Bass Straight

We set off early in order to avoid any problems with loading the trailer. As it was, there were no problems and we sat on the wealth for an hour waiting to board the ship. The upside being that we were one of the first vehicles to board.

Driving onto The Spirit of Tasmania II

We had picked a good day to sail as the sea was fairly flat but the heat outside was so intense that the outside smoking decks on level 7 were closed due to grease from the life boat rigging was liquefying and dripping all over the deck. That met regularly visiting decks 9 and 10 with limited air conditioning.

Leaving Port Philip Bay

Maintaining a level of sobriety so I could drive to Bridport upon arrival made the journey very long. Lots of reading and games of Backgammon. We were relieved when we finally docked in Devonport.

Arriving in Devonport

After waiting 1.5 hours to clear quarantine, we setoff for Bridport at 8 o’clock which meant it would be after dark before we arrived.

Grantville - Melbourne

We drove back into Melbourne to be ready for tomorrow ferry trip across Bass Straight to Tasmania. We stopped for a break at Grantville Pier and then through to Big4 in Melbourne. It was very hot when we arrived in Melbourne, topping 44 degrees and with the window rattler air con on the fritz Sally and I and a 100 other guest were in the pool cooling down.

Grantville Pier

Sally on Grantville Pier

Philip Island

Philip Island was the place to be. We rocked up intending to witness the sunset penguin parade but were most disappointed to find that Victoria Parks charged AD$20 a head to access the area around dusk. On principle we refused and went in search of penguins in the afternoon. This was free and although we did not see the parade we saw penguins.

Philip Island Fairy Penguin

Also the view across the Nobbies at the south end of the Island and Pyramid Rock to the east were excellent.

The Nobbies

Pyramid Rock

We drove back to Cowes via the car race track reminding me of my first visit to Philip Island in 1989 to see Wayne Gardner win the inaugural Australia 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix. I went with Brad Edwards who I haven't seen in 20 years. If anyone knows how to contact Brad, please stick a comment on my blog.
We dined in town at Kristo’s on great fish’n chips then headed to our van park in Cowes.

Cowes Van Park

Mt Eliza

We dropped the boys off in Melbourne and then continued onto Mt Eliza to visit Helen whom we met whilst she was working in Darwin last year. We setup camp in Helen’s front yard and then was entertained with a fish paster and some catching up over drinks.

Camped in Helen’s Front Yard

Helen, Sally and Colin

Ballarat - Sovereign Hill

Sovereign Hill

Jake and Nickolas at Sovereign Hill

Sovereign Hill Gold Mine

After a couple of hours wandering around Sovereign Hill, we headed back to the go-kart track where Jake and Nick, once again, tried unsuccessfully to whip my arse. Then it was back to Windmill Big4 van park for a sauna and spa bath.

Sally, Colin, Jake and Nick

That evening, Jude from Cairns arrived for the evening. Not having seen her since Cairns, Sally had some catching up to do.

Jude and Sally

Ballarat

Friday, Jan. 23

Settled into our cabin, we unhooked the trailer and headed into Melbourne. Hindmarsh is on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay so we crossed the Westgate Bridge, through Toorak and towards the Mornington Peninsular.

Melbourne from West Gate Bridge

On our return, Jake and Nicholas set off to export the BIG4 Windmill Caravan Park, an absolute playground for these two.

Saturday, Jan.24

Jake and Nicolas were really getting into this family van park experience. By the time I surfaced, they had already had pancakes, jumped on the bouncy pillow and been swimming. We set off to go go-carting but when we arrived, we discovered that the centre didn’t open until midday. This, however, gave us enough time to squeeze in a game of ten pin. The old master has lost nothing, being the only player to make triple figures.

Nick, Colin and Jake

That evening we dined at Hogs Breath and then boys took in a movie.

Daylesford - Ballarat

Thursday, Jan. 22

This is where we parted with Mike and Jan for a couple of weeks. They planned to head straight to Melbourne but Sally and I had booked a cabin in Ballarat for the Australia Day weekend. We had planned to stay the night in Ballarat and then drive into Melbourne tomorrow to pick up my boys, Jake and Nicholas, so they could spend a few days with us. We stooped in Daylesford and had a walk around the lake and then ventured up to a lookout tower above the township.

Lake Daylesford

Daylesford Tower and View from the Top

We then headed to Ballarat in gale-force winds. This explained why there was a total fire ban in place today. In fact, as we drove in we were greeted by a grass fire in the middle of Lake Wendouree. The lake looks a lot different from when it was used as the rowing course in the 1956 Olympics.

Lake Wendouree

This evening we visited Kyleigh’s (from Buderim) parents Jan and Colin for dinner. They entertained and we chatted about Buderim and our trip over a couple of bevvies. Sally and I piled into a cab around midnight and headed back to camp.

Sally, Colin, Jan and Col

Bolac - Mt Franklin

Wednesday, Jan. 21

On the road again. This time to The Daylesford region where we were bound for Mt Franklin (as in mineral water). This appeared on the map as the only camping facility in the Daylesford region. We started driving south down the Grampians to Dunkeld then towards Ballarat. As we approached Dunkeld we drove through the Sierra Ranges past Mount Abrupt.

Mt Abrupt

We stopped in to check the Bolac collage rowing club and were surprised to see the complete lake of water in Lake Bolac.

Lake Bolac College Rowing Club

From there to Mt Franklin were the camp ground was excellent. It is set in the crater of an extinct volcano surrounded on all sides by pine forest and in the crater itself, and old plantation of English and European trees.

Mt Franklin Campsite

The Grampians

Monday, Jan 19

Off to the Grampians. We intended to hit Hall’s Gap (not Hall’s Creek) for a couple of nights in a van park so we can catch up with electricity, water and more importantly, showers. We had planned to stay at Big 4 but upon arrival, there was not much in the way of sites available and nothing within a stone’s throw of each other. We headed back into Hall’s Gap and landed at the central van park. Lots of sites available and we choose a couple of suitable adjoining sites and settled in for the evening.

Hall’s Gap Van Park

Tuesday, Jan. 20

Today we have a day trip planned. We cleaned out the Prado and loaded Mike and Jan inside. We planned to do the loop road around the Balconies and back down past the Lake Bellfield. Our first port of call was the Wonderland Range just outside Hall’s Gap. The view from Wonderland looks back down Hall’s Gap towards the township.

The Wonderland Lookout

From there we headed to Reed Lookout and the walk across to the Balconies.

View from Balconies Lookout


The Balconies


Mike and Jan at the Balconies Lookout

We then drove around to MacKenzie Falls. Things were starting to heat up and the girls were showing signs of heat stress. We choose the shorter walks and got some great views of the falls.

Jan and Sally on the MacKenzie Falls walk


Mackenzie Falls


Mike at Makenzie Falls Lookout

On our return to camp, we decided to search for an appropriate body of water into which we could dip our tired limbs into. We started at the Wartook Reservoir but this didn’t meet our expectations of a suitable swimming lake.

Wartook Reservoir

We headed back towards Hall’s Gap passing the Lake Bellfield Reservoir on the way. To me, this proved irresistible. Crossing the muddy bank it was straight into the water. See Mike and Jan’s blog for photos (http://themikejancolandsalbigtrip.blogspot.com/). However, as we approached the lake we spotted a flock of Emus. On closer inspection we found scores of the giant birds living around the grassy plains surrounding Lake Bellfield. Whilst I swam, Mike went walkabout stalking these majestic birds for that perfect photo. Me I caught this snap of a young family.

Emus at Lake Bellfield Reservoir


After this it was back to camp where we dined a local restaurant and then retired for an early night.

Little Desert NP

Sunday, Jan. 18

Setting off to the Little Desert NP Mike suggests that we detour across the Netting Fence Track to Lake Hindmarsh. Sounded like a good idea at the time so off we went. This track was real sand dunes and after struggling to mount one, for the first time on this adventure, it was time to let the air out of our tyres. After this the sand was no longer a problem.

Netting Fence Track

Lake Hindmarsh was bit of an anticlimax as it was bone dry. The council boat ramp gave some indication of where the water would be if the lake was full.

Schultz’s Beach Boat Ramp, Lake Hindmarsh

We entered Little Desert NP and camp just south of Kiata. Again we found the campground deserted so picked our spot and spent the next 4 hours dodging feral bees and bush flies. All par for the cause out here.

Little Desert NP Campsite

Broken Bucket Tank

Saturday, Jan.17

We checked out the old Lake Crosbie Salt Mine and then west along the Mallee Hwy to Marrayville about 30k in from the South Australia border. We stopped for some basic supplies (beer and ice) but Mike and I were curious about an old scrap heap at the side of the main drag. There were derelict APC’s farm equipment and earthmoving stuff that’s been rusting away for years. It reminded me of an old friend in Western Australia, Alex McDougall, who ask me when I left WA about 14 years ago to NT, to keep an eye out for this kind of stuff. He was a buff and had rebuilding projects on the go in Perth. Oddly enough, I’ve seen nothing like this in the NT.

Murrayville Scrapheap

Then down the Nhill Murrayville road to a campsite call the Broken Bucket Tank.

Nhill Murrayville “Road”

Just short of the campsite we had to stop to allow a pedestrian to cross

Shingleback

After setting up camp Mike and Jan had fun trying out the new Tardis. Usually used to provide some privacy around our bush toilets but today we turned it into a bush shower.

Broken Bucket Tank Campsite

Bush Shower Antics

We retired for dinner and I managed a great sunset shot of the Southern Cross Windmill and water tank, then some cards and to bed.

Broken Bucket Tank Windmill at Sunset

Big Desert NP

Friday, Jan.16

We left Mildura bound for the Murray Sunset NP. On the way out of Mildura we passed the Big Lizzie exhibit. Some interesting info on this beast was available at the site including the interesting juggernaught wheel design.

Big Lizzie

We drove to Merrinee then turned south down the Mopoke Track. This was mostly gravel but we came across some fairly sandy bits as we approached the southern end of the NP.

Mopoke Track

Mopoke Track - Pink Lakes

When we arrived at the Lake Crosbie campground we found it almost deserted. We selected a camp area each setup and then went to inspect the Pink Lakes up close.

Sally on Lake Crosbie

Lake Crosbie Campground at Sunset

Lake Crosbie Salt Mine Museum

Mildura, Lake Mungo NP

Thursday, Jan.15

To day we separated with Mike and Jan exploring the Mildura region and Sally and I venturing into the Lake Mungo NP. We went to visit the achiology and see the Great China Wall. Both a little anticlimactic as the exhibit did not reference any of the park and the wall was just a huge inland sand dune. Everyone said that a guided tour was the best way to see this attraction but it would seem that a little assistance for the budget conscience traveller’s wouldn’t go astray.

Lake Mungo NP, Great Wall of China