The South Coast – Vic & SA

Anglesea Mon 6 Oct 2014

Anglesea Mon 6 Oct 2014.

All alone at Ocean Grove after everyone had left with the heavy burden of the business on my mind, I was feeling a little lonely and wondered if I was up to staying here all alone till my planned departure on Monday 6th Oct. I shouldn’t have worried, as when I woke the next day I felt refreshed and ready for a relaxing holiday. Most mornings I went jogging as the sun came up, lazed around reading or taking a stroll up to the shops. I even had a lovely ¾ hr neck and back massage where I chatted to the Taiwanese masseuses who were here on a holiday working visas. I picked fresh lettuce, spring onions and rhubarb and made lovely salads and a rhubarb crumble inspired by Kath.

my abode couchsurfing at Art Farm

my abode couchsurfing at Art Farm

As I was planning the next part of my travel, looking on line for B&B that might interest me I was chatting to my sister Jen who reminded me of couchsurfing who I had already signed up with. I went onto my profile page and searched for places in Mt Gambia and Millicent.   I contacted a lady in Mt Gambia but she was busy. Then Martin from Millicent called and said I was welcome to stay at his Art Farm. He had a caravan I could stay in. I was immediately interested and said I would love to take up his offer.

Sunday night I cleaned house and Monday morning after waking at 4am I did my final clean up while waiting for the sun’s rays to colour the sky enough to see my way along the road before I took off on my last jog. An early breaky, car packed and off again by 7am.

I punched out a route on my GPS that took me along the Great Ocean Road to Millicent just north of Mt Gambia. It was an overcast blustery day with scattered showers. I travelled through the well-known surfing towns of Torquay and 51 Twelve Apostles Great Ocean Rd Vic 6 Oct 14Anglesea which were still very quiet as the rain drizzled down. I needed an urgent stop at Anglesea and found public toilets just beside the inlet where I took a lovely shot of the ducks preening themselves in the morning sun. I continued on to Lorne and Apollo Bay stopping between rain bursts to take shots of the coast, flora and lighthouse before meandering through the Otway National Park. Here I stopped to wonder through the forest on a walking trail to take some photos of the majestic trees, ferns, lichen and moss. Back on the road and more amazing coastline as the road twisted and wove its way up the coast. I stopped again, this time at the Twelve Apostles a group of limestone pillars that jutted out of the sea. It was quite an amazing day.

When I reached Millicent I called Martin who directed me to the Art Farm where he was waiting at the gate to usher me in. It was an old farm house which he was slowly doing up… actually I’m not sure if he had done much to the old place except for the lounge room which was painted and had his art handing all over the walls. Martin is and amazing eccentric character full of enthusiasm and vision for not only for his farm but to put Millicent back on the map. We has some very interesting conversations over dinners which he made and had invited me to share with him.

Due to a change of plans in Adelaide I had decided to stay another night at the farm. After cooking breaky on the caravan stove I took a trip into Millicent’s information centre to get some advice and maps for the next part of my trip. I then wondered around the farm taking pics of all the interesting artefacts.

Wednesday morning I was off again by 7am after farewelling Martin and wishing him all the best with his plans. I headed back towards the sea to Beachport. Along the way I stopped beside the road to chat to a friend on line. As I was about to take off I noticed an amazingly bright rainbow. It wasn’t till I had taken the picture that I noticed it was a double rainbow… God’s promise for a beautiful day!

Milton to Millicent via Ocean Grove and the Great Ocean RoadBeachport was a quaint little town which had once been a very busy seaport with the second longest jetty in South Aust at 772m long. I took more photos between sun showers then headed for Robe. Here I had a bit of an adventure. I had punched in a road which would take me to the Cape of Dombey but decided I’d like to try to take a back rout. Little did I realise where I would end up. The road became gravel and the GPS kept telling me to turn right but I was ignoring it till I started wondering where I was going as the road didn’t look like it was ever going to end and started going in the wrong direction. I finally turned around and took the last suggested turning from my GPS even if it looked a bit dubious. The road became a dirt track and I wasn’t in a 4 wheel drive only my little Mazda 2! Hang in there YOBIE (named after the number plates YBO) I promise I’ll give you a through washing once this is all over. As we surfaced the last hill we entered the back of someone’s private property. I decided I’d better be polite and get out to apologise for me unexpected arrival. I tried shouting out but no one came so I jumped back in the car hoping I would find my way out. Once I drove around the front of the place and down the drive I realised it was some kind of a lodge as there were small buses parked out front. I finally made my way to Cape Dombey for more photos of sandstone cliffs, surf and beautiful blue ocean.

My next adventure was just a few 100km further north where I once again left the bitumen/asphalt at 42 Mile Crossing in the Coorong National Park. I had actually taken a turn to soon so I had to turn around but it did give me a look at the salt flats here. I then took the correct turning onto the Loop Road which was also dirt track. Here I saw quite a bit of wild life including a black snake about a meter long slithering across the road. I saw emu, bob tail lizards and a wombat crossing the road in the distance. I knew it was a wombat as I had just passed a dead one on the side of the road.87 eukidna Coorong National Park walk 8 Oct 14

Further along this road I stopped at the Lakes Nature Bushwalk Trail. By this time it was midday and the sun was scorching down on this very dry patch of land. This bush walk was quite the opposite to the forest track. Even though it was hot it was a very interesting walk although I wasn’t sure if I was in SA (South Africa or South Australia) as I startled three deer who took off into the bush. I was also surprised by an echidna who was snuffling in the grasses and allowed me to come within a meter of him to take his photo. Along this walk I kept reminding myself there were snakes about but then I would be distracted by the surroundings, deer, emu, flowers and other things that kept popping out of the bush and taking my eyes off the track. Fortunately the only snake I saw was the one that had crossed the road when I was in the car.

Leaving the coast I headed inland, north towards Murray Bridge and Adelaide. On entering the outskirts of Adelaide I decided to take a detour up Mt Osmond. I was pleasantly surprised to see a Koala crossing the road but couldn’t stop as this stretch of road was very narrow with many dangerous bends. Towards the top

Lochiel salt lakes en route to Carclew Farm

I was able to pull over for a view overlooking Adelaide. Because I had arrived earlier than planned I called in to a local shopping centre to buy some coconut water to drink instead of the terrible Adelaide water which had a thick oily unpleasant taste. I later was shown the 4 filter system that my clients have to overcome this problem. Meanwhile I needed to fill in a bit more time so I took a road up to Waterfall Gully. Here there were many trails leading up into the Cleland Conservation Park to various waterfalls. I took one track as far as Chinaman’s hut which took me past two waterfalls. As I was coming back down the hill there was a terrible groaning raw from one of the trees which I guessed was from a male koala. I searched the trees and saw what I thought was the koala perched in a fork high up in the branches.

I finally pulled up at my client’s home where I was staying for 3 nights. I was lovely to catch up with them after so many months. The following days we had lots of time to enjoy each other. We even had time to give Yobie her promised wash.

Port Broughton Pub

Port Broughton Pub

Leaving my clients I caught up with a friend for one night and had with lots of laughs over a Vietnamese dinner. The next day I was up early for my jog along the beach in front of her home before heading off to church and then back on the road 2 ½ hrs north past the pink Lochiel salt lakes to Carclew Farm. I stayed here 3 nights looking around the area visiting Port Broughton, Mundoora wind farm and Koolunga as I joined my client dropping her boys at school, picking up mail and shopping and helping out around the farm. During this time there was hay bailing and shearing both of which I took photos of.

The next part of the trip is the start of the Nullarbor. I’m planning to head to Port August and then towards the coast to Elliston, Venus Bay, Streaky Bay before crashing at another couchsufer in Ceduna. Then an early start for the first leg of the Nullarbor.

109 bailing hay Koorunga

Bailing Hay Carclew farm Koorunga 14 Oct 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

180 c Millecent to Adelade

route from Millicent to Adelaide SA

 

6 Comments

  1. Bill Chalker

    Continually uplifting you in prayer Sal. What an adventure, everyday new sights to see, interesting people to meet, and Gods blessings flowing upon you through the radiant warmth of His sunshine, through the rains bringing refreshment, morning jogs that open up the wonders of Gods creation all around! Have a wonderful and safe trip to WA!! God shine upon you, His divine presence goes before guiding you all the WAY!! Your friend, BILL

    1. sallyforth-sojourner (Post author)

      Thanks Bill, sunrise and sunsets have been amazing!

  2. Gayle Hardiman

    I needed to read your blog over lunch.

    It seems very apparent that you are enjoying your journey and it was interesting to hear about a lot of the places that you have been……I have never heard of.

    Continue to enjoy your holiday and the sights, sounds, scenery and people that you are meeting up with.

    Regards Gayle

    1. sallyforth-sojourner (Post author)

      I am enjoying my travels and catching up with friends and family along the way some of the places I’ve visited are amazing even the pics don’t portray them well.

  3. Lucinda Gayl

    Just loving following along with your adventures… I need to keep consulting the map to keep up. Hey, how about an interactive map that plots your journey? Don’t know if that is possible, but it would be great to have a visual to go along with your great entries. Safe travels, Lucinda

  4. sallyforth-sojourner (Post author)

    great idea Lucinda…love to know how to do it! I was thinking of a photo of a map with markings but haven’t got that far either. Maybe for next time I’ll put something together.

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