Day 4 Wednesday 14/8/2024 Moorook to Peterborough, 24.5

It wasn’t at all cold last night and we wake to a glorious morning with the rising sun peeking through the trees. The Murray is calm and the pelicans are swimming. Purple swamp hens peck about the lawns.

We farewell Mother of Pearl and little Pearl as MOP is flying to Qld next week and any further on this trip would mean hundreds of kilometres of back tracking. At least they had a few nice days in the warmth*.

While Woody and Elle top up the water tanks, I marvel at the height of the flood gauge here. Moorook and all these towns really copped it in the 2022 floods when a tremendous amount of water slowly made its way down to the sea.

Heading off we take the highway to Waikerie then follow the river front road to Cadell and Morgan through colourful small farms and vineyards. Oranges and avocadoes are in abundance along with expansive river views. Solid stone houses with chairs on wide verandas face the river and look to be perfect spots for relaxing sundowners. We cross the river on the ferry at Morgan and arrive beside the old morgue. Which reminds me, when the Morgan cemetery was being laid out one of the surveyors wondered who would be the first to be buried there. Sadly, next day he drowned in the river.

Climbing away from the river it’s a short drive through flat hungry looking saltbush country to Burra. One of our favourite towns, it was here that some of Woody’s ancestors were coachmen and publicans servicing the needs of a mining community. It’s uplifting to drive into this busy village. Today it’s a heritage copper mining town with grand buildings and stone cottages that attract tourists. This is the busiest town we’ve seen since Kyneton on day one. We have lunch in a friendly little café called Mog’s, stock up on a few groceries and roll on out of town through Hallett and Terowie. Around here it’s gentle rolling grazing land, green paddocks and sheep. There is evidence of an old railway line and many stone ruins.

Peterborough is a railway town and there’s a huge train museum opposite the RV Park. We choose nice grassy sites and before I’ve even set foot in the caravan I’ve been bitten twice by large black ants, not on my feet and ankles but halfway up my calf under my jeans. On closer inspection, we’ve parked on top of an ant’s nest and they are not happy. We quickly move to an ant free gravelled area. Woody walks into town, Elle fights with her TV reception and I wash some of the dust off the floor. We have a relaxing happy hour until sundown when it cools. There are about 20 vans here but there is space for hundreds. It has no facilities as such, but it is a good and spacious overnighter.

Billboard advertising in South Australia is a little more daring than it is in Victoria, and we spot an ad for farm finance:

To save yourself from getting rogered by the RAM. Not being an SA resident or farmer I have no idea what this ad is about but it does give us a giggle.

Accom: 0, (facilities nil), Towing Kms: 268Kms

*Note: I’m guessing that non-Australian readers may be wondering why Mother of Pearl would embark on a 1500km journey just to get out of the house for a few days. Hmmm, well a couple of days ago over breakfast Woody suggested we pop out to see if our caravan manufacturer would have a spare part that we need. Not having anything on and after bashing out a blog post we tootled off. Along the way we checked out a new less busy route for when we have the van on the back. I checked for WikiCamps for any freedom camps that we hadn’t already visited and mentioned that we should check out the showgrounds at Lang Lang on our way home. Although wet it was a pleasant drive to Traralgon in Gippsland and Grant Caravans were helpful, though they didn’t have the part we were after. With rain still falling we ate our picnic lunch in the car then went shopping in Traralgon as I was in need of a coffee and Woody was hankering for some lamb cutlets for dinner. We found a coffee but not the chops. With rain persisting we were heading south towards Mirboo North when I spotted the sign to Yinnar and quickly we hung a leftie. Sure enough, the Yinnar butcher had some beautiful cutlets. It was the GPS’ turn now to get in on the act and she sent us into the forest on an unsealed log truck road to Mirboo North. What’s a bit of mud when you’re on an adventure? Still the rain fell and Woody who prefers not to look at maps was asking why the signs were pointing to Leongatha. Oncoming traffic was getting heavy and they all had their lights on because of the wet and darkening skies and there were warning signs for lyrebirds. Emerging from the winding roads we arrived at Leongatha, and Korumburra, and came pretty close to Phillip Island. When we finally saw the sign for Lang Lang, we both chorused “Stuff Lang Lang!” and half an hour later we walked into a cold but dry house. Next time he suggests that we pop out to pick up a part, I hope it’s not a 317km circumnavigation of West Gippsland.