Mathesons Bore Rest Area, 28 15 48 S, 134 09 02 E, (378 Km).We had a fantastic time with our Kiwi friends Brian and Judy and it was sad last night to say goodbye, who knows, hopefully we may meet again, we shall certainly keep in contact with them.We started late this morning (the first time for a few days) and it was time for smoko at the Northern Territory/South Australia border by the time we had driven the 96 kilometres.We did stop a number of times to get a decent photo of a Wedge-tailed Eagle, numerous along this stretch of the Stuart Highway feeding on road kill (usually Kangaroo) we noticed that they appear to like fresh meat, where as the Kites and Crows will also eat older kill, (sorry if you’re eating).We were going to stop earlier but we made good time sharing the driving and will have a shorter distance to travel tomorrow, we are camped fairly close to the famous Ghan railway line that runs from Darwin to Adelaide, however, its hardly the West Coast mainline so shouldn’t bother us to much tonight.
Monday 22nd September 2008
Coober Pedy, 29 00 26 S, 134 45 31 E, (116 Km).After waking up to a pleasant morning, before we left the rest area the weather had changed to a very windy and dull day and we were pleased that we had a short distance to travel as the dust and wind made driving unpleasant.The drive into Coober Pedy is hardly scenic as this is the “Opal Capital of the World” and the landscape is pocketed with mullock heaps and holes, reputably over a million surround the township!The dull day didn’t help the scene, I actually think the colours in the heaps will show up quite interesting on a sunny day, the surrouding land is also very harsh, films like “Mad Max” having been filmed near here.Film crews also shoot beer commercials or car adverts to represent the thirst-quenching or rugged-toughness of products in this desert environment.The other strange thing about this town is that many homes and even churches are built underground for people to escape from the fierce heat, ironic therefore that last night it was 27.5 degrees at 9:15 pm at the rest area we stayed at, tonight its 12.5 degrees at 7;40 pm, but at least we can see the stars!
Note: Brian and Judy were delayed at Alice Springs airport because of a dust storm and only managed to get their connecting flight from Sydney to Wellington with 2 minutes to spare.
Tuesday 23rd September 2008
Lake Hart Lookout Rest Area, 31 14 00 S, 136 24 31 E, (335 Km). Disappointed this morning as the mine tour was cancelled.In a town where people live in underground houses, pray in underground churches, sleep in underground hotels, sell from underground shops and work in underground mines, the last thing they need is a power cut!The lady at the information office say’s it was a major problem and wouldn’t be back on for some hours, (the electricity is from diesel generators) so not wanting to wait around we decided to continue on our way along the Stuart Highway.We did not want to arrive to early at the rest area so we did have another look around the town before leaving.Coober Pedy is a peculiar town which would not exist if not for opals, surrounded by waste hills from the opal mines and with an assortment of strange home-built vehicles to work their claims (opal mining is a business for individuals and not large conglomerates) the people that live here are a diverse bunch.We drove steadily along not being allowed to divert because we were in the Woomera prohibited area, we did not have any incidents with stray rockets or missiles (they are not using the Lake Hart firing range much these days) but we did have a “near miss”………….an Emu decided to chance his luck in front of the van, luckily we were not going very fast, I swerved, he swerved and we both went on our merry way, one “Australian delicacy we have tried and didn’t like was Emu or I might not have missed him, anyway I could not have managed to eat a leg, wing or breast.Ironic really as this was the first time we had seen one on this trip, although we did see a couple more later on, sensibly away from the highway.
Wednesday 24th September 2008
Port Augusta, 32 28 74 S, 137 45 30 E, (234 Km).Before we left the rest area this morning we had a walk down to Lake Hart, water there isn’t, salt there is, we don’t know when it last had water in it but I would think a long time ago.We were pleased that we had seen a salt lake as we were unable to in Utah, USA, in February because of the adverse weather.We thought that Lake Hart was large but looking on the map it is very small compared to others, (like Lake Eyre where Donald Campbell broke land speed records).We also had a nice yarn with the young couple in an old van parked next to us last night, they left Bristol in November travelled overland through Russia and China before sailing from Singapore to Australia (now there’s an idea).What an arid part of Australia this is, red sand and low bushes as far as the eye can see, one would think there was nothing to photograph but we stopped twice in the first 20 kilometres, We had our first proper stop in Woomera, opened to the public again in 1982 (although there are still restrictions), the second time in 3 days we have been in a strange town.Obviously at one time there were thousands of people living here, engaged on missile/rocket testing and tracking for NASA (not forgetting the controversial atomic testing which was done nearby).The town looks extremely clean & tidy (the toilets one of the best we have used), there are squash courts, a lovely swimming pool and even a 10 pin bowling alley, BUT NO PEOPLE, it looked like a modern day ghost town.We did enjoy looking around the old missiles, rockets and aeroplanes and even paid $3 each to browse around the small (but interesting) museum, managed by a lady from China!
Thursday 25th September 2008
Arkapena Rest Area, Flinders Range, 31 38 76 S, 138 37 57 E, (187 Km). No wireless internet at the camp site, but in South Australia most libraries have WIFI and it’s free so off to Port Augusta library first this morning to update the website, great idea because Jenny also checked the on-line banking while I read the photography magazines, we also found a “book exchange” shop so we exchanged 2 books and it cost us $3.Because we didn’t spend as much time in Alice Springs and the MacDonnell ranges as we expected (I over estimated how long we needed there) we have a few days in hand on our itinerary and we have decided to drive up to the Flinders Range.What a brilliant idea!The landscape changed from the arid desert to green fertile pasture land and with spring flowers in abundance the drive was a delight.The weather has also changed since leaving Alice Springs, we have gone from 32 degrees at Alice, to 19 degrees at Coober Pedy and back to a pleasant 25 degrees today, with the night time temperatures changing accordingly.We also had another road-side encounter this morning a large robust creature we identified as a Western Blue-tongued Lizard, he was quite rude, we were worried he would get run over (they move very slowly) and when I approached him he put his (or her) tongue out and hissed at me!He did eventually make it safely to the bush at the side of the roadand I got the last laugh, I put my tongue out at him!We couldn’t get on to a powered site at Wilpena Pound camping ground and it would have been pointless to pay for an unpowered site so we have driven back out of the Flinders Range National Park to a lovely rest area, only 2 other vehicles here and absolutely no sound whatsoever, should have a great nights sleep.
Note: for those who check our location on Google Earth, if you move approximately 20 kilometres North/Northeast you should (hopefully) see the shape of Wilpena Pound surrounded by the Flinders Range.
Friday 26th September 2008
Rawnsley Park Station, 31 38 67 S, 138 34 78 E, (6 Km).We did have a wonderful night in the rest area and I was awake just after 6:00 am to watch the sunrise on Rawnsley Bluff.After breakfast, over a cup of coffee, we did “maps”, our description (Chocko’s actually) for spreading out on the table, maps, guides, information sheets and our itinerary to decide what we are going to do in the next few days.As you can see we haven’t moved far, finding Rawnsley Park Station (sheep not railway) Caravan Park just along the road from our overnight stop and we were able to get a power site for 2 nights (there are school holidays starting today, so it will be busier for a couple of weeks).We are having a “lazy day” relaxing in the motorhome although we did have a good walk to “Kangaroo Gap Lookout” a 45 minute,0.8 kilometre walk to a small knoll that provided excellent views of the surrounding ranges, in actually fact it took us longer because we I took a wrong turning, however the directions were a bit mis-leading, the leaflet said “follow the road downstream”, I followed the dry river bed downstream, what would you have done?
Saturday 27th September 2008
I was up early again and walked (the correct way this time) to Kangaroo Gap Lookout for photos of the early morning sun on the ranges, also watched 2 Kangaroos feeding, completely indifferent to me walking by. The “Clem Corner” 2 hour, 4.6 kilometre loop walk was our choice for this morning and with a rucksack full of water bottles (guess who was carrying it) we were on our way before 10:am.As it happened there was a wonderful breeze for most of our walk so as well as it being cooler the flies were also less of a menace, we took our time and on reaching Clem Corner we sat on a seat for at least an hour, looking out over the “Hills of Arkaba” to the Elder Range, this “moderate” walk was most enjoyable walking along a good track through rock, grass and trees and along Ulowanda Ridge and Kangaroo Creek before we made our way back to the starting point at the caravan park, just in time for lunch!We both read for most of the afternoon, before I decided to walk to the man-made dam to watch the birds drinking before it got dark, being most amused by the antics of Galahs as they all decided to perch on one small tree stump in the middle of the water to quench their thirst.Jenny joined me after preparing our tea (Jenny’s special curry) and we stayed there as a very hazy sun went down.Tomorrow we will return to Wilpena Pound and look around that area before probably camping overnight in the rest area before returning to Port Augusta.
Sunday 28th September 2008
Arkapena Rest Area, Flinders Range, 31 38 76 S, 138 37 57 E, (98 Km). Another “find” Rawnsley Park Station Caravan Park, our kind of camp site, clean amenities, quiet, in idyllic surroundings andan ideal place to be able to relax or do one ofseveral interesting walks in the vicinity, without having to move the motorhome.Our first stop this morning was at Ackaroo Rock, although we only walked as far as the lookout, we are not that interested in Cultural Sites, i.e., rock art, so descended back to the car park without doing the full walk.The map we had picked up from the information centre showed gravel road shortly after Wilpena Visitor Centre, however they had put bitumen down for approximately 20 kilometres more, so we were able to visit both Stokes Hill and Hucks lookouts along the road to Blinman, having smoko at Stokes Hill and lunch at Hucks, both lookouts giving us tremendous views for miles and miles to the many ranges in the far distances for almost 360 degrees.We did have a laugh when taking photos of an Emu, he had obviously got to close to the nest of a pair of Masked Lapwings and suddenly they started to fly at the Emu, seeing the Emu take flight (not literally in their case) with the 2 other birds chasing him would have earned us £250 from the programme “You’ve been Framed” if we had been using the cam-corder. After a visit to the visitor centre and a walk to the “solar power station” viewpoint, which supplies Wilpena with its electricity, we returned once again to the Arkapena Rest Area for a nights “free camping” before we return to Port Augusta tomorrow, where hopefully Jenny will be able to get her hair cut.
Monday 29th September 2008
Port Augusta, 32 28 44 S, 137 45 72 E,(150 Km).Shouldn’t have parked in the shade last night as this morning the sun was a long time warming the motorhome and it was a cool night!Our first walk today was to Death Rock (evidently the aboriginal people lefttheir dying people next to the large rock to die, charming) today it is a picturesque permanent waterhole and cultural site with an abundance of Galahs and Little Corellas flying around it.We then stopped in Quorn to visit the old Ghan railway station, today the station is the terminus for the Pichi Richi Railway that runs renovated steam excursion trains to Port Augusta from Quorn, we also drove around to the museum and locomotive workshops but unfortunately they were closed, Pichi Richi ?No I don’t know either!No Emu or lizard road hazards today only about 16 cyclists with an escort behind, because we kept stopping for photos, etc, they kept passing us, then of course we had to re-pass them, personally I think the Emu had more road sense!After a stop for smoko at Wilochra Creek, we continued to Port Augusta and had a delicious lunch at the “Outback Centre” before I went to the library to update and publish the website and Jenny went (successfully) to have her hair cut.A quick re-provision at Woolworth’s and tomorrow we will be on our way towards Adelaide, are we pleased we had that diversion to the Flinders Range National Park, it was a lovely drive to a very beautiful part of South Australia, we are glad we didn’t miss it.
Tuesday 30th September 2008
Saddleworth, 34 05 11 S, 138 44 24 E, (245 Km).Rather than drive along the main coast road towards Adelaide, we are driving part of the tourist route, through the South Flinders Range over Horrocks Pass, then running parallel to the coast road until almost in the Adelaide suburbs.We really dawdled along stopping at several townships on the way, the country side is mostly given over to cereal crops and the green fertile land is a direct opposite to that which we were driving through last week, how the scene can change in a comparatively short distance.We are now in Clare Valley a part of South Australia renowned for its fine vineyards, we may even visit a cellar door, although we have found that supermarket wines are normally cheaper, why is that?Tonight we are camped in the township owned campsite, part of their sports ground, so off the beaten track there is only one other motorhome here, the caretaker said he was busy last week he had 3 caravan's staying, immaculate facilities and power for $18, as our daughter would say, (not misspelt) bargin!Tomorrow we shall be in our first large city for some months after the wide open spaces of the out-back, no traffic and few people, we are not sure how we will cope, we will have to wait and see.
Wednesday 1st October 2008
Adelaide, 34 57 02 S, 138 30 30 E. (118 Km).First time for many weeks we have woken up to a cloudy sky, but we need not to have worried, by the time we arrived in Adelaide the sun was shining despite a very strong wind, we didn’t stop on the way as we had such a short distance to drive. We brought back Betty from her long vacation (for those who don’t know Betty she is our SatNav), she was obviously having “post holiday blues” as we went over a bridge into Port Adelaide then back over the next one,through Woolworth’s car park before eventually finding the way to the camp site in Glenelg.This is one of those “proper” holiday parks, swimming pool, bouncy castle, children’s playground, etc, its going to be a struggle getting Jenny to keep off them!We have spent the rest of the day relaxing, tomorrow we will find our way (by bus) into the city and also explore Glenelg.That’s all for today folks, must go and get Jenny off that swing, it’s past her bedtime, hope she doesn’t throw a tantrum.
Thursday 2nd October 2008
After a rather late breakfast we decided to go into Adelaide, Jenny went to the camp reception for information andfound the best mode of transport would be the tram from Glenerg, although it entailed a 40 minute walk, but eh, a tram?Sounded interesting so we had a pleasant walk along the beach, through the marina to the tram terminus, $2.60 for approximately a 30 minute trip and the trams run every 20 minutes, its even free for a few stops either end of the journey.Not going to get on my “soap box” again, but why are every type of transportwe have used in the cities we have visited been, cheaper, cleaner and more efficient than anything we have in the UK?The tram dropped us almost at the door of the South Australia Tourist Office so we went in to enquire about the ferry to Kangaroo Island, (the direct internet booking did not include anything over 6 metres), we spent at least 45 minute there with Michelle who as well as booking the ferry for us also rang the 2 private campsites (there are only 2) on the island to check vacancies as obviously we had to make sure both accommodation and our ferry sailing dates were both available.Michelle also told us of the “not to be missed” parts of the island from her own experience and other advice which we were extremely grateful for, a great service from SA tourism.We were both hungry so next stop was a Food Court and after wandering around each fast food counter we decided on Chinese, Jenny having Laksa Chicken and I had Mongolian Beef (again), both delicious and we don’t need to eat tonight.After a wander about the city centre we made our way back to the tram stop and back to Glenerg, we must admit that we were pleased to be back at the campsite, walking around city centres always seems more tiring than walking around the bush, why is that?You may wonder, did we go to a museum, art gallery, cultural centre or visit old historic buildings?No, you will probably gather by now that is not normally our “scene”,we both enjoy the peace and quiet of the great outdoors the wide open spaces and it’s flora and fauna, we are eagerly looking forward to visiting both the Fleurieu Peninsular and Kangaroo Island (or as all the locals seem to call it K.I.) in the next couple of weeks.
Friday 3rd October 2008
After so many weeks ofwaking up in the morning with the sun shining it came as a bit of a shock when we opened the curtains and the skies were grey, dull and it was even raining, not that we haven’t had the odd dull day but today felt particularly miserable.What an ideal day therefore to stay in the motorhome and have a spring clean (well it is spring here), Jenny concentrating on the inside, whilst I (between the rain showers) cleaned the outside.All was spic-and-span before lunch so we spent the afternoon reading and relaxing, and drinking copious mugs of tea and coffee.We also perused the South Australia tourism brochures on the Fleurieu Peninsular and Kangaroo Island so we have an idea of what to see and do there, what we must do tomorrow is stock up in the larder as we guess food may be more expensive on K.I. because of the extra shipping cost, we will also fill up with fuel for the same reason, potatoes are not allowed to be taken (no we don’t know why) so we will purchase them when we get there, I bet they are unproportionally expensive!
Saturday 4th October 2008
Normanville, Fleurieu Peninsular, 35 26 82 S, 138 18 53 E, (149 Kilometres).Well at least the sun is shining this morning, but the wind is cold.First stop this morning fuel and check tyre pressures and then to Woolworth’s to stock up, before travelling to the Fleurieu Peninsular.We stopped often along the way at sea (actually Southern Ocean) and sand vistas strolling along (yarning with a couple from Norfolk) and takingphotographs, I digress just realised this is now the third Ocean we have seen since arriving in Australia, the Pacific, Indian and now the Southern and we have seen all 5 whilst on our travels, albeit the Artic was from 39,000 feet!We also had a great morning coffee in a “design shop/café all the products seemed to belong to the 1930’s-50’s quaint but not really our “cup of tea” perhaps that’s why we had coffee (joke), the CD being played was also interesting Bryan Ferry singing nostalgic 1930’s classics, I quite liked that and found it very relaxing, mustn’t forget the apple tea cake was delicious too.We continued along the peninsular road before deciding we needed to find a camp site, whoops, nobody told us it was a bank holiday after looking at 2 that were full to overflowing which were basic camp sites we doubled back 14 kilometres to Normanville the first one had no vacancies but the second one had one site left, we took a chance and booked it.Normally when we have one of the last sites we have been “in the back of beyond” but we had a pleasant surprise with this campsite, near the amenities, BBQ and the beach access.We will probably stay here another night before catching the ferry on Monday as it is only about 20 kilometres from the terminal at Port Jervis.
Sunday 5th October 2008
We have decided to stay another night at Normanville as with it being a Bank Holiday we thought we may have difficulty finding another camp site with a vacancy.After breakfast wewalked along the beach before continuing to the small supermarket in the village (we forgot my apples in Glenerg).There was a wine tasting in the camp kitchen at 11;00 so we thought we would partake.We had two amusing conversations within the space of a few minutes (before a drop of wine passed our lips) which went something like, Wine Seller “Good Afternoon”, Jenny “ Good Morning”, Wine Seller “no Good Afternoon its 12:45pm,”Jenny “ no Good Morning its 11:45am, Wine Seller, “No the clocks went forward last night!” WHY WEREN’T WE INFORMED!!!Next conversation, Wine Seller, “where you from?” (bloody silly question he must have known we were English if we couldn’t tell the time), Jenny “the UK”, Wine Seller, “I worked in England until June”,me “were about”?. Wine Seller,“an unremarkable place called …………..Burton upon Trent!” Jenny, “that’s only 10 miles from where we lived”.We did purchase a nice bottle of red (which we drank this afternoon while sitting outside reading) and also a bottle of white, which may last a wee bit longer.Remember those cyclists in the Flinders Range?. They’ve only arrived at this campsite, we were forewarned as one of their group arrived early, it may have been the effects of the red wine but I am certain an Emu was in the lead as they past the finishing line.On a serious note, it was fortunate that we found out about the time change, we may have missed the ferry to KI tomorrow.
Monday 6th October 2008
Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, 35 40 26 S, 137 36 73 E, (190 kilometres inc’ ferry).What a tumultuous night, heavy rain and the high wind rocking the motorhome, we could even here the surf pounding on to the beach.However, by the time we got up, the rain had turned to showers and the wind had eased somewhat.Instead of continuing along the coast road to Cape Jervis ferry terminal we decided to cross the peninsula through the Inman Valley to Victor Harbor before driving to Cape Jervis, a longer way but the ferry crossing was not until 3:00 pm.The Inman Valley was very picturesque, mostly pasture land with gum tree-lined roads and the first time on the trip we have seen Red Kangaroos in the wild, also a most peculiar species of goat, plus Alpacas, the latter 2 being grazed in enclosed paddocks (UK = fields).We stopped in Victor Harbor for a coffee and a quick look around, we are coming back this way so we shall save a further explore until later, we also want to go to the Whaling exhibition there.Our next stop was a the lookout over Waitpinga and Parsons Beaches the surf was awesome and the colour of the sky and ocean made for aimposing landscape, again it will be a spot we will return to.The lookout over Cape Jervis was our next stop, not a good idea, the ferry was just returning from Kangaroo Island (KI from now on, as we are staying a week so we will speak native) and we could see it battling against the waves in the Backstairs Passage (yes, really) between the mainland and KI, before berthing at the terminal, it must have been a rough passage all the cars that got off were green!After collecting our boarding cards, (I had already noticed ours was the largest vehicle) we joined the queue to board, “ you’ll need to reverse this on” said the official, great I have enough trouble reversing into a holiday park camp site andhe was asking me to reverse down the ramp and into the nether regions of a boat, however Alan 1, Harbour 0 and we safely parked in the bowels of the ferry, with handbrake on, 1st gear selected, we locked the van and climbed the stairs to the saloon and sat in very comfortable swivel seats at the front bow eating one of “Mrs Mac’s Famous Meat Pies”.The ferry was rocking from side to side, going up and down, waves battering the hull, wait a minute………we haven’t even gone to sea yet, we are still tied to the Jetty in the harbour!Actually I exaggerate the journey to KI was excellent, we think the bulk of KI itself shelters the Backstairs Passage (honest) from the full ravages of the Southern Ocean and the sea was only a bit choppy and at least when we got to Penneshaw I drove straight off, Alan 2, Harbour 0.This evening we are at a very nice camp site at Kingscote, 52 kilometres from the ferry terminal, we will explore this Easterly part of the island in the next 3 days, before moving down to the West for the rest of our stay.
Tuesday 7th October 2008
A short drive to visit the township of Kingscote this morning, to visit the Information Centre, but it was only a small place actually belonging to a gift shop and other than a town map we didn’t really get much more information from them, in retrospect we should have stopped at the KI Gateway Visitors Centre in Penneshaw when we got off the ferry yesterday.We do have the South Australia Tourist Board guide to KI and also our “Lonely Planets” so they will have to suffice for now until we visit the other end of the island.We were going to walk from the town along the Esplanade but it had started to rain so we drove down and sat in the motorhome overlooking “The Bay of Shoals” and had a cup of tea before continuing along the road to a Jetty, where Pelicans were feeding, what comical birds these are, but how majestic they look in flight, we could have watched them all afternoon, but an Emu was next on our plans!Not a bird, but a bay, Emu Bay is one of KI’s most popular beaches because of its safe swimming, but because of the weather (it had stopped raining, but was windy and cold)we were the only one’s there and we only stopped long enough for our lunch and for Jenny to play on the swings.Our last stop of the day was a further 36 kilometres from Emu Bay, Stokes Bay is reputed to have a beautiful beach, all we could see were rocks, I really must read the guides better, at the east side of the bay is a natural rock tunnel of huge boulders, which you walk through, THEN, you reach a beautiful beach and a natural rock pool, there is also a penguin rookery but we didn’t see any sign of them, despite the weather it was a beautiful beach.A great day out, a bit “cold & wind swept” but we have seen some wonderful scenery,somebody has said the weather will improve later in the week, we will have to see.
Wednesday 8th October 2008
Our intention today was to explore the northeast and the Dudley Peninsula, however, our first stop was at America River (not a river at all, but some American guy in 1803 thought it was), a quiet fishing village, which we passed through not realising we’d seen it, very pretty though surrounded by bush on one side and the large sea inlet on the other.We stopped at a lookout just outside for smoko and decided to return this evening to have our dinner there.The next stop should have been Prospect Hill Lookout but the weather was a bit bleak so we shall save it until later.We did go in to Penneshaw so we took the opportunity to visit the KI Gateway Visitors Centre and collect some more information leaflets before driving along the Dudley Peninsula to Cape Willoughby Lighthouse, we didn’t go on the tour of the lighthouse but we certainly enjoyed the views from the cliff top whilst we eat our lunch, especially as the weather had improved.We stopped at more beaches and lookouts throughout the afternoon and everyone was magnificent, white sands, blue seas and warm sunshine made for a very pleasant drive, we also managed to climb the 512 steps at Prospect Hill on the way back and it was well worth the effort for the 360 degree views it gave.Finally we returned to the lookout at Independence Point stopping there for our dinner, watching the sun go down over Pelican Lagoon before returning to the campsite at Kingscote, with no other traffic on the road we were able to drive slowly along, keeping a wary eye out for animals as darkness approached.
Thursday 9th October 2008
Karatta, 35 57 59 S, 136 48 63 E, (125 Km).Time to move down to the West of KI, and just after leaving Kingscote we saw a sign post for “Duck Lagoon”, “lets just pop down there and have a look say’s I”, three hours later we leave!A gem of a place, the lagoon, birds, Koalas, a disused Eucalyptus distillery, a ruined farm with old pieces of machinery and very ancient rusty vehicles, plus, picnic tables and clean toilets.Three tour vehicles arrived during our stay, so it was obviously a great place of interest AND we nearly missed it, definitely a place we will re-visit if we have time on our way back.We stopped at Bales Beach for lunch, another place with history, an old pioneer lived as a recluse in the ruined building, the beach was named in his honour.Although we had seen plenty of sealions in New Zealand (a slightly different species) we decided to visit them at Seal Bay Visitor Centre, where, with a guide you can get “up close and personal” (10 metres), Mary our guide took our party down to the beach were they were and gave us a very informative insight into these wonderful creatures, we were even lucky to see one “surfing” while we there.Tonight we are at a bush camp situated in natural bush and grassland complete with it’s own walking trails and resident kangaroos, it is also close to Flinders Chase National Park our destination for the next couple of days.
Friday 10th October 2008
It seems ages since we have been able to have breakfast outside but this morning was much warmer than of late, so fresh fruit and toast with ginger marmalade (yes, we’ve still got some left from our ginger factory visit in May), seated on the lush grass inlaid with a very pretty “daisy like” flower, which grows in profusion all around the island.The Flinders Chase Visitor Centre was the first destination this morning to obtain a visitors pass for the day, we also needed a update on the roads and trails that are open, there was a huge fire in December 2007 which devastated vast area’s of the park causing damage to bridges, boardwalks, building’s etc, and some parts are still closed to the public.A particular place I wanted to visit was the “Remarkable Rocks” and they were truly……..remarkable, the bizarre shapes caused by erosion over many, many years (well, before I was born anyway) were both weird and wonderful and the orange lichen growing on the rock just added to “a masterpiece of nature”, I just hope my photograph’s do it justice.Cape Du Couedic Lighthouse was our next stop, having lunch in the car park before venturing down to “Admirals Arch” a magnificent rock arch formed by weathering, home to New Zealand Fur-seals which amused us for quite a time as they frolicked in the rock pools just below us, there personal hygiene hasn’t improved, they still stink!Question, why do fur seals smell such a lot and sea lion’s don’t (well only a little bit)?After returning to the camp site Jenny caught up with some washing, I helped, I got out the way and went walkabout, I had company a young, beautifulfriendly, cuddly girl who followed me all the way round the lagoon, she even wanted her tummy tickled, the resident kangaroo is a bit of a flirt!
Saturday 11th October 2008
Woke up this morning to what sounded like someone snoring, wasn’t me I was obviously awake, wasn’t Jenny, she could hear it as well, the nearest other campervan was some 30 metres away, so it wasn’t them, the mystery remained unsolved until breakfast, when I heard it again, I looked up and there was a Koala in the tree above us fast asleep, (we have also heard him tonight, at least we know what it is now).Before leaving the campsite this morning we had a walk around “Becky’s Lagoon” which I walked to last night, we then continued to the Koala walk which is another trail within the camp site, where we saw another Koala (again fast asleep).By the time we arrived back at the motorhome it was nearly lunch time, so we drove to the Visitor Centre obtained our pass for the day, then had lunch there, before driving 8 kilometres to “Snake Lagoon” (no snakes, no lagoon, as it had dried up).The only people there were a ranger and volunteer removing weeds, we had quite a long conversation and they recommended taking the 4 kilometre, 2 hour trail along Rocky River valley to the Ocean. We had a fantastic walk, through the Mallee scrub (recovering well from the fire) along the path to Rocky River, crossing the river via a boardwalk, then followed the river down to a glorious beach where we relaxed for a long time before retracing our steps.It was pleasing despite the fires effect on the wildlife, seeing that they were returning to the area, we saw several species of lizard, goannas, birds and a kangaroo.We had asked at the visit centre about being able to take “sunset” photographs atAdmiral Arch as officially the park actually closes at sunset, the ranger explained as there are no gates to close the park is still open, she had no problem with us being still in the park after sunset as long as we took care exiting because of the animals roaming after dark.We therefore drove from Snake Lagoon back to Du Couedic Lighthouse and had our tea in the car park without seeing another person, in fact for the duration of our earlier walk (some 4 hours after staying on the beach and have a cuppa when we returned to the campervan) and the time at the lighthouse we didn’t see a living soul.We both took sunset photos at the arch, me from the arch itself and Jenny from the steps leading down to it, with the sky gradually darkening, tumultuous waves pounding the rocks, the sound of the seals arguing in the cavern and the isolation it was quite eerie there on our own, the last photo of the day was the lighthouse with the lantern glowing, not easy as I had to time the shot in time with the lamp flashing.Being mindful of the rangers advice, we had a slow drive back through the park to the campsite, seeing plenty of the rare Tammar Wallabies, plus Kangaroos and a Possum (with no road sense), the end of another great day on KI.
Sunday 12th October 2008
Bit late this morning and it was lunchtime before we arrived at the caves at Kelly Hill Conservation Park, we had to wait until 1:15 pm for our guided tour of the cave which coincidently was the same guide as on our Seal Bay Sealion tour, (Mary the guide calls Jenny The English lady). The cave had some ambient lighting on the stalactites and stalagmites, so I experimented with some long exposure settings on the camera rather than flash (which I’m hopeless at),which we thought came out quite successful.After lunch in the car park we drove to Vivonne Bay which is reputed to be “Australia’s best beach” and yes, the sand is pristine white, the sea beautiful shades of blue, but we both agree we have seen better, more interesting beaches and “best” would also indicate “safe” which with rip tides this one isn’t.Should have already mentioned today is very warm but extremely windy (we moved the van in the caves car park because twigs were dropping on it and who knows a branch could have been next.) we decided therefore to visit Cape Borda on the “windy” side of the island to see the effects on the rocky shore, after seeing the waves last night at Cape Du Couedic, we thought they would be mighty impressive, unfortunately we didn’t realise that it entailed 39 kilometres of gravel road, so we returned instead to the campsite (it had started to get dark and miserable anyway), when we got back the skies cleared for a short time to give us a most unusual red sky before it started to rain, but a least the wind has died down a bit, pity really, I was really looking forward to a rough crossing on the ferry back to the mainland tomorrow!
Monday 13th October 2008
Normanville, Fleurieu Peninsular, 35 26 82 S, 138 18 53 E, (179 Km).We promised ourselves a return to Duck Lagoon on the way back to the ferry terminal, so it was our first stop this morning and of course the first thing we did when we got there was have a cup of tea. we were limited for time so we only stopped a hour, the other place we were going to look at was Pennington Beach but as it had started to rain we decided not to bother.Instead we stopped for lunch near the ferry and were lucky enough to see two dolphins swimming along the shore, after the task of again reversing on to the ferry we went up the stairs to the lounge area and had a cup of coffee and relaxed on the smooth crossing back to Cape Jervis on the main land.After a brief stop at Second Valley Cove for a walk along the fishing jetty and a look at the special Marble and Slate rock formations we continued to Normanville, (not before seeing another dolphin close into the shore) the campsite we stopped at before our trip to K.I, what a difference this time at the campsite, last time we just managed to get the last site, as it was a bank holiday weekend, this time we could pick our spot, we did in fact choose the same one, as it was near the facilities and the internet reception was good.What a fantastic place Kangaroo Island was we enjoyed ourselves tremendously there, the landscape and the scenery were truly spectacular and another place we will not forget.Jenny did the on-line banking at Normanville, when we started on our trip the £ = A$1.92, now itis £ = A$2.57, great eh, might treat myself to a cream bun tomorrow!
Tuesday 14th October 2008
Port Elliot, Fleurieu Peninsular, 35 31 90 S, 138 41 36 E, (47 Km).Just a short drive of less than an hour this morning, crossing the peninsular through the pretty Inman Valley for the second time from the North Coast to the South.We had more time today to look at Victor Harbor so the first stop was at the Whale Centre a very interesting building which showed the history of the whaling industry that was important to Victor Harbor and the decline of the Southern Right Whale as it was hunted almost to extinction.Victor Harbor is now a prime viewing area to spot these magnificent creatures as they breed in the warm waters nearby, before moving back down to Antarctica with their calves.Unfortunately they move back in October and we were to late to see them, the last one being seen in late September, we did have a nice conversation with Sandra one of the receptionists at the centre who lived in the UK some years ago, she still had an English sense of humour.We also looked at the horse drawn tram which traverses the timber causeway to Granite Island, originally used to transport goods (mostly wool) to the Clippers berthed in the lee of Granite Island from Victor Harbor.After our trip to K.I we were running low on most of our food so the next “port of call” was Woolworth’s to re-stock and re-fuel, we also went to the local book exchange, they were the most expensive second-hand books we have bought on the whole of our trip and we only got $2 for our exchange book (the surly woman didn’t want the other 3 we had), not one of our better experiences of customer satisfaction.Lonely Planets came up “trumps” at our stop tonight, we were going to stay in Victor Harbor, however, they enthused about the caravan park at Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot just outside Victor Harbor, they weren’t wrong, we are just over the sand dunes less than 100 metres from the ocean and with pleasant walks along the cliffs have already decided to stay an extra day and explore.
Wednesday 15th October 2008
After a relaxed start to the day, we decided to take a packed lunch with us and do the coastal walk from the camp site to Middleton asmall “holiday town” further along the coast, we didn’t reach that far (only 1 k short) because we stopped at so many interesting little bays along the way, plus an old ruin of a homestead. We sat on the sand at Bashman Beach to have lunchwatching a pair of Hooded Plover’s acting “hurt” when the gulls got to close, we presume they either have a nest or young nearby,we then had a slow amble back to the camp. We are still ahead by a few days of our intended itinerary, so we are going to stay a further 2 days andaccording to the weather forecast it is also going to get warmer, today although it has been mostly sunny the chilly wind drops the temperature down quite considerably and we are having to wear our jumpers, hopefully we shan’t have to do this for long as the summer approaches.
Thursday 16th October 2008
Priority job today was for Jenny to cut my hair, I was a bit tired of the dreadlocks, they were such a bind when I was trying to wash it. So elastoplastsand antiseptic at the ready, I sat down to await my fate, I need not have worried Jenny made a fantastic job of it, just a pity I will have to wear a hat for the next couple of weeks.Operation over, we decided to clean the motorhome, I cleaned the outside with a broom which has constantly detached itself from the handle and a bucket of water., Jenny meanwhile cleaned the inside, not that it was dirty, but it does get dusty.A walk into Port Elliot was next on the agenda, a lovely walk along the beach, before entering the town, or should I say street as all the small shops are on the main road, we were going to buy our lunch from the local bakery, bad timing, everybody we think from a 5 kilometre radius had the same idea, (even 3 vehicles belonging to the local constabulary) and the queue was out the door.Plan B, a Fish and Chip Shop near the beach, famous for its beer battered flathead fish, that also was very busy, but the girl said our order (to take out) would be ready in 15 minutes. 35 minutes later we got our food and sat in the picnic area on the beach to eat them, delicious, but those in New Zealand were better.We spent the rest of the day relaxing, I went “walkabout” to Commodore Point to take some photographs whilst Jenny did some reading and we listened to music and read in the evening, a really enjoyable day and the good news is the weather has got a lot warmer and is getting hotter. 26 degrees C is forecast for the weekend.We are enjoying it so much here we have now decided to stay until Monday, we have found since travelling we prefer to stay in one place for a few days and enjoy the surroundings, even if we then have to drive extra kilometres the next day to catch up, we keep saying as long as we are at Brisbane Airport on January 19th, it doesn’t matter where we are in the meantime.
Friday 17thOctober 2008
A relaxed morning and after lunch we thought we would walk along the cliffs beyond the Port Elliot township and explore the coastal bridleway, we walked along the beach as far as the jetty before walking towards Freeman Nob (who gave them these names).As is our custom, we sat on the first bench we came to which overlooked the breakwater, and discussed the dangers of the person we couldsee snorkelling on their own along the rocks. I got a little worried when he hadn’t surfaced for some time it did go through my brain, (which I was sitting on) that perhaps he (or she) was using a scuba, then I realised there were two of them and one dressed all in black got out onto the rocks………Then it dawned on me, they were seals, but were they?Now bare in mind I was still sitting on my brain, the seals were now a school of dolphins, but rationale told me this was impossible as dolphins don’t climb on rocks, it finally sunk in, there were seals AND dolphins in the same place.After trying each bench we came to along the cliff walk we came to the surfing beach and sat there for a while watching the surfers.Why do they paddle up and down for such a long time before deciding to surf in on a particular wave?They all looked the same size from where we sat large and menacing!Jenny said she would like to try it, where can I buy a sheet of polystyrene 3 metres square?
Saturday 18th October 2008
Despite the wind which was coming off the land it was very warm before 9:00 am, the weather man got it right!We decided to have another walk along the cliffs this morning and take some more photographs, we enjoyed the walk so much yesterday, the cliffs being ablaze with wild Gazania in all hues of yellows and oranges, we also want to save the longer walk to Middleton for tomorrow and take lunch with us again.We feel really lazy at present all we did after lunch today was walk across the sand dunes and read our books on the beach.We did have a nice yarn with a man walking his dog along the cliff path, coincidently we first met him in Victor Harbor at Woolworth’s car park, when he was asking us questions about the motorhome as he is interested in buying one and he lives in Port Elliot where we are staying, he originally lived in a small village in Gloucestershire.
Sunday 19th October 2008
Disregard what I said about the weather man yesterday, we have woken up to rain, wind and a plummet in temperature, we thought we would save our long walk until this afternoon in the hope that it might change. We instead walked into Port Elliot and went to the railway station, we had timed it to photograph the “Cockle Train” that was due at 11:00 am this runs between Victor Harbor, our daughter Rhiain who “proof reads” our web site and sends us correction’s insists it is “Harbour”, not “Harbor”, but I digress, where was I, oh yes, runs between Victor Harbor and Goolwa and a quaint old rail-car was the traction today. 11:00 am also means “smoko” time so we went into a gift/coffee shop for a coffee and I couldn’t resist the apple-pie on display, the “upside” was it was delicious, the “downside” was that Jenny insisted I share it with her, I couldn’t refuse with my arm up my back!We continued window shopping and were on our way back when we passed the bakers which we couldn’t get into last week, we decided to buy our lunch there and boughttraditional Australian fare, “Cornish Pasties”, as I said the intention was to have them for lunch, we eat them within 5 minutes walking down the street.Not now having to return to the camp site for lunch we continued to walk to the surfing beach, with the change in wind direction we anticipated there would be some large waves, we weren’t wrong and sat on the bench watching the surfers attempt to stay on their boards.We then heard a train whistle “a steam train whistle” and watched the cockle train about a kilometre away steaming towards Victor Harbor, we I decided to return to the station for a photograph on its return trip, we got back to the station with 10 minutes to spare, the opportunity was to good to miss and we bought 2 return tickets travelling in veteran carriages for the 20 minute steam train trip to Goolwa.We had time there to have a look at the old quay and wander around the Sunday market before climbing aboard for our return to Port Elliot, we should have time tomorrow to have another look at Goolwa as we will pass through on our way around the coast.We returned to the camp site in time for me to switch the computer on and follow the Chinese F1 Grand Prix on “live timing” (I won’t try to explain), congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who won.We never did manage to walk to Middleton, maybe we will have time to walk a little way along tomorrow before we leave.Good news, we had (or rather Jenny had) an email from Camelot we have won £53 on Saturdays lottery, for a smalllarge fee I’ll tell you our numbers!
Monday 20th October 2008
Goolwa, 35 29 51 S, 138 49 03E, (30 Km).As you can see we didn’t drive far today, our first stop was at Woolworth’s for a quick “top up” it certainly doesn’t take us long to push the trolley around, we are so used to their products now and know what brands of food/drink we want.We also had a coffee in the shopping centre and I read the UK football news and results, didn’t take long it was on a ¼of a page., then there were about 10 pages of horse racing, (I believe it is the Melbourne Cup shortly, means nothing to me).Our next destination was the Information Centre and Jean (originally from Bath, 40 years ago) was very helpful, she is to blame for us still being here, there is more to see than we thought so we shall be having a slower drive along this part ofSouth Australia and what is called “The Limestone Coast”.We watched a posse of police at the quay side, holding on to 2 ropes with divers attached, well at least there were bubbles coming up from were the ropes entered the water and someone speaking from inside a goldfish bowl, what were they looking for?Dead bodies, a motor vehicle, a traffic warden, or buried treasure?……… Empty bottles!I daren’t ask why in case they either threw me in, locked me up or deported me. Jean suggested going to look at the barrage (like the London barrage, but built in 1935-1940) to keep the Southern Ocean out of the Murray River and the Murray River out of the Southern Ocean, well at least that’s the idea, trouble is with the shortage of rain the mouth of the river is being dredged 24/7 since 2002 to keep the channel open.Water is a very political “hot potato” in South Australia, people are saying its not the lack of rain but the enormous volumes being used by farmers for irrigation, i.e., for cotton, which they say should not be grown here anyway.We did go to the barrage and walked along the top for as far as we were allowed, then spent the afternoon watching the different birds on the ocean side of the barrage, there were so many varieties of bird, including my favourite the Pelican and others that we took photographs of to help with identification.We have more of this area to look at tomorrow when we move further around towards the limestone coast.
Tuesday 21st October 2008
Parnka Point, Coorong National Park, 35 53 80 S, 139 24 07 E, (185 Km).After leaving Goolwa rather than drive up to the main highway we cut across country taking the quieter (and prettier) route along Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, stopping at Dunns Lagoon for a short break, walking along the cliff top nature walk at Clayton Bay and then the small township of Milang for lunch.We continued on to Wellington where a ferry (free) took across the mighty Murray River before we eventual joined the main Princes Highway, there was not a picnic area on this stretch of highway, but we did stop in a lay-by with a camera sign, which denotes a photographic opportunity, this one was a very strange PINK lake or rather a dry salt lake, the pink pigment is caused by a green alga which contains carotene, it did make for an unusual photo.We are camped tonight in a National Park campsite right on the side of a lake, there is only one other trailer tent about 200 metres away, both the silence and views are magnificent and for just a fee of $5 in a honesty box,The sunset wasalso worth photographing and after the sun went down, while Jenny read,I watched the thousands of birds flying to their roosts as darkness fell, a fitting end to a great day was one of Jenny’s home made chicken curries for dinner.
Wednesday 22nd October 2008
Robe, 37 09 85 S, 139 47 05 E, (172 Km).The rear of the motorhome was facing the lagoon and with nobody else around we left the rear curtains of the motorhome open, what a view to wake up to first thing in the morning, the sun was shining, the wind had ceased for a short time and the lagoon was mirror flat, it was stupendous, put the co-ordinates, 35 53 80 S, 139 24 07 E, into Google earth to see the view from above.After breakfast we drove out to “Hellsmouth” the narrowest point between the Younghusband Peninsula and the mainland at the south end of the national park a great place with truly wonderful views.Driving out of the park we managed to avoid several large lizards who had decided that “sunning” themselves on the warm road surface was a safe idea!Our mid-morning “smoko” was at “Jack Point Pelican Observatory”, and after tea and 2 biscuits (I am being rationed) a 10 minute walk took us to the observation shelter, which overlooks islands where the Australian Pelican breed, however the islands are right in the middle of the lagoon, so even with binoculars it was difficult to see the “crèche”.Lunch was at the picnic area for the “Lakes Nature Walk” a 3 kilometre, 1 hour gentle and pleasant walk following the shoreline of a lake then through bush and sand dunes before looping back to the car park, another place we have seen a pink lake, this time with water in it. After a coffee stop at “Pinks Beach” (no, I don’t know why, because it looked a sandy colour to me) we arrived in Robe, or rather the Big4 caravan park near Robe, as it is about 2 kilometres from the township itself, we will have a look at Robe proper tomorrow.
Thursday 23rd October 2008
Mt Gambier, 37 50 78 S, 140 46 05 E (244 Km). a couple of necessary jobs before we left the caravan site this morning, fill the water tank and empty the loo cassette, before the one gets too empty and the other gets too full!For some reason there is a problem with the satellite that produces the internet signal in the township and the only place to obtain wireless internet was the information office/library so that was our first stop this morning, having the free South Australia library internet card enabled us to update the web site and down load our emails then a refuel and a few odd edibles and we were on our way.Our destination was Bool Lagoon Game Reserve “one of the largest and most diverse lagoon systems in southern Australia which provides essential drought refuge to many rare and endangered bird species”.We thought we would go to the information office in Naracoorte and get directions, I picked up the leaflet on Bool Lagoon and the lady asked if she could be of help, we explained what we wanted and she replied “It’s dry, it’s the drought you know, not so much as a puddle this year”.What a disappointment, we were going to stay at the camping ground overnight and explore the lagoon and the walking trails tomorrow, as we were going to pass the entrance to the game reserve anyway we decided to see for ourselves, not before calling in at a book exchange shop, were the lady confirmed what we had already been told but also, “look out for snakes” (they are now waking up after the winter hibernation and are courting).We did stop and have a cup of tea at the reserve entrance and not a drop of water was to be seen, it is only when you see such a vast area of land which is dry and should be filled with water that you realise what devastation nearly 4 years of drought as done, 2 species of frog, a lizard and a tortoise, to name but four,no longer live there.We continued on to Mt Gambier (actually the 2nd largest city in S.A) not on our original itinerary but an alternative stop on our way to the border with Victoria and we are staying at Blue Lake Caravan Park next to (not surprisingly) Blue Lake, more of that tomorrow.
Friday 24th October 2008
After reading information on Mt Gambier and also liking what we have seen as we drove through the centre, we have decided to stay here a couple of days.The camp site is in a park like setting with Valley Lake on one side, opposite is Blue Lake and then a golf course, the type of trees dotted about the park seem to give it a very “English” look although you would not normally see colourful parrots sitting in them, (not strictly true if you live around the Richmond area of London with the many Ring-necks Parakeets that breed around there).We are having to revisit our itinerary as our destination for 3 days was going to be Grampians National Park, but we have found out that a very large fire damaged nearly half of it in January/February and they are still working on the damaged pathways, bridges etc.We don’t want to be in the same situation as on Kangaroo Island and the Flinders ChaseNational Park with restrictions on were we could go , so we have made a decision to give the Grampians N.P a miss.We had a great work this afternoon, around the complete perimeter of Blue Lake, (I won’t bore you with why it’s so blue) this is an extinct volcanic cone filled with 36,000 million litres of water (from which the town gets it’s water supply) and the walk around the rim was very interesting with informative boards along the way and a great variety of spring flowers and shrubs.At last we saw one of Australia’s elusive creatures an Echidna, which was along the cliff edge wire fence of the lake, unfortunately he was that busy feeding we couldn’t see his head and as he was against the fencehe wasn’t very co-operative about having his photograph taken. We did intend going to the Blue Lake Visitor Centre but it had closed at 2:00 pm, so we walked back to the caravan site via the lookout for the lake and also the lookout for “theLeg of Mutton Lake” so called because of it’s shape, miss-called because the lake has been dry for many, many, years.
Saturday 25th October 2008
We had a relaxed morning, just reading in our chairs outside the motorhome and deciding on our next destination, although we haven’t come to a positive decision.After lunch we decided to walk to Valley Lake and the Wildlife Sanctuary, we left the camp site through the main gate and after walking at least a kilometre arrived at the back of the campsite, where they had put a pedestrian exit, less than 200 metres from our motorhome and we hadn’t noticed it!We walked down the steep descent to Valley Lake which is a recreational lake and although small there were water skiers on it and therefore it was rather noisy, we walked along to the wildlife sanctuary, a few acres of land with a sophisticated electric fence around and a double entrance with catches on the gates you need a degree as a locksmith, this is to keep out mean critters like dogs, cats, foxes and rabbits and keep 3 types of highly venomous snake in. There was a information area telling people of the different animals that could be seen there and to be quiet as you walked around and yet again the paths were constructed of the type of gravel on which you could here a mouse on tiptoe wearing socks walking along from 100 metres away.We had an excellent walk around and spent most of the afternoon there, alas we didn’t see any wild-life only 3 long-necked tortoises and plenty of birds, but the scenery was great and we did take the short cut back to the caravan site. which was just as well, we were tired after the steep climb back up from the lake.Tonight we will do “maps” and decide were we shall be tomorrow, we may even be in Victoria another Australian state to “tick”, and then we have the drive along the famous “Ocean Road”.
Sunday 26th October 2008
Last night was one of the warmest nights, possibly since we have been in South Australia, thunder storms were threatened by the weatherman but did not materialise, Rhiain our daughter will be pleased, we are having a competition who takes the best lightening photograph, I am winning on the astrophotography and also the first picture of a Kingfisher, (she has since told me only a British Kingfisher counts).Our first stop this morning was the information office to collect brochures and leaflets on Victoria the state we will be in this afternoon.We did however still have a couple of places to see in Mount Gambier and the first one “The Cave Gardens” was only 5 minutes away in the heart of the city, a collapsed cave that had been made into a very beautiful bush and renowned rose garden, we just managed to miss a coach party of Russians and we had the viewing area to ourselves and another couple from Sussex, who we had a good chat with.After a quick “trolley dash” around Woolworth’s we continued to “The Umpherston Sinkhole” again a limestone cave that had collapsed many years ago which was made into a sunken garden by James Umpherston who owned the land, complete with a pool in the bottom in the late 1800’s,It had fallen into disrepair, but since has been returned to it’s former glory, alas, without the pool which had dried up. Both the above attractions were in the city and with caves that we didn’t visit, together with the old volcano cones of both Blue and Valley Lakes, you can imagine how unstable the earth was in this area many millions of years ago.Our last stop before crossing the border into Victoria was Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park (yes I know that isn’t politically correct, but nevertheless that’s what it’s called), it is one of the most popular snorkelling and diving spots in the state, with a deep limestone cavern known as “The Cathedral”.A permit is compulsory to snorkel or dive in the pond, so we contented ourselves with peering into the dark depths of the crystal clear water and walking the 2.4 kilometre trail to the outlet into the ocean and returning via the beach.After having lunch in the car park we returned to the main highway and drove the 2 kilometres to the border, stopping for a quick photograph of the “Victoria” border sign, see you there!
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