Lock Sport to Tidal River, Wilsons Promontory

A thirsty wombat in 43 degrees!

THURSDAY 29 JANUARY 2009

We went to collect the tyre, but the inner tube was shredded and he didn’t have a replacement, so we had to go to Sale to get it changed. We didn’t leave until 12.30 p.m. and drove to Yarram for lunch and then on to the small village of Port Albert to look at the interesting Maritime Museum. We had a look at Port Newport where there was a small marina and then drove to Wilsons Promontory which is the most southern point of Australia.

The weather was just as hot today - 43 degrees Celsius is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit! The radio was constantly giving advice on how to stay cool, look after animals, and reporting fires. By the end of the day over 200 trains had been cancelled due to lines buckling and the air-conditioning not working. There was also a report that the road next to Tony’s street was closed because a power line was down and on fire. We had no phone signal, so we couldn’t contact him.

We camped at the campsite at Tidal River and went for a walk in the evening when it had cooled a little. We saw a wombat drinking from a puddle formed by a dripping tap – the first live wombat I have seen that wasn’t in a zoo! Norman Beach is beautiful and the boardwalk walk along the river led through the wetlands where there were black cockatoos, herons, teal and ducks.

WILDLIFE: Live Wombat, Crimson Rosellas, Black Cockatoos

Sale to Lock Sport, Gipsland - 84 Km - 43 degrees

Changing the tyre in 43 degrees!

WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY 2009

I have been in e-mail contact with Deirdre Lebbon for the past couple of years, as we are both descendents of Lawrence Rostron. When she heard we were going to be in Melbourne, she kindly invited us to visit, so Roger and I spent a lovely morning with them. 

After lunch we set off on an easy 4WD track through the Sale Common Wetlands towards the lakes and the 90 mile beach. On the way we managed to blow the rear tyre. This was one of the hottest days of record – 43 degrees - and Roger had to lay in the dirty grey boiling hot sand to get the jack underneath. Luckily, we managed to change the tyre without too much problem, but it was so heavy it took two of us to do it.

We got to Lock Sport which is on the banks of Lake Victoria and the 90 Mile Beach, which is the world’s third longest uninterrupted beach. We drove to the Marina Hotel for a much needed cold beer and decided to stay at the local caravan park as I was too nervous to continue driving off road with no spare tyre. We found a local garage and left our tyre there, and had a meal at the Hotel. There was a wonderful sunset when we left.

WILDLIFE: Emu, Black Swans,

Noojee to Sale - 254 Km

TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2009

We walked to the spectacular Toorongo Falls near where we had camped overnight, and then drove through Noojee to walk to the Ada Tree. This is a Mountain Ash thought to be nearly 300 years old, is 76 meters high and has a circumference of 15 meters. Having done our two walks through the rainforest, we then drove to Warburton for lunch and then on to Sale.

WILDLIFE: Lizard, Crimson Rosetta, Sulpher Crested Cockatoo, Rabbits

270 year old Ada tree

Healsville to Noojee - 190 Km

MONDAY 26 JANUARY 2009 - AUSTRALIA DAY!

It is 221 years since Captain Philip and the convict ships first landed at Sidney Cove. We drove over 100 kilometers to Woods Point through the Yarra Ranges National Park, one of Victoria’s largest temperate rainforests, but when we got there the one small shop had sold out of the map we would need to do the 4WD tracks and the pub had stopped serving food! 

We drove about 60 Km through the park on an unsurfaced road and went for a cream tea in Noojee, a lovely quiet village on the edge of the Yarra State Forest. We had intended driving further, but the friendly owner of the café came and chatted to us and suggested we camp by the Tooronga River. He talked about how the village had been wiped out twice by bush fires. The last one in 1939 killed 73 people in Victoria. The route to the campsite was through one of the most beautiful valleys I have seen.

WILDLIFE: Crimson Rosella, Kookaburra, Sulpher Crested Cockatoo

Valley near Noojee

Thornton to Healesville - 150 Km

Leonard Cohen Concert, Rochford Winery

FRIDAY 23 - SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2009

On Friday we drove to Healesville in the Yarra Valley - a fantastic Winery area. Our son Tony joined us from Melbourne on Saturday in order to go to the Leonard Cohen concert in the Rochford Winery. We arranged for a bus to pick us up so we could enjoy the wonderful (and expensive) Rochford wine without having to worry about driving back. 

The concert was amazing with a superb atmosphere in the grounds of the winery! It was hard to believe that Leonard Cohen is now 75. His backing group and vocals were all fantastic musicians in their own right. Roger is a massive Leonard Cohen fan and when he heard he was doing a world tour and performing in Spain, we intended going to the concert in Valencia in August, but we were in the Balearics. We were back in the UK at the end of November and Roger was kicking himself when he found out Leonard Cohen had been in London the week before! So when Tony mentioned he was in Australia we just had to go.

On the Sunday, Tony’s wife Lisa joined us and we visited Healsville Sanctuary, which is a small wildlife park with only Australian animals and I finally got to see a Duckbill Platypus! The sanctuary tries to restore sick animals and release them back into the wild whenever possible.

WILDLIFE: Ibis (in campsite), Duckbilled Platypus and live Wombat plus lots more at Healsville Sanctuary.

The Crowd at Rochford Winery

Mount Stirling to Thornton, Goulburn River - 280 Km

Stringy Bark Creek where Ned Kelly shot three policemen

T

THURSDAY 22 JANUARY 2009



It was quite windy and threatening rain, so we set off before breakfast as we did not want to be trapped on 4WD tracks on the mountain. Because of the drought and forest fires, trees are less stable and more likely to come down. There was a weather warning because the temperature was set to rise to about 35 degrees and strong winds were expected to reach 90 kilometers an hour. An extreme fire warning was given for the whole of Victoria. The area is so dry there is a very real risk of fire and the radio gave up to date information all day. We crossed a few fords and then up to Mount Buller ski resort, where it was very windy and cold - about 16 degrees. We managed to find a café that was open and had a good breakfast.

We visited Stringybark Creek near Mansfield, where three local policemen had been shot by the Ned Kelly gang. We then drove through some heavy rain and lightning to the dam at Lake Eildon. The dam was built in 1950 by the American company which built the Hoover Dam and has a capacity to hold 6 times as much water as Sydney Harbour, and provides hydroelectric power and irrigation for the area. We found a lovely caravan site at Thornton on the banks of the Goulburn River.

WILDLIFE: Dead Wombat, Kangaroos, Rabbits, Kookuburra, Sulpher Crested Cockatoos, Galahs, Crimson Rosella, Green Parrots, Black Swans

Tocomwal to Howqua, Lake Eildon, then Mount Stirling

Copperhead Snake

TUESDAY 20 JANUARY 2009

TOCOMWAL TO HOWQUA, LAKE EILDON - 213 Km

We drove to Mansfield, stopping at Benalla for lunch, and saw a wombat on the side of the road that must have been killed by a car. It was extremely hot again with a complete fire ban. We found a caravan site at Howqua on the banks of Lake Eildon but couldn’t see any water in it. The water level is down to about 28% and the last time it reached capacity was about 1996.

WILDLIFE: Dead Wombat, Sulpher Crested Cockatoo, Green Parrots, Galahs

WEDNESDAY 21 JANUARY 2009

HOWQUA TO MOUNT STIRLING - 104 Km

We drove to the mountain ranges near Mansfield and then took the 4WD tracks through the woods and up hair pin bends, passing mountain huts used for walkers or cross country skiers in winter – hard to imagine snow in this area as everything looks so dry. A Copperhead Snake slithered across the track in front of us. Apparently Copperheads are venomous but not aggressive!

We found a lovely place to camp down a steep track by a stream in the middle of the woods. By now the campervan is covered in a fine dust, inside and out.

WILDLIFE: Copperhead Snake, Green Parrots, Sulpher Crested Cockatoo, Crimson Rosella, Galahs

Echuca-Moama to Tocomwal - 150 Km

MONDAY 19 JANUARY 2009

Koala waiting for the cooler evening

We drove on 4WD tracks through Barmah State Forest which is home to the world’s largest red gum forest. We stopped to look at Lake Barmah and saw a beautiful Fairy Wren, which is bright blue and has a long tail.

We found a lovely place to camp by the Murray River, and then noticed that there was a Koala bear snoozing in the tree above the campervan. He woke when we arrived but didn’t seem bothered and went back to sleep. A baby Koala was asleep further up the tree. They stayed there all afternoon dozing in the heat, occasionally looking at us, until the evening when they made their way up the tree to eat the eucalyptus leaves. Later on a kangaroo came down to the river quite close to us.



WILDLIFE: Koalas, Kangaroos, Fairy Wren, Sulpher Crested Cockatoos, Galahs, Green Parrots

Gunbower Island to Echuca-Moama - 127 Km

Gunbower Island

SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2009


Five minutes after leaving our woodland campsite we found some stunning places by the Murray River where we could have camped. Gunbower Island is a massive area of marshes and waterways, and we drove through the forest on rough 4WD tracks, often following the Murray River. It was more like a mystery tour as we didn’t have a detailed map of the area, and ended up about 20 Km north of where we thought we were!

We drove to Echuca and visited the historical port area. Echuca and Moama were founded by two ex-convicts in 1845 and 1851, and by the 1890s Echuca was Australia’s largest inland port. A few shark attacks have been reported recently and in a camping shop we overheard a conversation between the owner and a couple of customers discussing the merits of being attacked by a shark or a crocodile. The script could have come straight out of a Crocodile Dundee movie.

WILDLIFE: Kangaroos, rabbits, green parrot, cormorant, heron, crested pigeon, sulpher crested cockatoo

Lake Mournpall to Gunbower Island - 298 Km

Pioneer Village, Swan Hill

SATURDAY 17 JANUARY 2009

One of the friendly Park Rangers visited in the morning and we had a chat to her and then drove to Swan Hill, which was named by Major Mitchell because he was kept awake all night by the noise of the black swans. 

We visited the excellent Pioneer Settlement village. Old buildings have been transported there to show the different ways people lived in the region. One cottage was made from dropped logs, avoiding the use of too many nails, and a mud brick kitchen. A ‘pre-fab’ iron house made out of corrugated iron had been shipped over from the UK. There was also a real estate agency, print shop, a draper, a chemist and dentists – you wouldn’t want to have toothache in those days! We went on a one hour cruise on a paddle steamer on the Murray.

At 2756 kilometers long the Murray is the third largest river in the world after the Nile and the Amazon, and continuously navigable for 1986 kilometers. With its tributaries, it is part of the third largest water catchment area on earth. It also has the largest Red Gum forest and the largest Ibis rookery in the world. It also hosts the longest annual canoe race at 404 kilometers. Some river!

We drove to Gunbower Island and after driving around the woodland tracks, camped in the woods for the night.

WILDLIFE: Blue-faced honeyeater, Noisy miner bird, kangaroos, rabbits, green parrots

Mildura to Lake Mournpall , Hattah-Kulkyne National Park - 184 Km

Sulphur-crested cockatoos

FRIDAY 16   JANUARY 2009

After getting supplies in Mildura, we set off, passing many vineyards on the way, including Lindemans. This area is referred to as the food bowl of Australia because it grows 95% of its dried fruit, 69% of table grapes and 21% of citrus fruits. It also grows a significant portion of the country’s almonds, pistachios, olives, carrots and asparagus.

We drove to the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park and almost immediately kangaroos were running in front of the vehicle and a group of emus trotted past, quickly followed by a fox - but he may have been after the rabbits we had seen.

After visiting the Visitor Centre and chatting to the Ranger, we went along 4WD tracks crossing dried up riverbeds and creeks. The Hattah-Kulkyne park is an area of lakes, creeks and billabongs which flood occasionally when the Murray floods its banks. At the moment they are all dried up and there is concern that flooding is far les frequent, partly because of the long drought but also due to diverting water from the Murray for agricultural and domestic purposes. We saw some of the huge River Red Gum trees that grow by the river and creek beds, and walked across a completely dried up creek.

We got to the basic campsite about 6 p.m. and immediately noisy miner birds and beautiful blue-faced honeyeaters came to visit. On Saturday and Sunday there is a cull of the wild goats and pigs in the park, so certain areas will be cordoned off. The parks in Victoria are very tightly managed to ensure that any damage to vegetation, woodland and animals is minimized by either humans or animals. This area has been cordoned off by a kangaroo fence to limit the numbers of kangaroos inside the park.

WILDLIFE: Crested pigeon, Kangaroos, emus, fox, rabbits, green parrot, noisy miner bird, blue-faced honeyeater.

Phenys Track to Mildura, Murray River - 44 degrees

WEDNESDAY 14  JANUARY 2009

A family of Kangaroos

The advised temperature today for this area is between 41 and 44 degrees! We left early to avoid most of the heat and arrived in Mildura about lunch time and found a camp site by the River. 

It was too hot to do anything, so we spent the afternoon in an internet café – books and coffee for Roger, Internet and orange juice for me.

WILDLIFE: Grey Kangaroos, Emus, Shingleback Lizard, Gallahs, Green Parrots

Broken Bucket Borehole, Big Desert to Phenys Track, Murray-Sunset National Park - 44 degrees in the shade!

TUESDAY 13 JANUARY 2009

Kangaroos visited our campsite in the morning. It was the hottest day of the year so far. The forecast was 39 degrees but our thermometer was registering 44 in the shade! We drove through the Big Desert and stopped at Murrayville, and found out that there is a total fire ban today and tomorrow because of the heat. This means we can’t use our gas stove at all. 

We drove over easy 4WD tracks to the Pink Lakes, which are dried up salt lakes at this time of year and then through the Murray-Sunset National Park. Two emus ran in front of us along the track and we stopped to look at a Shingleback Lizard lazing in the sun.

We got to our campsite about 2.30 and once again we were the only people there. The campsites in the bush are very basic - the most luxurious have benches, BBQ area and pit toilets. Others just have cleared ground. This one had a pit toilet, but was covered in cobwebs, so it was not advisable to visit in the dark as Australia has some very nasty spiders. I checked each time that the spiders were in their webs. 

We sat in the shade but it was still very hot and the flies would not leave us alone. They got in our eyes, up our noses and other orifices! I'm in the middle of reading 'The Thorn Birds' and I didn't have to imagine the heat, dust and flies that are talked about. About mid afternoon there was a loud rumbling noise and a willy willy (a small whirlwind) came hurtling through our campsite. At dusk birds of prey swooped down to investigate us and then we were buzzed by the bats - at which time we retreated to the baking campervan.

WILDLIFE: Grey Kangaroos, Emus, Rabbits, Goats, Shingleback Lizards

The Pink Lakes

Dimboola Campsite, Little Deser to Broken Bucket Borehole, Big Desert - 218 Km

MONDAY 12 JANUARY 2009

We were ready to leave about 10.00 a.m. and discovered we’d got a flat battery! The Manager of the campsite helped jumpstart the vehicle and made sure the battery was well charged before we left. It was lucky we were on a serviced campsite as the past four campsites were very basic and no Manager. We picked up supplies in Dimboola and then drove to the Big Desert.

We went along one track for about 17 Km and came to a very steep part with deep sand. Despite trying to dig a path, we couldn’t get the vehicle up the track, so had to turn around and go a much longer way round. A lot of the tracks were up and down and it was rather like being in a roller coaster. We got to a basic campsite by a waterhole about 5.30 p.m. very tired.

WILDLIFE: Fox, Rabbits, Galahs, Green Parrots, Birds of Prey.

Trying to dig a track in the sand

Our track through Little Desert

Broughton Waterhole to Dimboola Campsite, Little Desert - 114 Km

Friendly possum

SUNDAY 11 JANUARY

It was a cool night and only about 10 degrees by morning, but very hot during the day. We went over some rough sandy 4WD tracks through the Little Desert and arrived at a campsite at Dimboola. On the way we saw red kangaroos and quite a few emu. The campsite was full of galahs, cockatoos and green budgerigars. Just as we were going to bed, about three possums came down to see us and seemed quite tame – one tugged at my shoe!


WILDLIFE: Red Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Emu, Common Bushy Tail Possum, Galahs, Sulpher Crested Cockatoo, Green Budgerigars

Emus

Kiata Campsite to Broughton Waterhole, Little Desert - 137 Km

Broughton Waterhole

SATURDAY 10 JANUARY

Roger went for a run in the morning and came face to face with a very large red kangaroo who looked like he was ready to box! We set off about 11.00 a.m. and drove through Nhill and then west to east through the Little Desert on deep sandy 4WD tracks.

We got to our campsite at Broughton Waterhole about 2 p.m. and had lunch. It was a lovely spot in the bush with a cleared area and waterhole, but plenty of shade. We put the awning up on the campervan for the first time and sat under its shade. We needed it as it was 32 degrees in the shade and the thermometer was showing over 50 in the sun! When it got cooler we went for a 6 km walk to Mount Turner. It’s an exaggeration to call it a mountain, as it’s only about 382 meters high, but it gave good views in all directions of the scrub land of the Little Desert. The waterhole looked lovely at sunset and some birds came to drink but we didn’t see any other wildlife there.

WILDLIFE: Kangaroos, Rose Robin, Emus, Galahs, Sulpher Crested Cockatoos, Buzzard

Blue Faced Honeyeater and Noisy Miner Birds desperate for water

Buandik Campsite, The Grampians to Kiata Campsite, Little Desert - 216 Km

McKenzie Falls

Aboriginal hand paintings, Manja Shelter

FRIDAY 9 JANUARY 2009

Kangaroos came to watch us in the campsite in the morning. We visited the Manja shelter, which has some of the best aboriginal hand paintings in Victoria, and then drove through the Grampians on 4WD tracks.  

The track became too steep and rocky and I was worried the van would turn over (I did all the driving) so we retraced our steps and found another route. We walked to the magnificent McKenzie falls which Mitchell discovered on his 1836 trek.

We bought some supplies in Horsham before driving through the Little Desert, arriving at the Kiata basic campsite about 5.30 p.m. A possum came to visit just before we went to bed.


WILDLIFE: Eastern Grey Kangaroos, 3 Emus, Possum, Sulpher Crested, Cockatoos, Galahs, Possum, Crimson Rosella, Green Parrot.

Hall's Gap to Buandik Campsite, The Grampians - 125 Km

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

THURSDAY 8 JANUARY 2009

We set off on a 4WD track, but it was closed so we went back to the Brambuk Centre to get an up to date list of passes that are open. We drove from Hall’s Gap to the Buandik Campsite on 4WD tracks, passing through some of the areas that had been devastated in the fire of January 2006 and are still recovering. A couple of Emus ran in front of us. 

We walked from the campsite to the Billimina Shelter, a massive overhanging rock, which was a very important aboriginal site and contains aboriginal art. We saw a few kangaroos on the way and a couple where we were camped. There were a lot of Kookaburras near the campsite and one sat on our kettle!


WILDLIFE: Grey Kangaroos, Emu, Kookaburras, Crimson Rosettas,

Fording a stream in the Grampians

Tottington to Hall's Gap, The Grampians - 145 Km

Shearing in Lawrence Rostron's woolshed

WEDNESDAY 7 JANUARY 2009

My great great grandfather, Lawrence Rostron, took out a license for Tottington in 1844 and built a small cottage there about 1847, and later developed it. Bryan Small’s parents bought Tottington in 1955 and Bryan still lives there with his wife. Bryan has about 4,500 acres now. 

Roger and I arrived about 10.00 and had coffee with them in the lovely courtyard. We had a look around the house, which is quite large and includes the ballroom and two wings that Lawrence Rostron built. We then visited the Woolshed Lawrence Rostron built, which is the oldest surviving woolshed in Victoria and is a Grade A listed building. We were very lucky as Bryan was having some sheep sheared. It was wonderful to see the woolshed built so long ago still being used for its original purpose.

We drove to the town of Stowell for lunch and then to Hall’s Gap in The Grampians, where we visited the Brambuk Cultural Centre which gave very informative displays on the history and culture of the area and the indigenous population.

We drove along an unsealed road to our campsite in the middle of the forest, where we saw Grey Kangaroo and a Mistletoe bird.

WILDLIFE: Grey Kangaroo; Mistletoe bird

The house my great great grandfather built in 1847

Ballarat to St. Arnaud - 100 Km

Farmer's Arms, built by my great great grandfather's son, John Rostron

TUESDAY 6 JANUARY 2009

It was warmer today at about 35 degrees. We visited the Eureka Museum near Ballarat which has displays telling the story of the Eureka Stockade, where miners fought against soldiers for the right to mine without paying the high licence fee and for the right to vote. 28 miners and 6 soldiers were killed and led to a more democratic government in Australia.

We then visited Sovereign Hill, which is a reconstructed gold mining town of the area, and includes miners' tents, miners' cottages, schools, churches, wheelwrights, gold smelting and various shops and cafes. After visiting the nearby Gold Museum, we arrived in St. Arnaud about 4 p.m. The town seemed half asleep, with not many people around, but there are some lovely old buildings in the main street.

We had a meal in The Farmer’s Arms. My great great grandfather’s son, John Reid Rostron, built the hotel in 1859. It was first called The Tottington Hotel, as my great great grandfather came from Tottington in Lancashire.  That hotel burnt down, but was rebuilt and later called the Farmers’Arms.

Melbourne to Ballarat - 120 Km

Ballarat

MONDAY 5 JANUARY 2009

We are heading off into the outback for 4 weeks in a Toyota Landcruiser Campervan.  After picking up the Campervan, we drove back to Tony’s house to pack everything. It was a lovely day and a comfortable 30 degrees. We left about 1.30 p.m. and arrived in Ballarat about 3.30 p.m. Ballarat was founded during the gold rush of 1851 and has lovely boulevards and bluestone buildings.

Jess's last night in Melbourne

Jess's last night

New Year's Eve, Melbourne

New Year's Eve

Christmas in Melbourne

Christmas morning on the beach

15 DECEMBER 2008 - 4 JANUARY 2009

Our daughter has been travelling since last summer and is now spending three months in Sydney so she came to join us for Christmas and New Year in Mentone.

It was lovely spending time together as a family in Australia.

Brother and sister surfing at Bell's