Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Beachport……………………….Day 203

14 Oct 2014

26 days left of exploring.

Since Horsham we have left the state of Victoria and passed another quarantine bin into South Australia.

Leaving Horsham we set of towards the Grampian Mountains showing on the horizon. we passed through a small town with some lovely old buildings called Natimuk. Natimuk has traditionally survived as a rural service centre for the surrounding grain and sheep farming community. More recently it has diversified into tourism and staved off the decline common in other Wimmera towns. People from all over the planet flock to Natimuk because of the rock climbing at Mount Arapiles and the nearby Grampians. We were unable to stop and get a photo of M Arapiles safely but from a distance it looked an awesome climb.

Driving along you tend to read all the signs and names of roads, creeks etc. Some of the names intrigue you and you find yourself wondering where the name came from. One of these was “Sheep Wash Swamp”, 24 kms east of Edenhope.

Passing through Edenhope we continued to the showgrounds at Naracoorte in South Australia, having crossed the border some few kms east of Naracoorte.

We arrived at the showgrounds, along with a lot of carnival people who were arriving with their rides etc for the Naracoorte Show being held this coming weekend. We woke this morning almost surrounded by trucks, vans and caravans and strange dogs.

Leaving Naracoorte at our usual time of around 9.30am in cold head wind, we continued southwards towards Penola, a road we have already travelled on before in April when driving from Bordertown to Mt Gambia.

Leaving Penola, we were once again on a new road we haven’t travelled before. We came to the former timber town of Mt Burr. Mount Burr was once a thriving country town, which was home to a large timber mill. The mill was the first of its kind in the region, built in 1931. It was considered a turning point for industry on the Limestone Coast. Unfortunately in late 2000 the timber mill closed.

The town is named after a local mountain called Mount Burr; it measures 240 metres tall (787 ft) and is one of 15 dormant or extinct volcanoes within the Limestone Coast. Today there is only a general store which sells fuel.

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Continuing through Millicent we finding arrived at our destination, Beachport, on the coast. It is cold and windy with some rain. We set up and went for a drive.

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We saw the Pool of Siloam. The Pool of Siloam is a salt lake, reputedly seven times more salty than the sea and it is alleged to possess therapeutic assets. The pools depth although close to the sea does not fluctuate with the tides as its depth relies on soaks in the area.

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Tomorrow we are doing a day trip to Robe, further up the coast.

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