Grey Nomads

Posts Tagged ‘Dimboola’

After departing Melbourne nearly two weeks ago we headed off in a north-westerly direction through Ballarat and on to the Grampians National Park. It has long been on my radar and now we were in the vicinity we made the most of the opportunity. We approached along the Glenelg Highway, a road I like not only because its name is a Palindrome, but also because of the magnificent vistas it affords as you approach Dunkeld. The jagged peaks of the Grampians dramatically punctuate the surrounding perfectly flat landscape like the spine of an extinct Dinosaur erupting through the genteel pastures.

We could, however, have timed it better. Winter has now arrived and the weather has become decidedly nippy. After two nights of chilly free camping we decided to avail ourselves of a powered site at Takaru Bush Resort (a fancy name for a caravan park) where we could leave the heater running all night; sheer luxury, a wake to a balmy 16 deg Celsius! We really have little to complain about, I recall this time last year, we were in England and it was just as cold, even though it was summer over there.

Our first full day in the Grampians started when the early morning fog lifted to reveal a stunning blue-sky day. It tempted us from our caravan cacoon and into the great outdoors. Since arriving in Melbourne two months ago we have done nothing more strenuous than walking around a shopping mall. The reduction in our muscle tone was inversely proportional to the increase in our waistlines; in short we were totally out of shape. So what did we decide to do the very first day in the mountains? We trekked 5.5km up and down a rugged mountain trail to the Pinnacles, closely followed by 264 steps down to the base of the Mackenzie Falls. This was not so bad; the arduous 264 steps back up again was what broke the camel’s back, and almost mine as well. Not only was I carrying a few extra kilos of body mass but also, to make matters worse, I tend to burden myself with what feels like half a tonne of camera equipment, a high definition video camera, a digital camera and associated filters and a tripod to boot. The few times I do give in to the temptation of venturing out sans camera there is always something of great beauty I spy along the way and now never leave home without it.

Returning to the caravan later that day, we stopped off at the small supermarket in Halls Gap to replenish a few supplies. Talk about highway robbery. The prices were higher than those we had encountered in the most remote township we have visited to date, Borroloola NT. A bottle of tonic water cost 3 times as much as in Melbourne but a girl needs her G&T to get through this tough lifestyle so we paid the price and vowed to stock up on a few bottles at the next decent size town we encounter.

In the morning we awoke to many aching muscles and were predicably not aghast to discover overcast skies and rain clouds on the horizon. However the threat of rain alone can’t keep us down and we did still manage to climb up the mere 1.4km to the Beehive falls but the constant drizzling did dampen our enthusiasm to continue on to the top of Mt Dangerous…drats, our disappointment was palpable. And if you believe that, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy too. A picnic lunch at the old Zumstein’s Picnic area fortified us before heading to the Boroka Lookout which I’m told offers some of the most spectacular views though we could barely see through the rain clouds that had descending into the valley below.

The following day we drove to Horsham where I managed to post off my latest creations in knit wear to Charlie. We decided to overnight there en-route to the Little Desert National Park. Horsham, we discovered, is a delightful, thriving outback metropolis. It hosts a charming regional art gallery and some very good shops and restaurants. The Botanical Gardens are charming, all the locals we encountered were tremendously friendly and the real estate out here is terrifically affordable almost on par with Sydney……. 25 years ago that is.

After ascending Mt Arapiles we arrived in The Little Desert National Park. Encouraged by the information sheet produced by Victoria Parks we explored the park and enjoyed a day driving along the sandy tracks of the Eastern Region to the Salt Lake. Australia has more than its fair share of salt lakes and this was definitely not the largest nor most impressive that we’ve seen to date. The allure of the possible sighting of a rare Mallee Fowl enticed us into the Sanctuary Reserve. We did discover its impressive sandy nest mound but unfortunately nobody was home and we left unrewarded for our effort.

When we awoke the following morning it was real brass-monkey weather and the temperature inside our caravan was colder than the inside of our refrigerator. We decided two nights camping in the park was probably about as much as we could endure and we high tailed it to Dimboola, a small country town made famous by the 1969 Jack Hibberd play by the same name. Little has changed in Dimboola since the play was written; it still boasts some quaint historical buildings and an air of having seen better days. The play is still the most viewed in Australia and is produced here a few times a year.

Adjacent the Little Desert National Park is the Wail State Forest on the opposite banks of the Wimmera River. It has only been six months since the river was little more than a dry dusty trough. After years of drought sufficient rains finally fell last September to enable the river to flow again and the annual rowing regatta to recommence after a five hiatus.

We traversed the peaks and troughs of the sandy roller coaster ride that is the Wimmera Track through the State Forest. Almost seasick from the experience we finally stumbled across the Ski-park where we picnicked on the banks of the river before returned to the caravan for a restorative hot cup of coffee.

All things being equal, tomorrow we will depart Dimboola heading north and plan to free camp in the Big Desert National Park for a few days while we await a very special delivery in Hopetoun, our monthly coffee supply from Nespresso…. Life is too short to drink bad coffee.