On the Road Again

By Jen.

Finally, with our van serviced and our storage spaces overflowing, we were ready to hit the road again. The goal was to get back north again and carry off where we left off after Alice Springs to complete our clockwise circuit of the country. Since there isn’t much between Alice Springs in NT and Mount Isa in QLD, we decided to head pretty much north to Mount Isa via various inland routes, knocking off most of the rest of the outback items along the way. Therefore, we left Melbourne to head for Broken Hill, NSW. Of course, if you know me, we wouldn’t be making a beeline straight there, we would wander around and see some sights along the way.

A family of kookaburras kept us company while we were working on the van.

First off was the Daffodil Festival in Kyneton! There weren’t actually that many activities involving daffodils, sadly, but they did have a long row of them at the entrance to town. And, they had ferret races!

image for ferret races.

As we drove further north, I discovered a new favorite industrial cash crop: canola! The fields of flowers are gorgeous!

Since we visited Little Desert National Park, I only thought it appropriate to visit Big Desert (Wyperfeld National Park) as well.

A mob of Western Red Kangaroos.

Shingleback Lizard. He was a chunky guy with an attitude. He stuck out his blue tongue at us as we came close (too slow with the camera).

From another angle. He had been chilling on the road (perhaps trying to get thinner?).

Snowdrift Dune. A large non-stabilized dune with nearly snow-white sand.

From there, it was a visit to the Pink Lakes in Murray-Sunset National Park.

These lakes are, of course, salt lakes.

Rather than being pink from pink salt, though; it is the result of an algae. It had been raining recently, which meant plenty of nourishment for the algae, and thus plenty of pink.

The salt in these lakes is 99% pure, which meant it used to be mined. Apparently the conditions were pretty terrible, though, as they had to do it when the lake was dry in the extreme summer heat.

Then to Hattah-Kulkyne National Park before finally exiting Victoria for the third time.

This park is home to several wetlands along the Murray River.

Crossing the Murray River into New South Wales.