The weather continued to be kind, however, we noted from a morning news bulletin that rain was forecast for the weekend in northern Victoria and southern NSW. Depending on the direction we head home, rain may impact our progress.
We made the motorhome ready for departure before breakfast and then had a leisurely breakfast without the pressure of having to return to the motorhome to pack things away.
Today would be our last day “on the road” with the safari and we had decided to visit Ballarat to see the water in Lake Wendouree. Last time we visited Ballarat the lake was bone dry.
We continued the trip south towards Ballarat with wind now starting to impact slightly on fuel consumption.
Upon arriving in Ballarat we were amazed to see the lake now full. During our last visit, we had decided that the dry lake was actually very depressing but the water and the now abundant bird life made for a very beautiful scene. We stopped for morning tea on the side of the lake before heading to a Prisoner of War Memorial where we photographed a name of a relation of a friend.
We managed to find our way out of Ballarat and headed to Ararat where we stopped for lunch and purchased food that would cover our return trip to Sydney. It was disappointing that we had crossed the area known as “The Golden Triangle” and had not stopped to fossick. We have decided that another trip to Victoria definitely awaits us and next time we will spend a good deal of time in this wonderful area.
Whilst in Ararat we managed to purchase a screen that would be attached to the front of the Iveco directly in front of the radiator. As a result of recent rain and then a dry spell, every insect in Australia had moved to Southern NSW and Victoria and had decided to play havoc with the radiators of vehicles. After our trip from Bylong to Khancoban, we had removed at least 30 grasshoppers from the front of the radiator and there were still hundreds of insects squashed onto the front of the vehicle. The screen would protect the radiator. We have also heard of a mouse plague in the area where the CMCA rally is being held next week (from Monday 11th at Deniliquin).
The final part of the drive from Ararat to Halls Gap was completed at a leisurely pace and after registering at the office, we were directed to an area that was to be occupied by our entire group (this would actually be the first time we were all located in the same area without other campers).
We had the motorhome level in no time at all and then enjoyed a coffee and chat with our neighbours. Our last happy hour was shared at 5:00pm and at 6:45pm we all departed to a local restaurant for our farewell dinner.
We managed to play “rummy” before heading off to bed.