Saturday 9 November 2013

Our weekend in Horsham

Three of our children and their families (ten of our grand children) arrived
early Saturday morning and we left around 8 AM for our
Ready to leave
traditional breakfast at the "BIG M" this time it was at Rockbank some 14 Km away, it was then on our way to Wimmera Lakes Camp Ground non stop, or so we thought! Not long into the journey a voice came over the CB "if we see a morning market we need to stop" and would you know there was one at Beaufort so we stopped. There were quite a few stalls with the normal nick knacks, and across the road in an old church they were selling Christmas decorations which were quite spectacular. Turned out to be a pleasant stop.

Our Camp
It was then back in the 'saddle' next stop the camp ground, we arrived after 276 Km and 3:03 hours (moving time), set up camp and went into town to get a few things, then to the pool for a swim and a play with the grand kids, so much for a solar heated pool!!!! The water was cold as, I estimate about 18°C, still we had heaps of fun and granny show us that she could still ride a bike! We had a BBQ in the new camp kitchen which was great, then it was time for bed, by
this time the wind had picked up with strong gusts, we should have lowered the awning as even with anti-flap kit it was quite noisy at times, around 3 AM we were woken with a loud bang when a large branch fell on the roof of the van, not much sleep that night.
Sunday morning we were up early, after a quick breakfast twelve of us left just after 7 AM for the Big Desert. We decided to enter from the Nhill - Netherby Road, Nhill is a quaint town approximately at the half-way point between Melbourne and Adelaide on the Western Highway. It is situated within the wheat growing and sheep grazing district, and is surrounded by a number of state and national parks.




After about 108 Km we were on the edge of the desert and it was time to air down the tyres and on to the Pella Track, then right onto Chinaman Flat Track, we stopped at Chinamans Well for a cuppa. At the T junction we turned right to The Spring for lunch, not much further and we turned right on the Milmed Rock Track heading for Milmed Rock, a quick stop to sign the visitors book then on to the Lookout, this was a short steep track and good fun. From there it was on to Lake Albacutya. The lake normaly fills and empties on a 20 year cycle, I'm lead to believe that the longest dry period on record was 27 years. The lake was dry, it's hard to believe that it was a place to water-ski in the 1970's, we drove a little way on it's bed before returning and heading for Rainbow as it was late afternoon. We aired up and headed for camp some 109 Km away arriving at 6:30 PM just in time for dinner. We did a total of 407 Km of which 190 Km was off road, all in all a fun day of 4x4ing.



Monday after a late breakfast we set off to explore Halls Gap which is situated in the Grampians National Park. The park has many attractions including rock formations, waterfalls, scenic lookouts, 4 x 4 tracks and many lakes, reservoirs and waterways available for fishing and canoeing. Just after entering the Grampians National Park we decided to visit the Beehive Falls, one takes the road to Roses Gap car park (about 17 Km) then its a gradual moderate uphill 1.4 Km walking track which follows Mud Hut Creek upstream, after crossing the bridge it's a series of rock steps to the base of the falls, this scenic waterfall drops 25 meters into sheltered rock pools that are surrounded by ferns.
We then continued on the spectacular scenic drive to Halls Gap which is set in the Fyans Valley at the foot of the of Wonderland and Mount William ranges. This tourist town is the place to unwind and relax in the picture perfect surrounds, which one shares with kangaroos, wallabies, emus, possums and a wealth of bird life.

After lunch of tasty pies and chips purchased from a local, the grand children had a great time playing in the park, while we relaxed and enjoyed the sun. All to soon it was time to leave for the journey back to our camp via Stawell, the suggestion was made to return next year Cup weekend to Halls Gap and it seems that all agree that this is where we will be.

Back at the camp the ladies decided to visit Horsham one more time while the men looked after the children, swimming, playing chess on the giant outdoor board, playing mini golf, jumping on the big pillow and bicycle riding, all the games are free to campers. When the ladies returned  It was then time for dinner and bed.


Tuesday morning after breakfast we packed up and with heavy harts and left late morning for home. We stopped for lunch at a park in Ararat. This attractive old gold mining town of less than 8000 people is at the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains, about 200 Km from Melbourne. After lunch we were once again on the road, next stop home. We all arrived safe and sound after a most enjoyable weekend.

I use Memory Map  GPS mapping software on an iPad to track our journey's, we traveled a total of 1,168 Km, used 175.41 liters of diesel at a cost of $263.19 which works out to 15 L/100 Km.



Until next time ...........Monday’s are fun enjoy them.

1 comment:

  1. My favourite part of your posts is the sayings at the end.

    Seems like you had a great time and we might need to go back and see the lake when it is full :)

    ReplyDelete

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