Naracoorte Caves

As Dan Backsly was often saying, "Curses!  Foiled again!".  It was a long weekend, Mt. Gambier had a major motor event and a horse event so accommodation was booked out.  So, metaphorically shaking the dust from my sandals, I drove 35Km the nearest campsite at Tantanoola for the nite; when the rail was closed, Tantanoola is another of many small remnant towns.     On firing up my computer, there was an 'invite' from another Grey Nomad - in Mt. Gambier.  So the next morning I backtracked for a lovely breakfast and chat with two lovely ladies!  Life's good!  I also checked out the Blue Lake in Mt. Gambier, a quite unusual phenomenon right in the city.  It is in a volcano crater and is bright blue, but only in the summer months, apparently.  It is also supplies the water for the city, very handy! 

In drafting a rough itinerary for South Australia, camping in National Parks looked significant, but a Parks Permit is required.   As the permits are only available from Parks Offices AND they were closed for the long weekend, I was at loose ends for another day (Curses!  Foiled again!) so decided to sidetrack to Naracoorte, where I could visit the Naracoorte Caves NP and obtain the necessary permit:  thus re-visited the Caves (I'd visited them a few years ago on a trip to Adelaide) and obtaining a pass was a good way to spend the day.    This also obviated the need to find a Parks Office in/near Adelaide along my planned route.  So I drove to Naracoorte and stayed the night at the showgrounds where showers were available, indeed in this hot weather - necessary by now!

The caves area few Km from the town and are unique in that they contain marsupial megafauna remains - these are large marsupials that inhabited Australia but long after the dinosaurs died out.  The area is limestone, thus caves and associated sinkholes, into which the animals would occasionally fall into, thus contributing their bit for posterity, or at least for the scientists today.  One critter - Thylacoleo carnifex - was the marsupial equivalent of a large cat, which climbed trees and dropped on its prey, thus the original Australian Drop Bear (anyway, that's their story and they are sticking to it.  The mega kangaroos also had a variety now extinct that mainly foraged on trees and had a much more blunt head.   Neither has an equivalent in the current marsupial mix today

On leaving Naracoorte, I stopped at a campsite south of Adelaide but it was still hot:  As the van has aircon in the front, it was more comfortable to keep driving, even though it meant going through Adelaide in peak hour traffic.  7PM saw me pull into a campsite just into the Yorke Peninsula and the weather was also cooling down.  A rather longer drive than I normally undertake, partly due to a desire to put the frustrations of the SE corner behind me, as well as being the cooler alternative, I could look ahead more positively.  So tomorrow off to the Information Centre at Kardina to start my Yorke Peninsula adventure.

Great Ocean Road

What a spectacular bit of scenery along that stretch!  So with a stop in Torquay for supplies and qwik look, I turned west and collected the compulsory lighthouse photo at Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet, and on to camp at Glenaire Beach for the night.  Then onward - with a hoard of other tourists as well.  So many, in fact, that pulling into the Twelve Apostles was impossible as vehicles were backed up to the highway and there was no room.  Plenty to see further along, however and stops at Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge, The Grotto, Bay of Martyrs plus the odd terrific view along the way.  The day was perfect and it was a happy, cheerful drive along this Australian wonder.  A feeling shared by others who also looked happy and overwhelmed by the scenery they were busily snapping from every angle.  Some took the opportunity to enjoy a swim on a few of the accessible beaches including one hapless lass who lost her bikini top (38C is my guess, but that was from ~100m away).  Then suddenly the fantastic scenery came to an end, making the really good scenery remaining seem less so.  That night - night 3 - was spent at Yambuk Caravan Park, on a large estuary and a popular spot for a bit of fishing.  While I saw a lot of fishing, I failed to see any catching.  The couple in the adjacent van - Sue and David - invited me for a coffee and chat and they suggested I check Mt. Schank, a volcano crater near Mt. Gambier as my next stop, which is where I am now.  Suddenly it was past 2300 (11pm) and time to bid these fine folk goodnight and retire.  Next Mt. Gambier?

2013 Big Loop - The First Step

An interlude in Tassie after the travels last year as part of the never-ending-summer strategy as well as touching base before setting off again to go around Australia.  Summer in Tassie was great, but like all good things, it is drawing to an end.  Thus, all the necessary preparations to do the Big Loop were done, van packed - it took a couple of hours to pack the van BUT at least 2 1/2 days to find things I wanted to take!  The van was serviced, tyres rotated, re-seal along roof to fix a leak (Sika silicone, great stuff!) and then off to Lonnie for a last few days with family before departure on 4th March at 0900.  So, an early departure for Devonport, virtually straight onto the Spirit, for a quiet and comfortable crossing and meeting Chris, a work acquaintance from yesteryear, for a happy reminisce!  There was a small delay getting off due to Melbourne traffic but an improved route onto the Westgate Freeway was discovered, which was a great relief to me as my earlier route always found me in the wrong lane and onto the toll road - not a great problem if heading north but this time I wanted to head to Geelong.   So onward to my planned night stop at a freecamp partway to Geelong and a night's rest. 

Mixed feelings about heading off again, it will be a long time before seeing family & friends again but I'll catch up with relatives in Perth so that is a real bonus, as the distance makes visits infrequent.  I really want to see Western Australia and during planning it looks like I can expect some decent beach fishing along the South Australia coast.  I'm looking forward to my first visit to the Flinders Ranges and the Great Ocean Road is always exciting.  And so, Westward Ho!