Tuesday 27 Feb, 2024
Sawpit Campground was similar to the last one, with not a lot to do, so we carried on west to look for a suitable place to park for a few days to catch up on things after all that driving. After taking some hot showers at a boating reserve, We finally settled on the site called ‘8 Mile Creek’. Which was next to Owens Creek. It was right next to the ocean, where the creek came out into the ocean. The resulting estuary was packed with black swans, pelicans and seagulls. In the afternoon, I caught up on schoolwork with the kids while Darren drove into town and did some laundry at the laundromat.
Wednesday 28 Feb, 2024
We hung around near the beach doing schoolwork in the morning. Then we went into Mt Gambier, which is the name of a town where there used to be an active volcano, to see a giant sink hole and a crater lake. It was so neat to look down into the giant hole in the ground and the gardens that had been planted there. In the limestone sides, honeybees had made their hives, and you could see the honeycomb through the holes in some of the rock. I just want to say that, it is very hard to take a photo of a hole in the ground and make it look like it’s not just a steep cliff in front of me.
We had planned to see some caves in the same place that day, but we decided not to after all when we discovered how much it cost. So, after taking a look at the crater lake in that town, which was a beautiful bright blue colour, we went back to our campsite. It was a very hot and windy day and sand got into everything. We had quite the job to get it all cleaned up when the wind died back down.
Thursday 29 Feb, 2024
In the morning we quickly packed up and backtracked east for a little bit in order to go to a national park called Bidj Bim. It was a site of volcanic activity thousands of years ago, but inside the crater that was formed was a lake. We walked around the lake on the rim of the crater. It was pretty cool to look down on the water. We also explored a small cave that was along the walk. The coolest thing though was that we spotted a wild Koala sitting in a tree right above the walking track. The kids and I kept walking and Darren decided to hang back a while. When we got back, he told us that he watched the Koala climb down the tree, wander off and climb up a new tree. The photos posted here are the close ups he got.
After the walk we went north to find a spot to camp near Grampian’s National Park and enjoyed a sunset over Freshwater Lake.
Loving the travel tales….
Thank you! Glad to share!! Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
I’m trying to visualize the part of Australia you are traveling.. I will get out my world map.. Oh what a wonderful journey you are on! I just got back from the chiro, and will take Odie on a ride in a minute. The Academy girl who helps me every week is coming at 4 today, but Odie doesnt know her, so I am taking him home.
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We have left the national park and are in the desert now. It’s all very interesting!