Our Australia trip

The Friday was supposed to be very hot, more than 40 degrees and hot northern wind. Not the best situation to be deep in a forest with 10 km of dirt road and another 20 of bitumen to get out of it. We decide therefore to pack up and look if Johanna’s Beach is a good next stop.

Not everyone agrees with leaving this cool stream.

We dread the busy environment of the Great Ocean road but it works out that it’s not too busy. Our first stop is for fresh organic blueberries on the side of the road.

Then the scenery changes and we can see the ocean again.

The Johanna Beach campground is quite big and busy, but we find a good spot on the edge of a large grass field, not too far from the beach and not too far from the toilets.

The camping has a very high turnover; when we arrived the field was empty bar 4 groups of people, at sunset on Friday the field was full apart from the middle. It goes like that every day, empties during the morning and fills up in the afternoon. It’s popular because there are toilets, it’s not far from the beach and it’s free (where other campings charge up to $75 per night during this peak season).

The ocean is quite wild and swimming is not recommended due to wild waves and strong currents. So we keep it to bathing.

Kiting is out of the question, especially when we see delta wing flyers jump off the high dunes; the updraft of the wind could make a kiter an inverted parachutist.

With he temperature in the 40’s and the beach a bit golden the temperature of the sand gets so high that normal walking (even on slippers when the sand gets between your foot sole and the slipper) is too hot. So everyone runs for a bit and then when they can’t bare it any more stands still to let the sand under his soles cool down and build up courage to run the next bit of sand. Nossi just made a quick dash in the dunes and barely touched the sand; poor Dotti plainly refused and turned topsyturn so she was on her back with her fur between her skin and the hot sand. She had to be dragged and carried across. So they were really happy when they could cool their paws in the pools.

And then were content with their little tent.

Then Marjo saw a hat float in the water.

Until she realised that there was a bold head attached to it, cooling down under water.

The only others in the water were some surfers who love the big waves and if you weren’t careful they would go straight over your hat.

We stayed four nights at this camping; partly because it is not bad, partly because we are supposed to be in Melbourne in 4 nights and the campsites between here and Melbourne are all in National Parks, not open to dogs and partly because we have traveled enough for a (short) while.

During the last two days we met a nice couple, Jack and Mary who invited us over for drinks. Jack had built his own nice vintage motorhome in which they traveled for short trips. Jim (with hat) who camped on the other side of us with a nice slide-on motorhome also joined us.

Marjo and Dotti were pulling faces 🙂

The next morning Jack showed us how you can make nice thin bread in a fry pan. Something to repeat for sure!

Some of the days were very hot (42 Celcius), others were quite cool (20 Celcius) and some days there were not many flies where on others I stayed most of the day inside and for the rest with my head wrapped in a fly net. Marjo just took it like the woman of nature she is.

At night the sun set nicely over the water.

That was not the sign for everyone to quieten down though; this camping is popular with groups of younger people which meant that we could hear music, talk, dogs, laughter till well past midnight. Where if my head touches the pillow my sleep switch turns on, poor Marjo listened to all the noises. I’m sure that once or twice the thought hit her of joining in.

A nice stay.

Posted from Johanna, Victoria, Australia.

Lake Colac was not a place to stay for long. It was not only that Marjo was kept awake all night by a crying baby of a couple camping about 10 meters from us, or the constant flies that tried to crawl in every orifice. It was the feel of the camp site that was somewhat weird. Hard to describe but we didn’t feel happy. So time to move again.

We had many people comment that Johanna Beach is such a nice camp site and while looking it up we also saw the description of Dando’s campground which is on the way to Johanna. We decided to have a look there first, also because it’s still the first week of January and smack in the middle of peak holiday season.

The first impression is that it’s in the middle of the rainforest and it’s pretty!

Besides plenty of shade from the tall trees (which are Manna gum trees favoured by koala’s) there’s a nice cool stream running beside the campground.

Then we went in the water and it was about 20 degrees cooler than the air temperature. Glad that it was about 36 Celsius that day.

Dotti and Nossi had also a great time in the water.

The only real downside of this camping were the horseflies that particularly bugged Nossi and Axel and we were happy when the sun set.

It was fly bedtime and just to make sure we decided to light a fire and expel all flies and mozzies.
Nossi and I went out to get some wood and because he didn’t carry any wood, he was back much quicker than I was.

We light a nice fire, had dinner and a nice evening together.

A magical day.

Posted from Johanna, Victoria, Australia.

We said goodbye to Herman and Renate and made our way back over the rough off road track and took our time to get to the bitumen.
Then it was on to Ballarat where we would get groceries at Aldi and we found a shop that possibly had a new micro switch for our pressure pump.

We saw some buildings.

And waited while Marjo did shopping.

And waited on the vet to give new medicine for Dotti.

Then Marjo got cravings and gave some subtle hints.

So you can understand that her eyes got a healthy shine when we had to detour to pick up Dotti’s medicines and ended up at another vet next door to a Hungry Jack’s. You can guess what we had for lunch.

We left Ballarat with a full stomach, the ingredients for a healthy pump and new groceries and drove towards our next stop. We saw pretty clouds

Quick passing road trains.

Salt lakes.

And then we came to Lake Colac where we stayed for the night.

And captured the sun setting over the lake.

Then it was bedtime.

A nice day.

Posted from Johanna, Victoria, Australia.

Time to go bush again and we want a nice spot to celebrate New Year. So we try and leave the dry fields.

And swap them for the bush.

We set up at a great spot, next to the river (well pretty much dried up) with plenty of privacy.

Makes us happy.

Tonight is New Year’s Eve and because we will miss Sydney’s stunning fireworks display our neighbours create their own fire work.

Well, I mean work for the Fire Brigade. The forest around this area has been the centre of gold mining and quite a while ago many Chinese prospectors came here and dug man-size shafts (1 x 1 meter holes, many meters down) all over the place and our neighbour’s dog walked unsuspecting about 5 meters from the path through the shrub and went straight down one of the shafts. Because they’re dark and of unknown depth the dog owners had tried Victoria Parks and Wildlife, then when they couldn’t reach them they rang the emergency number 000 and the police turned up as well as 4 fire trucks.
They got the dog out in no time with a ladder and a slim fire woman.

Nossi did his own attempt in finding gold, but after a few scrapes he gave up.

That afternoon Marjo and Nossi went for walks while I tried again to fix the faltering water pump. The pressure switch has now died completely and so the pump is now either on or off with the tap always open. It has to work that way until we get a new switch.

Later we met a couple (Herman and Renate) that moved many years from Germany to Darwin and were now caravanning around Victoria. I helped them with some electric problem in the van and in return they asked us over for New Years eve. She made Boerenkool (curly kale) with sausage and yummie pancakes with peaches and cream.

That evening we celebrated New Year sitting around a big fire and consuming wine, beer and port. We rang the kids just past midnight who all had a great time at the Sydney Casino. At 4.30 am we crossed the river back to our bus.

The next day we took things slow, went for walks and had a quiet evening.

A beautiful stay.

Posted from Cabbage Tree, Victoria, Australia.

Dinner time again, Marjo is making the bus and surroundings smell so nice that I have to occupy my fingers and mind with something else or I’ll start drooling. You wonder, are we spending too much time with the dogs?

Since we wrote about Dotti, it’s only fair that Nossi gets a post too. Marjo already starts to look worried, but I won’t write one about her, or…..will I? Mmmm, that warrants some further thought. Naah, better not. The dogs can’t respond where I’m not sure I will survive Marjo’s witty replies. But I digress.

Nossi is a special creature. I always wonder if he’s just a cross breed of Whippet and Staffy or if there was in reality a threesome with a cat involved. Why, I hear you ask?

Well he loves to lie in the sun and stretch out like a cat does. Secondly he loves jumping on the bed and then prefers to crawl under the doona, head and all and can sleep there for ours. Thinking about it, who can survive so long without fresh air. Perhaps the third party in his conception wasn’t a cat but a gold fish. That could explain his zoomies when he goes in circles around and around.

His memory is not like a gold fish though. Every time the bus rattles over a railway crossing or a metal bridge he’s up in arms, starts panting and walking back and forward. It takes quite some time before he’s calmed down and after such an incident he can be frantic for days.

Nossi is clearly no drug addict, as the slightest anxiety suppressant drug has a strong effect on him and makes him drowsy for more than a day. So we stop using them and just let him be. With cattle grids we slow down to crawling pace so that there’s no noise and just the bus rocks a little…. 27 times (9 bars front wheel, 9 for the back wheels and 9 for the trailer). He also hates dirt roads, especially the ones with corrugations.

All the noise, rattles and hums that are part of life in the bus don’t make him the happiest dog around. So every morning when we travel he already walks in a big circle around the bus and when it’s time to leave it takes a bit of coaxing before he climbs on board. Every stop he’s the first to get out too, whether it’s through the side door or over / behind me through the driver’s door.

We love him to bits though. He can have the nicest looks when you say “dinner” and when Marjo and I walk in different directions he runs from one to the other to try and bring us back together. Also his little bark of excitement when he sees another dog and how he goes Dotti a little friend nudge direct after he returns from a long walk.

Nossi is a great travel companion, we wouldn’t have wanted to travel without him or Dotti.

When we checked in, Lola told us that she wanted to go to church the next day and that, unless we wanted to go to church too, we might as well sleep in. No need to rush out of the camping by 10 am.

We oblige and get up slowly, take the dogs for a walk and fill up with water before leaving. The water pump in the bus plays up again and fiddling with the wires stops being the solution. Our next overnight stop means another repair. We have ordered a new microswitch (with specific dimensions that fits in the pump) but that is still on its way from the US, so we have to make do with what we have.

We’re struggling a little with where to go next. Every time we have a specific date (this time the arranged camping in Melbourne for the flight to Sydney) we are trying to plan the way till that point. That doesn’t work very well as we tend to stay where we feel right and move on where we don’t. Now we’re caught a bit between the dry dust and heat of inland Victoria and the wet and cold (19 degrees Celsius) on the coast. We decide just to move lateral as it’s in the high 20s here which is nice.

Our first stop is to walk the dogs and stretch our legs. Marjo poses in front of a tree.

And we decide that this is as good a time as any to take a “travel family” portrait.

The camp grounds that we find in this region though are very dry and busy and to us unappealing. Along a very brown river littered with junk, people are camped left right and center and a bit further along the same river where there’s a weir, the water is full with loud growling power boats and the dustbowl camping packed to the rafters with loud folk wearing wife beaters and with barking dogs everywhere. Minimum stay was 4 nights. Or none, which we chose…..

Then we decided to move south, more away from the dust and towards the coast. Our next stop would be Maryborough, a camping along a small lake.

Before we get there we hear the thunder of a big helicopter and think bushfire and indeed the chopper hovers to take on water from the river.

Then he’s off; there’s no smoke anywhere and we wonder if it’s just a practice run.

The camping is ok, quite busy but that was expected between Christmas and New Year so we stay for a night. We soon work out that today is the day of remarkable transport. First the helicopter. Then we see a soundless vehicle zoom past.

At closer look it works out to be a supersonic push bike that races around.

Then to our surprise a train rolls past, and another, and a third. All very loud. Let’s hope train drivers have read the camping notice of no noise after 9 pm…..

The pump signals by its quiet and lack of water flow that it needs a repair. This time I take the micro switch apart as well, clean it and somewhat mend the broken parts. Then fit it back under the bus. It seems to work, hope it stays that way.

With the hot dry weather more inland, our skin is getting drier and then calluses crack, so time for a pedicure. The good life.

Right before, left after.

For good measure (and to head off some comments) I did Marjo’s feet too 🙂

Then we go for a walk around the lake and meet with some of the habitants.

Some just escaped us.

We also capture the beautiful sunset.

A beautiful day.

Posted from Maryborough, Victoria, Australia.

That morning the bus shakes us awake. We suggest from earthquake to tornado but cannot find a reason ….until I look at one of the tyres of the bus and find this.

A bug (cicada?) shedding his shell. Ok the shaking might have been a bit over the top, but nice to see a rebirth anyway.

Now we’ve come so north that it makes sense to visit the Grampians. We hesitate because it’s a National park which means no dogs but with Nossi in his pyama’s and Dotti furless we think we will be able to wing it.

So we head towards the mountains.

Soon the road takes us higher and higher.

Suddenly we feel as if we’re in Switzerland and I’m afraid that Marjo starts jödeln when we see a car pass us with “Luzern” as license plate. Then my subconscious seems to get in overdrive and suddenly the magic lightbulb comes on and I remember that it belongs to Pierre, a colleague from Lawson, who kindly has offered to babysit the trailer when we are going to Tasmania in February. What are the odds, seeing Pierre here in the Grampians.

With no way to stop on the narrow winding roads and no mobile reception up the mountain, we leave it to some light flashing.

Then it’s time to enjoy the view. And it’s breath taking.

Then we drive to the McKenzie Falls which are nice from the top.

But even better in close-up.

We follow the road back down the hill and stop to let the dogs go for some well earned walk and play in the water.

And we find a very functional little camping in Murtoa on the lake. Lola, the very nice care taker from well past 80 tells me all about her life in Murtoa and the amazing Stick Shed and we have a nice stay for laundry, a swim and a nice shower.

While walking with Nossi around the lake there are some nice trees.

A beautiful day.

Posted from Murtoa, Victoria, Australia.

That morning Nossi has his normal trepidation of the trip ahead and tries to stay far away from the bus. He even didn’t want to take his pyama’s off.

When we were all on board we continued the trip north, away from cold and rain. Marjo finds the reason why Dotti has been pulling out her hair. Time after time we find her bed full with clumps of fur. These little critters were nested deep in her fur.

We drive off and pass fields of flowers…

the start of a mountain range…

weird shaped hedges…

and a gazillion sheep…

this is not only thé region for Merino wool but also where AFL was originated (so they claim).

We think it’s all mighty interesting and stop in Ararat for some new window sun reflectors (the old one is worn) right opposite the impressive town hall

Then we arrive at the camping, right on the lake. At first we think it’s all very busy until Marjo and Nossi go scouting and find the second half of the campground almost deserted. Just the way we like it.

We decide it’s beer-o’clock and settle in.

After dinner we do the sunset tour.

A magical day.

Posted from Murtoa, Victoria, Australia.

With the weather down the coast still cold and wet, we go north even higher. The landscape starts getting hillier.

And we cross nice streams.

Then we come to the camping with the impressive name Wannon Falls. The falls could have been nice if there was enough water to fall down it. At the current rate the scenery is nice but the fall just a trickle.

So instead of drooling of a spectacular waterfall (which might actually have helped) we went to see if we could have more fun with the dogs. Where Dotti went in straight away.

Nossi needed a bit of coaxing and although initially hesitant, who can resist the persuasion of Marjo.

Then it was time for some rock climbing……well, just posing.

Marjo spots some nice scenery.

And then it’s time for relaxing.

The sunset is nice against the dead trees.

A beautiful day.

Posted from Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia.

On boxing day it's time to say goodbye. The campground that we stayed on will be swamped today with campers, about a 1,000 people in total and probably one third of that on the foreshore. I'm sure that there's enough space as the sites are very big but good luck to them with only 2 toilets.
We shut the gate and move on. So do James & Lisa and children and Cameron & Elizabeth. Everyone to a different, new destination.

The road East takes us past the Tantanoola cave and Marjo can barely control her spelunking itch. So while the dogs and I watch he bus, Marjo goes underground.

The caves were discovered by a young boy while hunting rabbits. He used to take his ferret and steer him down rabbit holes to chase down the rabbits and when the rabbit would exit the coop the boy stood ready with a net to catch them. One time the ferret didn’t come back. Tired from waiting the boy dug the rabbit hole deeper and found the caves.
His commercially astute parents got a lease on the land and commercially ran the caves. After they passed away 42 years later, the caves became under control of the Environment department of SA government.

The view from the top of the caves gives a good indication of the major industry: pine logging.

After this interesting intermezzo we went to Mount Gambier, time to stock up on food, water and petrol. Here we also run into James, Lisa, Spencer, Finn and Sienna who left the campground a bit later then we and caught up with us. We wave and go separate ways.

We have lunch at he Blue Lake, a phenomenon where the minerals in the lake in November turn the colour of the lake from winter steel blue to brilliant turquoise blue and then in March changes back to steel blue.

The first campground we wanted to stay at is somewhat strange. Just a car park next to an old crater. The view is not bad and there are toilets too, but the blowing wind is cold. A man from Tasmania who walks from his old station wagon with a coffee cup as big as a bucket explains that he just came from Dartmoor and had a great stay there. We talk for a bit and when he leaves a swarm of flies follows him. We decide not to stay and go to Dartmoor instead. With the wind picking up we drive more south to try and see whether kiting is an option.

Then at 2.06 pm (or 2.36 for Victorians) we leave South Australia and enter Victoria. We have great memories of SA!
I hear you thinking….is he going to make another attempt to compare states. Well, be disappointed, I’m not. If we hadn’t seen the sign, we would have had no clue that we changed states.

We drive into Nelson on the way to a campsite and, surprise, surprise again we pass James. They are camping in Nelson with friends for the remainder of their holiday. The campground seems very busy with lots of kids which suits them well but is not for us. Because there’s a lot of wind we have a look at the ocean but decide that the waves are a bit too much to kite on or swim in. There are also many signs telling us not to swim, almost enough for me to be recalcitrant and swim anyway.

We drive past more forrestries.

When we stop, to our surprise we see a river. Perhaps something for Marjo to kayak on?

Then we come to Dartmoor and pass some crafty wood cuttings.

We find fly-man’s campground without a problem and find a nice spot. The campground is not busy at all.

Marjo is happy when indeed she can take out her kayak.

And isn’t disappointed when on her kayak trip she discovers pretty trees and so.

A magnificent day.

Posted from Dartmoor, Victoria, Australia.