A mild change in the weather has swept through overnight bringing cooler conditions to Woodend. After the humidity of the last days we wake to a refreshingly cool morning. After breakfast we say our goodbyes to Allan and leave Woodend behind as we travel south west retracing the steps of yesterday but with a goal much further away. Woodend to Robe on the South Australian coast is about 500 kilometres (310 miles) about five hours driving on narrow country roads, with no freeways. If we don’t stop, but there is no chance of that. Our bladders are very determined to keep us from travelling too far without a break.
We are hoping for an uneventful day of driving, watching the landscape change as we pass through various micro climates is fascinating in itself. Immediately west is forested as we skirt the Macedon ranges that quickly change to the vast golden plains of now harvested grain stubble. Just as quickly we pass through the Cabbage Tree range and we are back in eucalypt forest. Here we start to see some wildlife with small wallabies occasionally making an appearance. On this trip we have hardly seen any native animals, the dry and hot conditions keeping them to the cool of the forest depths. We skirt around another of Victoria’s successful inland cities Ballarat, a city like Bendigo that grew rich in sheep then gold mining and continued to reinvent itself down the timeline. Currently very much a service economy with tourism, hospitality, retail and professional services the main stays. In Australian terms a big city of over 110,000 people, the third largest inland city on the continent. Ballarat lies at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, a range that stretches 3,500 kilometres (2175 miles) from northeastern Queensland to Victoria. Rich alluvial soils make the surrounding land agriculturally extremely productive.
We make a stop at Streatham about 80 kilometres west of Ballarat, a complete opposite of that city with a population of just 158. Still very much an agricultural centre with surrounding farms growing canola, lupines, wheat, oats, and barley are among today’s crops. The town boasts an example of the blue stone quarried near Kyneton used in the construction of beautiful St John’s Uniting Church.
A further 58 kilometres west takes us to Dunkeld in the foothills of the southern Grampian Ranges. As we travel parallel to this mountain group that stretches for 93 kilometres (58 miles) with its highest peak Mount William at 1167 metres (3829 feet) the range grows ever closer, silhouetted against the cloudless blue sky, the nearer Dunkeld we are. Cattle country makes up the foreground to this scenic backdrop boasting some of the most magnificent river red gums we have seen, their twisted trunks and gnarled branches can reach up to 45 metres (150 feet) into the sky and can be as nearly as wide with trunk diameters of up to 3 meters (10 feet). We stop off at Dunkeld for an overdue picnic lunch. This is a pretty town with a mountain backdrop and a gateway to the Grampians tourist area. Most towns have an information centre and community park where travellers can stop, take a rest, picnic or even walk their dog. It is still summer and the Grampians attract hikers and nature lovers to this area that can be extremely cold in winter, but intense bush fires this season have kept travellers away. Thankfully the fires are all under control now and not a sign of smoke haze stains the picture perfect blue skies above us.
From here we travel to Hamilton, then Coleraine and Casterton at one point travelling along a high ridge road that provides views of the plains below us for kilometres to our north and south. Driving these roads brings back memories for me of my monthly visits to these towns during my businesses early period. These country towns, medical practitioners and hospitals close to Adelaide, ignored by population dense suburban Melbourne would form the backbone of the business in those early days.
From Casterton we cut across country into South Australia, gaining 30 minutes as we cross time zones to Central Australian time. Skipping South Australia’s largest country town Mt Gambier by heading northwest for the town of Penola, the birth place of Australia’s only Catholic saint Mary McKillop. We are now firmly in wine country, this area known generally as the Coonawarra. The name derived from the aboriginal word for honeysuckle. Extensive vineyards stretch out in all directions in this area punctuated by some cattle grazing. We continue on to towards the limestone coast, yet another wine district before turning north bypassing the coastal town of Beachport to our final destination Robe. We arrive around 4.00pm local time tired but glad to be here, we settle into or accomodation for the next few days. Monday nights are not the best nights to eat out in South Australia, after a busy weekend trade, most of the eating places are closed, leaving us few options, we decide on the local fish and chip shop for a takeaway meal. Once we have the wrapped and boxed steaming hot parcel of seafood in our hands, we hurriedly walk back, now joined by a cool sea breeze to our accommodation to devour the meal with a glass of refreshingly chilled Prosecco from our King Valley purchases.
