 9 degrees at night and only up to 19 in the day and very windy with a wind chill factor.  Today has been beautiful about 22 and sunny.  On Sunday we went out to dinner to a lovely cafe/restaurant in Hepburn Springs (about 3kms away) to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary – how time flies!  Had the best pumpkin risotto ever, yum!  Ended up in the botanical gardens (as we seem to do) and there was a spectacular begonia display behind glass.  Apologise for all the begonia pics but we know Dennis and mom like them.  On Wednesday it was a fantastic day, warm and sunny – hooray so we did some lovely walks through the Hepburn Springs Regional Park and tried mineral water straight from the springs –yuk it was awlful – smelt and tasted liked sulphur.  Must be ok though cos the locals are there filling up their water bottles.  Had a lovely lunch at the Chowder House in Hepburn Springs.  The chowders had some great reviews on the internet so each had a seafood chowder for lunch – it was the best we have tasted, so much seafood.  Can see why people drive from Melbourne just for a chowder.  The nice thing about this area is that dogs are welcome at the cafes, provided you sit outside of course and they all have water bowls available for the dogs.  Nice for us doggie owners.  Just worked out we are 3564kms from home!

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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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