Patchewollock

28 November - 2 December 2022

We left Mount Compass and made our first stop at Strathalbyn for morning tea in a very nice bakery, then continued on through the Fleurieu Peninsula to Wellington. We travelled across the Murray River by ferry and could see that the river level was higher than when we had crossed at several points earlier in the year. After huge rainfalls across eastern Australia, the Murray River, and others, were awaiting the arrival of floodwaters.

We stopped for lunch at a small picnic area in Peake, still in South Australia, then continued along the Mallee Highway. We turned off towards Patchewollock and our destination on a property set up for birdwatchers. The accommodation was basic but had everything we needed and the hosts were knowledgeable and friendly.

Visitors to Explore the Mallee are required to participate in a tour of the property before making use of the tracks and bird hides so Mick went out with our host Michael on the first morning. The tour included some birding but is mainly an orientation. There is a cost involved for the tour and also for the use of the hides.

Mick visited the bird hides on our second day – one was best in the morning and the other in the late afternoon. On our third morning we ventured out for a drive into Wyperfield National Park, about ½ hour away. Michael had provided some maps with good birding spots so we stopped a few times along the way to Snowdrift Picnic Area and Campground. This campground looked like a lovely spot to camp with a huge sand dune as the backdrop. We climbed and scrambled our way up the steep dune to the top where there are magnificent views of the surrounding countryside.

We also spent time during our stay getting the trailer sorted and ready to go into storage as well as packing the car ready to go to Tasmania. We were fortunate to have bright sunny days so we were able to make sure everything was dried out and decided to make our last night before sailing to Tassie, a night in a cabin, just in case. Finding a cabin for a Friday night in reasonable proximity to Bendigo where we were to leave the trailer, proved to be quite a challenge. In the end we found one in Maldon that would allow us to drop the trailer off on Friday afternoon, and then make our way to Geelong for our Saturday night sail.

With a relatively short drive to get to Bendigo we left Explore the Mallee mid-morning and headed along minor road towards Wycheproof,  then on to a lovely picnic area near the river at Charlton for lunch. The nearby caravan park looked like a nice spot as well. From there we drove to the caravan storage facility just out of Bendigo.

Once we had dropped the trailer off we set off to drive to Maldon for our last night before sailing to Tasmania.