South Australia Continued on to the Fleurieu Peninsula and Victoria.

---

Friday 8^th February(300kms)

Today we started our new adventure travelling to Willunga South via, Burra, Hanson and Riverton to Gawler and then through Adelaide. Adelaide has yet to finish the bypass and the trip through the old outer suburbs was slow and stressful as so much roadworks going on, but we made it through and onto the Victor Harbour Road towards our destination. We managed to get slightly lost as we missed the tiny sign saying Range Road West and our GPS wanted us to go down a very narrow track. We turned round and found the road we wanted which took us to the top of the Willunga Hills overlooking McLaren Vale and the Gulf of St Vincent.

Gulf St Vincent is a large inlet of water bordered by Yorke Peninsula on its west, the mainland and Fleurieu Peninsula to its east, with its entrance being a line from Troubridge Point on Yorke Peninsula to Cape Jervis on Fleurieu Peninsula.

It was named "Gulph of St. Vincent" by Matthew Flinders on 30 March 1802, in honour of Admiral John Jervis (1st Earl of St Vincent). It was later mapped by Nicolas Baudin, who named it as Golphe Josephine, after his meeting with Flinders at Encounter Bay on 8 April 1802. Due to Flinders' lengthy imprisonment on Mauritius during his return to England, the publication of Baudin's map preceded that of Flinders by three years.

The Adelaide Desalination Plant which is located on Gulf St Vincent's eastern shore in Lonsdale, supplies the Adelaide metropolitan area with desalinated water from the gulf. It officially opened in 2013.

We found the farm and were slightly nonplussed to see the road we had to go down was very steep and gravel. Undeterred we put the car into 4 wheel-drive and slowly got to the farm with no problems. We found a nice flat grassy area near to the water and power and set ourselves up for our 4-week stay. The family were there to greet us, John, Catriona and the children Archie and Stella. They live in Adelaide and John comes to work on the farm when necessary. The family have a lovely house disguised as a shed which we were offered, but prefer to stay in our van. John stays overnight on a Tuesday as he and some help move the five hen caravans every Wednesday to new pastures (our day off) and fill up the feed bins.

We had a BBQ with the family and got to know them a bit. We learnt about the business called Feather and Peck pastured free range eggs which are collected (by us) and John takes them to Mt Compass down the road where he has a team of part-time egg sorters. The eggs are sold to local butchers, restaurants. cafes, etc. and are sold every week at Willunga Farmers Market and Adelaide Farmers Market. We were collecting around 2000 eggs every day. Each of the five hen caravans had a Maremma dog guarding the hens and we just had to feed them.

The Maremma Sheepdog or Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog is a breed of livestock guardian dog indigenous to central Italy, particularly to Abruzzo and the Maremma region of Tuscany and Lazio. It has been used for centuries by Italian shepherds to guard sheep from wolves. The English name of the breed derives from that of the Maremma marshlands, where, until recently, shepherds, dogs and hundreds of thousands of sheep over-wintered, and where the breed is today abundant although sheep-farming has decreased substantially.

Saturday 9^th February

Windy and cool (20C) We learnt what needed to be done to collect eggs, which turned out to be very easy and we, after getting into a good routine, got the job down to just under 2 hours from 2 hours 40 mins. Starting at 10am when most eggs had been laid we had plenty of time to explore the Fleurier Peninsular.

The area was named after Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu, the French explorer and hydrographer, by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he explored the south coast of Australia in 1802. The name came in official use in 1911 in response to a recommendation to the South Australian Government from the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia following a representation from Count Alphonse de Fleurieu, a great-nephew of Charles de Fleurieu, that places in South Australia discovered by but unnamed by Matthew Flinders be given the names proposed by Baudin's expedition.

We thought this would be the extent of what was wanted in exchange for power and water but were told today that there were 15 heifers due to calve in the next few weeks and would we keep an eye on them!!!!!! We had use of a quad bike so that was no problem.

Sunday 10^th February (22C)

We didn’t go anywhere today.

Monday11th February (21C) 39kms

Rain today and windy during the night. We went to check out the town of Willunga down in the valley.

Willunga (pop 2418) is a town in the City of Onkaparinga local government area. It is located within the famous McLaren Vale wine growing region. Willunga is connected to the town of McLaren Vale by a cycle path running along a former railway line and is only a short distance from the beaches of Aldinga Bay. Being one of South Australia's earliest towns, Willunga is a character-filled, small country town which attracts many visitors. This is reflected in its many businesses. Besides coffee shops and eateries there are the post office, general store, three hotels and one fuel station. There are four churches (an Anglican, a Catholic and a Uniting along with a Pentecostal church).

Willunga hosts a leg of the Tour Down Under cycle race (including King of the Mountain) every summer. Other attractions are the Willunga Farmers' Market (which won Best Farmers' Market in Australia 2008) held every Saturday morning.

McLaren Vale is a wine area centred on the town of McLaren Vale (pop 3082) . It is internationally renowned for the wines it produces and included within the Great Wine Capitals of the World. The region was named after either David McLaren, the Colonial Manager of the South Australia Company or John McLaren (unrelated) who surveyed the area in 1839. Among the first settlers to the region in late 1839, were two English farmers from Devon, William Colton and Charles Thomas Hewett. William Colton established the Daringa Farm and Charles Thomas Hewett established Oxenberry Farm. Both men would be prominent in the early days of McLaren Vale. Although initially the region's main economic activity was the growing of cereal crops, John Reynell and Thomas Hardy planted grape vines in 1838 and the present-day Seaview and Hardy wineries were in operation as early as 1850. Grapes were first planted in the region in 1838 and some vines more than 100 years old are still producing. Today there are more than 120 cellar doors in McLaren Vale. The majority are small family-run operations and boutique wineries.

The McLaren Vale wine region has a Mediterranean climate with four clear seasons. With a dry warm summer, the area has dry weather from December through to March or April, giving an easy change between summer and winter. It is gentle with long warm days and short cool nights. Winter rains of 580–700 mm per annum flow into a fresh spring. It rarely experiences frost or drought due to its close proximity to the sea.

The McLaren Vale wine region is well known for its dry red wines, especially those made from Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre. Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Sangiovese are also grown. White wine varieties in the wine region include Fiano, Vermentino, Grenache blanc, Roussanne and other such Mediterranean varieties.

Notable for producing Shiraz, the grape is by far the most important variety for the wine region, accounting for about 50% of the total crush. The area's thin soils, limited water and warm summers harness Shiraz's natural vigor and produce intense flavoured fruit, and wine with a deep purple colour that can last decades in the bottle. McLaren Vale wines are distinguished by their ripeness, elegance, structure, power and complexity.

Shiraz is harvested from late February to early April. The wine region naturally produces Shiraz that has very small berries. Smaller berries have a higher skin to pulp ratio. Berry skin contains flavanols (Anti-sunburn in grapes, 'flavour' in wine), Anthocyanins (colour) and other complex molecules that add to wine complexity. Grape pulp contains sugar and water. Therefore, the more skin to less pulp the more complex the finished wine. Small berries make more intense Shiraz wine. The wine region has a diversity of soil types, clones and winemaking philosophies, which has led to a huge range of Shiraz wine styles being produced. Most winemakers produce at least one Shiraz wine

Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested in late March. Less famous than McLaren Vale Shiraz, but equally enchanting, Cabernet Sauvignon from the wine region continues to display the rich ripe characters that typify wines from this region. Grenache is harvested in late April. It is the ancient type of vine widely planted in France and Spain. It is the backbone of many of the worlds red and fortified wines. Grenache vines were removed from the wine region in the 1980s when demand for fortified wines fell. Since the late 1990s Grenache has been enjoying a resurgence of popularity as table wine. The wine region's soils are particularly suited to this variety. However, in wet years it can be difficult to grow well as it can produce big bunches of grapes which make a less concentrated wine.

Chardonnay is harvested in mid March. This is the major white variety in the wine region. These wines maintain elegance and generally have long cellaring potential. Sauvignon blanc is harvested in early March

Most vineyards are found on gently undulating land at about 100m above sea level. In the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges to the east, where there is a scattering of vineyards, elevation rises to 320 m. At Blewitt Springs elevation is around 200 m. These variations in elevation have a significant impact on the terroir and fruit produced in the vineyards.

Tuesday 12^th February (strong winds and rain last night, 19C)

After doing our chores for the day we went to Mawson Lakes north of Adelaide to stay the night with Jim and Renata whom we met on our recent trip to Singapore. We had a great visit with great food and plenty of wine.

Wednesday 13^th February 148kms

Went for a walk around the lake then brunch and went home via Bunnings to get a few things.

Thursday & Friday 14^th/15^th February

Rest days, took some photos and went for walks around the property of 200 acres.

When it was purchased the property had 14 trees. The hills in this area were cleared of trees to fuel the steam ships that came to Port Willunga to get slate from the first slate mine in Australia to take back to England.

It is lovely to see most owners in the hills have planted hundreds of trees and the birds and animals are returning. We saw plenty of crimson parrots, black yellow-tailed cockatoos, ground parrots, magpies, crows and finches. One day we saw a koala, Danie thought he was seeing things but we have taken photos. My second ever wild koala.

Saturday 16^th February (27C) 84kms

Before egg collecting we went to Willunga Markets which we found expensive but did buy some veggies and alpaca meat to try – we bought some chorizo and neck which I cooked in the pressure cooker and it was very nice indeed.

In the afternoon we went to check out the beaches at Aldinga (pop 573), where there were plenty of cars on the beach up to Maslin Beach (the first nudist beach in Australia) and Seaford the main shopping area for us.

Aldinga started as a town in the 1850s in response to the development of farming on the Aldinga Plains. The layout of the town in circa 1857 is attributed to Lewis Fidge, a local farmer. The town is reported as growing quickly with the construction of a ‘hotel, church, blacksmith’s shop and a number of other shops and trades.’ In the 1870s, the combination of declining productivity of the land and opportunities such as the availability of land in South Australia’s mid-North resulted in a population decline. However, the town survived due to its location on the Old Coach Road which continues south to towns along the east coast of Gulf St Vincent as part of what is now called the Main South Road.

Seaford, a coastal suburb to the near south of Port Noarlunga, was set out on Sections 334 and 340, Hundred of Noarlunga, in 1954 by the Wakefield Land Company Pty Ltd. To the west of the horseshoe in the Onkaparinga River at Noarlunga, the land was first settled in the farming boom of the 1840s and 1850s.

Seaford was also the site, in the nineteenth century, of the Southern Race Course. The pursuit of horse racing and other sports, like hunting and ploughing matches, was an important part of the local social life.

During the mid-twentieth century, numerous land developments resulted from the movement of suburban population to the south of Adelaide and the rise of tourism along the beaches.

After our tour of the beaches, which were all pretty busy we went to the first of many wine tastings. This one was just outside the town of McLaren Vale, Zerella Wines an Italian owned small vineyard where we had a free wine tasting of all their wines.

Before coming to the area I had found several Groupon deals for wine tasting which I bought and Danie found lots of vouchers in the McLaren Vale tourist brochure for free wine tastings. Zerella was a free tasting instead of $5 each.

Sunday 17^th February 27C

We spent the afternoon watching the Big Bash cricket final on our TV outside the van.

Monday 18^th February 31kms

Shopping in McLaren Vale

Tuesday 19^th February 175kms

This afternoon we went for a trip down to the bottom of the peninsula. The drive down was lovely, it followed the Mt Lofty Ranges and the scenery was lovely, sometimes with views of ocean either side of the road.

Cape Jervis (pop 204) is a town located near the western tip of Fleurieu Peninsula on the southern end of the Main South Road It is named after the headland at the western tip of Fleurieu Peninsula which was named by Matthew Flinders after John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent on 23 March 1802.

It overlooks the coastline adjoining the following three bodies of water - Gulf St Vincent, Investigator Strait and Backstairs Passage. It also overlooks the following facilities both located at the headland of Cape Jervis - the Cape Jervis Lighthouse and the port used by Kangaroo Island SeaLink who operates the ferry service to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island. We wanted to visit the island but at $187 one way for us and the car it was a little pricey

Cape Jervis is the starting point for the Heysen Trail, a walking track of 1,200 kilometres, which finishes at Parachilna Gorge in the Flinders Ranges. Venues of interest to visitors to the town include the Deep Creek Conservation Park, the Talisker Conservation Park and two nearby beaches - Morgan's Beach (with the remains of the trawler Ellen) and Fisheries Beach (with remains of an old whaling station). Cape Jervis is also notable as a point of embarkment for fishing charters.

We took the western coast road back home calling in at Rapid Bay (pop 16), a small settlement with a caravan park right next to the beach. We were told it was a good fishing spot.

South Australia Colonial Surveyor General Colonel William Light made his first landfall on mainland South Australia at Rapid Bay on 8 September 1836. The site was named after Light's ship, the 162 ton brig Rapid. To mark this historic landfall the Colonel's initials, "W.L.", were carved into a large boulder – a replica is visible in the township, while the original is stored in the South Australian Museum, in Adelaide. For a short time Rapid Bay was considered a potential site for the new state capital, but with the discovery of the Adelaide Plains it faded into quiet obscurity.

The Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) constructed the town, an ore-loading jetty and a high voltage power line from Willunga during the period 1938 to 1942 as part of the works undertaken to establish the limestone quarry. Mining commenced in 1942. The limestone was used as a flux in the company's steelworks at Whyalla in South Australia, and Newcastle and Port Kembla in New South Wales.

Rapid Bay is known for its imposing cliffs, caves, beach, two jetties and artificial reefs. A resident leafy seadragon population inhabits the bay and weedy seadragons are also sometimes seen. It is considered to be one of Australia's premiere scuba diving sites, and has been listed featured on SportDiver as one of the world's top 9 dives. The ecological communities on the jetty pylons are well established and attract large schools of fish including Old Wives and Zebra Fish. At least 49 species of fish have been recorded in the vicinity of the Rapid Bay jetties. Giant Australian Cuttlefish and Blue-ringed octopus can also be found on the sea floor.

Next was Second Valley (pop 162).The name is derived from being the next valley north of Rapid Bay, the initial camp on South Australian mainland of Colonel William Light. It is a popular scuba diving destination.

Despite its small size, Second Valley has been rated as one of Australia's top ten beaches, with the variety of activities and opportunities to explore cited as contributing factors.

On to Lady Bay and Normanville (pop 864), situated next to the mouth of the Bungala River.

The town was established by South Australia's first dentist, Robert Norman, in 1849. General houses for people were built first, followed by the general store, and the hotel. This was quickly followed by the local Government House, which housed the Police Officer, court house, and jail cells. Norman opened the Normanville Hotel in 1851 and a church soon after. The Normanville Hotel became the host of the first district council meeting for the area. The town eventually grew to become a successful wheat exporting area, using the nearby jetty at the current Normanville Beach as a port for ships coming and going. However, with the development of Adelaide as the capital city, it lost its prior importance

Inland to Yankalilla (pop 319) The town is nestled in the Bungala River valley, overlooked by the southern Mount Lofty Ranges and acts as a service centre for the surrounding agricultural district.

The Yankalilla district has European history dating back to the first settlement in South Australia, with coastal areas colonised in the late 1830s. In 1838 over 5,400 acres of land around Yankalilla was surveyed for sheep and dairy activities, but the current location of the town came into being four years later.

The actual town of Yankalilla was established in 1839 when The Reverend Father Henry Kemmis, came to live on land allocated to him be his cousin Governor George Grey. His wife died shortly after they landed in Adelaide, his children were left with servants, who built their home, the Reverend remarried and later travelled throughout Australia, establishing schools. Shortly afterward in 1842 Septimane Herbert and George Worthington took up land and built houses in the town. The farmers planted wheat and barley in the land they had cleared, paving the way for future agricultural developments.

The town grew rapidly between 1850 and 1870 and during this time Yankalilla became one of the five major towns in the colony of South Australia. A jetty was constructed on the coast to export the wheat grown in the district. The district council was officially proclaimed in 1854 and by the late 1860s the Yankalilla and Normanville had three flour mills, five stores, two breweries, four blacksmiths, three hotels and five churches.

The town's Anglican church, 'Christ Church', has a marble font which has its origins in the Middle Ages, once gracing Salisbury Cathedral in England. It was given to a former Christ Church rector during a visit to England. The former owners subsequently regretted their generosity and requested its return, but this was denied.

Another point of interest is the Shrine of Our Lady of Yankalilla in the Anglican church. In August 1994 an image was thought to have become visible on a wall behind the altar of the 137-year-old stone church. It was interpreted as an image of the Virgin Mary, depicting her face and body and appearing to be holding the crucified Christ in the manner of a pietà. Two years after the image appeared on the wall the local press covered the story in the Adelaide Advertiser, bringing international tourists to the town.

We went through the small settlement of Myaponga before getting home.

Wednesday 20^th February (69kms) 19C

Our day off and we have two Black Angus calves. We decided to do some wine tasting today and started off at Hugh Hamilton Black Sheep winery between Willunga and McLaren Vale. $10 each for wine tasting but we had a voucher making it free. Over 180 years ago, Hugh Hamilton’s forebear Richard landed in South Australia to start a new life as a winemaker. Formerly a tailor in England, Richard began to thread together his bloodline, planting the first grapes in the new colony to assure his future.

Today, they are Australia’s oldest wine family with six generations of history behind them. We thoroughly enjoyed our wine tasting experience helped by the two ladies looking after us who insisted on hearing our travel plans and consequently kept giving us extra wines to taste including one of the most expensive. We did buy a bottle of lovely wine to take home.

We went the back way home via Penny Hill and Willunga Hill.

Thursday 21^st February - rest day

Friday 22^nd February (28C) 79 kms

Today we tried a Groupon voucher at Mt Jagged winery. Mt Jagged Wines is located in the Southern Fleurieu wine region at the highest point on the Victor Harbor Rd only 20 minutes from McLaren Vale and the tourist town of Victor Harbor and just 7 kilometres south of Mt Compass. At 320 metres above sea level the vineyards slope down the hillside to a large yabby filled dam with panoramic views to the Southern Ocean, Murray Mouth, Coorong and sandhills and Lake Alexandrina over the hilltops.

The voucher cost $29 and valued at $74 and for that we got to taste nine wines, had a share plate of regional produce plus one glass of wine of our choice each and a $25 bottle of wine to take home. We really enjoyed this experience as the girl behind the bar had her own glass of wine and was VERY happy singing and dancing her way around. All good fun and we bought a bottle to go with our free one.

We took a drive towards Currency Creek, a township and locality on the western shore of Lake Alexandrina about 6 km north of Goolwa, beside a seasonal stream bearing the same name - Currency Creek - which flows into Lake Alexandrina.

Parts of Lake Alexandrina near to Currency Creek were initially explored by Charles Sturt in an open boat in 1830 but he did not sight the creek.

In December 1837, while exploring the Lake and Murray Mouth looking for other outlets to the sea, a party lead by Thomas Bewes Strangways and Young Bingham Hutchinson discovered the waterway while using a whaleboat borrowed from the Encounter Bay fishery. The whaleboat, which in September 1837 had been sold off the schooner Currency Lass at Adelaide, bore the same name as its mother ship, and they named the creek in honour of this boat. They reported on the good grassland in the area and its potential for agriculture.

The township was surveyed in the Currency Creek Special Survey of 1840 but it never really thrived due to the nearness of Goolwa (we visited here in 2017). During the later 1800s the district supported many market gardens along the fertile river flats.

Currency Creek lends its name to a wine region that stretches from Port Elliot in the west, to Lake Alexandrina to the east, and includes Hindmarsh Island. The main grape varieties grown are Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Vineyards were first established in the area in 1969, with the region producing its first vintage in 1972.

Saturday 23^rd February 28C

Found a heifer with a dead calf and she had suffered a prolapse so we told John who called out the vet but a few days later she died. We were not expecting such drama collecting eggs.

Sunday 24^th February 30C

Another calf born during the night, we now have a total of seven.

Monday 25^th February 24C

Rest day

Tuesday 26^th February (30C) 34kms

Shopping in McLaren Vale

Wednesday 27^th February (34C) 131kms

Day off so went to Hahndorf to use another Groupon at the German Spoon Restaurant. We were here in 2017 but wanted to visit without the caravan. We had a coffee at Udder Delights but the cheese was tourist prices so didn’t bother buying any.

The lunch was huge, $41 for two people, garlic bread to share and main course of a selection of German sausage, pork neck, pork schnitzel, sauerkraut and mash plus a glass of imported German beer. We were so full and Danie had to help me eat mine, well worth the money and we enjoyed strolling down the main street even though it was pretty warm.

We drove home via Mt Barker

Mount Barker (pop 16,629) It is the largest town in the Adelaide Hills, and one of the fastest growing areas in the state. It lies at the base of a local eponymous peak called the Mount Barker summit. It is 50 kilometres from the Murray River. Mount Barker was traditionally a farming area, and many of the lots just outside the town area are farming lots, although some of them have been replaced with new subdivisions in recent times.

Mount Barker township was surveyed in 1839 by Duncan McFarlane, who was hoping the area could be used for wheat and grain farming. The land was divided into lots of 80 acres, although farmers didn't settle until 1844, when John Dunn built the first steam flour mill outside of Adelaide. The flour mill ran for 50 years and is now a tourist attraction. Mount Barker has since developed into a large urban centre, which is developing very rapidly. It is ranked fifth for fastest growth in South Australia. Mount Barker is also famous as the place where the value of subterranean clover, Trifolium subterraneum as a fodder crop was discovered, proved and first promoted by A. W. Howard. His property stood at the south-east corner of Princes Highway and Bald Hills Road. Subterranean clover had been known for a very long time in Central and Southern Europe, but was looked upon as a roadside weed. Howard proved the clover to be a valuable fodder plant in some soil types in temperate climates. Subterranean clover revolutionised farming practice, converting many struggling farms into successful livestock holdings.

The discovery spread across Australia and to many other countries, due largely to Howard's generosity in publishing articles about clover, supplying seed free of charge around the world, and advising on handling. By the time of his death in 1930 thousands of hectares in South Australia were carrying subterranean clover, it was growing in all Australian States, and requests for seed and information were being received in great numbers from almost all countries in the world having a temperate climate.

Howard's work is commemorated by a roadside plaque, by the incorporation of a clover leaf into the arms of the District Council of Mount Barker, and by the Howard's End vineyard and winery on the same site.

From here we went to Strathalbyn. Strath - steep sided valley Albyn (Albion) name for Scotland. A lot of Scottish emigrated to the area. It is on the Angas River

The town was founded in 1839, the first landholders being Dr. Rankine, followed by Donald McLean.

Strathalbyn was connected by broad gauge horse tram to Goolwa and Victor Harbor from 1869. The Victor Harbor railway line was extended to Mount Barker and Adelaide and upgraded for steam engines from 1884. It was isolated again in 1995 when the Adelaide-Melbourne railway line was converted to standard gauge. The Steam Ranger historic tourist train runs on the isolated broad gauge line, including stops at Strathalbyn.

Small lead, zinc, gold and copper mines operated in the area in the later part of the 19th century, but these have all been long closed, and did not have a significant effect on the development of the town.

In 2008, mining company Terramin Australia Ltd established an underground zinc mine with the decline portal and much of the above-ground operation situated in a quarry east of the town, injecting an estimated $29 million into the local economy and creating around 100 jobs. The mine was expected to yield zinc and lead, with small quantities of silver, gold and copper, and operate for seven years. This proposal was opposed by "The Residents For A Future Strathalbyn Inc." who were concerned about ecologically unsustainable development within their district.

We went from there to Ashbourne (pop 281) back home via Mt Compass. Despite its small size, Ashbourne has a premier cricket club with several senior and junior grade teams. The Ashbourne Cricket Club, wearing green and gold and known as the Bulls, was established in 1895 and has enjoyed strong links to the Adelaide Oval since that time with founding member and local identity Harry Meyers being closely affiliated with the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA). The soil which formed the Adelaide oval pitches was initially sourced from Ashbourne due to the high suitability of the black clay soils found in the area. The Ashbourne Cricket Club is the longest continuous running club in the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges and has enjoyed a large degree of success since their formation, particularly from the 1900s to the 1950s where the club dominated the Alexandra Cricket Association. The superb grounds and turf wicket playing surfaces are regarded as being amongst the best in the Greater Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Murray Lands Regions.

Thursday 28^th February (31C) 31 kms

More calving problems this morning but we called up Greg ( a fifth generation dairy farmer from down the road and a partner in the egg business) who came and managed to pull out a huge calf.

After egg collecting we went to Fork in the Road, McLaren Vale for wine tasting using another $29 Groupon. We did the wine tasting then went outside to sit under a huge tree to have a glass of wine each and a platter of regional food. We spent a lovely couple of hours before leaving with yet another free bottle of wine to take home.

Friday 1^st March (38C) 33kms

After chasing the cattle into another paddock and egg collecting we went for more wine tasting!!! This time to Hastwell & Lightfoot. Established in 1988, they produce premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Tempranillo, Montepulciano, Grenache, Barbera, Vermentino and Fiano from their 40 acres of vineyard. This was yet another Groupon with the same deal. The wine was very good as was the tasting plate. We seem to get more wines than advertised. The nephew of one of the winemakers was doing the tastings and he was very tired as the vintage was in full swing and they all pick at night so he hadn’t had much sleep. We met up with two German women from Dusseldorf who were also wine tasting. They had met in Perth and were travelling together (the husbands weren’t wine drinkers so they were making the most of it). One couple had a huge explorer bus and were going on to Melbourne where their vehicle was going on a cargo boat to Los Angeles and they were flying to the USA to travel both North and South America before carrying on back to Europe.

Saturday 2^nd March to Tuesday 5^th March

We now have 10 calves. We spent our days round the van venturing out to Mt Compass to get milk one day.

Wednesday 6^th March (26C) 160kms

Today was our last day off so we went along the coast, via Telstra at Seaford, up to Mawson Lakes to have afternoon tea with Jim and Renata. It was lovely to see Renata making great progress after her recent knee replacement.

On our way home we took a short cut down a very narrow gravel winding road, we were going up the hill and both saw a ute coming very fast down the hill and round the bend, so Danie stopped the car as there was no room to pull over. He saw us too late to stop and crashed head first into us. He sustained much more damage than our dented roo bar and immediately admitted it was his fault!!! We took photos and exchanged details and we drove off and got home to phone our Western Australian RAC insurance who told us we would not loose no claims bonus and it would cost us nothing as the other guy had admitted fault. The next day we got a message from him to say we had to go to the nearest police station as in South Australia all accidents with more than $3000 damage must be reported within 24 hours. News to us.

Thursday 7^th March (27C) 17kms

After the egg collecting we went into Willunga for yet another Groupon, this time craft beer tasting at 3pm. When we arrived we were told the pizza we were supposed to get would not be available until after 4pm. We were very under-impressed as had been looking forward to that. The only other food available was nothing I wanted so we had a tasting paddle of 4 beers each and Danie had the panini too. The beer was dreadful to say the least, so a disappointing day. I later complained to Groupon and got a $5 credit because of no pizza.

Friday 8^th March (26C) ? kms

Today we went to Aldinga Beach our nearest police station to report the accident. We were excused reporting later than 24 hours but the whole process took nearly an hour, our insurers did not require this to happen but South Australian law did. Went to J&J organic wines in McLaren Vale for wine tasting afterwards. This was yet another Groupon and well worth it, the wines were OK but we couldn’t see any difference from normal wine. The platter was really nice and so was the view as we sat outside. Took our free wine and went to look for the can and bottle recycling place. In South Australia you get 10c for every can and plastic bottle – we got $6.10 which will pay for a donation at a free camp (they usually ask for $5 a night if donations are asked for, this is not always the case). This is the second time we have done this, the first was in Clare where we got $8.20.

From there we went to the local butcher in McLaren Vale where we had bought boerewors before and it was really good. We bought more and some aged beef sirloin steak for a braai (BBQ) sometime.

Saturday 9^th March 105 kms

Sad start to the day finding a dead calf half in the heifer and the mother unable to stand. John was called and we pulled out the calf but the heifer will have to be shot later.

After that we went for our very last tasting, a free voucher for a private tasting in Sellicks Hills at Cradle of Hills winery. This was our best tasting experience of them all. Only we were there and firstly were invited to go into the tiny winery to see the vats of grapes where wine is produced the old fashioned way. We were given a taste of the fresh juice which was sweet and would be fabulous over icecream

At Cradle of Hills they have 17 acres of ultra premium Shiraz and Cabernet sauvignon grapes grown using organic practices and the sustainable use of resources. They have watched this approach yield superior grape quality and flavour evidenced from the moment their wines are experienced.

Sustainable/Organic practices include:

No use of herbicides.

Biodiversity plantings.

Habitats for Native Falcon and Brown snakes.

Organic additives kelp and humus.

Recycled water use.

Minimum tractor passes..

Winemaker Paul Smith takes a minimal intervention approach including the following strategies in winemaking:

Small batches, hand sorted where practicable of a maximum 1.5 tonnes per vat.

Open vat fermenting with hand plunging of the cap, 3-4 times per day. More hygienic than using your feet!

Strict control over fermentation temperatures ensuring long slow ferments.

Minimal and appropriate needs-based sulphur additions only.

Maximising skin contact time (up to 3 weeks).

Use of a gentle hand-operated basket press.

Ageing on lees in well-seasoned oak.

Regular lees stirring once in barrel.

Minimal racking.

No filtering or fining products used.

Extended barrel aging before bottling

We were then taken to the house where we sat outside on the verandah and the wine tasting began. We tasted in groups of three, starting with whites. Tracy brought out platters of food for each group that complimented each wine. Remembering that this was all at no cost to us. As Tracy had bottles of each of their wine open she proceeded to let us try each wine, leaving us and the wine outside so we could privately discuss each tasting. Eventually it was all over ending in their most expensive wine ($40) and to die for. Tracy came out and asked what we were going to have for dinner. When we said a BBQ she went inside and returned with two half empty bottles of red wine , one of which was the expensive one and said, take these to enjoy!

We joined the wine club and bought 12 bottles of wine at 20% off and look forward to hearing what is on offer in October, when we can purchase more wine. They are an amazing couple and their wine is too, but can’t be found in bottle shops as they only produce 800 cases each year and club members get the pick of the best wines.

Filled up with fuel at Seaford ready for our departure tomorrow.

Sunday 10^th March (26C) 354 kms

Packed up and said our farewells to John, who gave us some porterhouse steak and Catriona who gave us pickled eggs, sourdough from the Willunga markets and champagne.

We headed for Victoria via Strathalbyn, Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend towards the SA/Vic border, where we gained 30 minutes in time difference at Pinnaroo (pop 547). We were going to stay in Pinnaroo at a free camp in town but it didn’t look too nice so drove on. There was no quarantine station going east.

The railway is not currently available for transport between the states at Pinnaroo, as the line from Tailem Bend was converted to standard gauge soon after the main Adelaide–Melbourne line was converted, but the line to Ouyen remains as broad gauge. Both sides are used to transport grain from silos along the railway line towards the ports in each state. Unbelievable in 21^st century. The town has become a major centre for growing potatoes since around 1990 and west of the town are acres of potato fields seemingly owned by only two companies.

We went on the Mallee Highway to Underbool (pop 217) where we stayed at a free camp in town. We were very surprised to see power points (this is very rare) so plugged in and watched TV in the evening. There were also hot showers and toilets, plus a grassed area.

The town services the grain farmers and graziers in the area. For tourists it provides access to the Pink Lakes in Murray-Sunset National Park.

The town name is thought to come from the German word underbolt (thunderbolt) given to it by surveyor Dr. Neumayer when he camped there in October 1861.

Monday 11^th March (25C) 294kms

Today marks 30 years in Australia for me.

We travelled to Ouyens (pop 1,045) which lies at the junction of the Calder Highway and Mallee Highway. Since 1998, the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph has been held in Ouyen. It was the location for the 2003 Ouyen Raindance where 500 women danced naked in a secret location in an attempt to raise the spirits of the town suffering from a prolonged drought. The town is the site of the Big Mallee Root, symbolizing the time when the roots of Eucalyptus dumosa were a mainstay of the economy of soldier settlers of the area, being collected for sale as firewood.

We passed through several farming communities including Wood Wood(The home of the Australian Willow Cricket Bat Project - the Cricket Bat Willow rootstock has been propagated from the original and proven plantation stock from Daylesford, Victoria - the stock used in the highly regarded Crockett Cricket Bats of the 1940's and 1950's. The bush fire of 2009 destroyed the plantation thereWood Wood, where the salix alba var. caerulea plantations are situated, have more favourable growing conditions for the willow than the United Kingdom. The Australian climate is very advantageous, with 8 more growing weeks in spring and summer and temperatures that are on average 5 degrees Celsius higher. Those favourable conditions, combined with high quality irrigation systems will allow for more willow trees to be grown per hectare in Australian plantations. Murray Valley Nurseries Pty Ltd is the Forestry Contractor engaged to conduct day to day forestry operations. Murray Valley Nurseries is the largest citrus nursery in Australia, supplying all states. The nursery has propagated cricket willow trees for many years for small plantations with great success. Next was Swan Hill (pop 10,905) on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River.

The European community grew up around a punt river crossing, which was established as early as 1846. This crossing serviced the growing agricultural area, and was the only river crossing for 100 km. In 1853 Francis Cadell navigated the Murray river from its mouth in South Australia to Swan Hill in his paddle steamer, Lady Augusta. He arrived on 17 September 1853, narrowly beating William Randell of Mannum, who arrived 4 hours later in the PS Mary Ann. This demonstrated the feasibility of river traffic, which flourished until the introduction of the railway.

In 1883 the first of several red brick water towers were built to supply the growing town with water. Water was pumped out of the river and into the top of the tower by a wood-fired steam engine, and then flowed by gravitation to surrounding businesses and private residences. Many of these towers can still be seen around town.

The punt river crossing was replaced by a timber truss, steel lift span bridge in 1896.

The first six telephones were connected in Swan Hill on 2 October 1911. The National Bank was phone number 1.

In 1914, Isaburo (Jo) Takasuka produced the first commercial rice crop in Australia. He grew Japanese (Japonica) varieties on 200 acres of flood prone land on the Murray River near Swan Hill. The Chinese had been growing rice in Australia since at least 1877

The Burke and Wills expedition reached Swan Hill on Thursday, 6 September 1860 on their journey across Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They made Camp XV (their fifteenth camp out of Melbourne) in the police paddock on the banks of the Murray River in an area that is now Riverside Park. The expedition stayed in Swan Hill until Monday, 10 September while they reorganised the stores. Burke dismissed four men; Essau Khan, Brooks, Lane and John Polongeaux. He then hired Alexander McPherson, a saddler from Epsom and Charlie Gray, a former sailor from Scotland who had worked as an ostler for Cobb and Co between Bendigo and Swan Hill and who was now employed at the Lower Murray Inn in Swan Hill. The party was strengthened further by the arrival from Melbourne of journalist, William Hodgkinson, and scientist Georg von Neumayer. The local inhabitants gave the expedition a rousing farewell as they crossed into New South Wales. Folklore alleges Burke and Wills planted a Moreton Bay Fig tree in the garden of the local doctor, Dr B W Gummow. The tree is now approximately 27 metres high and has a branch spread of approximately 44 metres .

We followed the Murray Valley Highway where the area is so green and a huge contrast to what we have seen since leaving Perth through Kerang (pop 3,893) a rural town on the Loddon River. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain.

Thomas Mitchell was the first European to visit the area, in 1836. Squatters began to settle in the area in 1845 and in 1848 Richard Beyes opened a public house at a river crossing near the future townsite. This was followed by a saddlery and a church. In 1857 Woodford Patchell built a bridge upriver from the settlement which drew traffic from the earlier settlement. He built a store, house and hotel that became the centre of what was to become Kerang. Patchell was the first farmer in the state to use irrigation and experimented with oats, barley, maize, millet, tobacco, beet, cotton and sugarcane.

The Burke and Wills expedition passed through Kerang on their journey to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. On Sunday, 2 September 1860 the expedition camped at Booth & Holloway's Tragowel Station to the south of Kerang. On Tuesday, 4 September 1860 they passed through Kerang, crossed the Loddon and camped at Mr. Fenton's Reedy Creek Run, making Camp XIII

Kerang's symbol is a flying ibis. The area around Kerang is dotted with lagoons and lakes (including Lake Tutchewop) and is believed to have the most populous ibis rookeries in the world with an estimated 200,000 ibis using the area for breeding each year, along with many other waterbirds.

Cohuna (pop 2,313) Surrounded by dairy farms, and situated on the banks of Gunbower Creek, (an anabranch of the Murray River), the town is a popular holiday spot as well as a regional sports centre with a wide range of facilities.

It is the main access point to the attractions of the vast red gum and box forest covered Gunbower Island, which lies between Gunbower Creek and the Murray, and is home to diverse native birdlife, kangaroos and emus.

Legend has it that John Farnham was "discovered" in Cohuna, and he returned in 2002 for a free one-off show. The Bee Gees also played in Cohuna in their early days.

Gunbower Creek runs along the main street and garden park. Golf, tennis, camping, fishing, water-skiing, canoeing, birdwatching and bushwalking are popular with visitors. The Cohuna water tower is adorned with the town's name, and visible for kilometres.

We eventually made it to Leitchville (pop 556), our home for the next two nights. We managed to take a wrong turn in the town and were stopped to read the map when a older lady stopped to ask if we were lost and proceeded to make us follow her to the free camp in the town. She told us she was a widow and liked to visit the free camp around 5pm every night to make sure the travellers there were all OK.

The small site was lovely with individual drive through places. There was a donation box and well kept gardens between van sites. Next visitor was Wally who made sure the gardens were watered and well kept. He had been busy watering newly planted crepe myrtle trees on the roadside coming into town and had seen us come in. He had a chat and promised to deliver a mud map in the morning of a good trip along the Murray River.

The district was named after the manager of Gunbower station, Duncan Leitch, following his death in 1887.

The Leitchville Dairy Company was purchased by Kraft in 1945. Peak intake in the late 40’s was13,600 per day. The milk was used to produce cheese and for a short time the cheese was freighted to Melbourne in special ice rail carriages until Kraft was granted permission to take the cheese by road to Port Melbourne.

By 1965 peak collection had risen to 250,000 litres daily from 200 suppliers. The magical 100,00 gallons (450,000 litres) was reached in 1973 from 300 suppliers. By 1995 supply had peaked dramatically reaching 650,000 litres daily from 232 suppliers.

In 1982 the production of Crackerbarrel Spread commenced. In 1984 the first Kraft Singles line commenced. Leitchville was the sole supplier of individually wrapped Kraft Singles in Australia and overseas.

At its peak the factory employed 280 people in this small community. Kraft Foods sold out to Philip Morris in 1988 and they continued to develop the plant until they sold out to Murray Goulburn in 2002. At this time MG had over 3,000 milk suppliers around southern Australia. Murray Goulburn was seen as the price setter for manufacturing milk. MG closed the Leitchville plant in 2010. The plant was rotting away and unused when MG went broke in 2017. 96% of registered MG suppliers voted to sell to Canadian company Saputo Foods for $1.3 billion. Saputo took over MG suppliers in 2018. Saputo intend to strip out old equipment and sell the factory in 2019.

We got TV reception in Leitchville so watched TV after dinner. The 12v TV runs off the two lithium batteries in the caravan.

Tuesday 12^th March (23C) 84kms

Wally came with the promised mud map and so we set off with our thermos of water, coffee and lunch toward the Mighty Murray River. Passing Longmore Lagoon, Gum Lagoon and through Gunbower (pop 551) on Gunbower Creek

Gunbower has a horse racing club, the Gunbower Racing Club, which holds the Gunbower Cup meeting in October (the only meeting for the year).

The mud map took us on a lovely drive round Gunbower Creek and Gunbower Island where we came to Masters Landing and the Masters House, which consists of a timber and corrugated iron dwelling located close to the bank of the Murray River on Gunbower Island.

Frederick Masters was reputedly living in a bark hut on Gunbower Island by the early 1860s. From 1874 this site became part of the Gunbower State Forest. As one of a handful of commercial fishermen who worked along the length of Gunbower Island, Frederick Masters is said to have built his own boats and took his catch to market in Echuca and surrounding towns by horse and cart. In the early 1890s Frederick commenced payment for a one-acre Residence Area under the Land Act. During the period of the Echuca river trade between the late 1850s and the late 1880s a riverboat landing stage was located in the vicinity of the Masters House. Frederick and Emma had twelve children. Emma died in 1889, Frederick in 1905 and their son William (Bill) took over as a commercial fisherman, sending fish direct to market by train after the railway reached Gunbower in 1915. He was also a shearer and cut firewood for the pumps of the Cohuna Headworks. The family presence along the river bank intensified in 1917 when William's younger brother Robert and his wife Emily and three children obtained a half-acre Residence Licence a short distance to the north. Robert also cut firewood, fished and worked as a labourer for the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission. In 1918 both William and Robert obtained additional two-acre Residence and Garden licenses. When Robert died in 1936 his family left the area. William died in 1952 and his wife Mary lived in the old house until she died in 1960. Her son James (Jim) stayed and continued the tradition of fishing and shearing. Jim's son Robert lived on the site for a period up until 2010. From the early 1970s the family established an ongoing tradition of maintaining the old house and holding family reunions centred at the building.

The Masters House is a five-roomed dwelling made up of a two-roomed gabled pavilion facing the Murray River and a smaller single-roomed gabled pavilion, which are connected by skillion-roofed additions. The buildings are of bush-pole post and beam construction and are clad with Red Gum weatherboards. Roofs are of corrugated iron on bush-pole rafters. Early internal linings include a variety of lining boards and some hessian and paper. The Masters House is significant as a rare surviving riverbank residence of a Murray River fishing family, which was in use for over eighty years by three generations of commercial fishermen.

There was plenty of camping along the Murray River big enough for our van, apparently it gets very busy at weekends and public holidays. We were on the Victoria side of the river, New South Wales is on the other bank and no sign of camping over there.

We came across the Torrumbarry caravan park and the Torrumbarry Weir.The town is home to an important weir situated on the Murray River, a few kilometres north of the township. The weir was built in the 1920s. It operated efficiently until 1992 when it was damaged extensively. After numerous unsuccessful repairs, it was decided the weir would be rebuilt with a new design that was completed during 1996. An information centre was built outlining the importance and history of the weir. The area is also part of the largest red gum forest in the world.

We returned via Kow Swamp. Its name comes from the Aboriginal word Ghow which refers to the white gypsum soil found at the swamp. It is a popular site for recreational fishing. Approximately 7 kilometres in length and 4 kilometres in width, the freshwater lake has a circumference of 15 kilometres . Kow Swamp is also an archaeological site which has produced human skeletal remains dating from the late Pleistocene, over 10,000 years ago.

Back in Leitchville we went to the bakery as the vanilla slices were recommended, they had sold out but we were given some end pieces that had been cut off for free!!!

Wednesday 13^th March (16C) 387 kms

Pretty chilly day but fine for driving. We took advantage of the Dump Point at the Oval before setting off for the day. We by passed Echuca (pop 12,906) a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River, border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Shire of Campaspe. Echuca is close to the junction of the Goulburn, Campaspe, and Murray Rivers. Its position at the closest point of the Murray to Melbourne contributed to its development as a thriving river port city during the 19th century.

Echuca was founded by one of the most enterprising figures of the early colonial period, an ex-convict named Henry Hopwood. In 1850 he purchased a small punt to ferry people and goods across the Murray River near the Campaspe junction. As the relatively small settlement known as Hopwood's Ferry grew, it became the town of Echuca.

While the settlers at Echuca treated the local Indigenous Australians with relative kindness, their way of life was irrevocably changed by their relationship with the Europeans. Smallpox threatened their well-being in the late 1820s to the 1850s. They were relegated to the role of fringe-dwellers, living on the banks of the Murray River, and occasionally entering into the European economy as fishermen and farm labourers, and by selling the possum rugs which they crafted.

By the 1870s Echuca had risen to prominence as Australia's largest inland port. Being the point of shortest distance between the Murray River and the major city of Melbourne, Echuca was both a key river port and railway junction. Steam-driven paddleboats would arrive at the 400-metre long redgum Echuca Wharf, unloading it to be transported by rail to Melbourne. Wool, wheat, other grains, livestock and timber were the most common cargoes.

This industrial boom led to a rapidly expanding population, at one stage in excess of 15,000, with more than a hundred pubs rumoured to exist in the Echuca district at one time. An iron bridge was constructed over the Murray River in 1878 by the NSW Railways Department.

The expansion of the railways from Melbourne to most parts of Victoria, as well as improvements to roads and fickle river conditions all combined to lessen Echuca's importance, and by the 1890s the paddlesteamer fleet was in decline. An economic depression and the collapse of several banks virtually ended Echuca's role as a major economic centre, and its population began to disperse. From Echuca we travelled through to Bendigo (pop 95,587)

The discovery of gold in the soils of Bendigo during the 1850s made it one of the most significant Victorian era boomtowns in Australia. News of the finds intensified the Victorian gold rush bringing an influx of migrants to the city from around the world within a year and transforming it from a sheep station to a major settlement in the newly proclaimed Colony of Victoria. Once the alluvial gold had been mined out, mining companies were formed to exploit the rich underground quartz reef gold. Since 1851 about 780,000 kilograms (25 million troy ounces) of gold have been extracted from Bendigo's goldmines, making it the highest producing goldfield in Australia in the 19th century and the largest gold mining economy in eastern Australia. It is also notable for its Victorian architectural heritage. Although the town flourished in its beginnings as a result of the discovery of gold, it experienced a reversal of fortune in the early 20th century. However, its growth accelerated in the post-war years and has continued to increase steadily since. Mining did, however, cease in 1954.

From here we went to St Arnaud (pop 2,619) through some very pretty countryside in the Wimmera region in the Grampian mountains at the end of the Great Dividing Range. It is named after French marshal Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud, commander-in-chief of the army of the East. It is one of quite a number of towns, streets etc. named after people and places of the Crimean War.

St Arnaud is an old gold mining town located at the junction of the Sunraysia and Wimmera Highways.

We went south to Avoca (pop 1,193) a town in the Central Highlands of Victoria, it is one of two main towns in the Pyrenees Shire, the other being Beaufort to the south.The town and river were named after Avoca, the village and River Avoca in County Wicklow, Ireland.

By 1850 there were several large sheep runs, and pastoral settlement was well established. Like Ballarat and many other Victorian towns, Avoca sprang into being suddenly in the 1850s with the discovery of gold. Gold was first found in Victoria in 1849 in the Pyrenees Ranges near Avoca. But it was not for another two years that the first discovery of any importance took place. In 1851 a shepherd called James Esmond found gold at Clunes, forty kilometres from present-day Avoca, setting off a gold rush to the region. In 1853 gold was found at Four Mile Flat, near Avoca, and the main lead at Avoca itself was opened up a few months later.

By the beginning of December 1853, the population had increased from 100 to 2,200, and by June the following year, Avoca, with a population of 16,000, was regarded as one of Victoria's more important gold rush districts.

With a Court, a police station, Post Office, gold wardens, churches, and schools, Avoca had established itself as an administrative centre. This was a crucial development in its survival as a town, for when the gold miners left their Avoca claims to travel to the new Dunolly rush in 1856, Avoca continued to serve as the focus of the region's commercial and administrative life. With the Lamplough rush in 1859, miners returned to the Avoca district, and in that year rich deposits were also opened up at Homebush, established on the site of the 1853 Four Mile Flat rush. This discovery brought renewed activity to the district. The value of gold mining to the economy of the area may be seen in a single statistic: from 1859 to 1870 gold worth £2,500,000 was sent from Avoca to Melbourne. (Even this huge sum may represent as little as one third of the gold won as private sales were not included.) On 16 April 1889, gold mining ceased in Avoca with the closure of the Golden Stream Company mine. All that is visible today of the Golden Stream Mine is several large mullock heaps of mainly white pipeclay on the west side of the Sunraysia Highway between the railway crossing and the Avoca Cemetery.

Our stop for the next three nights was the free camp at Smythesdale Gardens where we stayed in 2017.

Smythesdale (pop 1,032) is 19 kms from Ballarat. The town was established during the Victorian Gold Rush.

Thursday 14^th March (22C) 68 kms

Today we went into Ballarat to fill a gas bottle ($19.99), take the generator in for a service and book the car in for tomorrow for a service. Got some groceries and then back home.

Friday 15^th March (22C) 58kms

Took car in for service at Midas. We discovered a lovely little café at the back of the next-door gun shop so we could wait in comfort for the car, looking around the very interesting shop and reading the newspaper as well as having coffee and cake. It was first day of the duck shooting season so the shop was pretty busy.

Filled up with fuel and back to Smythesdale.

Saturday 16^th March (28C) 34kms

We left Smythesdale this morning and went to Buningyong to stay with friends we met at Mt Molloy free camp in Queensland, Val and Max. They have a 20-acre property in the Durham Lead area just out of Buningyong. As it was tricky to find Val met us in town and took Danie to check out the approach to the property. It was fine until we got to the bottom of their steep driveway where there was a gravel turnaround. It took several 3-point turns to get the van round the sharp bend, but we made it. We got the van set up and then met up at the “Booza” for Happy Hour. This is an old cottage that Val and Max have renovated on their property and it I now their party place dedicated to fun and partying. It has fire pit, pizza oven, smoker, TV, fridge, lots of acquired road signs and signs referring to wine, beer etc. Everyone should have a place like this. There is even an acquired urinal outside fully plumbed in and discreetly placed round the side of the Booza. The girls have a proper bathroom. We meet up here every evening for drinks and nibbles.

Buninyong (pop 3,714) is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong. It is the site of the first inland town proclaimed in Victoria and was where gold was first discovered in the area, leading to the large Gold Rush of the 1850s.

Buninyong has an important place in history as the major inland community of pre-gold rush Victoria. It was explored in 1837 by the Learmonth Brothers - Thomas and Somerville - and others, and then subsequently settled in 1839 as a pastoral settlement.

Although gold was being found in the area from about 1840 the 'official' finding of gold was when it was found 3 kilometres west of the town in 1851 by Thomas Hiscock, the local Buninyong blacksmith, at an area still known as Hiscock's. Evidence is slowly emerging that the early pastoralists were finding gold, but not making their good fortune known because of the fear the Colonial Government would confiscate their finds because the whole area was Crown Land. By 1871 there were 2281 people and 20 hotels at Buninyong.

A significant figure in Buninyong's gold rush era was Henry Joseph Desoza. Desoza was a wealthy philanthropist who made his fortune by both speculation and the leasing of both land and machinery to gold mining companies. One such enterprise was named the Desoza Freehold, from which Desoza received royalties. Desoza himself never held shares in The Desoza Freehold or any other mine he helped finance relying instead on the royalty system. In a peculiar ceremony in 1883 he was crowned with a circlet of gold mined from The Desoza Freehold. Thereafter Desoza was known as The Gold King of Buninyong. The Gold King title was celebrated in the township with a Gold King Festival held in February each year from 1975 to 2009.

The town's wide streets were planned in expectation of further growth, however prosperity ended with the gold rush and the town reverted to a small pastoral settlement.

A railway from Ballarat was opened in 1889 with the passenger station completed in 1890, although it is no longer used. The line ran from the Ballarat station stopping at Ballarat East Station, Eureka Station, Levy Siding, Canadian Station, Mount Clear Station, Reid Siding, Mt Helen Siding terminating at the Buninyong Station. Popularly named 'The Bunny' the line ceased to carry passengers in the late 1930s, and freight in 1947 when the line was closed.

Buninyong's landmarks include Mount Buninyong (volcanic mountain), gardens and the many historic buildings, including the Town Hall, Crown Hotel, Holy Trinity Church among others.

The Buninyong Botanic Gardens at Buninyong are among the oldest Botanic Gardens in the State of Victoria. Buninyong Bowling Club is one of the oldest bowling clubs in Australia (est. 1872)

Sunday 17^th March (29C) 11kms

We only went into Buningyong for milk today and spent the rest of the day around the van.

Monday 18^th March (25C)

Rest day enjoying the peace

Tuesday 19^th March (23C) 48kms

Went to VicRoads today to enquire about changing rego of the car from Western Australian plates as Victoria is so much cheaper. All we require is an address in Victoria as Danie still has his Victorian Drivers License and address at his friends in Point Cook. The caravan is already registered in Victoria ($59 a year).

Danie helped Max with his UHF radio installation.

Wednesday 20^th March (25C)

Another resting day and had a braai in the evening over charcoal.

Ballarat (pop 101,588) is located on the Yarrowee River in the Central Highlands in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range.

In terms of population Ballarat is the third largest inland city in Australia. Just months after Victoria was granted separation from the state of New South Wales, the Victorian gold rush transformed Ballarat from a small sheep station to a major settlement. Gold was discovered on 18 August 1851, and news quickly spread of rich alluvial fields where gold could easily be extracted. Unlike many other gold boom towns, the Ballarat fields experienced sustained high gold yields for many decades, which can be evidenced to this day in the city's rich architecture.

The city is famous in Australia for the Eureka Rebellion, the only armed rebellion in Australian history. In response to this event the first male suffrage in Australia was instituted and as such Eureka is interpreted by some as the origin of democracy in Australia. The rebellion's symbol, the Eureka Flag, has become a national symbol and is held at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka in Ballarat.

The first Europeans to sight the area were an 1837 party of six mostly Scottish squatters from Geelong, led by Somerville Learmonth, who were in search of land less affected by the severe drought for their sheep to graze. The party scaled Mount Buninyong; among them were Somerville's brother Thomas Livingstone Learmonth, William Cross Yuille and Henry Anderson, all three of whom later claimed land in what is now Ballarat.

The Yuille family, Scottish settlers Archibald Buchanan Yuille and his brother William Cross Yuille, arrived in 1837 and squatted a 10,000-acre sheep run. The first houses were built near Woolshed Creek by William Yuille and Anderson (Sebastopol), while Yuille erected a hut at Black Swamp (Lake Wendouree) in 1838. Outsiders originally knew of the settlement as Yuille's Station and Yuille's Swamp. Archibald Yuille named the area "Ballaarat". It might be that the name derives from Yuille's native Gaelic Baile Ararat (Town of Ararat), alluding to the resting place of Noah's Ark

Within days of the announcement of Dunlop and Regan's find a gold rush began, bringing thousands of prospectors to the Yarrowee valley which became known as the Ballarat diggings. Yields were particularly high, with the first prospectors in the area extracting between half an ounce (which was more than the average wage of the time) and up to five ounces of alluvial gold per day. As news of the Australian gold rushes reached the world, Ballarat gained an international reputation as a particularly rich goldfield. As a result, a huge influx of immigrants occurred, including many from Ireland and China, gathering in a collection of prospecting shanty towns around the creeks and hills. In just a few months numerous alluvial runs were established, several deep mining leads began, and the population had swelled to over 1,000 people.

Parts of the district were first surveyed by William Urquhartas early as October 1851. By 1852 his grid plan and wide streets for land sales in the new township of West Ballarat, built upon a plateau of basalt, contrasted markedly with the existing narrow unplanned streets, tents, and gullies of the original East Ballarat settlement. The new town's main streets of the time were named in honour of police commissioners and gold commissioners of the time.

Civil disobedience in Ballarat led to Australia's only armed civil uprising, the Eureka Rebellion (colloquially referred to as the "Eureka Stockade") which took place in Ballarat on 3 December 1854. The event, in which 22 miners were killed, is considered to be a defining moment in Australian history.

The city earned the nickname "The Golden City" in the 1850s. The gold rush population peaked at almost 60,000, mostly male diggers, by 1858. However the early population was largely itinerant. Confidence of the city's early citizens in the enduring future of their city is evident in the sheer scale of many of the early public buildings, generous public recreational spaces, and opulence of many of its commercial establishments and private housing. A local steam locomotive industry developed from 1854 with the Phoenix Foundry operating until 1906. The railway came to the town with the opening of the Geelong–Ballarat line in 1862 and Ballarat developed as a major railway town.

From the late 1860s to the early 20th century, Ballarat made a successful transition from a gold rush town to an industrial-age city. The ramshackle tents and timber buildings gradually made way for permanent buildings, many impressive structures of solid stone and brick mainly built from wealth generated by early mining.

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh visited between 9 and 13 December 1867 and as the first royal visit, the occasion was met with great fanfare. The Prince Room was prepared at Craigs Royal Hotel for his stay. The city's first civic centre—Prince Alfred Hall—erected over the Yarrowee between the two municipalities, was named in his honour during his visit. The later attempt of the Prince's assassination by Ballaratian Henry James O'Farrell was met with shock and great horror from locals.

Ballarat was proclaimed a city in 1871. Gong Gong reservoir was built in 1877 to alleviate flooding and to provide a permanent water supply. A direct railway to Melbourne was completed in December 1889. Many industries and workshops had been established as a result of manufacturing and servicing for the deep lead mining industry.

On 13 May 1901, the Duke of York (later George V) and his wife, Mary the Duchess of York, travelled by train from Melbourne to Ballarat.

The Sunshine rail disaster in 1908 resulted in the death of dozens of Ballarat residents. On 19 August 1909, a great storm lashed the city, resulting in the death of one person and injury of seven others. During the storm, a tornado swept across the city's northern and eastern suburbs destroying numerous homes in Ballarat North, Soldiers Hill, Black Hill and Ballarat East, lifting and then again touching down at Eureka where it destroyed more homes before dissipating.

One bright spot in this period was the establishment of Osrey Pottery in 1922 by the artist Gladys Reynell, one of Australia's first potters, and her husband, George Samuel Osborne. The pottery closed in 1926 when Osborne developed lead poisoning.

The interwar period proved a period of recovery for Ballarat with a number of major infrastructure projects well underway including a new sewerage system. In 1930, Ballarat Airport was established. By 1931, Ballarat's economy and population was recovering strongly with further diversification of industry, although in 1936 Geelong displaced it as the state's second largest city. During World War II an expanded Ballarat airport was the base of the RAAF Wireless Air Gunners' School as well as the base for USAAF Liberator bomber squadrons. In the post-war era, Ballarat's growth continued. In response to an acute housing shortage, significant suburban expansion occurred. An extensive Housing Commission of Victoria estate was built on the former Ballarat Common (today known as Wendouree West). The estate was originally planned to contain over 750 prefabricated houses. While planning for the estate began in 1949, main construction occurred between 1951 and 1962.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse final report published on 15 December 2017 found that 139 people made a claim of child sexual abuse to the Diocese of Ballarat between 1980 and 2015 and that there was 21 alleged perpetrators identified in claims. Of the 21 alleged and convicted perpetrators 17 were priests which is 8.7%!o(MISSING)f the priests who ministered during this period. About 45 victims are estimated to have committed suicide.

Geologically, the area consists of alluvial sediment and volcanic flows originating from now-extinct volcanoes such as nearby Buninyong and Warrenheip, which are the area's tallest peaks. There are numerous densely forested areas around Ballarat; however due to historic wood milling and land clearing there remain no old-growth forests.

The Eureka Rebellion was a rebellion in 1854, instigated by gold miners in Ballarat, who revolted against the colonial authority of the United Kingdom. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which was fought between miners and the colonial forces of Australia on 3 December 1854 at Eureka Lead and named for the stockade structure built by miners during the conflict. The rebellion resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, the majority of whom were rebels.

The rebellion was the culmination of a period of civil disobedience in the Ballarat region during the Victorian gold rush with miners objecting to the expense of a miner's licence, taxation via the licence without representation, and the actions of the government, the police and military/ The local rebellion grew from a Ballarat Reform League movement and culminated in the erection by the rebels of a crude battlement and a swift and deadly siege by colonial forces.

Mass public support for the captured rebels in the colony's capital of Melbourne when they were placed on trial resulted in the introduction of the Electoral Act 1856, which mandated suffrage for male colonists in the lower house in the Victorian parliament. This is considered the second instituted act of political democracy in Australia. Female colonists of South Australia were awarded suffrage 5 years later on condition of owning property, much in the way men did not have full suffrage in the absence of property ownership. As such, the Eureka Rebellion is controversially identified with the birth of democracy in Australia and interpreted by some as a political revolt.

Thursday 21^st March (Autumn Equinox) (25C) 33kms

We went into Buningyong to the Post Office to pay for mail redirection and then went into Ballarat the back way through Mount Clear (pop 3,390) and the Canadian Creek Valley to find Sovereign Hill, an open-air museum in Golden Point, Ballarat. Sovereign Hill depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. It was officially opened on 29 November 1970 and has become a nationally acclaimed tourist attraction. It is one of Victoria's most popular attractions and Ballarat's most famous.

Set in the Australian 1850s, the complex is located on a 25-hectare site that is linked to the richest alluvial gold rush in the world. The site comprises over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed staff and volunteers, who are able to answer questions and will pose for photos. The recreation is completed with antiques, artwork, books and papers, machinery, livestock and animals, carriages, and devices all appropriate to the era.

We didn’t go in as $57 each was a bit steep, but we did go up to the lookout and found out the following:

The Canadian and Prince Regent Gullies proved fabulously rich in alluvial gold when they were worked in 1853. At the junction of these leads near the Canadian Creek were the famed ‘jewellers shops’ which yielded up to 500 ounces (14kg) of bright red nuggety gold for every foot (300mm) mined. This was, perhaps, the richest patch of alluvial gold the world has known. The crudely sunk blacksmith’s hole nearby produced more than a ton of gold from a claim only 24 feet square.

When we got home we got to meet the five grandchildren, who are lovely, and son Matt, he has two of the children.

Friday 22^nd March (22C)

Yet another rest day. Max and Val fired up the pizza oven at the Booza and Danie lit the fire pot to finish off cooking chicken and sausage and fish. He and Max tried smoking the food in a brand new, recently given, smoker and it has to be said it was a dismal failure and will be heading to a new home. The pizzas were amazing and we had a really good evening.

Saturday 23rd March (27C) 343kms

Headed off towards Torquay (pop 13,258) the start of The Great Ocean Road heading west (the best way to see it).

From the 1860s, picnickers began to frequent the location, which was originally known as Spring Creek, after the watercourse along its south-western edge, but it was named Puebla in the 1882 Victorian Municipal Directory. James Follett, who settled there in 1871, came from Torquay, the seaside town in Devon, England, and at his suggestion the name Torquay was officially adopted in 1892. In 1891, the Joseph H. Scammell sailing ship struck the reef near Point Danger in Torquay and subsequently became wedged on the reef and as a result the ship broke up in the heavy seas. The cargo of the Scammell was washed onto the beach of Torquay and was looted. The anchors of the Scammell are still on display at the Torquay front beach and the Torquay boat ramp.

The town once had 145 bathing boxes on the main beach. In 1946, the Torquay Surf Life Saving Club was formed, opening their current clubrooms in 1971 after the previous one burnt down. Today, it is the oldest and largest club in Victoria.

The Torquay area is famous for its surf beaches, with Jan Juc and the world-famous Bells Beach located on the town's south-west outskirts. Other popular beaches are Point Impossible Beach and Southside Beach. It was home to the popular Offshore Festival in the late 1990s. Many of the world's most famous surf companies have their home in Torquay, including Rip Curl and Quiksilver- all of which make up part of the Surf Coast Plaza, which provides shopping and eating, as well as the Surf World Museum.

We didn’t stop at any of the very touristy towns but enjoyed the very twisty and, sometimes, steep drive – very happy we left the van at Durham Lead. We did see several caravans but I’m sure they regretted taking the van as some viewing areas are very small and tight to access. There are heaps of caravan parks along the road and we encountered a lot of tour buses.

We did however stop at Maits Rest, an 800-metre self-guided circuit walk through cool temperate rainforest in the Otway Ranges along a mixture of board walk and gravel paths takes you along a valley floor in part of the ancient rainforest. Giant myrtle beeches rise through the mists and create a canopy for the amazing array of tree ferns and moss on the forest floor. Many of the beech trees are hundreds of years old and form an important part of this cool temperate rainforest. There were also several huge trees - Eucalyptus regnans, known variously as mountain ash, swamp gum, or stringy gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to Tasmania and Victoria . It is the tallest flowering plant and one of the tallest trees in the world, second only to the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) of North America. A straight-trunked tree with smooth grey bark, but with a stocking of rough brown bark from 5 to 20 metres above the ground, it regularly grows to 85 metres , with the tallest living specimen, the Centurion in Tasmania, standing 100.5 metres tall. The trees shed their bark in long strings, these fall to the forest fall and help in the formation of mulch.

We called in to see Mutton Bird Island it is approximately 60 metres from the mainland and between the months of October and April become home to thousands of short-tailed shearwaters – not that we saw a single bird.

Each year these birds travel some 30,000 kms, spending summer in the northern Pacific Ocean and returning to the Bass Strait in late September to nest. Apparently the often lay their single egg on the same day every year. During the nesting period, they fly out to sea to feed, returning to the rookery each evening.

Previously the island was known as ‘The Sow’, whiles the Twelve Apostles were known as ‘The Piglets’.

Next we stopped at Loch Ard Gorge. The gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Of the fifty-four passengers and crew, only two survived: Tom Pearce, at 19 years of age, a ship's apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman emigrating with her family, at 19 years of age. According to memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help. Pearce then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists who immediately set into plan a rescue attempt. After three months in Australia Carmichael returned to Europe. Four of her family members drowned that night. Pearce was hailed as a hero, and continued his life living until age 49. He is buried in Southampton, England.

The arch of the nearby Island Archway collapsed in June 2009. The feature now appears as two unconnected rock pillars.They have since been officially named Tom and Eva after the two teenage survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck.

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks, The Great Ocean Road starts at Torquay and travels 244 kilometres westward to finish at Allansford near Warrnambool. the largest city along the road. The road is two lane (one in each direction), and is covered by a speed limit changing between 50 kilometres per hour and 100 kilometres per hour.

The road is considered a tourist attraction in the area, in which much of the road hugs coastline affectionately known as the Surf Coast between Torquay and Cape Otway and the Shipwreck Coast further west of Cape Otway, providing visibility of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The road traverses rainforests, as well as beaches and cliffs composed of limestone and sandstone, which is susceptible to erosion. The road travels via Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, and Port Campbell, the latter being notable for its natural limestone and sandstone rock formations including Loch Ard Gorge, The Grotto, London Arch (formerly London Bridge) and The Twelve Apostles. At the stretch of the Great Ocean Road nearer to Geelong, the road meanders along the coast, with tall, almost-vertical cliffs on the other side of it.

Construction on the road began on 19 September 1919, built by approximately 3,000 returned servicemen as a war memorial for fellow servicemen who had been killed in World War I. An advance survey team progressed through dense wilderness at approximately 3 kilometres a month. Construction was done by hand; using explosives, pick and shovel, wheel barrows, and some small machinery, and was at times perilous, with several workers killed on the job; the final sections along steep coastal mountains being the most difficult to work on. Anecdotal evidence from ABC archives in 1982 suggested workers would rest detonators on their knees during travel, as it was the softest ride for them.

The soldiers were paid 10 shillings and sixpence for eight hours per day, also working a half-day on Saturdays. They used tents for accommodation throughout, and made use of a communal dining marquee and kitchen; food costing up to 10 shillings a week. Despite the difficulty involved in constructing the road, the workers had access to a piano, gramophone, games, newspapers and magazines at the camps. Additionally, in 1924, the steamboat Casino became stranded near Cape Patton after hitting a reef, forcing it to jettison 500 barrels of beer and 120 cases of spirits. The workers obtained the cargo, resulting in an unscheduled two-week-long drinking break.

On 18 March 1922 the section from Eastern View to Lorne was officially opened with celebrations. However it was then closed from 10 May 1922 for further work; opening again on 21 December along with tolls to recoup construction costs. The charge, payable at Eastern View, was two shillings for motor cars, and 10 shillings for wagons with more than two horses.

In the face of almost insurmountable odds, the Great Ocean Road has materialised from a dream or 'wild-cat scheme', as many dubbed it, into concrete reality

In its original state, the road was considered a formidable drive; fitting only a single vehicle comfortably at a time. Areas with sheer cliffs would be most hazardous, with only few places for drivers to pull over to allow others to proceed in the opposite direction. In 1962, the road was deemed by the Tourist Development Authority to be one of the world's great scenic roads. It also had sections widened between the Lorne Hotel and the Pacific Hotel to improve traffic, while aiming to preserve its character. Despite improvements, the road was still considered a challenging drive; the Victorian Police motor school even using it for training around 1966.

We went to London Arch (formerly London Bridge), an offshore natural arch formation in the Port Campbell National Park, Australia. The arch is a significant tourist attraction along the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell. This stack was formed by a gradual process of erosion, and until 1990 formed a complete double-span natural bridge.

The span closer to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly on 15 January 1990, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer span before being rescued by police helicopter.

We gave the 12 Apostles a miss as we could see so many people from tour buses massed there which isn’t what we came to see, but we had both seen them before so that was fine. The helicopters were very busy too taking people for trips along the coast.The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park.

Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. Seven of the original eight Apostles remain standing, after one collapsed in July 2005. Though the view from the promontory by the Twelve Apostles never included twelve stacks, additional stacks are located further west along the coast within the national park. The original name continues to be promoted in the Australian tourism industry!!!!!

We didn’t go to the lighthouse at Cape Otway as both had seen it before. The Cape marks the western end of the Bass Strait so further west we got to see the Southern Ocean.

Our bed for the night was the Junction Motel Hotel in Allansford (pop 1,521) where we had a really nice pub dinner and a good sleep after an exhausting day – I was driving and Danie took photos.

Allansford is home to the Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited an Australian-based dairy company, majority-owned by Saputo Inc., a Canadian company, that manufactures a range of dairy products under various brands. The business is based in Allansford, Victoria and is the oldest dairy processor in Australia, having been established in 1888.

The Company was registered on 28 May 1888 and the construction of factory facilities followed. At the start, the main product was cream, which was taken to Melbourne by rail. However, butter production expanded during the 1890s, and by 1900, Victoria had 304 butter factories.

Initially, Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory sourced their milk from local farmers, and in 1889 all suppliers became shareholders.

The company produces cheese, butter, cream and dairy ingredients, roughly half of which is sold overseas. Local brands include the Sungold milk, Coon cheese, Cracker Barrel, Mil Lel, Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool Cheddar cheeses. It also one of the two Australian producers making nutraceutical products from milk extracts, including bone supplements and baby formula.

They also own and run the tourist attraction called Cheese World, close to the factory, which includes a dairy farm museum and an opportunity to sample cheeses, as well as a shop and cafe. We wanted to visit before we left on Sunday but they were closed when we passed by.

Sunday 24^th March 204kms

We left Allansford after trying to visit the cheese factory outlet and travelled inland via Colac as we had only been to the Lake in 2016.

Colac (pop 12,411) is a small city on the southern shore of Lake Colac and the surrounding volcanic plains. Colac is the largest city in and administrative centre of the Colac Otway Shire. A commercial centre for a major agricultural district, it was named after nearby Lake Colac.

The plains around Colac are the third largest volcanic plain in the world. Australia's largest permanent salt lake and Victoria's largest natural lake, Lake Corangamite, is nearby and Red Rock Reserve is nearby too.

Lake Colac's water level can drop over summer dry periods to the point that it actually dried up for the first time in recorded history in 2009, but is always replenished after drought and is used for fishing, boating and water skiing. We took the back road back to Durham Lead and drove through several old gold mining towns including Napoleons.

Napoleons was one of the first areas in the Ballarat district to be settled by white men. It was first known as Napoleons Lead.Gold was discovered at Napoleons in 1857, and the Napoleons lead became one of the most important in the Buninyong district. The Lead was discovered by Cosgrove and his party in 1857. One of the party was a miner who reportedly resembled Napoleon or wore a hat like Napoleon’s. ‘Napoleon’s Lead’ was later shortened to Napoleon, then later (and still) was called Napoleons.

Thomas Learmonth appears to have used Napoleons as his headquarters for some time before moving some two miles closer to Buninyong where he established the Buninyong Station. As many as 60,000 sheep were shorn in one season at Buninyong., all the flocks from Burrumbeet and elsewhere being brought there for that purpose. Although the period of time that Learmonth used Napoleons as his headquarters was brief, many evidences of their occupation were still visible in the shape of plough burrows, old fences, blocks upon which buildings had been erected and boxes sunk in the ground beside the river (the purpose of which is not too apparent). It would seem that very little development occurred in the district during the period of 1838 - 1856. By the mid-1860s it had a post office, a Methodist church (1862), a Congregational church (1863), an Anglican school (1864), upwards of ten mining companies and four hotels. Nearby mining localities included Scotchmans Lead, Black Lead and Cambrian Hill.

When we got back to the van Danie started up the fire pot as we had invited Val and Max for a South African braai (BBQ) for our last evening with them.

Monday 25^th March (18C) 173kms

A wet and windy night and this morning too. Danie went to Ballarat to get the car registered in Victoria and I stayed home to do a few jobs.

When he came back we started to pack before having lunch with Max and Val. We travelled via Geelong to get to the caravan park at Werribee South.

Tuesday 26^th March (20C) 34kms

Cold and windy morning. Took the two Engel fridges to Nico & Belinda where we had dinner before returning to caravan park. It was pretty busy and a good thing we had prebooked our two nights.

Wednesday 27th March (29C) 181kms

We took the caravan to Lillydale today to a specialist caravan place who cater for Cell owners for maintenance and a few modifications. The traffic was very heavy and it was not a pleasant drive at all. We went to stay with Nico and Belinda overnight, ready for the start of our next adventure to...……………….. THAILAND.

---

Photos

Our Surprise Visitor
Right next to our van at Willunga South

Looking Out to the Ocean and McLaren Vale
The view along the road to Willunga South

Feather & Peck
The road in !!!!!!!

Willunga South
The paddocks are so dry here but still beautiful countryside

Feather & Peck
The shed that is really a house

Feather & Peck
Some of the hens come to greet us

Mareema Dog
We had six of these guarding the hens at Feather and Peck

Some of the New Additions
At Feather & Peck

McLaren Vale, South Australia
One of our many wine tastings

Hastwell & Lightfoot, McLaren Vale
More wine tasting

McLaren Vale
Black Sheep Winery

Aldinga, Feurieu Peninsula
Cars on the beach right along this part of the coast

Rapid Bay
Caravan Park from the jetty

Rapid Bay
The old and new jetties

Cape Jervis
The ferry to Kangaroo Island

Harndorf
St Paul's Lutheran church

Underbool Victoria
Free camp with power

Leitchville, Victoria
Free camp

Allansford, Junction Hotel
Where we stayed the night on our Gt Ocean Road trip

Murray River
Big red river gums line the banks of the river

Masters Landing 1860
On the Murray River

Smythedale, Victoria
Sculpture at the free camp

Straight from the Pizza Oven
Tea at the Booza with Val & Max

Great Ocean Road
Travelling east to west