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| Pt Malcolm Lighthouse |
20 Jan 11 Set off at about 1pm, went through Goolwa to check on the progress on the house; still being worked on so that was good except that that will mean another progress payment will not be far away. Crossed the Murray at Wellington (ferry) and made our way to Narrung again via a ferry. Stayed overnight in the free camp area next to the ferry and across the water from the Point Malcolm Lighthouse, only inland lighthouse in Australia. Four other campers were also using the spot. Not much of anything at Narrung; looks like the school I went to has been pulled down. 21 Jan 11 Headed off through Meningie, Kingston, Robe, Beachport and finished up at Southend. Filled up with diesel at Meningie ($1.439 per Lt), only to find diesel was below $1.30 at Kingston. The lesson learnt is to top up whenever fuel is cheap. Had a quick tour of Kingston, may back track tomorrow (without the van) to Beachport and surrounding areas for a bit of a gander. This is not our first time to this area so we’ve done most of the touristy things.
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| Lake McIntyre |
22 Jan 11 Toured Millicent, good sized town with all the facilities you would need. Unusual feature was a swimming lake (rather than a swimming pool). Lake McIntyre, man made from a disused quarry was also a feature; to be expanded as the quarry gets used up. Back tracked to Beachport for a bit of a look. Just as well we didn’t fill up there yesterday; diesel was $1.51 per lt. 23 Jan 11 Travelled through Mt Gambier, Port McDonnell and finished up at a free camp at Mt Schank. Looks like the fridge doesn’t want to work on gas, so it will off to Jayco in the Mount tomorrow. Not much at Port McDonnell, the area and foreshore though, reminded us a bit of Middleton Port Elliott. Lunched in the Valley Lakes picnic areas (so did half of Mt Gambier).
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| Dartmoor Sculptures |
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| Dartmoor Sculptures |
24 Jan 11 No go at Jayco, we’ll need to book the van in in Adelaide when we get back. We’ll now have to plan our movements around no gas fridge, more powered sites. And it doesn’t stop there; busted the passenger side caravan mirror on a dirty great big bin while trying to park in the street outside Jayco. Marvellous what a bit of duct tape can do. Travelled to Narrawong via Nelson and Dartmoor where we checked out the free camp that we were going to use but didn’t because of the fridge. Also looked at the chainsaw carved tree sculptures along the street, very impressive. 25 Jan 11 Weather was a bit ordinary with drizzle patches most of the day. Toured Portland and its surrounds including the Cape Nelson Lighthouse, The Blowholes and the Petrified Forest. Topped up with food and fuel ($132.9).
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| Petrified Forest |
26 Jan 11 Rest Day.
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| Pioneer in Macarthur |
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| Spudpicker in Koroit |
27 Jan 11 Travelled to Koroit via Macarthur and Penshurst, checked into the Koroit – Tower Hill Caravan Park for 2 nights. The trip was through forests and farming country; stretches of the road, though bitumised, was not much more than a single car/van width. Luckily very little traffic. Another chainsaw sculpture in Macarthur and in Koroit. 28 Jan 11 Toured Port Fairy and Warrnambool and drove through the Tower Hill Reserve (extinct volcano) at Koroit. We had already done all the sight seeing things on a previous trip.
29 Jan 11 Moved through more forest and farming country on way from Koroit to Lake Bolac via Mortlake, Lismore and Skipton. Plan to stay 2 nights in Lake Bolac; not much to do, but we can take all day to do it. Booked in to the Caravan Park so that we could have 240 for the fridge; apparently the whole town has now been blacked out!!!!! The lake looks good if you’re into boating and water sports. We’ll just look at it.
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| Pancakes at Lake Bolac |
30 Jan 11 Pancake breakfast courtesy of the park management; not a thing planned for the rest of the day. It’s a hard life; has a lot of similarities to houseboating.
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| Wannon Falls |
31 Jan 11 Short trip to Wannon Falls via Hamilton; topped up with food and fuel. Miscalculated the turnoff to the campground and circled back to Hamilton. Got it right eventually. The falls in full flow was pretty impressive. The campground was good in itself, pretty much in keeping with what we’ve seen and now expect to find. Would have been a sensational spot if the falls could have been seen from the campground. We had planned to spend 2 nights here but the “authorities” have reduced the stay time to just overnight, so we’ll move on tomorrow, at a fairly leisurely pace. 1 Feb 11 Moved through more forests and farm country on our way to the Glendinning Camp on the banks of the Rocklands Reservoir at the western fringe of the Grampians. Passed through Cavendish and Balmoral; nothing out of the ordinary to see or do.
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| Old House in Harrow |
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| Harrow Main Street |
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| Johnny Mullagh Museum |
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| Cricketer's Uniforms |
2 Feb 11 Another leisurely trip through forest/farming/National Park country through Horsham (food and fuel) to Harrow. Visited the Johnny Mullagh Museum. Johnny Mullagh, from this area, was one of the first aboriginal cricketers to tour England back in 1868. The museum has a full account of that trip. Stayed in the Johnny Mullagh Park rest area. Well set up beside the Glenelg River. Probably the best low cost/free spot we’ve stayed in.
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| Kelpie at Casterton |
3 Feb 11 Through even more farming and forest areas, the farmland still has a green tinge to it, even at this time of year. Stopped in Coleraine as we had to stock up on “samples” from the Glenelg Chocolate Factory, surprisingly, there are still some left. We then had a stroll around Casterton to photograph all the monuments to the Kelpie, then on to Lake Charlegrark Camping Ground/Caravan Park for our overnight stop. Not a bad spot, but not as good a value for money as Harrow.
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| Showers, toilets at Black Cockatoo |
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| Sunset at Black Cockatoo |
4 Feb 11 Travelled on through more of the same sort of country to Naracoorte via Apsley. Overnight in the Black Cockatoo Bush Camp 14 klm north to Naracoorte. While quite good and unique, it’s not as “bushy” as expected. 6 Feb 11 Now in the Middleton Caravan Park for the night before we head home tomorrow. Last night we stayed in the Frank Potts Reserve free camp just outside Langhorne Creek (so did about 14 other campers). Very good spot except for the road noise. The trip from Naracoorte to Middleton was routine and uneventful; been along most of the road a few times. Checked on the progress of the house in Goolwa; expect a progress payment invoice will be waiting for us tomorrow.
7 Feb 11 Home; no dramas, good trip.
Trip Map
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