Fowler's Bay

Our next break was a visit to Fowler's Bay. We left the highway on a sealed road, but that soon ended and we entered the small village on dirt.

Penong Windmill Museum

The next stop after Ceduna was Penong. We made a point to stop for fuel whenever the tank was down more than 1/4 tank. Since we had no idea what we were doing, it seemed safe to be very conservative and stop often.

Waterloo Bay in Elliston

Continuing on the road westward, we come next to Waterloo Bay in the town of Elliston.

Sheringa

After leaving Mikkira Station, we continued west more or less along the shore of the Australian Bight. Here we saw the countryside change again into one of grass punctuated by rock.

Mikkira Station

About 30 minutes or so south of Port Lincoln is the former sheep station of Mikkira. This place has a long (for Australia) history as a sheep ranch. the current family owning it bought it in the late '30's and now there is only 'Bet' (Elizabeth) an elderly woman who runs the place as a campground and place for various sorts of gatherings.

When we arrived at the gate, I got out of the truck and opened it, e drove through and I closed it back behind us. A short way down the dirt road is Bet's house.

The Coast of Spencer Gulf

When we left the Mount Remarkable National Park (still visible in the background, above) we entered a very different landscape. The spinifex has replaced the trees and the horizons have receded. We are now driving along the coast of the Spencer Gulf toward Port Augusta.

There are two large indentations in the southern coast of Australia in South Australia, St. Vincent Gulf where Adelaide is located and Spencer Gulf with Port Augusta at the northern apex.

Mambray Creek Campground

After leaving the lush farmland, we headed past Port Pirie, toward Port Augusta and stopped at the Mambray Creek Campground. As you can see the landscape is changing. This campground is nestled in a valley in the Mount Remarkable National Park that isolates it from all outside noises. We spent a delightful night with very little rain (getting drier as we head west) and no wind.

Barossa Valley

The journey across the eastern portion of South Australia was just a drive through one fertile valley after another. This is the Barossa Valley, famous for its wine.

The Torrens Valley

After leaving the Grampians in Victoria, we headed into South Australia and fertile farmland of the Torrens Valley. With the clouds still chasing us, we had some dramatic skies with the occasional rainbow.

Plantation Campground and the Grampian Mountains

Although the clouds came and went on Phillip Island, as we drove back inland at the beginning of our westward journey, we found solid cloud cover. When we arrived at the Grampian Mountains, we found a delightful place at the Plantation Campground. It is a government parkland and the camping is free. Sitting at the foot of the Grampian Mountains with the fog and rain coming and going, we pitched our tent for the first time.

An Experiment

Since we continue to have limited internet, I am trying an experiment. Even though I am now able (at a local restaurant) to post things from our trip across the country, it is still awkward. Since I know that not everyone is an Instagram-er or a Google+-er I am going to try for a couple days cross posting the instagrams photos to the blog.

This is likely to end up with multiple entries in Google+ or something odd so I'll need to check it out to see how it works. If it looks too confusing, I'll stop. Just a few days of experiment to see if this is better, worse, or simply different. what do you expect from an experimentalist?

Patience, please.

Penguins

I am sorry to disappoint you with no photos of the penguins. Cameras were not allowed. We went out at dusk in the portion of the island block to vehicular traffic and sat on the beach with night vision monocular to watch the penguins come out of the ocean, waddle across the beach, and head off to their burrow.

It was a magic experience that everyone should have. The penguins really are tiny, perhaps 12-14 inches high. And contrary to the notion we have of the penguins in their black and white formal suits, these little guys are dark blue on the back and white on the front. Thus, they are ocean/sky colored on the back and sand colored on the tummy.

On the way back to the penguin center to get our car, we walked. We could listen to the penguins fussing at their neighbors or spouse, or just generally being talkative.

A magical evening not to be missed.

Grey Fantail at Rhylls

On the northeastern coast of Phillip Island is the community of Rhylls and a nature walk near the shore. We did part of this once before and visit the mangrove in the water's edge. This time we walked a portion of the more upland trail and found a grey fantail to pose for us.

I don't normally lead with a shot of a bird's behind but this is a good butt shot and I couldn't resist.

Pyramid Rock

On the south shore of Phillip Island, about midway between San Remo and the Nobbies is Pyramid Rock.

Swan Lake

Also near the far end of Phillip Island is Swan Lake. Although the flock of dusky moorhen above is enough to suggest that this place is not a haven for swans, think again.

The Nobbies

After leaving San Remo and the pelicans, we drove across Phillip Island to a place called the Nobbies. It is a headland on the end of the island with some interesting rock formations.

The Pelican Feeding

South of Warburton, just at the base of the bridge leading to Phillip Island is the small town of San Remo. Every day at noon, there is a pelican feeding by one of the local fishermen. He give a good description of the birds and feeds them for perhaps half an hour. At the end he tossed the last bits in the water for a frenzy.

Near Warburton, Victoria

So we begin here blogging the saga of our drive across (most of) Australia. We have had some trouble with getting wifi. Our host somehow thought that 5.5GB of data/month would be more than enough (well, it is for him!) and in the first two days we burned through half of that. So we are limited to using our phones at the house (we have have unlimited slow data there) and seek out wifi at cafes.

We are currently sitting at a cafe on the street facing the Indian Ocean. Really, it is just across the street and the foreshore park. But before we got to the place of shorts, T-shirts, and exotic oceans, we started in the goldfields of Victoria. Our first stop was at Warburton. Near there we found the Donna Buang Forest Gallery.

We Have Arrived!

We have survived the long drive across the continent. I failed to take note of the odometer before started, but we've put somewhere north of 4,000 km on the ute since we left Castlemaine.

There are hundreds of photos for me to process before they get posted. We had a great adventure and I'm looking forward to telling you all about it.

The photo above is of the street we are living on for the next few weeks. We are one block from the beach on the Indian Ocean. Really looking forward to exploring the area.

Stay tuned...more to come

PS... Just a thought for our friends on the east coast of the US. First, I hope everyone is OK after the passage of Irma. Secondly, we are as far awa from you as we can get and still be on dry land (except for a couple of islands off the coast here). We are as close to the opposite side of the world from you as *we* can get.

Saying Goodby to Castlemaine

As spring slowly arrives and the days lengthen, we experience a time of variable weather. Of clouds and clear sky. Of chilly mornings and warm-ish afternoons. And these sorts of clouds basking in the golden light of sunset.

We say our goodbyes to Castlemaine and the goldfields as we move on to other vistas and adventures.

B&W Retrospective

Once in a while I feel the urge to see what looks good in B&W. So, I go back and find some images to reconsider. Here are some photos you've already seen in color and a few, like the one above from Hanging Rock that you've already seen in B&W.

Moolort Wetlands

Not far from Newstead, between there and Maryborough, is a man-made lake called Cairn Curran. Around this lake are various places to look for birds. The trees that remain in the water make roosts for the birds that live there. Above, we see a Pacific Black Duck and a Little Black Cormorant.

The Castlemaine Botanical Garden

We've had a lot of rainy cool days lately, but during a recent spot of sun, I visited the Botanical Garden here in Castlemaine. such a garden is a standard fixture in every town of any size in Australia. Just like the bowls club, veterinarian office, and place to wet your whistle, it is an iconic part of small town life here.

I'm not entirely sure who we have above. I believe it is some sort of Mallard-mix. He's missing the band around the neck. Ducks are quite promiscuous and there are variations that span the gamut.

Lawn Bowling

I stopped by the Castlemaine Bowling Club to watch for a while. This is a significant game for Australians. Every town of any consequence has a bowling club.

Melbourne

Although I posted before about the shopping arcades in downtown Melbourne, I thought you'd like to see a few more shots of the place. We visited recently with our friend Cathy Eckman to show her a few high spots.

Hall's Gap

Alongside the road we found a lizard. He seems to be a young bearded dragon of some sort (probably an Inland Bearded Dragon such as we have seen before).

Bunjil's Cave

 On a hill with the Grampian Mountains in the distance, is a place filled with boulders large and small.