Two Sams TravellingThis week we spent our time avoiding rain and floods throughout Victoria. We did have some nice days to get out and explore though.
Day one
We woke up and it was freezing this morning! Lucky we had a powered site and our new electric throw blanket to turn on as the tent was quite cold. After warming up, we got ready to head off and went up the road to the Mount Abrupt walk. There were a number of walks to choose from in the Southern part of the Grampians National Park, but we were short on sunny days so we chose this one to tackle. The walk was around 6.5km return, with there being a lot of stairs to climb up and down. The path was well defined though and the views at the top were amazing! It took us about an hour and a half to get to the top, and we spent around 20 minutes at the top taking in the view. The day was so nice and clear as well and you were able to see across the distance. We started making our way down and managed to get back to the start around lunch time. We decided to head up the road to Lake Bellfield to make our lunch, then we headed down the road to Silverband Falls. It was a short walk to the falls and didn’t take us too long to get there, but the falls were still nice to see and were flowing after all the rain. We headed back to the car and had a quick walk around Halls Gap, then decided to keep going to explore some more before heading to our campsite. As we were driving to our campsite, we discovered that part of the road was going to be closed the next day and we would need to look at everything in that area, as we wouldn’t be able to get back through without doing a long detour. We decided to go and have a look at the Pinnacle Lookout and this was a 2.1km one way steep walk to the lookout. The landscape changed as you progressed on the walk and there was a section that got very narrow. We made it to the top and had a quick rest while taking some photos, then we started to walk back down the hill to the car. By this stage our legs were very tired from all the bushwalking, so it was time for us to start heading towards our campsite. We were staying in the Smith’s Mill Campground and it was quite busy in the “long vehicle” section (basically anything that wasn’t a tent). We set up our tent, then went for a walk around the campsite and we had a look at the kangaroos who were enjoying the grass nearby. We settled in for the evening after that and we were thankful it wasn’t as cold as the night before.
Day two
It was nice to wake up this morning and not be freezing. We were looking to do some more exploring today, but we were a bit sore from the day before so we decided to do some shorter walks while the weather was nice. We packed everything up and headed back down the road to Reed Lookout. We were the only ones there and the lookout was right near the car park. This lookout provided amazing views of the area and was really easy to access. While we were there, we decided to go and check out The Balconies as it was only a 1km walk from the car park. When we reached the lookout, we could see barricades and we were worried that it was closed, but they had only fenced up certain areas so people couldn’t take photos off the edge of the cliffs. We could still see great views from the designated lookouts and they were worth the walk. We headed back to the car and drove to the Mackenzie Falls car park where we could see a tour bus parked nearby. We decided to check out the Broken Falls lookout first and this is where we ran into the passengers on the tour bus. There were probably 30 people there trying to get a good photo of the lookout, so we decided to bail and check out the Cranage Lookout first as it was nearby. There was no one there so we were able to have a look and take some photos before the tour bus passengers started making their way there. We walked back to the Broken Falls lookout to take some photos and have a look, then we decided to walk to the Mackenzie Falls lookout, as the stairs down to the falls were closed. The path to the lookout was quite eroded, but we managed to get there all ok and the falls were amazing. Each falls was different and nice in their own way and we are glad we went and checked out all three. We walked back to the car and decided to drive down the road to Zumsteins for a look, but the track was unfortunately closed. We had a look at the map and decided to go and check out Beehive Falls before we started heading North as it was a short walk and our legs were quite sore from all the hills yesterday. There wasn’t a lot of parking at Beehive Falls, but we managed to find a park and started the walk. The walk was relatively straightforward until we reached the waterfall and then it got a bit spicy but at least it was only for a short section. We checked out the falls for a bit, but we were getting eaten alive by mosquitos so we decided to head back to the car. We drove up the road to the big koala to make some lunch, then made our way towards Hopetoun as we were looking to camp at Lake Lascelles Campground for the night. This free campground had toilets and showers and you could set up right near the lake. We found a spot and set up the tent, then spent the afternoon relaxing before talking to the family that evening.
Day three
We wanted to be packed up early this morning as we weren’t sure when the severe weather was going to hit. We were heading towards Mildura where we were going to hide out in the rain in a cabin for a couple of days and we needed to get some items before checking in. We stopped at Red Cliffs on the way, then made our way to Mildura where we got our groceries done, went to the chemist and bottle shop, and managed a quick Kmart trip and a window shop at Anaconda before we were able to check into the cabin. We were staying right near the Murray River and we could already see the water rising and coming over picnic tables. We checked into the cabin and then decided to go for a walk to check out the water as it hadn’t started raining yet. The rest of the day was spent in the cabin and the rain started to come down hard as we were heading to bed that night.
Day four
Today was a very boring day for us as it poured with rain the entire day. We spent the day in the cabin and had a relaxing day. This is very different for us as we are usually on the go and like to be out doing things, but it was nice to be able to sit and not do much for a day. By around 7pm, it had finally stopped raining and the sun was coming out! We decided to take advantage of this and went for a walk outside to get some fresh air and to see if the river had risen anymore since yesterday. Mildura seemed to be spared any major flooding compared to other parts of Victoria, but the river was still up quite high.
Day five
After a day inside hiding out from the rain, we were keen to get outside and explore Mildura. We weren’t too sure where we were heading, as the direction we wanted to go was starting to look impassable due to flooding but we decided to stay in Mildura again for another day and plan from there. We started our day off with treating ourselves to a coffee, then we went for a walk around the CBD, before heading to the supermarket to get some more food. After that, we headed to the Mildura Station Homestead to have a quick walk around, then we decided to go and grab some lunch and try to plan out our next week. We spent two hours discussing a few different options, but we decided to continue heading to where we were going as planned and then change our direction when we needed to. After that stressful planning, we decided that we needed a drink so we headed to Fossey’s Distillery to try some of the local spirits. We got a gin paddle and a whiskey paddle and they were all delicious, plus the whiskey paddle came with some chocolates. After our drink, we headed to our caravan park that was located just outside Mildura in New South Wales and set up for the night. We had a chat with the family, then didn’t do too much else for the rest of the day.
Day six
We started our morning off with a run before getting ready for the day. Unfortunately the Mildura Parkrun was cancelled but luckily there was a great walking track outside the caravan park that we could use. After our run, we had some breakfast and packed everything up so we could keep moving. We didn’t have too far to drive today, so we decided to duck back into Mildura (and Victoria) and checked out the local farmers market before going for a walk along the river. We decided to keep moving, but we went on a bit of a scenic route to get to our next destination. After driving for about an hour, we made it to Robinvale where we were going to stay for the night. We went into the town centre and made some lunch, then went for a bit of a walk around before heading to the caravan park. The caravan park was flooded in parts, with water coming over some of the riverfront campsites. We set up the roof top tent, then we decided to go for a walk down the road to the IGA to get some supplies. Not sure if it was just us, but as soon as we started walking flies decided to start attacking us. It felt like we were in the outback again! We got some washing done that afternoon, then had to head back to the IGA again to get some more things. After that, we had some dinner then we settled in for the evening. The mosquitoes were out and about as there was so much water around, but we managed to keep them away for a bit with our thermacell.
Day seven
After some delicious pancakes for breakfast, we packed up and headed back on the road again. We were heading towards Swan Hill and Lake Boga, and this was as far as we could go on our Murray River journey before the floods started to hit. We headed to Swan Hill first and grabbed some groceries, then we went to check out the Giant Murray Cod. The visitor centre was right across the road, so we went there to get some information on things to do in the area, then we drove down to Riverside Park to go for a walk and have a look around. We decided to not go and check out the Pioneer Settlement this time, but we were able to see one of the paddle steam boats from over the fence. We walked back to the car, then decided to start heading to Lake Boga where we were staying for the night. We stopped in at the Lake Boga Pub for a drink, and we were lucky to get a beer as they were about to run out of kegs. Someone kindly put on The pub with no beer by Slim Dusty and it made the situation a little less stressful for the staff working. We were watching the flood coverage on the TV in the pub and it was quite devastating to watch and we knew that it was going to alter our plans over the next week, as we were heading to Shepparton to meet up with some family. After our drink, we went to check into the caravan park, then found our campsite as we were camping in the unpowered section around 5km away from the caravan park. There were toilets and showers and you could choose any spot you liked. We found a nice spot by the lake and set up the tent, then decided to spend the afternoon planning out our next week as we had to make new plans. It got quite cold and windy towards the end of the day, so we ended up sitting in the tent and not doing too much else.
Weekly stats
Number of KMs – 812
Number of states – 2
Number of campsites – 6
Number of items lost – 0
Number of items broken – 1
