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