VO Tour - Nelson

29th Dec 1994 - 1st January 1995

Sue's birthday.

We set off at our usual departure time of about 9:00 am after an uneventful and fairly cohesive pack-up.

The children distinguished themselves this morning with their ability to work as a team and we are beginning to have high hopes.

Our route took us south out of the Grampians to Dunkeld, where I bought Sue a custard tart and a single candle, as the first of her celebrations for the day. We proceeded to Portland, through Hamilton, which appeared to be a tidy little place and was given the grand title of the 'Wool Centre of the World" - probably by the people of Hamilton themselves! Portland was our stopping point for morning tea, which was taken in a clean little cafe overlooking the Portland jetty and harbour. I had one of the best ham salad rolls ever and the others enjoyed Cornish Pasties and pies.

Following celebrations at Australia's victory in the second test - Shane Warne a hat trick and the birthday boy Boonie taking the all important catch - we continued toward our destination, Nelson. We arrived at about 1:30 pm and soon had the campsite in order, with tent erected and gear stowed.

We headed off to Mt Gambier (which for some reason Sue kept referring to as Port Kembla) for weekly groceries and some undisclosed shopping and celebrations for the birthday girl. After all, it didn't seem fair that Boonie's alter-ego missed out. After hitting Woolies, we walked the streets until we found Target and Sue shopped for a few things at the budget's expense but she at least started feeling like somebody loved her. Luckily, her birthday bought on a benevolence, hither to unseen on this journey, that extended to a Pizza Hut dinner. The smaller members of our party were, to say the least, ecstatic and five ''The Works" later, there was a look of satisfaction on their faces. Of course, I could have been mistaken. It could well have been a look of impending regurgitation, on the basis of what they ate! 

During dinner, the management provided a birthday cake for Soonie and we made sure we publicly acknowledged the event by singing the traditional "Happy Birthday" as loud as possible. As you can imagine, Soonie was thrilled ! Following this event, she received congratulations from most people inside or even in the region of the Pizza Hut.

Our return to the caravan park was marked by the need to batten down the hatches for approaching rain It was also special for the destruction of our second air mattress pump. This left us with no pump to iriflate our air mattress. However, a little McGyvering and I had combined both broken pumps to make a serviceable, if time and energy consuming, pump. This done, we settled down for sleep.

The penultimate day of the year was overcast and threatened rain but proved to be long on promise and short on delivery, thankfully. The maximum temperature was only 20 C, which was a long way short of the hot temperatures we anticipated for beach going. However, our policy of not wasting daylight saw us heading off to the water for alternate activities. If we couldn"t swim, we could always fish!

With all our gear in tow and with a hired half-cabin cruiser, equipped with 15 horse power motor (although, how 15 horses could drag you through a river environment it is hard to imagine), we set off, intent on achieving piscatorial fame.

Five hours later, with the majority of the bait intact (I'm sure Sam still had the initial prawn on his hook), we returned. Yes, no fish but much enjoyment. It was a great day on the water and the children really adapted well to almost all of the requirements of fishing. They baited their own hooks, cast their own lines and provided a running commentary on the state and progress of their exploits. This final aspect - a vital element for any fisherperson - was carried out like champions. Rex Hunt has a lot to answer for. Their final test will come when/if they ever catch anything!

All of the children had turns at piloting the boat and generally had a good time. Ultimately, the lack of captures was of little importance, because they never lost interest and would still be out there casting with unbaited hooks, if we had not called a halt to proceedings.


We returned to the camp for some self-directed activities - mostly reading, writing etc. I toured the two shops in Nelson in search of reading material, but the best I could do was the dailies and a Phantom comic. Barbara Cartland or fleshapoids were the only choice among the paperbacks.

Dinner tonight was a treat for the children and Soonie. They had kangaroo fillets, purchased from Woolies at Mt Gambier (Port Kembla), whilst Dad opted for beef. After last nights indulgence, some good old meat and vegies was just what the doctor ordered.

It was still overcast as night closed in and our hopes are pinned on the latest weather report which indicates warmer, clearer weather about to descend on us for the New Year.

New Year's Eve started out brilliantly, with clear skies arriving at about 8:00 am and the temperature warming up gradually throughout the morning.

My first responsibility was to travel to Mt Gambier in an effort to purchase a new pump for the air mattress, which again had opted to deflate overnight and leave Soonie and I with the Titanic feeling by the early hours. Someone should blow air mattresses up ! Whilst in Mt Gambier, my second mission was to seek out a Ford dealer for the 20,000 km service on the car. This worked out to be very successful, as the service department was most helpful and fitted the car in, first thing. They ushered me to a waiting room, provided food and drink, reading material and a television. I was very impressed. Brian Maney Ford , if you are ever in Mt Gambier.

I had begun to despair at finding the appropriate shop to buy the new pump, when there, before my eyes, was the biggest disposal store I have ever seen. It was like walking through a dream, as I perused their shelves. An expensive, double-action, upright pump was obtained and it was off to the camp to search the air mattress for the flaw in its integrity. The leakfound and patch attached, it was off to the beach for some combing. This was cut short after the discovery of blue bottles washed up on the beach and the fear of stings.

Lunch was sandwiches on the Glenelg River, adjacent to the sandbar that precludes large boats from entering the river. The lunch spot was on a sandy section of the bank, known as the estuary beach. Whilst consuming our salad sandwiches, we watched an American grandma walk her grandchildren through the river.

Two boats were shipwrecked in the mouth of the Glenelg, approximately 100 years ago: one as the result of ignorance of the local conditions and inability to adhere to local advice and the other, owing to severe weather conditions.

The afternoon included a trip to the Nationnl Park HQ and a look through the Visitors Centre. Some interesting displays but, as it is a smallish park, it was all on a small scale and mostly as a result of the interest of the ranger. The park is based on the river, but also includes Princess Margaret Rose Caves. Of these, only one is open to the public.

This behind us, we drove to Port Macdonell: a quiet seaside village in South Australia. The lighthouse here - Cape Northumberland - is the southern most lighthouse in SA. The town also includes Adam Lindsay Gordon's cottage, which we didn't see, because four of us thought it would be boring. Needless to say, Soonie was the unlucky one of the four.

The scenery along the coast near the cape is quite spectacular , with sensationnl weathering of the soft sedimentary cliffs. I suspect that these are similar in composition to those near Port Campbell (limestone, I believe). We clambered down some of them to observe a colony of birds on an off-shore island that had originally been part of the coast but had been eroded by the action of the Southern Ocean, to create its isolated position. On our way back to the car, we discovered three fairy penguins, frolicking in a cavern below us. The power of wind, salt air and sand was clearly evident.

In Port McDonnell itself, Customs House is a beautiful old building that has National Trust listing, but is now owned privately. In fact, For Sale signs were prominent outside it. A walk along the jetty, opposite, was also part of our tour of Port McDonnell. A sailing boat - Gioconda of Sydney - was moored at the extremity of the jetty and while we were there, a.fishing trawler pulled up and filled with fuel.

Back at camp after our driving tour, we fuelled up ourselves, seeking energy for our early evening fishing trip. This was to be another adventure in piscatology that common sense suggested was not necessary, but a sense of holiday and the children's high standard of behaviour, demanded.

As usual, no fish, but lots of fun.

Our last day in Nelson was again cold and overcast, but worse was to come, as I had contracted some sort of tummy wog that left me in bed for the day. It ended up being a pretty ordinary day, all round and we were looking forward to the trip to Port Campbell and the hope qf some warmer weather and certainly some brilliant sights.

Click for today's photos

A final word about Nelson, belongs to the Kywong Caravan Park. We were very happy with our four nights there. The hosts seemed genuinely interested in keeping their customers satisfied and their efforts of New Years Eve were excellent. I spotted the wife doing a spot-clean of the toilets at 10:00 pm on NYE and they toured the park at least three times dwing the hours qf 23:00 to 1:00. I would recommend it as a place to stay.