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- Mary-Lu on Sunrise/Sunset Collection #2 – Alice Springs to Albany
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Previous Adventures
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Monthly Archives: September 2010
Ararat Trip – Day 4
A brief stop in Ballarat on the way home, so that Emma could visit the local patchwork shop, then a fairly uneventful trip home.
How’s this for a useless factoid to end proceedings – after leaving Ballarat, we passed NO traffic lights until we left the freeway at Hallam North Rd (just 1.5 km from home). That’s just under 200km of uninterrupted freeway travel. Can’t complain about that!
So ends our first adventure in the new van, hopefully the first of many including, of course, the “big trip” we are planning for next year.
Total disatance traveled: 667km
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Ararat Trip – Day 3
Children’s Day.
Having trailed dutifully along behind the adults all day yesterday, we let Sarah and Matilda set the itinerary for the day. Sarah chose to visit the Chinese Heritage Museum, and Matilda thought that a visit to Alexandra Gardens would be nice. As both were quite nearby, we also decided ot check out a local lookout that John was told about; so we added that to our itinerary for the day.
First up was Gum San Chinese Heritage Museum – beware the hefty entrance fee ($26.50 for a family ticket) – which provided an interesting perspective on how the Chinese migration to the Ararat region shaped its history and influenced the 19th century Victorian gold rush era.
A quick stop back at ‘freight train central’ for lunch, then back out in search of a place called McDonald’s Park but, despite a couple of signposts pointing us left and right as required, the location of McDonald’s Park remains a mystery to us… More easily discovered was the turnoff to One Tree Hill lookout, which provided us with commanding views in all directions; only the arctic southerly blowing across such an exposed location stopped us from enjoying the views for longer.
Our final stop for the day was Alexandra Gardens, back in the heart of Ararat township (and, thankfully, fairly well protected from the worst of the cold winds). The girls spotted the playground on the other side of the park and were off like a shot, while the grown-ups strolled by the ornamental lake and through the small conservatory, filled with hundreds of orchid varieties, all in full bloom.
Eventually the cold wind and the dropping temperature had us heading for the car and back to the comfort of the van, before we packup and head home tomorrow.
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Ararat Trip – Day 2
Having re-read my Ararat Trip – Day 1 post, I’m pretty sure I won’t win any literary prizes any time soon… very uninspiring prose indeed!
So, let’s try something a little different today, try and rein in the left side of my brain a little and give my right brain a chance to have a say. Although, having said that, I’m surpirsed either side is working efficiently after our first night ever in the new van. A combination of our caravan park being less that 100 metres from BOTH the major Melbourne-Adelaide truck and train routes (half a dozen freight trains and well over 500 semi trailers during the night), along with an ultra hard, never-been-slept-on-before mattress and it was no wonder I awoke with a splitting headache!
Hmm, sounds like I’m whinging already (ha ha)! It wasn’t so bad though – even a bit funny for the first two or three hours (we even commented about opening the windows at either end of the van to let the freight train through!) – and a good early lesson for young players like us: when looking for a place to set up camp, take notice of your surroundings.
Still, it didn’t dampen our spirits and we were off early to spend the day in the Grampians National Park, taking in Moysten, the spiritual home of AFL football, and Halls Gap, at the doorstep to the Grampians, along the way.
A couple of short stops, to walk among the spectacular sandstone rock formations and take in the scenic views, before we made our way to MacKenzie Falls for lunch. This was followed by a short but steep hike down to the bottom of the falls themselves.
[Pictures]
After a full day’s activities, we made our way back to ‘freight train central’ via Stawell, for another night of peaceful slumber… being broken only by the regular earth shattering blast of each freight train’s air horn as it passed through the centre of town (and, strange as it may seem, the insessant sub-woofer like rumble of the constant flow of trucks along the Western Highway actually became quite soothing, so much so that you really didn’t even notice it after the first 4 or 5 hours of lying in bed waiting to fall asleep…).
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Ararat Trip – Day 1
Odometer – (248 km travelled)
Start: 126129 km
Finish: 126377 km
Travel: Melbourne to Ararat via Ballarat
Weather: Mainly cloudy; scattered showers; A few sunny periods
Temperature: Max 16°C
Meals -
B: Usual (at home)
L: Beechworth Bakery @ Ballarat
D: Roast Lamb
After picking up the girls from their Guide sleepover at 10am, we packed the car, topped up with petrol and were on the road at 12.18pm.
With freeway conditions all the way to Ballarat, the drive was fairly easy.
Lunch was taken at Beechworth Bakery in Ballarat before the final stretch to Ararat via Beaufort.
Interesting to see a couple of wind farms along the way – Waubra and Challicum Hills – and also a small herd of Belted Galloways, none of which any of us had seen first hand before.
We arrived at the Acacia Caravan Park just after 3.30pm. John and Colleen had arrived earlier in the day and already had the main part of the van set up. Our first task was to get the annexe set up – a fairly simple task, although a little height is required. That done, we settled in, got bedding on the beds and dinner – roast lamb with all the trimmings – on to cook.
Dishes washed and coffees drunk, we made our way to bed by around 10pm.
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Trial Run – Ararat
We’re heading off for a trial run in the new van next week – 3 nights in Ararat.
Day trips in and around The Grampians.
Should be fun!
Posted in Places of Interest, Preparation
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