We pick up the story at our campsite in Little Desert National Park very early in the morning. We were in our swags , so once the sun was up, we were...pretty nearly anyway.
Having enjoyed the blue light of dawn and a very balmy night, we hauled ourselves out of our comfy swags and made a sumptuous breakfast, using up many of our veggies in preparation for the border crossing back into SA.
Due to the quarantine for fruit fly between SA and other states all fruit and vegetable needs to be eaten or dumped before you cross the border back in to our home state. This has helped to build the South Australian tradition of "eating fruit at the border" which many of us enjoy on our road trips between states.
We enjoyed our eggs and bacon with avocado and stack of yummy little tomatoes, washed down with orange juice and a lovely cup of tea as we enjoyed the sounds of the bush and the unhurried feeling of not needing to be anywhere at any particular time. Maybe we would be home today, maybe not.
Sadly, we had completely forgotten that there was a geocache at the waterhole, and we left without searching for it...worse still, we found out later that my friend Kaye had recently left a path tag there, which I could have found ... oh well.
We bumped and ploughed our way out from the campsite across varying areas of deep sandy track, and hard clay which must be a challenge in the wet. Deciding to leave by a different route, we headed out the Miram South road via the inappropriately named McDonald Highway (it is more a track than a highway) and Broughton's track.
Towards the northern borders of the park there was very obvious fire damage, with some areas showing very little undergrowth and a large number of blackened trees. Others showed the very clear signs that their epicormic buds had been hard at work-with the green "fluff" long their trunks and branches supplying them with nutrients as they work to survive in that amazing way that eucalypyts have.
Sadly the crops along this track were also struggling, showing that the West Wimmera region has really struggled this year. We saw some crops already being cut for hay as we drove towards Serviceton.
We lessened our chances of making it home by deciding to take the opportunity and catch up again with cousin Judith on the farm . Of course the back road was more attractive, and we chose to take the little used Three Chain Rd to the left before we made it to the main highway.
This might be a bit tricky in the wet (particularly the bit which doesn't even show on the map) but in the current dry conditions it was not a problem, and revealed many nice spots which would be potential emergency pull off spots to camp for the night should the need arise at any time.
A few hours later we had offloaded our remaining fruit and veg, seen the new lambs, the ducks and chooks, patted the cat, fed the dogs and let them out for a run, hada cuppa with Judith, and visited Millie and Annabel just a km or so down the road. (first visit to see the sleeping Annabel. Great to see Millie in the mum role.)
We headed off again and stopped about 2 km further along at the local roadside stop to read the local information ( if you are interested in reading about the contested territory between Vic and SA this is the place to go) and have a bite of lunch before heading onwards. Now we were resorting to cans of tuna and biscuits for our food.
Only half an hour or so and we arrived at Bordertown-nestled in beside the noisy Dukes highway and agreed on a return visit to see Uncle Barry and Auntie Bett. They have been very special people in our lives, and we were pretty worried about them when we saw them on the way over, so it was great to have time to drop in again.
We found them having a nap while their newly arranged cleaner worked in the kitchen. This gave a lovely chance to sit and chin wag, for Trev to adjust their air conditioner, and for them to bring us up to date on all the family news.
A couple of hours later, as we left the warmth of their home and company Trev was able to assist by unlocking the car which was "stuck" out the front due to flat battery and locked doors. As always a trip to see these two was a treat for us. They are such loving and non-judgemental people.
We were, by now really in the mood to "Bummel" as our friend Regina calls it. (I believe that this is a German word which means to take a journey with no specific destination or end).
We decided to take some more back roads and to vaguely start looking for a place to camp for the night.
First stop was Poocher Swamp (a lovely open area on the Canawiggara Rd, near Mundulla with some deep water holes which are currently dry) Here we found a padlock on the gate, but the lock was not locked. A little unsure what this meant, we drove in, and followed a track around the area, passing a mob of grazing sheep who seemed a little confused by our presence. Large old gums shaded lovely flat , grassy areas over a huge expanse, and there were plenty of possible camping spots, but feeling a little uneasy about the legality of our presence we decided to press onwards. Looking at the satellite map later it is clear that those wide grassy areas are sometimes under water -allowing for a thriving game reserve in the right conditions.
Further along the same road we discovered Aberdour Conservation Park. Finally finding a rough track in to the park at the very last (south western) corner we ventured in a little way, but it was clear that there was not going to be a spot conducive to happy camping here. A lot of prickly bush, and rough sloping rock was offering an uncomfortable option so we continued on our way.
Now we were starting to consider returning to the Mount Rescue Conservation Park (the south Western corner of Ngarkat) but we had one more option to check out.
Mt Monster Conservation Park showed as a small spot on the RAA map, but it was pretty well on our way, so we decided to detour a few more km and check it out. On the way we passed a large Lucerne growing area with what appeared to be flood irrigation (much to our surprise given that this is the driest state in the driest continent.)
We were delighted to find a well made track curving in to the park, and the welcome sight of some flat camping areas , bordered by permanent pine rails and posts which gave the impression that camping was welcome. We cheerfully took up the unspoken offer of a home for the night, pitching our swags near a handy table beside a huge eucalypt. The fact that there were no facilities wasn't a problem for us, given that we had the place to ourselves.
Mt Monster is not a big mountain (more of a hill) but it is an unexpected outcrop in the flat plains of the local area. We would love to know how it got its name. I do know that the sunset was just spectacular seen through the surrounding bush
And that our remaining scotch and coke went down rather well with the reheated chicken curry and rice which was pretty much the only food we still had on board.
In stark contrast to the night before , we were huddled in our coats and beanies as we prepared to snuggle into our swags, listening to the distant sounds of the traffic on the highway, and once more enjoying the isolation of camping along a road less travelled.
I really enjoyed this post, Erica. And didn't you get some great photos??
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