Mallee and the Border Track

We had an early morning walk to The Lookout, which was an enjoyable walk through the desert. I spotted a large kangaroo on the way back to the campground and we also spotted some emu tracks in the sand.

We had bacon and eggs again for breakfast, well at least I did, I think the kids had cereal. It was just before 10:00AM and we were packed up and heading off down Centre Track. We had changed our original plan to drive along Border Track based on the advice Peter had received. I was sure it was most likely OK, but I didn't fancy being stuck on my own in the sand if the worst happened, nor did I fancy my chances of being able to find a decent tree to be able to winch off. Even though we later found out the track would have been fine, I really enjoyed driving along Centre Track, which had great views as the track seemed to endless pass into the horizon as we climbed the top of each successive sand dune.

We stopped off at Nanam Well along the way, a 58 metre deep well which was used to water 61,000 sheep which were grazed here in the 1870's

We joined back up with the Border Track, travelling up and down a number of dunes. I checked the roofrack a number of times as I could hear some noises, suspecting that something had come loose but found everything tied down securly. It was a few minutes later that I was to have the whole roofrack slip forward and come off, scratching and denting the top of the car, and causing nearly $4,000 worth of damage. It wasn't much fun removing everything and refitting the roofrack again in the heat and persistant flies either, but it wasn't able to put a damper on such a great trip.

We spotted a goanna as we got back onto the track, and Peter and his daughter passed us as well, generously offering to help out and letting us know they met up with a convoy who had done the Border Track without any problems.

We stopped in at Red Bluff campground, intending to have lunch. We weren't really hungry at all, so we had a quick look at the Bluff, said our farewells to Peter and Melissa and started on our homeward journey. The last portion of the Border Track before Blue Hills Road was very rutted, with numerous BogHoles but we were always able to find a bypass track. I hopped out of the car to inspect the first rutted area to find a way through but gave up on the rutted track ahead, due to the soft sandy subsurface, which would very likely have resulted in the car slipping into the deep embankment, which a previous car had already done judging by the blue paint on the embankment wall!

We eventually left the Border Track, pumping up the tyres and heading into Nhill to refuel, only to find the Shell Service Station closed! So we continued to Dimboola to fill up on diesel as well as dinner before our long trip back down the Western Highway to home.

Mallee and the Border Track

We packed up camp early and were in the car driving across the island by 8:00am. I had wanted to visit Kulkurna Cliffs, but according to the map it was about a 20km trip and we would have to come back the same 20km, so we left them for another time. We passed a few kangaroos along the track, including one with a very cute joey.

We started off our trip down the border at Border Fence Road, which we missed to start with as the border to South Australia was unmarked. Curses not having my laptop! Next time we travel along here we'll start right from the top near Border Cliffs, and do the full border navigation, as we had to divert from the Border Track further along, as detailed below.

The track surface had changed from the slate grey of Lindsay Island to a desert red/orange as we headed south along the border. We pulled off near a tree to cook up some breakfast; the kids were starting to get sick of bacon and eggs. Well, James doesn't even like eggs, but I guess a few days of bacon sandwiches does get boring, though we did have porridge with honey one morning.

As we continued south, the track surface changed from the dark orange, almost red to soft yellow sands.

You could really appreciate the powers of irrigation and how much the farmers had changed the land with the native vegetation and desert on the east of the track, and the cleared green pastures on the west of the track.

We diverted from the Border Track near Berrook, and headed east along Sunset Track to visit the Underbool Green Opal Mine site. We had a little trouble finding it at first; damn that laptop again, but after 20 minutes exploring the desert in the heat and flies we returned to the car and headed back along the track, this time spotting the correct turnoff.

With shovel in hand we set off for the walk across the desert to the mine site, battling the flies which were swarming in their thousands. After a couple of kilometres, the mullock heap was visible across the dunes, and it wasn't long before we arrived at the mine site, the shaft collapsed but visible. We spent some time here looking around for opals, finding some interesting rocks with the green colouration, but no real opals to speak of. Still, it was interesting and worth at least one visit.

We continued down Underbool Track and Sunset Road to the highway, which we followed into Murrayville, to stock up on ice and drinks. The kids had earlier asked about seeing camels in the desert, so I explained to them they may spot them in the Simpson, but not around this area, only to see a camel in a paddock on the edge of town!

We rewarded our hot desert walk with an icecream each, and picked up a 24 pack of Pepsi Max for $23, normally $10 at Safeway in the City! and joined up with the Border Track again. The track was getting really sandy and soft as we joined the Border Track proper.

We visited Scorpion Springs where the kids dug down through the sand looking for water. They wanted to stay here for ages, but we had to think about getting to the campsite at Pine Hut Soak, which we did at about 5:00PM. There was another car setting up camp here at the campgropund, and after chatting found out it was the same car we had passed on the banks of the Murray at Ned's Corner. Peter was travelling through the Big Desert area with his daughter Melissa, and they had planned to travel the entire Border Track, but had heard in Murrayville that the section near Scorpion Springs was impassable after rains, which we had experienced a little of.

We had a simple dinner tonight of Hot Dogs and bread, followed by pancakes for desert, then shared the campfire with Peter and Melissa.

Mallee and the Border Track

I planned to have a lazy day today with little or no driving. I thought the kids would like to just hang around and avoid sitting in the car, but they were soon bored and wanted to explore a bit. They didn't like the beach here so much, as the sand was quite muddy and silty beneath the top layer, and the river was quite deep so they couldn't go out more than a metre from the bank, so we fed the left over breakfast to the Butcherbirds and thought about what to do today.

After breakfast we jumped in the car and headed down to the Mouth of the Mullaroo, managing to back track and make all the right turns without the laptop, but finding our path thwarted by a collapsed bridge.

We headed back to camp, and spent the day there, going on a short walk hunting down a bird we could hear calling and just relaxing at the campsite reading and enjoying the location and nature. There was a Black Kite nest across the river, and the two kites constantly soarded over the river and our campsite, on one occasion diving down and grabbing some leftovers from the Butcher Bird family who we had befriended.

We spotted quite a few birds here: a Pied Butcherbird and young, Black Kites, Pelicans, Regent Parrots and Mulga Parrots as well as Blue Faced Honeyeaters.

Mallee and the Border Track

Up again with the birds, we took it easy and were in no rush to pack up camp, even though we were on the move today. We had a relaxed bacon & egg breakfast and sat around the campsite feeding the birds.

We eventually got around to packing up camp, under the watchful eyes of the Butcher Bird. A quick game of football and then we were off towards Mildura.

The Hattah Store had signs up protesting the creation of a toxic waste dump nearby. Is this crazy? Why would such a beautiful place, on the border of National Parks be considered as the site for a toxic waste dump????

We stopped in Mildura and stocked up on supplies, had lunch at Hungry Jacks, yuck, and picked up some custard tarts and vanilla slices at the bakery, yum! Time was passing quickly and we visited lock 10 on the Murray.Neither I or the kids had ever seen a lock before, and as a bonus we got to see this one in operation as a small boat was travelling down river.

We arrived at the Perry Sandhills at about 2:30; much later then on our previous trip so I was getting worried that we wouldn't reach camp tonight at a reasonable time. So we cut short our visit here, only staying about 30 minutes. But it was still long enough for the kids to accumulate a few kilos of sand in their shoes and pockets, which ended up in the car, sleeping bags, and all the way back home!

We had to backtrack into Wentworth to get onto the Victorian side of the Murray, and were soon travelling along the Old Mail Route. Though we had spotted a few Stumpy Tails so far, this road was teeming with lizards. James eventually lost count, but we managed to miss every single one of them.

We came to Kulnine near the gate to Ned's Corner, which looked quite a nice spot on the banks of the Murray, but there were already some campers there so we continued on through the gates towards Lindsay Island, passing numerous Wedgetailed Eagles.

We arrived on Lindsay Island at about 4:30, thankfully not too late, and we navigated the tracks through the flat dry muds plains of the island. The track down to Lock number 7 seemed closed by a gate, though there was a track around the gate so we returned and headed down a nearby track to the river.

There were a few people camping along the river bank, but we easily managed to find a really nice spot with lots of shady trees close to the river, complete with a picnic table and a sandy beach. The kids played in the water while I set up camp.

Dinner tonight was a traditional BBQ; very tasty and enjoyable! We sat down to watch a movie on the laptop, but I turned the laptop off as it was booting up, corrupting the hard drive. Not being able to watch a movie wasn't a big deal, but not having anywhere to store my digital photos was a real hassle. Additionally, I was going to be without digital mapping and tracklogging as well! I managed to get the PocketPC connected to the GPS; I didn't have any maps on the PocketPC, but at least I could keep my track logs. Until the batteries died in the PocketPC that is; I hadn't brought the recharger with me. Damn it!

Mallee and the Border Track

Well, we were woken to the raucous sounds of the Apostle Birds outside our tent, followed soon after by the Choughs. It was like a wave of noise flowing over thetent. We stuck our heads out the tent flap to see them checking around looking for food. It is probably one of my favourite campsites, and the birds are very endearing. We relaxed around the campsite enjoying their company for the morning, sharing a little of our bacon & egg breakfast with the butcher bird.

Shortly after 9 we drove to the nearby Murray River, exploring along it's banks and setting up on a nice beach for the kids to swim. We spent a good 5 hours here, having lunch in the screentent to escape the flies. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and swimming in the shallows.

We continued our drive through Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, looking unsuccessfully for the wreck of the Florence Ann. We explored some dunes near Sextons, with James finding a tumble weed which gave endless entertainment; dragging it across the dunes and letting the wind blow it back. Eventually it rolled over the dunes into the distance with Liam chasing it over the horizon. We also spotted our first stumpy tail for our trip on the road, as well as numerous emus

Back at the campsite it wasn't long before all of the birds came around again. We played a bit of footy, and the kids climbed trees while the friendly Choughs, Butcher Birds, Apostle Birds, and Ravens did their scouring of the campgrounds.

Mallee and the Border Track

We left quite late on the Saturday. James was feeling sick on the Friday, and was only a little better on Saturday morning, so we took it easy to wait it out. We left home about 1:30 after some final food shopping. We had to quickly duck back home because I forgot the casserole, but finally we were on the road. Basically we folllowed the Calder, stopping into Bendigo to refuel the car and grab some cash.

We stopped in Wycheproof just after 5 for a leg stretch, viewing the old steam train at the side of the road. This would be a good lunch time stop, with a nice park with bird aviaries with a cocky asking us "How Ya Goin'", historic displays and BBQs

We arrived on the shores of Lake Tyrrell near sunset at 6:15, and did a quick explore near Bailey's Road Lookout.

We arrived at Lake Hattah in the dark around 7:30 and setup camp, finally settling down to dinner at 8:50. James had faired well on the trip up, and had no problems getting stuck into his dinner. We had returned to this campsite specifically as not only is it a very nice and scenic campsite, but last year we were enthralled by the friendly and cheeky birdlife. I'd told James and Liam that we couldn't be sure if the birds would be here like last year, and so not to be too dissapointed. We would have to wait to morning to see...

Big Desert - Mallee Country

Wednesday 24th September

School Holidays and I was off with my boys for a camping trip to the Mallee, my first visit into this area of Victoria.

Leaving home at 7:30, we drove up the Western Highway, stopping at Ballan for a Maccas Breakfast (I did have the the kids with me!)

Approaching Ararat we noticed a wind farm that wasn't here a year ago when we last up this way.  Mount Buangor and Langi Ghiran both looked worthy of exploration on a future trip, but we continued on through Ararat and Stawell, past Mount Zero at the top end of the Grampians and into Horsham for a fuel top-up.

From Horsham we headed north to Dimboola, bypassing the Little Desert and followed the Wimmera to Jeparit we were detoured to investigate Lake Hindmarsh, which was completely dry.  So the fishing rod stayed in the car whilst we braved the wind swept sands for a photo.  As there was no water I ditched the plans to drive up the western shore and headed back into Jeparit, on through Rainbow and to Lake Albacutya which is normally dry, and was guaranteed to be as much based on Lake Hindmarsh.  Albacutya only fills when Lake Hindmarsh overflows into Outlet Creek.

We drove along the Eastern shore of Albacutya and looked at OTIT campground to see what it was like.  Here we saw a father emu and his young chicks running off away from the car, much too fast for me to get a photo.  Lunch time was approaching, so we made our way through Nypo into Wyperfeld National Park.  A quick chat with the Ranger and after paying our fees we made our way to the campground, spotting our first of many Stumpy Tailed lizards sunning himself on the roadside.

We arrived at the campsite around 2 in the afternoon and after choosing a nice shady spot to set-up camp that was not too far from the toilets we had some of my Mum's delicious rissoles for lunch.  Once the campsite was established, we set off for a short bike ride to explore the campground, riding up to Baby Cameron's grave and then down to the information centre.

We spent some more time relaxing around the campground, as well as playing some ball games before heading off for a drive around the Eastern Nature Drive where we saw wallabies and emus, as well as going on a short walk to a Mallee Fowl nest.

After the drive it was back to the campground for a BBQ dinner and the joy of relaxing under an amazingly clear star filled night.

Thursday 25th September

I awoke in the morning to the sound of rain on the tent; so much for being in the Big Desert!  But when I had gotten up, there was no sign of any rain!  After a sustaining bacon and egg breakfast, we all headed off for a bike ride down one of the management vehicle only tracks.  The going was quite tough on the sandy track, and there was no way we would be able to ride to the start of the Desert Walk, do the walk and then ride back.  It also started to rain lightly again, so we sheltered under a large tree until the rain stopped before riding back to camp.

Leaving the bikes behind, we drove to the start of the Desert Walk; an 8 kilometre walk through various differing vegetation types of the Big Desert, with scrub at the start of the walk, progressing into Mallee and Box Pine along the flood basin of Outlet Creek, and then back into the arid scrub as we ascended up and along a large sand dune.  Some of the plants we saw included Desert Banksia, Black Box, Flame Heath, Slender Leaf Clematis and Golden Pendants.  Liam made it about half way along the walk before I had to carry him the rest of the way.

Back at the campground we had a simple salad lunch and a lazy afternoon with the kids playing around the sand dunes near the campsite.

Dinner was a roast chicken and potatoes cooked in the camp oven.  A small chicken takes at the least 1.5 hours, possibly longer.  I'll get this camp oven sorted out eventually.

There were numerous birds around the campsite, with some very big Ravens that were quite tame as well as many Cockatoos, galahs and wattlebirds.  We also say Red Rumped Parrots, Mulga Parrots, Currawongs, Magpies and Regent Parrots.  Oh, and of course more emus, as well as more parent emus with their young chicks!

Friday 26th September

I packed up camp early after a simple breakfast of cereal and we made our way along some very sandy 4WD tracks, including North South Track, Eagle Track and Moonah Track.  I had planned on going up North Callitris Track, but this looked quite step as it climbed  a sand dune and I didn't fancy digging a bogged car out of sand so we followed Moonah and Freeway Track into the relatively deserted Casuarina Campground.

From the campground we took a shortcut along Wool Track and ended up at what I believe was the O'Sullivan's Pine Plains Lodge, but it appeared to be a large working property where we saw some Peacocks.  My planned route was across Wirrengren Plain but the track was closed so we continued along Gunners Track where we saw a pair of Bearded Dragons sunning themselves on the track.

We stopped for a little bit of civilisation in Umberbool, enjoying ice-cream and picking up some fresh bread and a paper before exploring the Pink Lakes.  These salt lakes have a pinkish colouration due to the algae that live in them.  They truly were pink, and we walked down to Lake Hardy as well as Lake Crosby, which has a nice campsite on the southern shore.  A quick explore of the salt mine and lunch at the campsite on the northern shore near Lake Becking where we spotted yet another Stumpy Tail.  After lunch, we headed off through Sunset Country across the sand dunes on Honeymoon Hut Track to our next campsite location at Lake Hattah.  We got slightly lost along the way with some locked gates, and a wrong turn near Wymlet but we made it out in the end.

We arrived at Hattah about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and picked up some ice from the store before heading into the National Park to the campground.  Whilst I was filling out the camping permit, a number of Choughs and Apostle birds welcomed us to the campsite, and remained our constant companions for our entire stay.

Not surprisingly, there was no water in the lake.  The last time it held water was reportedly 2000.  We setup camp and enjoyed the birds company while we waited for our spaghetti bolognaise to cook.

Saturday 27th September

We again awoke to the company of the Choughs and Apostle Birds as we cooked our hearty Bacon & Eggs breakfast.  The plan for the morning was to drive down to the Murray, and explore along River Track.  We found many great campsites along the river and a very nice beach where the kids played for an hour.  We spotted many birds as well, with the usual parrots as well as a Black Kite and a darter perched on a tree that had fallen into the river.  It was getting close to lunch time, so we cut our trip along River Track short, and cut back to the camp ground along Chalka Track stopping in at Mournpall campsite, which we agreed wasn't quite as nice as Lake Hattah.  We visited Jack Mahon's grave site, which is near where he drowned crossing the flooded Chalka Creek, which at present is bone dry.  Liam of course climbed the sand dunes.

After lunch, we drove along the nature drive where we actually got to see some of the lake bed, as well as the pumping station where water was drawn from the lake and pumped back to Hattah and the railway station to supply the trains as well as the town's water.  We saw more emus, and also walked around Blackbox Waterhole, which did have water in it.  We saw a Blue Billed duck here as well as Cockatoos and other assorted parrots.

We spent a lazy afternoon back at the campground enjoying the antics of the Apostlebirds, as well as the company of two very friendly Pied Butcherbirds.  One quite happily perched on the back of James chair, while the Apostlebirds were quite happy to walk across my legs as I reclined in the camp chair.

We downgraded to tinned food for dinner since I had left one of our meals at home, and the Butcher Bird helped himself to some of Liam's fruit salad when he wasn't looking.  We spent the evening around a very toasty campfire under another perfectly clear star filled night watching a possum in the tree near our tent.

I could hear the call of a Southern Boobook owl, and went for a walk to investigate, finally spotting him high in a gumtree.  I also saw another owl flying off away from my investigations, as well as hearing the unnerving sound of one or more Tawny Frogmouths.

Sunday 28th September

With the campsite all packed up we headed off to Mildura, spotting a Nankeen Kestrel hovering by the roadside at Hattah.  We stopped at Red Cliffs to see Big Lizzie, a huge tractor sent to the Mallee from Melbourne to assist all of the returned Diggers in setting up their farming ventures after the First World War.  It apparently proved quite useful in pulling out many Mallee stumps as well.

We continued onto Wentworth and then to the Perry Sandhills where the kids got a taste of what they thought a desert should really look like.  They played on the sand dunes for quite some time before we drove around the sand hills and then headed back to Mildura for lunch.  Lunch was an assortment from the bakery, topped off with the most delicious Vanilla Slice.  Though I've heard that Ouyen is the place to go for Vanilla Slices, so perhaps next time.

From Mildura we headed into New South Wales to explore Mungo National Park.  80 something kilometres of dirt road, and one stumpy tail later we arrived at the Park Visitor Centre, which told of the earlier animal, aboriginal and geological history of the area.  We explored around the walls, which in actuality are a large sand dune system, before doing the park circuit nature drive.  The latter was a mistake given the length of the drive, and the length of our trip home.  Not to mention that there wasn't a real lot to see that we hadn't already seen on the 100 K plus trip to get to the park.  Though the ruins of Zinco Station were interesting.

We started our long drive back to the border along which we saw many Ring Neck Parrots, Mulga Parrots, Galahs and a bearded Dragon, and after an eternity we finally got off the dirt tracks and into Robinvale for well earned ice-creams.  From Robinvale to Chinkapook, the sun was setting with the most glorious display of magentas and oranges that lasted for ages and which was beautifully offset by the gentle rolling fields of grain.  We passed Lake Tyrell with the last of the light as we continued across country to the Sunraysia Highway when I just barely made it to the petrol station at Bungaree.  We had a very late dinner at Mum's where I left the kids for the next few days of the school holidays as Michelle and I were heading up to the Victorian High Country.