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Travelling
Australia with Wayne & Pam BENTLEY |
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THE DAILY
JOURNAL Saturday13th November 2006 to Monday 15th November 2006 |
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Monday 13th November 2006
 Trentham Falls |
 Kyneton Railway Station |
 Looking out over Castlemaine Town Centre |
Here we are in the dry fields of Victoria in a really dry season, some areas declared as drought regions... and we wake up to rain and wind this morning! Maybe we should hire ourselves out as drought breakers, however the little rain we received certainly would not really help anyone very much, so that blows that idea out the window.
With the temperature being only six degrees outside at 8:a.m. according to our thermometer, we didn't move too fast and there was a little hand washing to be done so that we should not have to wash again until we fire up our own washing machine in our laundry at home... Yes... 'One of Us' has enough clothes stacked away in this caravan to last us between two and three weeks without being seen in the same clothes twice... Knew there was a reason we were using so much diesel when towing the caravan around this time.
The wind increased early in the morning and to guard against damage to the awing or caravan, the awning was rolled up and secured before we ventured out for the day. Not only was the wind strong, it was also quite cold and very lazy, traveling straight through anyone standing in its way so there was a requirement for a track suit and other warm clothing to be donned before going out for the day.
It was around 10:50a.m. before we eventually drove out of the caravan park to investigate the local area, but then decided we would venture a little further afield so we made our way out through Musk, Bullarto, Lyonville and then turned east near Trentham until we came Trentham Falls where we called in to see what they were like. These falls were very picturesque, set in a gully of tall eucalypt trees and falling into a ravine before meandering on through the trees. Although there wasn't a huge volume of water tumbling over the falls, when the sun hit the spray at the bottom it created a rainbow effect in the rising mist.
The drive from Daylesford through to Kyneton was through some very pretty forest and hilly grazing country and is as green as we have seen any land since we left home last July. There were many sections of road where the trees formed covered terraces along the road and the scenery was really very pretty.
From here we continued on through Tylden and then turned north at Kyneton, traveling up through Malmsbury, Taradale, Elphinstone, Chewton and Wesley Hill before turning off into Castlemaine. In Castlemaine we drove to the top of a look out hill and called in on a very impressive memorial constructed by public subscription in 1862, which is even more impressive when you realize Burke and Wills perished at Coopers Creek in 1861. Perhaps the fact that Burke, the leader of the ill fated expedition, was from Castlemaine may have had a big bearing on the rapid recognition of his feats. (Our knowledge of Australia history sounds impressive also, doesn't it! (or is it just that we can actually read!))
We then drove through Castlemaine and on to the historic goldfields town of Maldon, where we visited the visitors centre before having a wander around the town main street. This town really thrives on weekends but Monday is very quiet and a majority of the shops are closed in the early part of the week. That didn't stop 'One of Us' finding a lolly shop open and amazingly enough, the 'Other One's' wallet was lighter when we left that shop.
After our walk through Maldon we climbed back into the Patrol and started off back toward Daylesford once more, this time taking a more direct route via Campbells Creek and Guildford. On arrival back in Daylesford we called in to the local Coles store to pick up a loaf of bread and I don't need to tell the rest of the story, that bread cost over sixty dollars.... well with all the other things we ended up with that "we should get that now".
We finally arrived back at the caravan at about 3:25p.m. and settled in with the reverse cycle air conditioner working hard on heating mode. Tomorrow we will stay closer to Daylesford and maybe have a walk around the main street if it is not as cold as today has been.
Memorial to Robert O'Hara Burke
Main street of historic Maldon
Tuesday 14th November 2006
 The main street |
 of Daylesford |
 Lake Daylesford |
 Cresswick Town Hall |
By the time we rose this morning the temperature outside had risen to 4 degrees, so we are not sure what it did get down to overnight. The heater was working overtime in the caravan last night and it did a pretty good job as we didn't freeze, but we were glad we were not sleeping in a tent. Our planned activities for today were just to wander around the town of Daylesford so we took out time and didn't leave the caravan until around 10:a.m. We drove up into the town and parked at one end of the main street, then started an examination of the shops and the wares they displaying. Although there was a good number of shops to visit, there were also a few that were empty and it appears there would be a reasonably high turn over of vendors as competition for the tourist dollar would be pretty intense, also quite a few are only open on weekends, when the hordes arrive from Melbourne. |
 The British Hotel - Cresswick |
After wandering all the way up one side of the street and only calling in to a couple of shops (much to the surprise of the 'Other One'), we turned around and started back on the other side. Along the way we called in to the Tourist Information Centre and had a look at what was available in the area and found it to be targeting weekend and short stay 'getaway' style holidays and promoting the mineral springs as a health spar type of activity. Inquiries revealed that a heath spar that the 'Other One' had visited one many years ago when in the area on a conference was being pulled down, which seemed like a shame as it was quite a charming building that appeared to have some historic and cultural value. As they are mostly owned privately, it is no doubt the dollar that makes the decisions. After returning down that side of the street, which included another visit to the Coles store, we decided there wasn't really a great number of places to visit that were unique in any way to the many places we had visited on our travels this time or on our previous journeys around Australia. That is not to say that Daylesford is not a great place to visit and it is extremely picturesque. |
 The first place gold was found in Victoria |
We then climbed back into the Patrol and drove out to Hepburn Springs where the health spar was being pulled down at this time and found they were well into that task already... Such a pity. From here we decided to take a drive down to Cresswick, about twenty seven kilometres south west of Daylesford (toward Ballard) so we set off on the A300 highway in that direction through Eganstown, Blampied, Mt Prospect and Springmount. Along the way we drove out of the rolling ranges of Daylesford and found ourselves in low undulating country with the occasional higher hill showing up from time to time. When we arrived in Cresswick we drove through the town and then on the way back through it we stopped to take some photographs of an interesting building or two, Think Pammy was more interested in the hotels than the local town hall. On the way out of town we found a Coles Shell service station so we pulled in and filled the Patrol and three jerry cans, taking on board just over 170 litres of diesel, but fortunately we had a 20 cent off voucher so saved thirty dollars on the fill up. (and the wine purchased to get the voucher tasted good as well!) |
 Rolling countryside close to Cresswick |
We left Cresswick and made our way out toward Clunes, driving passed some quite dry paddocks, a number of them with freshly cut hay but very few of them with any wheat or cereal crops growing. On arrival in Clunes we were surprised to find it was a very old town that did not look like it would have changed at all over the past hundred years. It was still fully operational and there were no signs to say it was a heritage town, but it seemed to have appeal and we quite liked it. On the outskirts of the town we drove over a 'ford 'up to the top of a hill where we found a Marker that stated it was near where gold was first discovered in Victoria... It is amazing what there is to stumble across when traveling Victoria. |
 Main street of the historic town of Clunes |
There were signs of old mines around the area and as we made our way east toward Smeaton we found a lot more evidence of old gold mines out in the paddocks and fields along the way. With the occasional deviation, we found our way through Smeaton, then down to Kingston before heading back to the A300 highway at Blampied where we turned back toward Daylesford. We returned to the caravan park at about 2:30p.m. and settled in for the afternoon once more. Tomorrow we we be leaving Daylesford and heading out to Stawell and the Grampians for another stop of around three nights. From there our plans have changed a little as Pammy has discovered we can get to the Barossa Valley from there and in doing so, can squeeze in an extra night or two and still get home on the 24th of November. There is an abundance of wine and food in the Barossa... Could that be the reason she wants to go there??? |
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Wednesday 15th November 2006
 On the rain swept Western Highway |
This morning greeted us with everything wet from overnight rain and the temperature down to three degrees, and that reading was taken at almost 8:a.m. after the day had started to warm. The TV program Sunrise told us that this was the coldest November Victoria had experienced for over ten years and the manager of the caravan park stated he hadn't seen it this cold in over twenty years and that some snow had been falling in Ballarat.... We picked our time to be here didn't we! Despite all that we were reasonably warm in the caravan with the heater going full blast all night, it was a different story when we stepped outside the caravan though. |
 Cloud covered range near the Western Highway |
Nevertheless we were all packed, hitched up and on our way out of the caravan park by about 9:30a.m. and we drove through Daylesford for the last time on this trip, then headed out the A300 highway through Blampied, Mt Prospect, Newlyn, Creswick, Burrumbeet before coming to Ballarat where we turned onto the Western Highway toward Stawell. All this through patches of sun between rain showers. As we made our way west through Trawalla. Beaufort. Buangor and Dobie to Ararat, the rain became more serious at times and at one stage we were driving through some very strong cross winds that had the Patrol and caravan rocking quite a bit. In fact the weather was as bad as we have ever found ourselves driving through on this trip and maybe in the 70,000 kilometres we have traveled over the past three years. |
 The town centre of Stawell |
As we were passing through Buangor a truck driver going the other way contacted us on the UHF radio and advised us that there had been an accident not far out the road and that he was not sure if the road would be open to traffic. We thanked him but decided to continue and when we reached the scene, the police and ambulance crews were there attending to the occupants of two vehicles that had some how ended up leaving the road and ending up at the bottom of a five metre embankment, one vehicle in particular was pretty badly smashed up. Fortunately it did not appear to have been a fatal accident and the road was open for us to travel through so we kept rolling on through to Dobie and around the outskirts of Ararat. |
 One lucky echidna |
We then continued on the Western Highway through Armstrong and Great Western (Home of one of Seppelt's wineries) before entering Stawell. Along the way we had been looking up the caravan parks that were around the area and decided that instead of staying in Stawell we would travel out to Halls Gap at the base of the Grampians, where there is a Big4 caravan park (Park Gate) and book in there for our stay. After a twenty seven kilometre drive west of Stawell, we pulled in to the caravan park and booked in for the next two nights, with an option of a third night if the weather improves. |
 View of the Grampians from the caravan door |
After setting the caravan up between showers and Pammy prepared some soup for lunch, we decided we would head back into Stawell and call in to the Stawell Gift Hall of Fame, however when we called in to the information centre in Stawell, we were informed that the Hall of Fame is only open on Monday to Friday from 9a.m. to 11.a.m. on each of those days. That fixed that plan for today... We then drove through Stawell, passing the Stawell Gift Oval on the way, and found our way to the top of a lookout that provided views over the town. From here we drove back into the town centre and called in at the Safeway (Woolworths) store to pick up some milk she said.... $40 dollars later he staggered out under the weight of the goodies that ended up in the basket and when they were all in the Patrol we started on our way back to Halls Gap and the caravan. Just prior to reaching Halls Gap we saw an echidna in the middle of the road so we stopped and found it had been slightly injured and was disoriented, not moving off the road and in danger of being hit seriously. We helped the echidna off the road and made sure it was safe from any further contact with vehicles, taking a few photographs along the way. It did not appear to have any broken legs or other bones and was happy to make it into the grass and bush, so we left it there and continued on our way back to the caravan, arriving there around 3:30p.m. were we settled down in a warm caravan for the afternoon. Tomorrow we will see what the morning brings before we plan our days activities, maybe a trip back to the Stawell Gift Hall of Fame first then a look around the Grampians... Only tomorrow will tell, but with some luck the rain and wind may have passed over by then. |
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