Chloe and his Caravan

Chloe was happy to chat with us, recalling his adventures.










The two wheel caravan his pride and joy "Painted my self you know, it's a tribute to all the guys like 'Slim Dusty' you know."

Day 2

Day 2

10-JUN-06 - evening

Hey It’s my birthday :)

Sligh glitch – failed hardware. The camera flash card reader has packed up. Managed to connect the camera using the CD burner USB connector, got the laptop to recognise the camera make, but no drivers – no internet – groan.

We drove out of Halls Gap just after midday, heading to Horsham over the Grampians. Halls Gap is nestled in a narrow valley that for some reason escaped bushfires that raged through the Grampians earlier this year. The same could not be said for the rest of the National Park. Where once the mountain slopes were covered in lush vegetation, only blackened trees remain.

Despite the damage, the Australian bush thrives on bushfires. Many plants have adapted to only release seeds from their pods after a fire. The soil replenished by the ash and burned vegetation becomes fertile with first rains and a new cycle of life begins.

Lush green ferns have sprung from the ashes and burned tree trunks are bursting with new foliage. Only a few months have gone by since the fires and the bush is coming alive again.

Some 70km northwest of the Halls Gap lies the town of Horsham. The landscape could not be more different to the rugged steep peaks of the Grampians. When Mark Twain visited Horsham in early 1890’s, he described it as ‘ a country town, peaceful, reposeful, inviting, full of snug homes, with garden plots and plenty of shrubbery and flowers’ the landscape ‘remarkably flat, gray, bare, sombre, baked, cracked, in the tedious long droughts, but a horizonless ocean of green grass the day after rain’. 116 years later, the description is as fitting as the day it was written.

With the Grampians behind us, it was time to make tracks toward Port Augusta, our next destination, some 1,000 km northwest.

Dimboola, Nhill, toward the South Australian border and onto Bordertown, famous as the birthplace of Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke.

Keith, Tailem Bend, Ok, that’s far enough for the day. 700km from Melbourne and only 100km from Adelaide, we should make it to Port Augusta sometimes tomorrow afternoon.

11-JUN-06 - morning

One last look back at the Grampians as they leave their impressions of nature on our minds: rosellas, white cockatoos, the tiniest feathered creatures hopping around playing a tug of war with the worms, their tails high in the air. All kinds of native birds galore even a crane walking unperturbed through the caravan park. And just as we were about to leave an old “kookaburra sat on the old gum tree” only a meter or so from our front windscreen.
Narrow winding roads with views in all directions, a turn off here and there for a closer look, and we leave the Grampians behind. The road becomes straight and long. The sun is bright. The land is now flat. The occasional turn in the road only reveals another straight and long road ahead. H20 the sign post reads. That’s Horsham 20 km ahead.


He was an old man. A beer in one hand, a toothless grin, an old tweed hat (a throwback to the sixties) hid his curly gray locks, which emerged into fluffy sideburns. His nose, broken somewhere along the long path of his life, formed a perfect “C”. A for sale sign advertised the old small caravan. The type that only has two wheels. He got it off the old bloke’s son: “He’s 82 now. There was stuff in there that he hadn’t seen for 40 years. I gave it all back to him. He still had all his clothes in the wardrobe, and some old papers and stuff from 1922. I’ve got stuff from 1918 and” did I hear right or was it my imagination? “a model T.”

An old cast iron, wood stove stands outside the “portable” one room cabin. “Can we take a photo of you? We are on a Walkabout…” Didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence. He had so much to say. “I had a guy, come down from Sydney. Asked me to give it to him, and I sad no, because I didn’t pay for it, he gave it to me, so I’m keepin’ it. Sold a stove to a guy going to Melbourne for $150, not as good as that one. Do you want that old one for the back of your van? I can let you have it for $300.” He would have continued, a sparkle in his eye. “Maybe we’ll stop by on our way back..”

09-Jun-2006

09-06-2006

We inched our way out of the city in four lanes of traffic and realized just why the urge to head west. A thick pall of heavy smoggy fog hung low as far as one could see. Looking back at the city from the Westgate Bridge, usually one of the best views of the city skyline, the tall structures of the business district were only shapes and shades of gray.

We arrived at Halls Gap, in the heart of the Grampians after dark, tested our ‘unpacking, cooking and packing up routine quite successfully, and then sat there with our heads resting on the back of our chairs, staring at the sky. So many stars.

The first Europeans to traverse the area were a party of explorers headed by Thomas Mitchell in 1836. Aborigines have lived in the area, which they knew as ‘Cowa’ for 5000 odd years by then. Nevertheless, Mitchell called the rocky range after Grampians in his native Scotland.

The discovery of gold it nearby Stawell in the 1860’s brought more settlers into the area, and by 1870 a permanent settlement was established at Halls Gap to house workers building a dam to bring water from the Grampians to the growing population in Stawell.

The gold has run out since, but the raw beauty of the Grampians draws many tourists to the area today and Halls Gap has become a bustling little town.


10-06-2006

Happy birthday to Chewie !!!

The outback has beckoned him again and again. Now, for his 50th birthday he is living another one of his lifelong dreams. Going Walkabout – camera in hand.

It’s already almost 7 am, but the birds are still asleep here. Still dark, stars still out, but the mist is mist – fresh and clean – not brown smog.

Our first night out was a cold one. But our trusty van, heaps and heaps of blankets (and thermal underwear) saw us through snug and warm.

As dawn begins to break I wonder what the next few weeks has in store for us.

Today it will be the Grampians. I’m sure Chewie will be clicking his camera all over the place.

Though it was already dark when we arrived, the signs of the fires that ravaged the Grampians only a few short months ago, were clearly visible along the side of the road. Blackened tree trunks with fresh new growth sprouting from them. New shoots and branches bursting out in a deep spring green.

Yes, the other signs were all along the road too. “Kangaroos – next 10 km”. Just a reminder.
Some years back Chewie and Kal set out for what was to be a quick hop up to the centre and back in a week. On their first night out, just out of Mildura, an “overgrown hopping rodent” jumped into their path. Their short trip had been just been extended. The repairs took a week so they had to endure a forced stay. Not much to do in Mildura – without wheels - I’m told. The universe provided them with a much needed rest.

Now it’s different. No rush. No trying to get somewhere and back again in a limited period of time. Two whole months of wonder of this vast country, and “Kangaroos up ahead” – next 12,000 kms.

Dawn is breaking and the magpies are beginning to sing. Cold, sleepy campers are beginning to stir. And kangaroos are grazing and hopping in the frosty-white grassy meadow.

Arrived at Coffin Bay, South Australia

Slight glitch with Camera card reader - there will be a couple of days delay for photos. Keep checking.

Unable to acces internet until now, Blog entries for the last few days have been sent off to Melbourne on a CD and will show up here in a couple of days.

On our way...

Despite a few last minute glitches, a couple of days late, but all is done and we are heading to our first location, the Grampiens.

Melbourne to Port Augusta

Plan : Set out on June the 7th

Head west to Ballarat (derived from aboriginal words meaning 'resting place'), a regional city of some 90,000 people established during the 'Gold rush' period in the 1850's.

On to Arrarat and The Grampians, a geological marvel of long valleys and jaggered sandstone peaks. Devastated by a bushfire a few months ago, the bushland should be in recovery by now, perhaps offering some stunning burned black and lush green contrasts for this amateur photographer :)

Keeping in mind it is the Outback we are heading to, the rest of the journey will continue through Horsham, across the border to South Australia, through Bordertown, Adelaide and to our first true destination, Port Augusta, the gateway to the Outback.

Map of the intended route

This is roughly the route we intend to take, Starting from Melbourne.

Eve's and Osca's Walkabout-Talkabout

20 years running our own business, holidays were few and far in between.
With a grown up son to pass the reins to, we are about to set out on our Walkabout.

'Walkabout' defined as an Australian expression meaning :

"A journey undertaken without notice or warning, of no fixed duration, with no particular destination in mind and usually undertaken for reasons of spiritual well being".

Although not entirely without notice, the decission to go was made about 8 weeks ago. It just seemed that the time was right. With our 'nose to the grindstone', focusing on developing our business, we've hardly set a foot out of Melbourne in the last 20 years and that is long enough.

Most Australians get the urge, at least once in their life, to head west across the Nullabor (derived from latin 'no trees') and and see just what is out there. And so shall we, embark on a journey that hopefuly you can come along on.

To most urban Australians, The Outback is almost a mythical term, encompasing a complex range of environments, people and 'ways of life' that exist within the inland sections of the continent.

The remoteness and vast distances between settlements inspire other terminology such as 'The Never-Never' referring to remoter parts of the Australian outback. Also "back of beyond", "back o' Bourke" although these terms are more frequently used when referring to something a long way from anywhere, or a long way away.

So come with us on our walkabout-talkabout on our journey of discovery to the great Australian Outback.

We set off June the 7th 2006.