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Triking Alaska's
Dalton Highway
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February 2024
Thursday 01 February 2024
Having enjoyed our visit to Mannum we made our way to and through The Coorong. Passing through Policeman's Point where very little sign of life exists, we eventually found our campsite at The Granites, north of Kingston.
The camp area is a large bitumen car park which slopes down to the ocean, but with only two other campers in we managed to back up to the sand dune and enjoy a small view of the ocean.
Enjoying a chat with one of the campers next to us and a check of the beach was pretty much all we did, except for a nice walk and some photography at sunset. By the time we hit the sack there were six vans and five backpackers in for the night.
We awoke to find a sprinter van parked between us and the bloke next door, and hadn't even heard them come in.
Friday 02 February 2024
Back on the road this morning as we made our way to a spot at Carpenter Rocks, but first we had to stop in Millicent for fuel and for Joanne to find a mural she had seen somewhere.
Passing through some more countryside that we had cycled on our round Australia trip, we passed the pub at Tantanoola where the Tantanoola Tiger was, and presumably still is, displayed. We arrived in the small fishing village of Carpenter Rocks.
Finding the very large grassed area for camping we found a spot, set up and then took a drive around to see the area. Making our way along the narrow winding limestone track we arrived at the lighthouse and lookout where we enjoyed a nice view of the ocean and the coastline.
Then it was time to stop and look at the fishing boats in the small bay and to drop a donation into the store for our camp and then a drive along the coast through Pelican Point and onto Blackfellos Caves for a look.
The Rock Lobster fleet
Saturday 03 February 2024
There's not much to do at Carpenter Rocks, but, we enjoyed our time there and waking to a foggy/sea mist morning we packed up and headed off.
A short drive later we arrived at South Australia's most Southern Point near Port MacDonnell. The car park here has three long vehicle bays in the car park and you can camp here. With only one other camper in we selected a spot, leveled up the best we could and spent some time enjoying the view.
Next stop South Pole!
Sunday 04 February 2024
Left our cliff top camp and made our way via a few other ocean side camps for a look, and then it was away from the coast and on through lots of pine plantation until we arrived in Portland. We checked out the free RV park, but with the local caravan parks charging $60 or more a night, it was full, so we moved on, but not before a drive along the waterfront.
Some 20 odd kilometers later we arrived in the small town of Haywood, and this was where we found a nice spot on some lovely grass between the railway and the Men's shed. A small site but certainly good enough for us, and with only one other camper in at the time.
Being about 20m from the railway line we wondered if we would get a rude surprise, and eventually a train came through and the noise was rather low to be honest. Thankfully, it hadn't come through in the middle of the night, and there were no others for the rest of our stay there.
Monday 05 February 2024
So after a quiet night we were about to leave when we noticed an idiot camper not far from us empty his grey water tank as he drove around the site, even stopping to let it drain out into the creek, but then proceeded to stop at the dump point to empty his cassette. Some people are just ...under achievers!
We left camp, used the dump point and then and only 31 kilometers later, found ourselves at the Tyrendarra Fitzroy River Reserve, a nice spot near where the mouth of the Fitzroy River empties out into the ocean.
Stopping at the caretakers caravan we paid our $10 and looked at the campsites a little way from the river. Then the caretaker said, there are some down near the river as well. We drove the short 50m distance to the river and there was a nice spot just waiting for us near the tables. The wind was coming up the river though and it was fairly cool, but we figured we couldn't give this nice a spot up easily to join the rest of the caravans and with no view. We reversed in and set up, then it was time to take a walk to the river mouth and the ocean.
Not a bad camp spot for $10
Walking along the side of the river I almost stood on a small snake, and only noticed it when I looked down for some reason. Despite my foot being right next to it, I managed to jump over it. The snake playing dead as it lay on the warm sand in the warm sun.
Wading through the last of the river water and up onto the sand bank the ocean was pounding on the other side, and the whole place brought back memories of the river mouth and sandbar at Denmark in Western Australia.
Tuesday 06 February 2024
Reluctantly left our riverside camp this morning and made our way back to the Princess Highway, and then, after roadwork's and some other rather ordinary road, arrived in Port Fairy for a look.
The sign coming into town said that Port Fairy was "the most livable town in the Country". We drove around town admiring the old buildings and very nice, period housing before viewing Millionaire's Row and then stopping down near the marina for morning tea and a look at the boats.
No need to a guard dog for your boat here, the birds are scary enough!
On from Port Fairy we made our way to Koroit, another historic town with many period homes as well. Leaving Koroit behind we made our way through farming countryside to Woolsthorpe where we bought lunch while trying to find the farm of someone we knew, but no luck.
On from Woolsthorpe we arrived at the small town of Caramut where we took up a spot at the local rec reserve and settled in.
Wednesday 07 February 2024
Not a very long drive today to Lake Bolac and after 80 kilometers and a stop for supplies in Mortlake, we arrived. There are a number of spots around the lake but we stopped at a largish one and where the boat ramp is.
Some other campers were there and had their fishing rods in, and, a small fire going. We settled on a spot away from them and set up camp. Such a beautiful spot and nice and quiet.
The view out of the bedroom window.
Thursday 08 February 2024
After a very peaceful night and a beautiful view in the morning we packed up and moved on, this time towards Walkers Lake, where we hoped it would be just as good as this.
Pleasant country driving for a while and then passing through Stawell, and some more country roads, we turned down a good gravel road and after a kilometer or three, arrived at the lake.
the results of recent rain could be seen on the track around the lake, and some of it had been closed, but, we managed to snag about the last spot available, and after some maneuvering and use of ramps on one side, we settled into camp.
Our little spot by the lake.
The lake was big and deep enough for people to be out fishing on their boats, or knee boarding and generally having fun, and the view of the lake from under our awning was just awesome!
Friday 09 February 2024
Waking to a beautiful sunrise over the lake was very pleasant, and one of us wanted to stay longer, but, we were almost out of water, the dunny needed emptying and another spot beckoned.
So we reluctantly packed up and left, we headed to Donald to visit the dump point and then to stop at Cooka's Country Cookies to buy some goodies direct from the factory. We were going to also use the carwash and laundry right there near the factory, but it was not tall enough or easy enough to get into so we headed on.
Making our way to St Arnaud we stopped to give the rig a good wash at the carwash and then to top up with water from the tap up near the dump point.
Tasks over we made our way to Avoca and stopped in their excellent RV park alongside the Avoca River, and a short walk from the main street.
Saturday 10 February 2024
Leaving Avoca this morning after a pleasant night with 12 other campers, we topped up with fuel and headed out of town towards Lake Burrumbeet where we intend to spend a few days.
The trip to the lake was not that exciting except that the views of the hills were quite nice. Wind farms line the ridges through here, like much of South Australia and Victoria.
Arriving at Lake Burrumbeet we passed camper after camper, many under the tree's, including some that had been there for quite some time.
Making our way down the gravel road we saw a spot with grass and right on the waters edge, but decided to look a little further. Well, we didn't get too far before we decided to turn around and go back.
Lake Burrumbeet Camp
With over 120 campers in, we were lucky enough to get this spot on grass and next to the lake, the drawback however is being close to the gravel road and with the wind blowing our way and plenty of people driving past who don't care about their speed or the dust, but...the wind is forecast to change to the opposite direction.
Sunday 11 February 2024
Lazy day by the lake today with the Northerly wind blowing from across the lake, and which we are hoping will act a little like an air conditioner on what is expected to be a hot day.
Well, as it turned out, it was only in the low 30's but yes, the wind blowing across the lake kept us nice and cool, until that is, the wind changed more Westerly, but it was still very pleasant sitting under the awning watching the large amount of jet ski's, motorboats, skiers and all sorts of watercraft buzzing around the lake doing their thing. We also watched the Water Police come out on their jet ski's to enforce speed limits, breathalyse captains and generally keep the riff raff under control.
Then as the afternoon wore on the exodus began, and so did some of the dust from the gravel road, and their desire to get home. Thankfully, but sunset, most of them had gone and peace and tranquility returned to the lake and the birds, fish and campers all sighed with relief.
The dust did help with highlighting the sun beams as the sun began to set.
A small tree just next to where we are camped made a great muse for a belt of venus image.
Monday 19 February 2024
After a week with family and attending a wedding, we are back on the move tomorrow.
Tuesday 20 February 2024
After a big drive yesterday we eventually arrived back at Lake Burrumbeet and managed to snag a nice spot just up from our last one. We are sitting here until Friday morning when we will drive a few kilometers down the road to have our air conditioning unit serviced. From there we are not sure where we will go until Sunday when we will be boarding the Spirit of Tasmania and hopefully enjoying a smooth sailing across the Tasmania.
Unfortunately we will be going on our own as our good friends Bob and Julie have had to pull out of the trip due to the mechanical issues they experienced the day they set off to come across from Perth to join us. So sailing without them will be a bitter/sweet moment.
26 February 2024
Time travel. We went to sleep in Geelong Victoria and woke up in Devonport Tasmania! Well, sort of.
Yesterday we made our way from an excellent little camp at a place called Haddon, and made our way to Geelong where, after our rig was measured to make sure I had entered the right length, we were given our boarding pass/cabin key, made our way through Quarantine and eventually drove into the vehicle decks of the Spirit of Tasmania. Boarding was however simple enough, but it felt like a very long, drawn out process as the K-mart parking lot moved from place to place with a leader that had no idea of where it was going.
Once parked, we made our way into the ship and to find our cabin. We had chosen an inside cabin on a night cruise because we thought that would be best for Joanne, whose stomach is not a very good sailor. The cabin was basic, but certainly good enough for what we needed. Four bunk beds, bedding, towels and a shower and toilet, and we had it all to ourselves.
After dropping our overnight bag off we took a tour of the ship to acquaint ourselves with the layout and the facilities, and then watched from the upper deck as we departed the wharf. Once underway we found something to eat and then sat and watched as we traversed the channel, and we were showered and in bed by the time we left the heads.
With a Northerly wind and a 1m Westerly swell, the trip got rougher the further we went and the ship found every pothole in the ocean that it could. Unfortunately around 10pm Joanne fell foul of sea sickness and we spent the rest of the night trying to sleep between her tips to the bathroom.
4.45 am and the announcement came over the PA to tell us to get up and ready to disembark. We had a hot shower and then wearily made our way out to sit and wait to be told to go to our vehicles. An orderly and reasonable evolution and before long we were driving off the ship.
We had a plan to drive around the block and park near where there was a supermarket, but the flaw in our plan was the opening time, and we were too tired to wait. So, we made our way to the RV park at Horsehead Creek. Finding the place in the dark was easy enough, but getting a spot wasn't. It was full!
So we just parked in the boat ramp parking and waited. Eventually someone left and in the light of dawn, we took their spot and went to bed, waking a few hours later to find many others had left. The rest of the day was going to be a chill day, where we could admire the view out of our back window.
Our RV camp view of the tidal Mersey River.
27 February 2024
Left the camp this morning and did some food shopping for fruit and veggies that we were not allowed to bring over on the ferry, and then enjoyed breakfast overlooking the Mersey River where the Spirit of Tasmania comes in, and where it was berthed opposite us.
Breakfast and a chat with a local photographer over, we drove along the coast heading West, enjoying the beautiful drive, and checking out the places we passed through that seemed to be every 5 minutes of so. We did intend to stop at the free camp at Sulphur Creek but ended up stopping at the Cooee RV Free camp, where we backed up to the shore and enjoyed the view out of our back window.
We took a drive around the area, stopping at the lookout over Burnie and then made our way to Guide Falls for a look and some photography.
Back home some hours later we listened to the penguins calling out from the rocks next to our camp. They have raised their chicks and are now molting, so no heading out to sea to fish and feed.
28 February 2024
After a peaceful night by the ocean we decided to moving on and not stay a second day, so drove up to the dump point and then back near our camp to fill up with water before heading off.
Heading West we drove along more rocky coastline, enjoying the views, the relaxed driving and sparse traffic. Pulling over next to the disused railway line, we took in the views of the 3 sisters rock formation before continuing on to the small, yet very picturesque town of at Wynyard.
Climbing the hill to Table Cape, we saw the Tulip Farm that was closed and had no tulips in the paddocks. The view along the coast was beautiful and we were surprised to see almost all the way back to Devonport!
Down the hill and along the cliff road, back onto the highway and before we knew it we were pulling in to the $10 a night RV camp at Stanley.
Finding a nice spot to reverse up to the ocean view, we unhooked and set up camp before heading off for a drive around the very, very, picturesque town of Stanley. Most homes are wearing their period costume and the main street is an absolute delight. A quick look at the views from where the chairlift up to the top of The Nut is was also in order, but with a storm coming through, there was no way we were going up. Maybe on our second lap of Tassie.
Stanley looking West
Stanley looking East
We also took a drive to where the phone line first came to Tasmania, and where the first telephone exchange was. Now a private residence and BnB (and for sale for 1.1million) you would only know what it was by the sign.
Then it was time to climb the hill to view Highfield, once the seat of government for the area.
How Highfield came to be.
The front driveway to Highfield
(obviously named because it is in a field on the top of a hill)
Some of the outbuildings.
You can see the remains of the Convict Barracks at the end of the road.
We did think about going in for a look ($15 pp for a tour) but figured it wasn't our thing to see how the gentry of the day lived, so, with sightseeing over, we made our way back to camp and just in time for a huge weather front to come through and blast us with rain and wind.
Stanley and The Nut - make your own postcard photo.
29 February 2024
Another peaceful but windy and rainy night and we awoke to another day of four seasons in one day. We packed up camp and after taking a scenic drive through the forest we arrived in Smithton where we found a spot at the Tall Timbers free camp on the edge of town.
And so ends February.
...
Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do that by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.
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