Into Victoria

We farewelled South Australia after driving through the bushfire ravaged Adelaide Hills.  Luckily no lives were lost in the January bushfires although several houses were destroyed and damage to property and wildlife was substantial.  We had several days with a very smoky atmosphere while the fires raged.


Once into Victoria we turned left off the Dukes Highway at Nhill and travelled a further 70km north to Rainbow where we're spending a few days with friends on their farm.  It was a long day's driving for us, about 500km and we were pleased to stop and set up our camp.

Rainbow is in crop country, with a few sheep in the Wimmera area of Victoria's west.  It's on the northern edge of Lake Hindmarsh, which is usually dry.  Water from the Grampians is released from time to time and allows the lake to fill.  About 30km south of Rainbow, on the Wimmera River, is Jeparit, a small town most notable for being the birthplace of Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, Prime Minster of Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. There's not much else there though.

A few kms north of Rainbow is Lake Albercutya, a popular camping and picnic area.  It used to be a popular spot for water sports but now this lake is dry and rarely has water in it since it is filled from the overflow of Lake Hindmarsh.

There are many murals around Rainbow depicting the history and life of the area.  We've woken each morning to a dawn chorus of the many birds in the area.

After our few days in the Wimmera area of Victoria we've travelled 200km south to Cavendish on the southern side of The Grampians.  After driving for a couple of hours through flat farmland it was nice to see The Grampians rising to the east.  This is the edge of The Great Dividing Range which stretches from far north Queensland, all the way along the eastern side of Australia and then along the south of Victoria.

On our way we made way for this large tractor to pass us on the narrow road.

We've set up camp for a week at the Cavendish Recreation Reserve Campground which is maintained by a local community committee.

Cavendish is about 25km north of Hamilton which is the centre of the Victorian wool area.  It;s a great place for us to explore The Grampians while we're here.



The Settlers' Walk follows the south bank of the river and is a pleasant stroll through the river gums and sheep paddocks to a lookout with views of the southern Grampian ranges.