Robe to Wellington

Hello all
Before leaving Robe I decided to have a look at Little Dip Conservation Park, which turned out to be a bit of a non event.....not much to see unless you drive along the beaches, which I wasn't about to do with the camper on the back.

Robe Foreshore

Robe from Lookout

Robe is quite a pretty place but a bit too yuppy for my liking.

Robe

Leaving Robe I headed to Kingston SE, the home of the BIG lobster and the relocated Cape Jaffa Lighthouse.

The Big Lobster Kingston SE

Cape Jaffa Lighthouse

After Kingston SE it was off to The Coorong, I am sorry about all the photos in this bit but The Coorong is spectacular.......

The Coorong

The Coorong

The Coorong

Last night was spent at the Campground behind "The Heart of the Coorong Roadhouse" at Salt Creek, $13/night with showers and toilets. Parks SA have learnt off Parks Vic I think, the nearby Parks SA Campground was $13/night no showers and no toilets!

The Coorong

 The Princes Highway runs right along the edge of The Coorong, so access is good, with only short gravel access roads to lookouts.

The Coorong

Pelicans

The Coorong

I am not really a Seaside person, more a red dirt type of person, but I must admit this area is just beautiful.

The Coorong

A fuel up was required in Meningie on the shores of Lake Albert, and after a visit to the Bakery and a look around I headed out to Narrung.

Lake Albert Meningie

Lake Albert Meningie

On the way to Narrung I took a detour to Long Point Lookout.

more Pelicans

Long Point, The Coorong

Long Point

Long Point

The Narrung freecamp was beautiful, but I decided to push on to Wellington, as there was no phone reception there and I had all these photos up upload.

Narrung freecamp

Narrung Ferry

Tomorrow I plan to head towards the Fleurieu Peninsula for a few days, although the days have been nice, this morning at Salt Creek was 5C, the forecast is nice for the next few days then 18C, so I will see how the weather holds out.

Bye for now.....

Mt Gambier to Robe

Hello All
After a Quiet night at the Mt Gambier Showgrounds ($20/night powered site) I headed under stormy skies towards Robe.

I did a couple of detours on the way,stopping to check out Southend, a very sleepy little fishing town.

Southend Jetty

Southend

It has been reasonably warm day but threatening skies all day with a few showers and thunderstorms out to sea.

Beachport Jetty

The Beachport Jetty is the second longest in the state measuring 772 metres. Beachport is quite a scenic place, and I recommend taking a drive along the Bowman Scenic Drive.

Beachport Jetty

Bowman Scenic Drive

Bowman scenic Drive

Bowman Scenic Drive

bowman Scenic Drive

The Blowhole, Bowman Scenic Drive

looking towards Robe

From this point it is possible (4wd only) to drive the dunes and the beach all the way to Robe 30k away. Hopefully the skies clear a bit tomorrow as I plan to head out to Little Dip Conservation Park for a look around. The Tourist Information Bureau told me I should be OK with the Camper on but the road is corrugated. This should be good practice for the Savannah Way............
Bye for now.......

Portland to Mt Gambier

Hello all
I decided that I wanted to get off the road for the long weekend, and also didn't want someone camped on top of me, so had 3 nights at Heywood Caravan Park relaxing.

Cape Nelson Lighthouse

the old and the new - Lightkeepers Cottage and wind generators

Cape Nelson

Now that all the stressed out people have gone back to the cities I headed to Mt Gambier, I was here a year ago and the lake is a lot Bluer than last trip.

Blue Lake

Blue lake

Blue Lake

After Blue Lake it was off to Cave Gardens, being a Public Holiday parking was easy as this sinkhole is right in the middle of Mt Gambier CBD.

Cave Gardens

Cave Gardens

Cave Gardens

I am staying at the Showgrounds tonight.Tomorrow I plan to head across to Beachport or Robe for a look around before spending a couple of days in the Coorong.
Bye for now...........

Mt Eccles to Heywood

Hello All
there isn't much to report on this post, but I thought I had better do something before people though I had gotten lost.

I left Mt Eccles and headed to Fitzroy River Reserve for a look, I can't see why people rave about this place myself so I pushed on to Sawpit Camping Area. This is a great little spot, an opinion shared by the other 45 camps there also, a bit like Rosebud at Christmas.......with the promise of ever more crowds over the long weekend I stocked up in Portland and headed to Heywood to bunker down for the weekend. A few days relaxing, doing laundry and watching a few movies until the long weekend runs it's race and it is safe to hit the road again.
Bye for now.

Colac to Koroit to Mt Eccles National Park

Hello all, 
After a pretty cool night at Colac, and a heavy dew it was a 36c day heading towards Warrnambool.

This area is known for it's lakes and volcanic features, with numerous craters and volcanic remnants. First stop was the lookout at Camperdown.

Mt Leura lookout looking east

Camperdown with volcanic crater in foreground

After Camperdown it was a hot run to Warrnambool for a quick shop, before heading away from expensive Warrnambool to overnight in Koroit 14km away. A powered site for $23 about $15 cheaper than Warrnambool. Everything is booked out for kilometres around for the Port Fairy Folk Festival the coming long weekend. A quiet night was spent at Koriot, followed by a big change in the weather, today is 18c with a couple of light showers this morning.
I headed off to Mt Eccles National Park, another extinct volcano.

Lake Surprise Mt Eccles

Lake Surprise Mt Eccles

Mt Eccles like all Victorian National Parks is over priced, $21.20 per night, Parks Vic simply do not cater for one or two people, the fee covers 6 people. That's great if there is six people but too rich for one or two, get your act together Parks Vic, after all, WE OWN YOU AND PAY YOUR WAGES. The only concession is there is hot showers here.

Campsite at Mt Eccles

At that price I will only stay 1 night, so tomorrow I am heading over to Franklin River near Portland @ $5/night and settle in for the long weekend.
Bye for now Barry

Day 1 of the big one

Hello All
Today was day 1 of the big trip with no end date.
The plan is to head slowly over to South Australia, then up through Central Australia to Katherine in the NT. Restock in Katherine and head across the Savannah Way to Cairns. I still need to do a bit of repacking and fine tuning but all is ready (hopefully)
I have even named the Camper, so if you see me around say hello....

a home on the back and a slow pace

I have had a snorkel fitted by TJM Dandenong, to get the air intake up out of the dust. Martin the owner was very helpful.

TJM snorkel

I have also fitted a new pair of boots on the truck, after quite a bit of research I settled on BF Goodrich Rugged Terrain. 

BFG rugged terrain

The new tyres are a slightly different size but this brings me in line with the standard Hilux tyre size, which should help source spares in isolated areas. They are also Light Truck construction so should be a tougher tyre for the roads I travel and the weight I carry.

 
I will update when I have reception, so stay tuned........
Bye for now