Kingston

31st March – Sunday

Another cool morning with clear, sunny skies. Left Mt Gambier, heading for Meningie, and drove through pine plantations for over an hour. Forestry is obviously the main industry for this region. Easy towing today with very little traffic and very flat roads, although they were rather bumpy at times. The flocks of crimson rosellas we saw yesterday were replaced by yellow tailed black cockatoos.

We had a stop at Kingston – how could we not stop? – had a look at their lighthouse, found a supermarket (needed some provisions) and then discovered another “Big” on the road out of town. In the last couple of days we have seen the Big Koala and the Big Woolbales – today it was the Big Lobster! He is for sale if anyone is interested.

After leaving Kingston, we followed the Cooyong for about 100 kms – a pretty boring drive for most of the way as all we could see were the melaleucas on either side of the road. It wasn’t until we were almost to the northern end of the Cooyong that we actually saw the water and sand dunes.

Meningie is a nice little town (population 940) on the shores of Lake Albert. The caravan park is beach front and for an extra $2 we could have had a site that fronted the beach. As there are only about six caravans in the park, we decided to have a site on the opposite side of the road and still get the same view. The sunset was unbelievable! So are the mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, the beach is a mixture of sand and mud, but it was still nice to have a walk and look at the pelicans. We also discovered the local bowls club where six locals were having a friendly game. I don’t think Sheila and Patsy would have approved of their footwear – Blunstone boots are a definite no-no at Beltana!!!

Tree Plantations

30th May – Saturday

Very cold morning in Horsham but clear skies – quite a relief to get into the Pajero with its climate control! The first part of the journey was still very flat with grain crops but this eventually changed to sheep country and a few minor hills (or bumps, rather). We followed the Grampians for quite a while, and the sun was just right to highlight the rock formations. The countryside around Hamilton looked very prosperous with the beautiful green paddocks and well-fed merino sheep. This quickly changed to tree plantations of Tasmanian blue gum, with the odd pine plantation. This whole area is covered with plantations!

Arrived at Mt Gambier shortly after lunch – jet lagged of course, with the half hour time change!!! The caravan park is next to the lakes, which are a lovely grey colour at this time of the year. There are lots of walks around the lakes and would be a lovely place to spend some time, if it wasn’t so COLD. Cat was quite content to stay inside out of the wind.

We visited the information centre for some directions and discovered a replica of the Lady Nelson outside. When I asked the lady why the Lady Nelson was at Mt Gambier, she immediately asked if I was from Hobart. I gather that everyone from Hobart asks the same question. The answer, of course, is that the master of this ship saw the mountain when sailing past (the sea is 30 kms away) and named it Gambier’s Mountain.

After this it was on to the Umpherston Sink Hole – a sink hole which has been turned into a garden. Very impressive, even at this time of the year. We climbed down the stairs to the bottom, took some photos and them climbed back up.

Then it was a short drive into the country (and more plantations!) to visit seedEnergy and meet Di and Andy. A very nice couple who showed us around the property and seed orchard.

Coopers Crossing

29 May – Friday

A very cold start to the day, no frost fortunately, but a vicious southerly wind. Beautiful blue skies, though.

Checked out the local Woolworths first thing, as well as the service station – diesel is $1.19 here, compared to $1.12 in Melbourne. It would be nice to think that this will be the most expensive we will pay!!!

We headed for Rupanyup, the birthplace of my mother and five of her siblings. The family lived in Rupanyup until approximately 1930. I was hoping to be able to locate where they actually lived, however, the Shire Council had forwarded the valuation rolls to Archives only last month. I was lucky to find a photograph, in an historical society publication, of the butcher’s shop my grandfather had. The caption did mention that one of the butchers had been a McLean. It is a small, but very friendly, country town, the school my mother attended is still there, the post office and quite a few old houses.

We then travelled to Minyip, famous as the town of Coopers Crossing in The Flying Doctors television series. Emma’s garage is next to the Flying Doctors base (actually the Senior Citizens) and opposite the Majestic Hotel. The hotel has a function room dedicated to the series, with lots of photos on the walls. It certainly brought back memories, especially a very young Rebecca Gibney as Emma! (Apologies for the quality of the photo, but the sun was directly behind the building and quite low. Not great photographic conditions!)

Back to Horsham for a look at the Wimmera River – Cat loved the big gum trees here – and the Botanical Gardens.

Tomorrow we will head for Mount Gambia, via Hamilton.

To Horsham

28 May – Thursday

To finish off yesterday – we were taken, as guests, to a lovely Italian restaurant at Black Rock. We were met at the door and shown to a table with a white linen tablecloth and serviettes. The service was impeccable. The food was lovely; I’m sure even Shan would have been impressed. I had grilled red emperor with salad, Les had veal scaloppini with mushrooms, Aunty Pat had rack of lamb, Sue had garlic prawns, Lee and Asami shared a seafood platter and Gary had pasta (being of Italian descent and the Italian restaurant being his idea).

This morning was very wet after heavy last during the night, but we managed to pack up without getting wet. Left Dingley at 9.30am and travelled, very slowly, along the Monash Freeway to the Westgate Freeway and the Western Ring Road. To make driving easier, a new link from the Ring Road to the Western Highway, to Ballarat, was opened only a few weeks ago.

It was a balmy 14 degrees when we left Melbourne and this very quickly dropped to 9 degrees, and raining, by the time we reached Ballarat. We bypassed Ballarat and stopped for lunch at Ararat, which wasn’t much warmer! Fortunately the rain had stopped, although the nice lady in Horsham told us they had 60+ mils earlier this week, which accounted for the soggy ground.

Just west of Ballarat were a couple of large wind farms, one of them was VERY large. We passed lots of eucalypt plantations today, some of them were even e.globulos. We even saw quite a few newborn lambs, who are probably finding the weather a little cool. The road was dual highway to the end of the Ballarat bypass and pretty good after that as well. Lots of trucks on the road. We passed through Great Western, with its large Seppelts winery and followed the Grampians for a while before reaching Horsham.

We are staying at the Wimmera Lakes Caravan Resort, Horsham. Huge sites and not many people, so it should be quiet.

Melbourne Day 2

27th May – Wednesday

A cool day with rain by lunchtime. Just spent a quiet day wandering around Chadstone Shopping Centre. Les managed to find a vest and convinced himself it would be a good buy! Chadstone is undergoing some redevelopment, with the original arcade blocked off, and some major works now opened.

Today is Sue’s birthday and we have been invited to join the family for dinner at an Italian restaurant somewhere.

I haven’t taken any photos today, so will publish another one of Cat on the boat.

Melbourne Day 1

26th May – Tuesday

Docked in Melbourne right on time and was off the ship by 7.10am. Had no trouble driving to Aunty Pat’s as the traffic was all going in the opposite direction. At Aunty Pat’s by 8.00am and set up without any dramas.

Visited a caravan accessory shop and Dandenong and found all sorts of things that we probably didn’t need – like the collapsible ladder! Then a visit to Breakaway/Blackpepper to try on lots of clothes, then a wander around DFO without spending any money.

Aunty Cath and Uncle Bill coming for tea tonight.

Away Again

25th May – Monday

There has been an addition to the touring crew this year – Cat has decided to join us on our travels. You will probably find Cat popping up from time to time!

A dull and dreary day to start our travels after spending nearly an hour saying goodbye to family and neighbours; on the road just before 11.00am.

This year we have decided to display our 2 way radio channel on the back of the caravan, so consequently leave the receiver on when in the car. We had just passed through Melton Mowbray when the truck driver behind asked our names – turned out it was Sally’s husband, Paul and we were having tea with them before boarding the boat. We chatted to Paul until he stopped at Spring Hill for his break and we continued to Campbell Town for lunch. Shortly after joining the Bass Highway near Carrick, I managed to upset a couple of truck drivers who were having a quite reasonable conversation on the 2 way but every second word began with “F!” At the first break in conversation I reminded them it was an open channel and would they mind watching their language – a very reasonable request, and they didn’t have the foggiest idea who or where I was. There was stunned, dead silence for about 20 seconds, then one said he didn’t have an on/off switch and the other muttered something about a woman. However, they continued to talk for some time and not one swear was heard!

Afternoon tea with the Les’ mother in Ulverstone and Margaret and Alan joined us as well, after they received a telephone reminder. Both had forgotten about us coming. Then back to Devonport to Sally’s, where we were joined by Lyn and Jeff. A very pleasant start to the evening.

Down to the boat, no trouble with security, although the lady did check the bathroom to make sure were weren’t hiding anyone in the caravan, then we drove straight on board. One of us felt the first half of the trip was a little uncomfortable as the boat did corkscrew a bit (up and down and well as rolling at the same time), Cat didn’t seem to enjoy it either, and one of us snored loudly all night.