Day 140 Wednesday 31st August

Today we went for a drive to Ararat. We went to a lookout which was quite incredible and looked out over the valley and the mountains near Ararat.

Then we went to the Gum San museum here. This is a Chinese museum which commemorates the Chinese who came to this area in the 1850’2 in the goldrushes. There were about 20 000 Chinese who landed in Robe and walked  to the goldfields . It was really good and we practised our calligraphy as well as doing some gold panning.

After that we went to Great Western. This is a little town which has a Seppelts winery called Great Western . We also went to Best’s winery which is one of the oldest wineries.

After that we went to Stawell which holds the Stawell Gift each year at Easter. This is a 100m foot race. We went to the lookout and had a quick look at the gold mine which has been going since 1981.

Then we had afternoon tea at a local park where a number of swans and ducks were swimming on the lake. The swan had 5 cygnets which were quite big but they didn’t have many feathers yet. We then returned home. Fortunately today was not as cold as yesterday.

The land here is quite beautiful with lots of rolling green hills and sheep dotted all over the place.

Day 139 Tuesday 30th August

Last night was freezing. It got down to about 2 degrees. Luckily we had a heater going and didn’t feel it in the van.

We went on a drive through the Grampians today. It was quite beautiful but really cold. There are some really high mountains here like Mt Difficult.

A number of roads are still unable to be used after the floods they had in January. There are many landslides and tree damage along the ridges. Our first stop was MacKenzie Falls. After a short walk from the car park we reached the top of the falls. Then we went to The Cranages (another lookout onto the Falls) and then to Broken Falls.

After that we went to Reid Lookout where we walked out to the Balconies. Here the view was quite wonderful.

After that we went to Boroka Lookout. This was the highest Lookout at 920 metres. It was also the coldest. We ate lunch here and it was 8 degrees. It was so cold, but the view was sensational.

Day 137 Monday 29th August

We left Mt Gambier at 7.15 this morning. We were pretty much packed up last night so we could leave early this morning. We had to get 4 new tyres on the van this morning, so actually we didn’t leave until 9.00.

We crossed the border into Victoria and set our watches forward ½ an hour. It got colder the closer to the Grampians we got. We arrived at Hall’s Gap and set up in the caravan park. The local oval was full of kangaroos. There had been a big flood in January and the road from Dunkeld to Hall’s Gap had only just opened last weekend. There was a lot of evidence of flooding and landslides.  As we drove into the Grampians we saw 2 mountains; Mt Abrupt and Mt Sturgeon.

Distance travelled today

Total Distance travelled

Day 136 Sunday 28th August

Last night we went out for dinner to the Mt Gambier hotel. We had a lovely meal and I won $45 on the pokies.

After tea we went to Umpherston Sinkhole. A garden was built by Mr Umpherston in a sinkhole which is an area of land that sunk. It was a lovely area and the possums come out to be fed.

This morning the weather was really windy and cold. We took a drive out to Port MacDonnell where there is a fairy penguin colony; however, we didn’t see any because of the weather. The surf was very rough.

Day 135 Saturday 27th August

As we were driving the other day I took a photo of this sign. Doug loves it. It is part of a campaign  to highlight the problems driving on the roads in South Australia and we have seen it everywhere.

Today  the weather was overcast and cool. We went for a drive around the Blue Lake, Valley Lake, Leg of Mutton Lake and Browne’s Lake. The lakes were formed from dormant volcanoes and get water from underground aquifers. The Blue Lake is used as the town’s water supply and is 70 metres deep.

Then we went into town to see the Cave Gardens. The town is built on limestone and there are a number of caves and sinkholes around.  The Cave gardens are in town and look beautiful but the cave makes you wonder how far underneath it goes.

Then we went to the Lady Nelson Centre which has displays on the early history of My Gambia. There were some interesting displays on the aboriginals, the limestone, the volcanoes and the early settlers of the area.

Day 134 Friday 26th August

We left at 8.30 this morning. It was quite cool and overcast. We called in to Bool Lagoon, a big wet area. There weren’t that many birds around to be seen because there was too much water, not just here but all around the countryside. Anyway it was good to see.

We called in to Penola where there is a Mary McKillop Centre and some old buildings. There was a lot of forestry along the way and we saw some carvings made using a chain saw. We arrived in Mt Gambier and found it very cold and rainy. Hope it warms up tomorrow.

Distance travelled today  229 kms

Total distance travelled  20557 kms

Days 132 - 133 Wednesday 24th August & Thursday August 25

Day 132  Wednesday 24^th August

We left 42 Mile Crossing at 9.00 in the morning and headed off to Kingston S.E. where we saw the Big Lobster.  We didn’t stay here but continued on to Robe.

Robe looked a lovely place and I would have liked to stay here. It had a big marina and some lovely beaches. We went out and saw the Obelisk which was a navigational aide. When you see the cliffs near here you can see why it was needed. Of course, you know that Robe is not famous for robes. Ha Ha.

We then went inland to Naracoorte. We passed some beautiful  fields with heaps of sheep and some cattle. There were also wheat and canola fields. There were many water holes, lakes and lagoons along the way and we later found out that there is a lot of underground water which comes to the surface. This area is the food bowl of South Australia.

Distance travelled today  229 kms

Total distance travelled 20557 kms

ROBE is not famous for ROBES!!

Day  133  Thursday 25^th August

Sunshine  yesterday, clouds and wind today. We went out to the Naracoorte Fossil Caves which are a World Heritage site. The first cave we went to was the Victoria Cave. These caves are all in limestone areas and show how the sea receded from this land. This cave had some great limestone formations but the most interesting were the bones and remnants of pre-historic animals. These dinosaurs would fall into a hole and die in there and then their bones were left to be covered over with sediment. It would be interesting to know how far down these layers went.

After that we went into the Wonambi Fossil Centre. Here they have created a section with some of the dinosaurs that were around 100’s of thousands of years ago. Some of these animals were very strange indeed.

After that we went to Wet Cave which was a self-guided cave. It was interesting too. Then we went on a tour of Alexandra cave which went under the carpark and under the café. It had the most beautiful stalactites and stalagmites.