From the Forest to the Sea - Southern Flinders Ranges to the start of the Eyre Peninsula

 What a difference a day makes!

We left Port Pirie after an interesting night.  (Two trains, Police Sirens, Dog Fight, Attempted Break-in at the Caravan Park) (neither of our vans, thank goodness)....all the time Mark slept through! We made our way the next morning to the Southern Flinders Ranges a drive of 60km, stopping en route at Port Germaine, which at its heyday had the longest pier in the Southern Hemisphere and a population of 364.  It's been downhill ever since!  In the Remarkables National Park  we stayed at Mambray Creek Campground.  It was a very picturesque area, however we only stayed one day.  The heat and flies drove us away.  We had a few visitors however,  Gordon the goanna gave Donna a huge fright when she came out of the caravan to find him comfortably seated in her chair.  This  goanna was at least one metre long and very well fed, but it would not leave us alone until Mark spoke to him quite sternly and told him to move on.  John was fascinated by the way Gordon was able to freeze to catch his prey.  Mark also attracted the attention of an emu, who left his brood to investigate this interloper in his domain.  We all did one of the walks, a ‘short’ walk around a gully, and up the hillside, but the heat was pretty unbearable.  We decided we’d head for the beach at the Eyre Peninsula as Kathie & Donna were ready for a swim,  so left Thursday morning for the 100km drive via Port Augusta to Port Lowly which is 8kms east of Whyalla.  It is a very interesting place, in one area you find the Santos Oil & Gas Refinery, which processes crude oil and gas for shipment all around the world.  On the other side of the bay is a pristine area of the Spencer Gulf.  Once again we are going to try fishing, hopefully with more success this time.

 This brood of emus came right past our campsite.  Daddy Emu investigated Mark very closely.

 Gordon the Goanna was fine until he wanted to take over Donna's orange chair.

 We're all getting lots of use from our bikes.  John & Kathie are enjoying using their bikes to get around & see different places.

 Mambray Creek had lots of giant red river gums, many of which had caverns at their base. 

 This was our campsite at Mambray Creek.  A dry creek at present.  Wonderful spot, would recommend for winter visits.

 The view from our caravan was enhanced by a mass of beautiful purple flowers.

 This is our campsite at present at Port Lowly.  Clear blue water....BUT NO FISH YET!

 Kathie has the pose perfect, Donna needs to work on hers.

 Port Lowly Lighthouse and view of Spencer Gulf.

The Wondrous Yorke Peninsula

A huge ray in Pondalowie Bay, only a metre from shore.

Our campsite at Pondalowie - wonderful place

 

John & Kathie at Inneston Lake - Beautiful turquoise colour is from the gypsum in the water.  Inneston was founded as a mining town, until the depression.  Now just a historic site.

 This is a view of beautiful Pondalowie Bay.  The islands are creatively named - South, Middle and North Islands.  Wedge Island and Chinaman's Hat Island were named for their shapes.

 Mark & Donna were looking to fill jerry cans whenever possible!  You get desperate for a shower long enough to wash your hair!! Especially after a swim.

Our daily visitor - sometimes his friends also came to say hello

Yorke Peninsula  18/19/20/21

After waking on Friday to our first wet morning we travelled from Saddleworth to the Yorke Peninsula.  We drove through teeming rain for the morning and after speaking with some other tourists at morning tea we decided to head for Innes National Park at the toe of the Yorke Peninsula.  The rain stopped by late afternoon and since the girls had once again beaten the boys in five hundred, we were excited to explore the local beach.  Quite a lot of kelp on the beach, the smell of which drove us from exploring right to the tip of the bay.  There were two very big rays that came right up inshore.  It was interesting to see a little fishing village in the middle of this national park.  We have had a visitor to our campsite every day.  It seems to be his domain!  Beautiful ocean scenery in this region – check out the photos.  We also explored historic Inneston township and the nearby lake.  Unfortunately we also tried fishing.... the locals assured us that the bait of choice was cockles.  Lucky for some, but not for us.  It was only when we were leaving that the more successful fishermen shared the fact that they were using a burley containing tuna oil, cat food, curry powder, bread crumbs & bran.  My GULP didn’t stand a chance against their exotic mixture.

We also visited West Cape Lighthouse, Seashell Bay and many other little coves in this area.  It is a place definitely worth visiting.  

Today (Tuesday) we travelled up to Port Pirie, stopping at Port Victoria, Moonta Bay and Port Broughton.

Port Pirie is noted for the lead smelter in the centre of the city.  We are staying in a caravan park on the water and spent the rest of today catching up with the mundane tasks - washing, filling water tanks and enjoying long hot showers.

Entering South Australia

16/2

We went for a bike ride through the centre of Mildura to the Murray River before breakfast.  Unfortunately it was then we found out about the “four jacks”(after finding out why bikes were called pushbikes).  Both Mark & Donna had flat tyres.  They have large four cornered bindiis that go right through bike tyres and tubes.  The local bike shop said it puts most people off riding their bikes in Mildura itself.

On a brighter note we went for a short drive to Wentworth, which is the town in NSW at the junction of the Murray and the Darling.  With such an expanse of water going down both rivers we were unable to get to the viewing platform in fact even the controls for the weir were underwater.

John and Donna (the intrepid explorers of our group) went up the Perry Sandhills, but the heat even drove them off quickly.  Kathie and Mark were happy to watch from the shade.  Hard to imagine that this was ten minutes from the flooding of the Murray.

17/2

Today we left Mildura for a short trip however didn’t pull up for the night until 3:00p.m. An exciting day as we went from Victoria to South Australia.  Our first stop after the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone Checkpoint was Renmark.  This is a pretty town on the Murray, lots of expensive Houseboats.  It’s known for its rose festival.  Morgan was our next stop, however before we reached it we had to cross the Murray.  Our cars & caravans went on the ferry.  Morgan was a very pretty and historic town.  Wow!  Did the scenery change quickly.  We couldn’t find a place to pull over for lunch for ages.  When we did it was very hot.  I have attached a photo of the gorge that had been gauged out by water.  In the town of Eudunda, where we had hoped to stop they had experienced a downpour that eroded much of the town.  We were pleased to eventually stop at Saddleworth.  We are at the local show grounds.  Mark & John watched the local lads training while having a few beers, and all was good until Sachin Tendulkar stormed off the field!  I am writing this at 8:20 at night.  The sun has just gone down and we are in twilight.  Hope everyone is well!

 

 Crossing the Murray at Morgan

 30 Minutes away from Morgan, desolate countryside.  Our lunch stop was near this waterway.

First Few Days on the Road

          The mighty Murray from Port Echuca

                                                       Our Campsite at Torrumbarry Weir

                          The view from the road - Detour to Kerang as Murray Valley Hwy Flooded

                                                                  The Murray at Swan Hill

12&13/2  After leaving Brisbane early Saturday, we were pleasantly surprised at the lack of traffic all day long.  We met John & Kathie at Stanthorpe and travelled along the New England Highway, finishing a long day on the “Black Stump Way.”  We had a lovely spot on a grassed & treed verge outside a sorghum field.  Next day we drove to Jeff & Wendy Allen’s beautiful house in Wodonga, where we enjoyed the wonderful views from their dining and entertaining area.  Mark, John & Jeff indulged in icy cold beers, and wonderful white & red wines before we all enjoyed a well-earned rest.  However some of us needed help getting back up the driveway.

 14/2 Woke up to a chilly Wodonga morning and had a leisurely day on Valentine’s Day.  We drove through Rutherglen to Echuca where we enjoyed seeing the old Echuca Port.  We then travelled to Torrumbarry Weir.  We have spent most of the day here.  We are seeing the Murray at its magnificent best, the amount of water in it and the speed it is moving through the weir is breathtaking.

15/2 What a difference in a day! We left Torrumbarry and could not follow the Murray Valley Hwy because of flooding. We drove through an inland river – water across both sides of the road (which was at best 30cm higher) for about 100 kilometres.  Then we travelled west past Manangatang to Ouyen.  Even though the land was much higher there was still water everywhere.  Lots of salt pans in this area.  We wanted to freestay at Hattan-Kulkyne National Park, however water had damaged the access to the camping areas.  The lakes are in full flood but still affected by blue-green algae.  We decided to head for Mildura where we are staying in a very comfortable caravan park for 2 nights.