Mount Gambier to Ceduna

Mon 13^th June.     Leaving Mt Gambier, we passed through  several  towns  including Kingston where we were came across the Big Lobster.

The Big Lobster, Kingston SA.

   We sent the night in a caravan park by a lake (Lake Albert)  in Meningie.  It was a very pretty and peaceful park with lovely views of the water, but still a bit cold.  I will be glad, when we see (and feel) a bit more sunshine.

Lake Albert, Meningie SA

Caravan Park at Meningie, SA

   Tues 14^th – 16^th.  We drove from Meningie to Clare, in the wine growing area of the Clare Valley.  A very winding road and  a zig zagging route through to Clare.

We spent three nights in the Clare caravan park, catching up with washing, shopping and a visit to a doctor.  Had a follow up blood test, to check that all was still ok after my gastric bug in St Arnaud hospital.  It is all fine.   I didn’t get around to taking any photos, I don’t think the weather was too good.   The 16^th was Max’s birthday and we  treated ourselves to dinner at a Chinese  restaurant in Clare.  Not the best idea we have had.

Friday 17^th.   Moving on from Clare we passed through Port Augusta and stopped and had a look at Iron Knob.

The road into Iron Knob SA

Iron Knob, open cut iron ore mine.

   We spent the night at Kimba.
Saturday 18^th – Monday 20^th.    We leave Kimba to continue our journey west, stopping for lunch at this roadside park which had on display some old equipment used in the early days of settlement of the area.

Polkdinney Park.

Scrub roller. Pioneer farm tools.

   We then stopped to have a look around Wudinna and take a few photos.  They have a huge statue there, as a memorial to the Australian farmer.

    Arriving in Ceduna, we decide to spend about 3 days here, to have a bit of a look around.

Stockpile of salt at Ceduna.

Ship loading at Ceduna Port.

CREEPY SIGNS !!

We were intrigued by these signs that we saw now and again along the road in South Australia.

“Stop Creeping” , what could it mean?   As there were no other words explaining the reason for the sign, we wondered what it meant.   Then we started seeing and hearing, TV and radio ads saying things like  “Creepers think you can’t see them”  “Creepers don’t just hurt themselves “   “Watch out for Creepers”  etc.   Also there were a few similar ads in the local papers.  Then we finally realised that it was a  S.A. Government road safety campaign.  Creepers are evidently drivers who creep over the speed limit.   I prefer to let my imagination run free and see odd little creatures popping out from behind trees.

Anglesea, Warrnambool, and Mt Gambia.

Travelling on....

 Mon 6^th June.  We left Ballarat this morning to travel to Anglesea which is the beginning of The Great Ocean Road.  Anglesea is quite a small place with a huge caravan Park.  This was almost empty, as it is the middle of winter  and  soooo  cold.  I can imagine it would be a very popular place during the summer.  It is a very pretty area and  fairly close to the cities of Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat.  I’m afraid my main memory of Anglesea  is the lovely hot Cauliflower and Blue Cheese soup that we had for lunch at a tiny Cafe there.  The parrots and magpies at the caravan park were very friendly, as you can see by the following photo.  They enjoyed the bird seed Max gave them.

Tues 7^th June to Thurs 9^th.    Leaving the Caravan Park and still travelling along the Great Ocean Road we passed through Lorne and Apollo Bay.

Great Ocean Road after Anglesea.

Appolo Bay (taken through front windscreen of car)

Between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, along the coastline we saw “the Arch”, “ London Bridge” and what remained of the  “12 Apostles”  which are unusual rock formations carved out by the crashing waves.

"The Arch"

"London Bridge"

When we were getting petrol at Port Campbell, I couldn’t help but notice the name of the fish and chip shop next to the Service Station!!!

Oh Noooo, Not frying Nemo!!! Port Campbell, Vic.

 Arriving at Warrnambool, we planned to stay 3 nights to catch up some washing and do some shopping.  The weather was bleak, wet and cold.  This place couldn’t have made much impression on us as we can’t really remember much about it.  The weather was depressing, and the Caravan Park was very basic and uninviting.  The shopping centre was reasonably good and I did manage a visit to a Spotlight store !!

  Friday 10^th.   Headed  off to Mt. Gambia  today.  We passed through Port Fairy and on to  Portland and saw  wood chips from the local pine plantations being loaded on to a ship.

Wood chips being loaded on a ship at Portland, Vic.

   We had a quick look around and continued on to Mt. Gambia, crossing into South Australia.  Booked  into a Caravan Park for 3 nights.

   Sat 11^th and Sun 12^th June.   Mt Gambia...  This city appears to be built around extinct volcanos and over  limestone caves.  We saw two sinkholes (one that was almost in the centre of the city)  that they have transformed into sunken gardens. Very unusual and pretty.

Sunken Garden, Mt Gambia, SA

There are several  lakes  including one called the Blue Lake),  which are situated in volcanic craters.

The Blue Lake, Mt Gambia SA.

  At the information centre in town there was   a full size version  of the ship “The Lady Nelson”    Not sure if this is a replica or not as I remember there being a “Lady Nelson” in Tasmania.  Perhaps they are both replicas.

The Lady Nelson.

Stuart Mill.

Stuart Mill.

Sat. 28^th  May to Friday 3^rd June.  We left Bendigo today to travel to Maxs’ cousins (Dawne and Peter) farm near Stuart Mill, which is about ½ an hour away from St. Arnaud.   Well  !!  that was it for me.  I came down a gastric bug which after 3 days of yuk, I ended up in St. Arnaud Hospital for a couple of days.   Apparently a lot of this was going around and I probably picked it up in Bendigo.  Max was lucky enough to escape it.   You would have thought it would be too cold for bugs to survive this time of year.

Max enjoyed his time at the farm.  He helped Peter with feeding the sheep and yarding them up for marking the new lambs.  A day later they drove them from their paddock to the shearing shed where the ewes were crutched.  On returning them back to their paddock, Max carried a pair of tiny twin lambs that were born the previous night, and they were reunited with their anxious mother.

One morning there was a white frost everywhere, it had been a very cold night.

                                                  A frosty morning.

                                      A lovely old tree in St. Arnaud Hospital car park.

                                             St. Arnaud Hospital.


I took some more photos on the the morning we left.

                                Our caravan parked at farm, Stuart Mill.

The pretty garden.

Dawnes' little dog Rosie.

Down the main street in St. Arnaud.

Continuing.... Bendigo

We took a ride on the old tourist tram to see the sights around the city.  We especially liked the beautiful old catholic cathedral.  So huge it was difficult to get far back enough to get it a photo.

City sights tram.

Lake Wendouree.

Cathedral

Inside cathedral.

We also had a look through the Chinese Dragon Museum, and Chinese gardens

Entrance to Chinese Dragon Mueseum and gardens.

Back on track, I hope!!

Hello again,  Sorry for the long gap between posts.  I had a bit of a health problem which  ended in a couple of days in hospital.   Although this was well over 2 weeks ago and I am fine now,  it is very hard to get going with regular posts once you have stopped.  Also our  wireless Internet connection are  a bit dicey.  I will try and do a quick catch up with our travels up to date.  Bendigo here we come. 

Thurs 26th to  Fri 27th May,  We left Shepparton  to travel to Bendigo, planning to spend at least 2 nights here so we could have a look around.  It has been many years since we were here before.  We took ride on the old tram to look at the tourist sights.

                                                            Bendigo city sights tram.

                                                            Large  cathedral, Bendigo.