31ST MARCH 2013 – MIKKIRA STATION, EYRE PENISULA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Raining & miserable this morning for several hours, so we delayed packing up until it eased. Our Tassie ‘neighbours’ left before us as they have a long drive to Broken Hill today, leaving only the big 5th wheeler (2 kiwis) who will stay until after Easter. We are heading back to Port Lincoln to an historic sheep station which ‘supposedly’ has many koalas, birdlife etc. The weather improved & was quite good by the time we arrived . A dear little elderly lady with walking stick owns the property, & is obviously on her own now. It no longer runs as a working station ‘I can’t chase sheep around anymore’ she said. In order to have some income the decision was made to open up part of the property for camping & day trips to view the wildlife. Its $20 p.n. but only has a couple of toilets & a shower – don’t know how they cope when it is busy as it is a very large area for camping. There is no water or power so again it’s not cheap for what we get.

The property is very historic, has been owned by one family since 1842. The first owner was a scotsman & it’s easy to see what attracted him to this area, though he later left for NZ from whence he never returned.  In later years one of his sons returned to carry on.   It is covered by limestone rocks embedded into ground, & with a little imagination would be easy to think you were in Scotland. There a lots of rock walls where the shearers hut chimney still stands, accompanied by a working windmill. We are warned to stay away from the walls as they are full of scorpions & snakes – we didn’t need much persuading to obey, though Stu did see a couple of scorpions without going too close. The original little limestone homestead with thatched roof still stands complete with furniture & bits & pieces from the old days, though the thatched roof is now corrugated iron covered with thatch made from nearby bush.

The main attraction for us was the koalas. In 1969 4 females & 2 males were introduced to this property from Kangaroo Island because of the plentiful Manna gum trees which koala love. There are now over 100 koalas. The Manna gums here have fertilised & cross pollinated other species & have now become quite unique. There are marvellous old specimens with most interesting shapes, especially the large trunks & because of the poor, shallow soils they do not grow to the height of those in most other areas . The leaves actually contain poisonous chemicals but koalas have a special detoxification system in their liver to deal with it. It does however take a lot of energy for them to achieve it which explains why they are so lazy, sleeping all day & grazing at night.

 

Anyway, once we set up camp & eaten lunch it was R & R, then exploring. We firstly examined the trees right next to our van (good place to start), but didn’t see anything, nor did we see anything in trees further along. I was preparing for disappointment but we ventured along a walking trail close to camp & behold! I was quite excited to spot my first one & once we got accustomed to it found lots of others, in fact 14 in all.  They each have a tree to themselves being solitary animals. Some were asleep but one or two were quite aware of us & gave us good pics. On the way back we got a terrible fright as there was a sudden very loud, scary noise & as we couldn’t see anything we started to back away the way we had come. Was it an emu? Stu thought it sounded like a wild pig? Just as we backed off ready to run I realised it was two koalas, one each side of us. I think they were playing an April Fools day joke ready for tomorrow.

On our return to camp we had to laugh as the nearest tree to the van did have a koala, we had just missed it. We fully expected to be woken in the night but nothing occurred. A very peaceful night indeed as there are only about 6 camping sites taken over a huge area.

After the November fire
 

Already regenerating

 

Next morning we explored another trail which was through a big area of bush razed by a bushfire last November. It still smells of fire but there is already some regeneration, especially by the gums & the Blackboy trees (Yakkas).  The casuarinas do not seem to be so lucky. We did see a small group of roos, one large daddy one & a few emus yesterday. It will be very quiet indeed today as there are now only 3 campsites taken while the others with young families have obviously gone back for school & work.

Janice beside giant Yakkas       


 

 

27TH MARCH 2013 - PORT GIBBON, EYRE PENINSULA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

It's my turn to be the driver today as we are going on a day trip inland & then offroad along the coast & I love driving offroad.  It also gives Stu a rest from being the chauffear.  Naturally there will be no van on the back to tow as we will leave it at the  camp.   The scenery inland is still pretty boring but we stop at at a little place called Cleve en route, then back to the coast to Cowell which we had seen the day before, then offroad right along the coast.  It was amazing how many caravans were  camped in amongst the sand dunes etc,  most of them interested in fishing.  Had we known, we could have followed suit.  However it was good to leave the van where it was & be freer without the worry of towing.   With Easter weekend starting tomorrow everyone we meet is a little concerned where they will find a site. It's a wonderful open coastline, with lovely white sand & dunes which were good to photograph.  And guess what?  I actually got us back without any mishaps.

Next morning is Good Friday, rather dull with rain on the horizon.  It is 19deg & only caravans & boats on the road.  It is so popular for all fishing along this coast - it seems there is hardly an Aussie who doesn't enjoy fishing.  There is a big fishing industry here & the varieties of fish caught are amazing.  We had a shock to our system today - a GREEN paddock!  It's so long since we've seen green we've almost forgotten what that colour is.  Must have been a crop I guess, or perhaps just well irrigated  grass.   By morning tea the temperature has risen to 22deg & is nice & sunny when we reach yet another port, Port Neill.  Most of these were obviously working ports at some time, but a lot have no large ships now, some would have fishing boats though.  Anyway Port Neill is a lovely little bay, again with a long jetty (great for fishing off) & a lovely white sandy beach.  There are families enjoying themselves here because there is a camping ground on the beach, but even though it is Easter weekend everything seems very quiet no matter where we go.  Even through residential areas there doesn't seem to be any life - if it was really hot weather I could understand that they would stay inside, but that can't be the reason at present.

View from Farm early morning
 

We choose to stay at a farmstay camping spot for the next two nights - thought it might be an interesting & educational experience. We rang first to make that it was OK & were told there was only one site left (untrue), & on arrival discovered there was only one flush toilet & one shower, though it did have a little twintub washing machine.  If we used power it was $30 per night, but I decided it was not worth that so we did without the power & used their washing machine, shower & toilet for $20 p.n.  The owner was away & a young Swiss lad was looking after things including delivery lambs which were early.  The good part was that there were some other kiwis staying too.  Well, I say Kiwis but they were all Aussies now.  There were 2 other vans & a tent,  (7 people - all from Tassy)  & 3 of them were Kiwis, plus a large 5th wheeler with two other ex kiwis.  The latter had only been here 7 years & have been travelling all that time & intend to keep doing it in the near future.  They said they didn't think they could live in a house in one place again.  It made for a good evening talking to them all over a wine or two.  One of the ladies is going to email the owner here after she leaves to tell them she thought the facilities were not worth the money.  Good on her!
A nice finish to the day was a lovely sunset.

Yannik's 20th birthday cake
 

Party in the old shed
 

Sunset from the farm
 

To fill in the next day which was cool, windy morning, we set off on another day trip to Port Lincoln.  (Yes I know it's confusing with all these ports).  It is a much bigger town &supports a large fishing industry.   Being  Easter Saturday all the cafes & supermarkets are  brimming with people & parking is at a premium. Feels strange to be back in the hustle & bustle.   Much to our pleasure we find a cycle trail which takes us right around the coast, though after 5kms it started to rain so we decided to return as we were not prepared for that.  Luckily it stopped long enough to enable us to ride back to the car, but 10kms was a nice length for me anyway.    On the way round we discovered a great caravan park situated right on the bay & there were heaps of unpowered sites vacant, so we could have stayed there -  will be more thorough when looking for somewhere next time.  Mind you, it was not in our 'bible' so probably expensive but at least we would have got what we paid for.  The climax to this stay was a wonderful night spent in the farm shed celebrating the young Swiss boys 20th birthday.  The Tassie crew had purchased a 'Happy Birthday' banner & tied it to his caravan plus a delicious chololate cake with candles, so we all had a barbie with lamb chops from the farm's own sheep, drank wine & generally an hilarious night.  Yannik had a Swiss girl come down from WA who he had attended  'farming school' with.  Apparently in Switzerland a 20th birthday is like our 21st so he was quite overcome that we all took the time to make it special for him so far from home.  We really liked the Tassy crowd & will keep in touch, so some time in the future we'll no doubt be visiting Tassy. We may not have been impressed with the camp but the company was great!

Skeletal trees
 

25TH MARCH 2013 - PORT AUGUSTA , EYRE PENINSULA , SOUTH AUSTRALIA

 

Couldn’t keep to our usual timetable of leaving camp at 8.30am due to some conversation with a couple of Aussie campers who gave us some good tips of what to do & see. However, we left Gladstone on a lovely, sunny, cloudless blue sky morning - again! 27deg by 10am so aircon on again. This part of the highway heading through the Southern Flinders Ranges wine region is not quite as good as most we have been on. We pass through the dear little town of Laura with wide tree-lined main street, & I discover it was the birthplace of the famous Aussie poet C.J. Dennis (harping back to school day recollections). The next two little places (hardly towns) have so many derelict old buildings & even those currently inhabited show signs of poverty among prosperous large properties. Morning tea was at Melrose, established in 1885 & is the oldest town in the Flinders right underneath Mt Remarkable. This is a marvellous base for walkers with numerous wonderful walking trails.

Gladstone (Ghost Town)
 

 

Incarcerated in Gladstone Jail
 

Next stop is Port Augusta which is at the top of Spencer Gulf on the Eyre Peninsula. It is a slightly warm 39deg. The wind blew us along across the plains from Port Augusta to Whyalla – a great fuelsaver. Again we had been here last time but even in this large country you have to sometimes backtrack. Campsite for the night is at Point Lowly right on the waters edge of Spencer’s Gulf on Eyre Peninsula. There are about 10 vans already here, & unbelievably you can stay for up to 14 days with lovely clean toilets, cold showers, rubbish collection, Ph & TV coverage ALL FOR FREE!   it is Easter weekend in 3 days time so it is filling up mainly because of a fishing competition I think. Close by is an oil & gas refinery with an extremely long jetty. Stuart & I take a walk out to the nearby lighthouse in the afternoon to stretch our legs. Next morning we are farewelled by a lovely sunrise though the forecast is for thunderstorms. Stuart has booked a steel mill tour in Whyalla, not my sort of thing so I will stay in the van & try & catch up with the blog while he is away. It blows a gale after he leaves me & I was a bit concerned   with the van being buffetted every which way,    but luckily it didn’t last long & turned to rain for an hour or so. Whyalla, ‘Where the outback meets the sea’ is a mining town with a steelmill (formerly BHP) which makes steel products for Australia. The hematite iron ore(the best)  is brought in by rail from the mine, & the magnetite ore(small bits)  is made into a wet slurry & piped in via a 63km pipeline. Stuart got the feeling that production was slowing down. A lot of the ore is also shipped to China & no doubt Australia then buys back some of the finished products. Crazy world. Another icon in this city is the HMAS Whyalla, an ex navy ship originally built here for the war & after a colourful life at sea giving service in a variety of ways, has it’s final resting place beside the information centre. It took about 2 years to move it to the site & it has been restored & looks in wonderful condition.

Harvested grain fields
 

 

We are now half way across Australia & turn onto the Lincoln Highway which we will follow a long, long way. The surface is really good to drive on & passes through yet more grain pastures to Cowell, one of the best fishing destinations in South Australia with an incredible variety of fish plus crabs & oysters which are being farmed in the Franklin Harbour. It can also boast one of the largest jade deposits in the world which was discovered in the nearby Minbrie Range in 1965. It is recognised as the oldest & one of the largest in the world with a variety of col. ours & patterns not found elsewhere. One of the tourist attractions is cage-diving with white pointer sharks – unfortunately we didn’t have time to do that!!!

20TH - 25TH MARCH 2013 – ADELAIDE HILLS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

 

We need no introduction to this area having visited our friends here in 2011. We love all the little villages with their stone buildings & avenues of autumn trees, not into changing mode just yet. They, like Paparoa, have had no rain & the current weather is quiet grey & cool. After a day or two there are a few showers & a terrible tornado ripped through Victoria causing a lot of damage & injuries. It was in the area close to where we cycled for 12 days last trip. It’s lovely to catch up with our friends , have a break from being on the road & for Stu to do a few little jobs on the van. One day Stu & I took a drive out to the coast through more little rural villages who no matter how small seem to have a cafe or two. The temperature was only 13deg en route so we actually had the heater on in the car for a short time – a change from the aircon. Traffic is practically non existent but there are plenty of wineries advertising tastings. Lunch at McLaren Vale which is a delightful area, then we do a 14km ride along their rail trail through lots of grape growing & other little villages.

Along the Rail Trail Bike Track
 

Rail Traiil

We passed a high school which fascinated us. There were children caring for farm animals, sawing trees, caring for vegetables etc which we thought was wonderful. Everything is so tidy & well cared for. On our return trip to base we do call into a winery recommended to us & Stu stocks up for the weeks ahead (if he can contain himself from drinking it beforehand). Ruth & Doug usually ride on Sundays so another rail trail from their local shopping area is chosen – I suspect more to suit me than anything else as I am just getting back into the hang of it. Must say I am quite pleased, no sore muscles. Next day just so we don’t forget what work is we shift some mulch for Ruth, payment for their hospitality & the lovely meals we have had together. It’s sad to say goodbye not knowing when we will see them again. I think next time it will probably be a ‘fly-in’ holiday. Time will tell.

Flowering Gum
 

Port Wallunga
 

 

18th MARCH 2013 – WENTWORTH, NSW.

Houseboat on Murray River
 

Paddle Steamer Industry at Renmark
 

 

Next morning it’s off to Wentworth where the Darling & the Murray Rivers meet. This is our second visit here – last trip was just after the big Victorian floods in 2011 & there was still a lot of evidence here. However this time it is all OK. We pass through to Mildura, the centre of the Riverina where they grow huge amounts of fruit, nuts, wine etc & where all those gorgeous Aussie dried fruits are produced. It’s disappointing not to have arrived on a weekend as that is when they have their markets & was fabulous last time to stock up on all those goodies.

We have followed orange markers all along the Silver City Highway from Broken Hill to Wentworth, & eventually discovered that they are the underground fibre-optic cable for fast broadband communications, 260kms, & then continues much further in other directions. There have also been 100’s of kms of wheat fields which seem to go on forever, now only stubble. It’s a mind boggling industry. Crossing the Murray to Mildura we actually change states from NSW to Victoria, & later today will cross into SA. We follow the Murray through more fruit growing including citrus, grapes & vegetables plus more large wheatfields. There are lots of little villages & I would imagine most people are involved in those industries either employed directly or providing some type of services. Naturally a lot of the grapes will become dried fruit, not necessarily wine though we passed ‘Banrock Station’ winery as one name we did recognise. There are giant irrigation machines in the paddocks which look like jurassic birds with wings spread trying to take off. We still have not witnessed rain since we left QLD but unfortunately for QLD it has not changed up there.

Our planned route from here is to continue following the Murray River into South Australia later today.

Paddle Steamer Cruiser on the Murray

Corella



 

Morning tea break at Waikere, alongside the River after passing through the pretty little town with it's avenue of flowing gums.  It's a lovely spot & would be peaceful were it not for a large flock of Corella parrots doing their usual 'concert' performance.  I did at least manaage to get a good photo of one.  The large paddleboat 'Murray River Queen' was docked at the pier but didn't seem to be operating.   We watched the car ferry crossing from the other side - we could have taken that short cut too but chose not to although it is free.  There are a number of these ferry crossings across the Murray as we have seen before.  The next one is at Swan Reach just further along.  This is by far the nicest section of the Murray as it can be viewed from high cliffs above - great for photos.  Would love to be here in the early evening as the sun strikes the red cliffs.  Our lunch stop is again by the riverbank at another tiny place called Bowhill.  Incidentally, the Murray is the third longest navigable river in the world.  As we are now leaving Victoria & entering South Australia it is necessary to pass through a Quarantine Station & unfortunately we lose all our fresh fruit & vegies as they are very strict about carrying fruit fly from one state to another.  Rather spoilt our day.

16 – 17TH MARCH 2013 - KINCHEGA NATIONAL PARK, NSW

 



The Old Kinchega Sheep Station

Lake Meninde

Time to depart Broken Hill & head for this National Park beside the Menindee Lakes. It’s only 120km from Broken Hill, no traffic to speak of. We have been told there are camping spots along the Darling River which flows through the Park. En route there are again lots of roos been hit by vehicles & of course the ravens & crows have a field day along with many hawks/eagles? At one stage two emus crossed in front of us like two old ladies who think they own the road. Surprisingly we’ve never witnessed any of those dead roadside. There are large groups of them in this area – they really are scruffy looking birds. Lots of dry creek beds as we travel along & a few cattle but goodness knows what they eat & drink. There is a very large pipeline from the Darling River which supplies Broken Hill with it’s town water. The small township called Menindee just before we reach our destination has certainly seen better times, but it was the first established on the Darling River. The Darling flows from Bourke further north to Wentworth where it meets the Murray River. It was also part of the series ‘Where the Rivers Run’ filmed & shown on TV some years ago, depicting the days of the paddle steamers which plied this route. It’s easy to imagine it when looking at the river & it’s surrounds. The road into the Park is quite rough & winds with the river, with 32 individual campsites to choose from. We find a nice level one with part shade, part sunshine, keeping away from overhanging branches of the lovely red river gums. They have a tendency to drop especially in high winds & that’s something we can do without. Once settled we relax reading & I try to catch up with the belated blog, which is proving difficult with lack of internet connections. Stu has now had the bright idea of doing it as an email to myself offline & then when we have signal we can just copy it over to the blog. If it doesn’t work it will mean a lot of retyping!!! As it is I had just finished typing a whole page one evening & accidentally deleted it. NOT happy! Liked our old laptop much better than this one but am stuck with it. Newer is not necessarily better it seems.
 



Corellas



Kangaroo drinking at camping site

The weather has been quite windy these past few days, cold mornings (13) – the sun doesn’t rise till 8am, though fine & sunny through the day. There seems to be a distinct absence of birds here apart from a few white egrets on the river now & again. In the afternoon we drive further through the park to one of the small weirs which have been built to control the flow (& therefore floods I assume). There were a few kangaroos around & we also sighted a fox which of course is not a welcome visitor in a National Park. At the old Kinchega Homestead site there are small remains of the old home beside a billabong & a wonderful old woolshed which has been restored. The camping fees in this N.P are only $3 p.p. per night and no daily car fee as we are pensioners.

Next day we explore some of the lakes of which there are several. I call them the ‘dead’ lakes as they have black skeletons of trees still standing all over the lakes. It’s quite picturesque & interesting. I think all these lakes are really floodplains but I could be wrong. There are other camping sites here too, actually nicer than where we are in some respects. One is named after the Australian explorers Burke & Wills who obviously discovered this area. The main weir is also in this area & there is certainly a lot of water passing through it at present. Another small lake we found was called Copi Hollow & we decided it was a getaway for Broken Hill residents with waterskiiing, a caravan park & quite a few weekend cottages. It’s so outbackish other than that it seems quite incongruous.

Next day we have to backtrack to Broken Hill in order to head towards Wentworth. There is a shorter route via a dirt road & though we have been told by some people it’s OK for caravans if one takes it carefully, we decide not to chance it as we don’t want any damage done to the van before we sell it. So we will drive about 240kms today & stay in a free rest area just before Wentworth. The morning is lovely with clouds like feathers in the sky but is quite cold & we don our ‘ugg’ boots & for the first day do not turn the aircon on.

I am thrilled to see a Major Mitchell cockatoo fly over in front of us. These are not the common sulphurcrested cockatoo but have a pink breast & pink crest & rather lovely. Would have like a photo. A few sheep cross the road this morning too & a group of emus appeared to be having a race with one group running along - one side of the fence & the rest on the other – really looked amusing. It’s a really boring day scenery-wise with little change, so we are glad to reach our overnight parking space about 80km north of Wentworth right beside a small river & only joined by one other van later in the afternoon. The flies are really bad here but we pour insect repellant over ourselves & manage to stay outdoors in the sun We are joined by a friendly goanna who wandered around our van & up the trees nearby for a couple of hours quite oblivious to our presence it seemed. Certainly didn’t disturb our reading & crossword time & he was definitely welcome to the flies. Also present were some native swamp hens, brown with a very upturned tail & smaller than our Pukekos, however they do have purple swamp hens which are quite similar to the Pukekos but a bit smaller.

14th MARCH 2013 – BROKEN HILL, NSW
 

After a good nights sleep we are off to explore Broken Hill. Neither of us were sure what to expect but it is a lovely big town, the usual wide streets & historic buildings. The first visit is always the Info Centre where they are very friendly & helpful. I must say we find this is normal in all the dealings we have had with people whether it be retail, caravan parks etc. Next port of call is Silverton 40kms from B/H. Again an historic mining town which has been a virtual ghost town for more than a century. However several historic buildings survive including a popular hotel – what a surprise! Also a couple of lovely stone churches. A small number of gifted artists have taken over these & attract a large number of tourists. We were most impressed ourselves, especially with one young man probably in his 20’s who does the most quirky, amusing art which we both loved & purchased postcards. There is something about Aussie art – perhaps it’s just that it pulls at the strings of my Aussie roots. Those outback colours are so eyecatching. Silverton also lays claim to much of the memorabilia from the movie ‘Mad Max II’ which was made out there including ‘A Town Like Alice’, ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’, ‘Mission Impossible II’, ‘Razorback’, Reckless Kelly’ & ‘Wake in Fright’ to name but a few. The actual film studio is in Broken Hill in a huge old power station building & is another example of Broken Hills reinvention of itself to keep things humming. There is a constant flood of Australian & International feature film crews using it.

Mad Max Museum
 

Bottle Top Jeep at Silverton
 

Back in Broken Hill in the afternoon we visit several art galleries, but the most amazing art we see is the worlds largest acrylic painting on canvas (12m x 100m). The artist is a world renowned Australian by the name of Peter Andrew Anderson (Ando). It used 9 tonne of paint, & is held in place by hydraulics, pulleys & counter weights. After walking through a simulated Aboriginal cave the picture is viewed from a timber platform which is surrounded by the painting, giving the impression of walking into it. It took over 2 years (all hours of day & night). It features natural & manmade landmarks within 300kms of Broken Hill. Between the viewing point & the painting lies more than 300 tonne of re earth, 10 tonne of rocks & trees & scrub native to the area. It was opened to the public in 2001, the year Peter turned 40. It’s just mindblowing & the whole effect is like walking into the landscape.

The street names in the city centre are named after chemicals, e.g. bromide, iodine, sulphur, oxide & so on.  I guess it all adds to the atmosphere of the place.  The Line of Lode (the seam of the mine itself plus the tailings & mullock) are situated only about two streets from the main shopping centre &  surround  the southern side   like a giant wall extending for about 5 kms.

The housing in B/H is an eclectic mix , from basic huts to beautiful stone, from Victorian to Art Deco & not forgetting a proliferation of corrugated iron on houses, fences whatever, entirely in keeping with the surroundings on the edge of the city.