Nelson

16 – 17 November 2024

We left Mount Compass a bit concerned about the weather forecast – the wind was strong and it was going to get even stronger. We drove towards Wellington where we crossed the Murray River again on another ferry. From there we continued on to Meningie where we stopped briefly but it was too early for lunch so we kept going. We planned to stop for lunch somewhere on the Coorong and found a rest area that looked ok. The wind was blowing hard when we made our way to the picnic table but it was the hordes of flies that had us retreating to eat in the car.

We crossed the Murray River on one of many car ferries

We drove on to Kingston SE (there is another Kingston in South Australia – Kingston-on-the-Murray) where we stopped to make a plan. We calculated that we had plenty of time to get to Nelson at a reasonable hour, but that we would try to get a cabin for a couple of nights to be out of the wind that was forecast. We checked online and couldn’t see anything available so called the caravan park which didn’t have an online booking system. I was told that there were no cabins available until later in the week, so went ahead and booked a powered site for one night hoping we could find something for the following night.

We stopped at Mount Gambier before crossing the border into Victoria, and another change of time zone. It was a long day in the car, but we don’t do it often, and it was a really hot day so it was the best option for us.

When we arrived at the caravan park we were surprised to see that there were hardly any other people there and only one cabin seemed to be occupied. I’m not sure why we were told they were fully booked. Because it was only an overnighter, and there was no rain forecast we stayed hitched up and didn’t bother with the awning so we could get away early if we wanted to.

There was lots of bush around and Mick went exploring with the camera. Unfortunately during the night and through the early morning, it rained quite a bit but there was some sunshine to allow the canvas to dry out sufficiently before we needed to pack up. We checked our options and booked a cabin in Portland where we were able to have the camper trailer nearby and could also check in early.

We left Nelson and stopped in Portland for some groceries, then checked into the caravan park.