Cowell to Cleve

After an enjoyable two weeks in Cowell it is time to move on. Today's journey to Cleve is a very short one, less than 50 Km. Cleve is getting close to the centre of the Eyre Peninsular and is most likely the largest inland town on the peninsular. The locals are friendly and welcoming and they have an RV camping area at the showground right at the end of the main street for just $10 per night for a powered site, so we decided to stay the night. Tomorrow will see us head in a Northwesterly direction towards the Gawler Ranges for our first visit to that area.

Our final week in Cowell was a mixed bag, weather wise, and there were more than a couple of days that saw us unable to go out fishing. Never mind, we still managed several more good catches of Squid, Whiting and Tommy Ruffs (Herring) and we left with the freezer full of seafood, Yum !! Even if you don't catch fish it is still a very pleasant experience out on the clean waters of Franklin Harbour observing the varied aquatic life and plentiful birdlife. The Cormorants would have to be the best fed and most healthy looking in the country.

Point Lowly to Cowell

We arrived in Cowell on the 13th March to meet up with our good friends and neighbours, Yvonne and Bob. The well located Cowell Foreshore Caravan Park is where we will stay for the next 2 weeks. At least 90 percent of the visitors to this park are very serious and dedicated fishers and many stay for months at a time. The park is as close as you can get to the boat ramp and jetty and is just off the end of the main street. When we arrived Bob was out catching crabs for our evening meal and we completed our set-up just in time for his return. This allowed us to help him cook and clean his bountiful catch.

As I write this we have been in Cowell a week, during which time Bob and I have made a number of successful fishing trips out in his boat. We have made several good catches of Squid, Whiting and Crabs. One night Bob cooked Calamari Schnitzels that were bloody fantastic. Of course we have had regular fresh seafood meals and the freezer is rapidly filling up. We have almost another week here and look forward to more good fishing trips, weather permitting.

I have made a separate post for most of the photos of our visit to Cowell, so please enjoy!!

Cowell Photos

Burra to Point Lowly

From Burra it was time to leave the inland behind and head for the coast. We hit the coast at the large Spencer Gulf town of Port Pirie where, after a little shopping and a visit to the Great White Shark exhibition at the information centre, it was time for a relaxing lunch on the waterfront. After lunch it was back on the highway northward around the top of Spencer Gulf through Port Augusta to the head south down the Eyre Peninsular.

We had chosen this time to stay at Point Lowly, a place we had not been before, approximately 34 Km. north east of Whyalla. There is a free camping area located here with clean flushing toilets and cold showers. Because it is free to stay up to 14 days you would expect it to be popular, but even with this thought in mind we were totally surprised to see the number of campers there. For our first night we had to resort to setting up in the large car and boat trailer parking area at the top of the rise which we found to be very exposed to the strong wind. Thankfully the next morning several vans left the lower waterside area so we quickly took up one of those spots. Our original intention was stay a few days, but with the spectacular visual surroundings and the convenience of the facilities, and the price, we ended up staying 10 days.

Point Lowly is the major location of the Australian Snapper Fishing Championships so, as you can imagine the fishing is very good, although you need to have a boat to take advantage of this. There is a very good small boat harbour with an excellent launching ramp facility and a breakwall/jetty to fish from. Land based anglers are restricted to catches of crabs and squid, and we enjoyed a meal of both during our stay. For the boat fishermen catches of snapper up to and over 1 metre were quite a regular occurrence and they only have to go about 200 metres off shore.

On the southern side of the point there is beautiful white sand swimming beach which quite contrastingly is next to the major Santos oil and gas processing and loading facility at Port Bonython. During our stay we made a couple of trips into Whyalla for shopping and found these facilities more than adequate.

Burra, South Australia

Cloudy skies greeted us for our next day in Burra but the temperature was pleasantly warm. With not much chance of rain out came the bikes and after a call at the visitor's centre to collect our key and heritage passports ($20 p.p. + $20 key deposit) we were off to discover the history of the town and surrounds. Burra was established by Cornish miners exploiting the vast reserves of very rich copper ore. With the key and passport you are able to gain access to all of the historic buildings and museums around the town area. We spent most of the day cycling to and from these well preseved reminders of a by-gone era. Lunch was taken at the local bakery to sample a, Cornish Pastie, of course. We thoroughly enjoyed our two days in Burra and, of course were reminded of how easy things are today compared to the hardships of times past.

Wentworth to Burra

We could not escape the rain entirely, soon after arriving in Wentworth during a walk around town the heavens opened and we were lucky not to be thoroughly soaked. We had set-up in the Willowbend Caravan Park right on the banks of the Darling River and decided to stay 2 nights. Wentworth is situated where the Murray and Darling rivers meet. These two rivers are, of course, two of the most important, and at times controversial, in the country. During our stay we visited some of the more well known tourist sites as well as a trip across the Murray to the towns of Mildura and Red Cliffs in Victoria.

The pack-up process in Wentworth was hampered by steady rain and as we departed we could see we were in for a wet drive. Travelling west toward the South Australian border the rain became heavier and a late morning stop in Renmark saw us dodging downpours and puddles. With the weather being so dismal and not at all suitable for sight-seeing we continued on to the small historical mining town of Burra. It would seem that we took the rain with us making our set-up in the caravan park rather unpleasant.

Mungo National Park

When travelling from east to west, Balranald is the logical and most convenient point to access Mungo National Park. One of the reasons we waited in Balranald for 2 days was to closely monitor the weather forecasts. For several days substantial rain had been predicted and because the majority of the 150Km. distance to Mungo is unsealed, rain could close the roads for days, or longer. In today's world of modern technology it was easy to monitor the weather with our computer and mobile broadband and so we closely watched the weather patterns and predictions. The decision was made to take the chance and with fingers crossed we left Balranald. If we got this wrong and heavy rain did affect the area we could be stuck out there for many days.

In the end our drive out to the national park was uneventful apart from needing to take it really easy through the sections that were very rough and rocky. Once we had registered and paid for our campsite at park headquarters we drove off to set up in the main campground. Choosing a site was easy in the well laid-out, spacious camping area. Although setting up was not all that pleasant as the temperature was over 42 deg. Celsius. As evening approached we returned to the park headquarters to begin our discovery tour of the "Walls of China" section of Lake Mungo. A visit to Mungo would not be complete without taking part in one of these very interesting and informative tours. Our tour was certainly enhanced by our friendly and jovial guide, Ernie.

Discovery Ranger, Ernie.














7,000 year old

Campfire

Mungo is such a fascinating place and well worth it's world heritage listing and it was all brought back to life by Ernie, Thanks mate ! Taking part in a discovery tour is the only way the public can gain access onto the fragile landscape of this ancient lake bed. In the sediments of the lunette there is evidence of continuous human occupation going back at least 40,000 years and it has the oldest example of ritualised burial in the world. Of course the scenery and the sunsets are not bad either.

The next day we took the self guided drive right around the perimeter of the ancient lake bed discovering remnants of Mungo's pastoral era when it was a massive sheep station. That evening we watched, with a little anxiety, the distant thunderstorms passing by, but getting seemingly closer. However we were prepared to leave at any time with the van fully hitched and every thing packed away, should it start to rain. Luckily we had a good night's restful sleep and left the National Park to travel out to Pooncarie and I must say we were very relieved to reach the bitumen road before the rain arrived. We journeyed from Pooncarie following the Darling River to Wentworth where the Darling meets the Murray. Off course most of you will know that the predicted heavy rain did arrive and resulted in some of the worst flooding of NSW and Victoria for many years. We consider ourselves lucky to have been ahead of it.

Darlington Point to Balranald

Leaving our peaceful overnight camp at Birdcage Reserve we were soon back on the busy Sturt Highway heading west. It was time for a break at the large inland town of Hay from where we decided to leave the highway and take the alternative route on the northern side of the river through the small village of Maude. This road is mainly in very good condition with almost no traffic and is certainly a better alternative for travellers like us. It allows you to travel at a more relaxed pace and take in the scenery without the worry of the many passing and overtaking heavy vehicles. Just after passing through Maude you are required to re-join the highway for the rest of the way to Balranald.

The intention was to stay in one of the newest national parks in NSW, Yanga N.P. just out of town. We travelled out to the camping area on the banks of the river which was certainly very attractive, however with the temperature hovering around 37 degrees with a hot and gusty northerly wind making conditions unpleasant we decided to return to town and take up residence in the caravan park, at least so we could run our air-conditioner. The Balranald caravan park is very attractive and is situated right on the banks of a bend in the river, and the staff are very friendly. We stayed 2 nights and treated ourselves to dinner at the local club and the next day a visit back out to the national park, this time to the old homestead, where we were fortunate enough to join the morning tour of this fabulous collection of well kept old buildings.Yanga homestead garden

Narrandera to Darlington Point

After collecting our mail we headed off on the next leg of our journey. We were mainly following the course of the Murrumbidgee river during this part of our trip but this morning we took a detour through Yanco and then Leeton where we paused for lunch. The fabulous Art-Deco Roxy theater stands in the centre of town and offers tours on selected days, unfortunately our visit did not coincide with any of the available tours. After lunch and a little more shopping we headed off towards Darlington Point. The town is situated right on the river and has an attractive caravan park on the grassy banks but as it was still quite early in the afternoon we travelled on, re-joining the Sturt highway for our westward journey. About 20 kilometres out of town there is a highway rest stop where we found a track leading down to the river. Upon investigation we discovered a delightful camping reserve right on the edge of the river amongst the character filled River Red Gums. It didn't take long to decide to make this location our overnight stop.

Coolamon to Narrandera

Leaving Coolamon we headed off to the next major town of Narrandera hoping to collect our mail that had kindly been forwarded by our good neighbours. Unfortunately the mail had not arrived so this meant an overnight stay, and maybe even two, because the staff at the post office were not confident that it would even turn up tomorrow. Rather than a caravan park we decided to stay at the showground. The location is convenient and even though the facilities are basic the price is quite reasonable ($10 unpowered/$15 powered). The showground has some interesting architechture from times past, none more so than the Industrial Hall, unfortunately most showing the signs of age and neglect.

As it was still early in the day we had plenty of time to look around this interesting town with it's wide streets and many stately homes, we even managed a visit to the inland fisheries research centre where we took a free conducted tour which was very informative.

Luckily for us the mail arrived next morning and we were able to pack-up and continue our journey.

Jugiong to Coolamon

After a leisurely pack-up in Jugiong we travelled the short distance down the Hume Highway to the historic town of Gundagai. There is a quite new Woolies in town so we took the opportunity to stock up on provisions. A walk around town allowed us to take a close look at some of the historic buildings and the famous old timber road bridge, now sadly falling into disrepair.

From Gundagai it was time to head for Junee and the 'Must Do' of this part of the trip, a visit to the Licorice factory. After a thoughtful tasting session we left with an armful of their delicious, and healthy, products and our wallets quite a bit lighter. Everything produced at the Licorice factory is certified organic so we were very confident that our purchases would be good for us, especially the chocolate coated ginger and chocolate coated macadamias and chocolate coated licorice - right.

Our overnight stop for tonight was at the delightful little town of Coolamon. The small caravan park is right in the centre of town and has sparkling new amenities, shade, grassy sites, power and water for just $10 per night. All you do is visit the nearby newsagent, pay your money and collect a key for the amenities, this is really great value. The town is clean and obviously brimming with civic pride, and the time taken to stroll up and down both sides of the wide main street is well worth it.

Jugiong

After saying farewell to family members in Canberra our trip proper was about to begin. Because we have plenty of time these days we chose to travel only as far as the small village of Jugiong just north of Gundagai. Here in this small village now by-passed by the busy Hume Highway you can camp right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River adjacent to the showground. There are clean toilet facilities in a beautiful parkland setting and all for the cost of a gold coin donation. We spent a relaxing night on the riverbank and an early morning walk through town revealed some very unique sculptures made from reclaimed iron.

Canberra

After leaving the Sydney area our next port-of-call was Canberra. The main purpose of our visit was to attend a 50th Birthday party for Sue's Sister-in-law (can you believe we know people that old?). We had stormy weather, even a hailstorm during our 4 days in Canberra, however it did not deter the party goers. Everyone had a great time and it was real good catching up with family and friends.

Leaving Home

Leaving home at Port Stephens on the 16th February we had an easy drive to stay with friends outside Sydney for our first night away. Our wonderful hostess had arranged a dinner party with some old friends, much to our surprise and delight. It was a great night with great food and great company - Thanks Petra.