Thurs. 25th Oct., 2012 - Keith to Portland

We'd intended to drive all the way home today but it was over 400kms & so we planned a new route & decided to make our final journey in two stages. 

It had rained overnight & was still pretty damp & miserable when we awoke - in great contrast to all the sunshine & blue skies to which we'd become accustomed.  It was quite a shock.  Looking back, we felt that 80 Mile Beach, Kalbarri, Coral Bay & Shark Bay were probably the best climatic areas.

As we headed toward Penola & Mount Gambier, the sun did break through occasionally & the bright yellow wattles were a cheering sight, despite the intermittent drizzle.

Once again, we were in wine country & vines covered the land on both sides of the road.  Grapes were grown on a massive scale & we recognised some of the well-known names, such as Penfold's.  Big trees bordered the highway & the region appeared to be very fertile.

Prior to arriving at Penola, we entered the Coonawarra Wine Region, where more vines grew in abundance.  We passed "Chardonnay Lodge", where we had stayed some years ago.

We stopped at Penola, a town of which we're fond, for a pie & coffee.  However, we didn't stay for long as the wind was bitterly cold & it was still drizzling.  Then, the drizzle turned to heavier rain & we drove away with the windscreen wipers working, for the first time in ages.

After travelling through Mount Gambier, we finally crossed into Victoria & found ourselves in the Rennick State Forest, where grazing & pine forests predominated.  The road was poorly maintained (full of pot-holes), in fact, one of the worst we'd driven on.

We stopped to make tea at a little place called Dartmoor (did we have to choose a day when the place was absolutely crowded with people & cars because a funeral was in progress!)  However, beyond all the congestion, we found a lovely picnic area with plenty of grass & big shady trees.  It was very peaceful & smelled of newly-mown hay - a lovely break from the highway.  To our delight, two kookaburras sat in one of the nearby trees (strange, as I'd just remarked that we hadn't seen any recently).

Dartmoor had numerous fascinating wood carvings dotted about, obviously the work of someone who was influenced by his/her environment.

Finally, we arrived at cold Portland (13C!)  The caravan site, at which we stopped, was almost empty - people were probably hibernating, or had moved up north.