The Big Adventure Begins

New Holland Honeyeater

 After weeks of continuous rain, Lemon Tree Passage was enjoying a rare day of glorious sunshine as we set off on our biggest trip so far. Port Stephens can usually be relied upon for beautiful weather but not over the past few months. At one point our only access road washed away in a couple of places, trapping me at home and Ian in Berowra visiting a sick friend, so leaving for the winter seemed like a good idea.  

  Our first scheduled destination was the South Coast of Victoria. A strange choice, you would be forgiven for thinking, when we were planning to beat the cold and see the sights in the Northern half of Australia. The reason for the detour was a good one, our third grandchild was due and Zoȅ's home is in Inverloch so we set off a week before the expected arrival and sauntered slowly down South.

 

A trip to Victoria would not be the same without our regular stopover in Gunning. It grew progressively colder as we headed along the Hume Highway and was a chilly 7° by the time we arrived at the showground which now has excellent new showers and toilets instead of the old creepy, graffitied amenities block. As usual, we needed to bring both summer and winter clothes because the journey was going to get a great deal colder than home before we eventually reached warmer climes and Gunning did not disappoint, the temperature plummeted overnight and it rained steadily all night long. Fortunately we had not unhooked the van so we just pulled down the pop top then ran to the car and set off, stopping only for a coffee in the Merino Cafe. 

Three hours of driving through solid rain later we stopped at Walla Walla Showground in the hope of trying somewhere new. The ground was pooled with water and it looked so miserable we took off again for Culcairn Caravan Park and took one of the $30 powered spots because we desperately wanted to be able to run our little fan heater. We usually camp below in the beautiful unpowered area by the river and laugh at the people who take the grim little powered sites by the road but it was still bucketing down and freezing so...needs must. 

Misty, wet, cold and jolly unpleasant when we woke up but it had pretty much stopped raining and we had been as snug as bugs overnight so, with renewed enthusiasm, we headed off sharpish for Alexandra. We had opted for Alexandra because it is a town we really like, just three hours from Zoȅ and we knew we could amuse ourselves there for a few days but still get to Inverloch in a hurry if we needed to. By the time we arrived it was sunny but still cold.so we set up in the very empty showground, $35 with power. We were surprised it was so quiet as there have been times we have arrived there to find the showground fully booked, maybe everyone else had realised Victoria was not ideal for a winter holiday.

 We wandered in to town and Ian bought a couple of coats in the op shop as he had forgotten to bring one, then we had a great coffee at The Grant Street Grocer cafe. Alexandra has several decent shops, a selection of cafes and a Foodworks although the pub is a bit of a mystery. It is supposed to sell award winning chips but we have yet to find a day when it is open to sample said chips. The town is very pretty and many of the houses have fabulous gardens which makes the walk to and from the caravan park most pleasant. It is also on the Victorian Rail Trail walking route so a great destination for walkers, cyclists and bird watchers. 

The next day was sunny but still incredibly cold and we made the mistake of having a coffee in the worst of the six cafes. We wandered along to the Railway Museum, which was not open but we were able to walk around the outside bits. When it is open there are train rides etc and the gardens are maintained immaculately by the volunteers. After another cold night we woke to a message from Shaun saying they were at the hospital, so we high tailed it down to Inverloch in time to look after the boys. A beautiful, healthy little girl arrived in the evening and we set about helping out and getting to know Hayley.

 After a few days of playing with the boys and enjoying having a granddaughter we waved goodbye and embarked on our trip proper. Unusually for us, we had made a bit of a plan for the start of the trip and Ararat, 3.5hours away in the Victorian Goldfields was our first destination. The journey took us right through Melbourne and over the West Gate Bridge so an interesting journey but no places to stop and change driver and by the time we reached Ararat it had begun to rain. The area had been in drought for some time and the locals were celebrating saying it was the first decent rain they had seen for many months - lucky us! We had chosen Acacia Caravan Park when we were planning at home and it was great. There was a railway line running nearby but the park was small and friendly with oldish but clean amenities with a huge pile of fluffy bathmats by the showers, guests just took one off the pile then popped it in the laundry basket when finished. I know I sound unreasonably excited about this initiative but, when it is cold and wet outside, a fluffy bath mat can make all the difference to the showering experience. Other delights at the caravan park were a great camp kitchen with coffee machines, a book swap and DVDs to borrow all for $35 a night for power, which we needed because the area around Ararat gets very cold in winter. 

Splendid Fairy Wren

Ararat turned out to be a city and bigger than we expected. It was the only town in Australia to be founded by Chinese settlers and there were still plenty of Chinese grocers and restaurants. There was a big Woolworths but the other shops were an odd mix of cafes and massage parlours with grape vines running over the canopy along the whole main street. The town had a very modern visitor centre and the cafe attached called Foragers, a most unfortunate name as the state was right in the middle of the very high profile court case of the Mushroom Lady. We took Harvey to the excellent fenced dog park then went to the art gallery and museum which was the usual collection of donated old stuff, the highlight being a 1927 farm vehicle adapted by a local which had taken part in various parades including the Moomba Festival.

 We really liked Ararat and were a bit sorry to leave after a couple of nights but were spurred on by thoughts of warmer weather to come. The next drive was very straightforward and took us to Nhill, our last stop in Victoria. On the way we stopped for a terrible coffee at the cafe attached to the Big Koala in Dadswells Bridge, widely recognised as one of Australia's worst Big Things. It was pretty bad. Ian spotted Loch Eil Pink Lake so we hopped out for a look. There are a number of pink lakes, especially over  the border in South Australia, the pink is caused by an algae which forms pink salt and the surrounding plants had taken on the pink tinge too. 

In Nhill we were staying at the Nhill Heritage Aviation Centre which was fantastic, a huge flat area where we parked with a view of the runway. The museum was closed but the toilets remain open for campers and there was a brilliant history trail around the grounds with information boards showing where all the buildings were when Nhill was a camp in WWII housing 800 airforce personell. There were accommodation blocks, training centres, ablutions blocks, canteens, a post office, tennis courts and much more. There was a flurry of activity in the late afternoon when some people turned up and got a small plane out of the hanger and took off for a short flight landing again later, no end of entertainment and all for a suggested donation of $10 a night.

Nhill was not much of a town so we grabbed a coffee and got some supplies from the IGA Supermarket. We had to throw away our fruit and veg as we were due to cross into South Australia later and the fines can be quite steep if you get caught with an avocado or banana in the caravan as a friend of mine did a couple of years ago. We got across the border with no mishaps and passed through Bordertown where there is a colony of white kangaroos, then on to Keith Showground to top up our water tanks. The showground was a bit ordinary and did not get good reviews so we kept going to Tintinara and our planned destination of Lake Indawarra. The town itself was a bit like a strip mall, situated along the side of the highway and no town centre as such, just a supermarket, closed pub and cafe but Lake Indawarra was very pretty. It was a manmade lake and the planting around it was relatively new but it had already become a haven for birds and made for an extremely peaceful, pleasant walk. The trucks and trains were a little noisy overnight but we woke to warm sunshine and decided to stay for a few days to recharge after quite a bit of driving of late. There was a toilet by the lake and we paid our $10 a night at the Heart of Parks Visitor Centre.

 The Coorong was not far from Tintinara so we drove there to see where Storm Boy was filmed. The Coorong is a massive coastal lagoon and they certainly made the most of the film connection and there were countless pelican statues all named Mr.Percival. It was a very beautiful spot and we were tempted to transfer to the Albert Caravan Park on the waterfront but there were warnings of a Big Storm on its way so we thought better of it. The storm did arrive after we left and did a fair bit of damage destroying an historic jetty. 

Back at Lake Indawarra we went for a walk and noticed a huge brazier alight behind the Action Shed on the banks of the lake. Later crowds began to gather for what, we found out later, was a monthly community gathering. How nice we thought, even though the music was pretty loud. Unfortunately it was not so great when Dolly Parton was still belting out Jolene at 3.30am, it would have been nice to have been given a heads up from the visitor centre when we paid but we  will know next time not to stay there on a Saturday night.