Day 3 lower Glenelg National Park

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The drive to our next stop was via the Southern exit of The Grampians on the quiet roads through Hamilton and then through areas of forest. I saw a large yew tree so full of galah that it looked decorated. I also saw a group of young emu which reminded me of what we had learnt from our guide Michael; that lady emu are total tarts, mate with all comers, lay eggs and leave, playing no part in caring or rearing their young.

We made it to Mt Gambier and got the camping shelter issue sorted, plus bought me an upgraded chair as I waved the bad knee card.

We then had to nip back over the border into Victoria (there was a certain amount of farcical hiding of fruit and vegetables in the undergrowth earlier but we retrieved them) and find our campground in the Lower Glenelg national park.

We were the only people booked in (I wonder why) so we selected the best pitch and got cracking. Shelter went up Hurray and then we added sides until one was revealed to be defective. Ah well we will have to use a mesh one.

The swags were unrolled and this was the first hint that all was not well. Last used on Easter Sunday in Tasmania, side by side. Packed and put away together. Brian's swag, clean fresh and mint condition. My swag covered in mouled inside and out and smelt like a camels arse. Put simply some "contaminant" had got into my swag and during storage it had sprouted.

There was not much I could do about it but sleep with the canvas open and try mouth breathing till it could be sorted.

We had a great dinner involving spam (yes really!) and then sat by the fire which was lovely. About 2 hours after we turned in it began to rain, in bursts, biblical amounts. We were fine in our swags but the shelter took a pounding and the mesh was no use. In the morning rain continued relentlessly and we had no choice but break camp and try to reload.

We got things tidy then decided to visit the Princess Margaret Rose caves in the hope it might stop long enough to repack the car.

The caves were great with some excellent examples of hexatites and many unusual formations.

On emerging from underground it had stopped raining, hooray, wrong it was just reloading.

Got there in the end, another trip to the camping shop but our defective wall is still not replaced as we chase one through south Australia.. So we end our day as planned in the YHA at Port Elliot, only 5 hours late and still with a stinky swag and a broken wall.

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Comments

[Karol Muir]

Give it up !
It's just a waste of time, that camping bit, use the hostels, treat yourselves. Your not mean't to be camping, the equipment is telling you !!

[Dorbansinthebush]

Give it up
There are no hostels in the Kimberley or lots of places. It is a pain though but it will get warmer and drier I hope

[Dorbansinthebush]

Give it up
There are no hostels in the Kimberley or lots of places. It is a pain though but it will get warmer and drier I hope

[Dorothy]

Rain
I'm loving the blogs Sue, but the rain must be getting you down a bit. I hope things improve for you as you continue West, it certainly can't get any worse, but then it is winter. I hope you get your bedding sorted you need your sleep, you still have a long way to go. I look forward to the next blog to see if things improve. X

[Sallian and Graham Cooke]

Things can only get better, ?
Hello, if it's any consolation it hasn't stopped raining in Dorset for more than a day at a time just recently.... We were having dinner with Caroline and Mike the other evening and chatting about how you were getting on. Good luck with the tent, onward and upward.⛺️