As I start this, a few spots of rain are falling on the awning, and a young kangaroo, unperturbed by the rain or my presence, is sniffing around the campfire base in the hope that the last campers here may have left something tastier than the wispy grass growing under the gums; this all within four metres or so of me.
We arrived here about an hour ago, having driven across the State border from Mount Gambier and west to Portland, before coming a few kilometres further west to Narrawong and turning up into the State Forest.
This morning, we woke to the sound of rain on the roof and I was sure we would have to pack up our three days camp in lousy weather, however by the time we had finished breakfast, the worst had disappeared and we were not troubled again until we were well on our way.
The route through to Portland crosses through more extensive pine plantations and sheep and beef holdings, seamlessly except for the state of the highway which deteriorated the moment we crossed into Victoria. Dead roos, emus and even one koala peppered the road which suggested to us that Victorians are rather careless drivers.
Just five kilometres across the state border, we crossed the Glenalg River and passed through Nelson, without pausing to investigate the Lower Glenalg National Park.
We found the Information Centre down on the foreshore at Portland, parked and walked up into the city. The business of the port, obvious by the large grain silos and the great piles of wood chip, is open to view from the parklands between the streets and the shore. No pretension there! Even the view from the many cafes along the waterfront street is straight toward the port, unless one is distracted by the temporary garish funfair situated just back from the shore. An inflated ship, a roller coaster and a merry-go-round are amongst the clutter and, apart from adding a mess of colour, do little to enhance the appearance of the place.
The same Lieutenant James Grant who spotted Mount Gambier in 1900, charted this coast line and named Portland. In 1834 Edward Henty, the father of Mount Gambier, arrived from Tasmania, and settled in Portland, invited three of his brothers along to share his fortune and the rest is history. And so Portland became the first base of permanent settlement in Victoria. Sealers and whalers that had come and gone earlier don’t count. The all weather modern port as it is today was not established until about fifty years ago; lighters were still used in many instances right up until then.
In 1979, construction of the aluminium smelter began, full production starting in 1988. Today this employs over six hundred of the eleven thousand inhabitants and is one of Australia’s largest export earners.
Apart from the smelter, Portland’s working population is engaged in the fishing industry and the export of wood products, livestock and mineral sands. The Portland Wind Energy Project is currently on the go; further evidence that the southerly winds whipping on to this coast do have some positive use.
The retail area of Portland is quite extensive, housed in very ordinary old buildings, but busy and buzzing despite it being Saturday morning. We got waylaid by Max, a retired gentleman of great charm who captured our attention for about half an hour, telling us of his life and the area. We were sorry to tear ourselves away but lunch was calling and we are creatures of habit. It was he who confirmed that the pronunciation of Mallee (an area north of here in the sticks) and of course a description of stubby eucalypt lands, is “melly” to rhyme with “belly”.
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| Our camp in theMt Clay State Forest |
So, better informed about Portland and its inhabitants, we made our way back to the waterfront via several old buildings including the Customs House built in 1849 which is still in use today as it was originally intended.
After lunch, we consulted our Camps 5 bible, decided that this camp with a big tick was worth a look, even if it is a bit of a detour from the road to Hamilton and the Grampians beyond and drove on up. We arrived at the end of the seal, saw a whole lot of cars and caravans jammed into a small space beside the road and changed our mind about staying. While turning around in this very tricky section of the road, a chap came along and explained that this was a private party and not the camp at all. Whew!! We pressed on up the gravel road and found this gem of a place. There are about half a dozen other parties or more in here so we will have to share our kangaroo.
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