2 September 2013 - Lake Lascelles, Hopetoun, Victoria

We woke this morning to birdsong and surprisingly, the distant sound of distant traffic, broke camp and headed back up into town, arriving firstly at the Jayco yard to seek their advice about our tree hole. Young Quentin suggested twenty hours work would be required and with a charge out rate of about $80, this was definitely an insurance job rather than a quick out of pocket job. Unlike Simon at Renmark, they did not carry spare profiles for the job and had no idea how long it would take to source them.

Instead we gave up and headed for the Art Gallery which had been closed for major renovations last year. Here we wandered around the galleries appreciating the exhibition titled The Art of Science: Scientific Illustrations from Museum Victoria even though neither of us get too excited about pictures of birds and other creature .We prefer to be amongst the real thing. We raised the question so often asked, “But is it Art?” when viewing the decaying vegetation of the “work” Lord of the Canopy by Juan Ford. We would have been no poorer had we given the gallery a miss.

We decided there was nothing more to keep us here and so we would head south, but not before we called into OfficeWorks do get some printing done, the brand new Coles supermarket for fresh bread and to top up yet again with diesel. On the road out, we stopped at a roadside stall and picked up a bag of oranges, which I am looking forward to checking out for dessert tonight, and then stopped at Red Cliffs to enjoy our Vietnamese rolls.

From there we set off in earnest, the first one hundred kilometres on the Calder Highway, checking out the rural centre of Ouyen before turning onto the Sunraysia Highway and travelling a further sixty eight kilometres to Lascelles.

Sunset at Lake Lascelles

Ouyen, which I still do not know how to pronounce, was established only in the last century, the development of agriculture in the area slow to start. The land was difficult and only the very hardy types managed any type of success. Today, apart from the National Parks which straddle the highways, the land was all covered in relatively productive wheat crop. Edward Harewood Lascelles, born in Tasmania in 1847, was instrumental in encouraging those who did persevere and it is his name that graces the small settlement where we turned from the Sunraysia Highway. He is considered “The Father of the Mallee", having tackled the vermin and water shortages of the area and inspired those who followed in his footsteps.

It is also his name given to this small lake at Hopetoun, an RV Friendly town which welcomes the likes of us to share their lovely water reserve. As I write this, the temperature is for the second day up over 30 degrees, the sun is low over the water and we are looking forward to yet another peaceful evening beside the bush. Alas the wine is all gone, but dinner is smelling very good.