Exploring Little Desert and Mount Arapiles

We had a slow start the next morning and enjoyed relaxing over breakfast with beautiful Blue Wrens, Robins, Kangaroos and a cute little Echidna who was passing by.  

Some time later we took a walk to Whimpey's Waterhole and enjoyed a couple hours by the water with some Rainbow Bee Eaters, Honeyeaters and after finding the source of a big noise above us, a young Goshawk and it's Mother.  The young hawk was almost fully feathered and we thought we might see it leave the nest over the next few days but it was still there when we left.  Looks like the kids hang around in the bird world too!

After lunch we jumped into the car and went off to check out some of the tracks in the National Park.  We had a good afternoon and found the very sandy tracks fairly easy to navigate though a little bumpy in places.  

Back at camp we spent a couple of hours relaxing before returning to Whimpey's Waterhole for the dusk activity.  Dinner and bed were not too far behind.

We were up earlier the next morning and had a big day planned as we drove out through Nhill to Kiata where we checked out a great campground and were very surprised to find no one there at all.  It was a bit hot so perhaps it's a cool climate campsite.

Leaving Kiata we drove on through Dimboola to have a look at Horeshoe Bend and Ackle Bend camp grounds, both on the banks of the Wimmera River.  The first one had a few vans and tents but only one at the other.  They are all very well maintained and look like a great place to put in the memory banks.  And a great place for our picnic lunch too.

We left the campgrounds to drive over to Mount Arapiles and Mitre Rock and on the way was surprised to see a huge body of water that didn't seem to be marked on our map.  It was Lake Natimuk and the whole shore line was just thick with waterbirds of all types.  Not one place to stop safely though so no pictures of any birds today.

Arriving at Mount Arapiles we drove up to the summit car park and then climbed the 50 meters to find a pretty spectacular view over the surrounding district.  As we where right in the middle of wheat country it was so interesting to see wheat fields as far as the eye could see and with harvest in full swing there appeared to be many different patterns on the ground as well.

To the left of us we could see the much smaller Mitre Rock and Mitre Lake right behind it.  As we scanned the district from the top we were quite amazed by the number of lakes we could see.  Some of them are salt lakes and others are fresh water but it all makes for an amazing sight.

Mt Arapiles is widely regarded as Australia's best rock climbing area. There are over 2,000 different climbs on its many cliffs, crags and pinnacles and the camp grounds below were full.   As we drove along the road at the base of the rock we could understand how it attracts thrill seekers from far and wide to try and ame this beast.   

As I was taking pictures of some of the steeper sites we saw three climbers at the top making their way down what looked to me like a totally impossible route.  I was very surprised to see them there as it was an extremely hot and windy day and we had found lots of people around the campsite.  Perhaps they were the sensible ones.

We left them to their adventures and drove home for some quite time under the awning before returning to the waterholes to see what was happening.  The Diamond Firetail Finch was the highlight of the night for Bill and he went to bed a happy man.

The next day we set off on another adventure.  We were going to drive the McDonald Hwy.  This is a 4wd track that goes right through the middle of the central block of Little Desert National Park.  

Like the tracks the other day it was very sandy and fairly deep in some places and while we managed it easily in the Jeep you can certainly see evidence of where some people have obviously been in great trouble in a number of places.  

It was a fun drive and part way through we came to Broughton's Waterhole where we stopped to eat our picnic lunch.  We can only imagine that this waterhole must attract lots of birds and animals at dawn and dusk but I don't fancy driving in and out at these times so I guess we'll never know.  Only two Cockatoos in the trees today and a few smaller birds around the picnic area but an amazing find in the middle of nowhere!

The 'hwy' finally met the real road and after putting air back into the tyres we drove on to have a look at Kaniva.  We had a coffee here and then took a walk along the Main Street where we found the Large Windmill and a number of painted sheep placed at various intervals.  

These sheep have all been painted by 35 community groups and like the elephants in Melbourne they are bright and entertaining.  I particularly loved the Cancer Council sheep and of course 'The Lamburger' just had to get a mention.

Back at home we hung out at Big M's waterhole for a while where some other honeyeaters had come to play.  Soon after it was dinner and bed as we rested for some more fun tomorrow.

Until then......