 A fascinating 290 kilometre journey had us passing through a contrast of landscape. The road trip began with dry wheat country and rolled into the hills of Mount Remarkable, an area that looks like it is begging to be explored with its 960 metre hills filled with gorges and bushwalking tracks. The flat road suddenly turned into a windy range taking us through the hills of Mount Remarkable and out the other side to see the narrowing Spencer Gulf. It was quite a change of weather from hot and dry to windy, damp and cold. The bends of the road eased out to a straight road that put us on the A1 into Port Augusta. We stocked up on goodies in Port Augusta and had lunch by the city park, which entertained us with views of the Gulf and some local street artworks. We ventured out of Port Augusta and the country changes again to dry arid saltbush landscape. The road took us past a town called Iron Knob, its 64 percent graded iron ore has supplied the country since 1900 and makes up 21 percent of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We drove along and made it to our destination, Kimba. The caravan park was a hassle free set up so easy we did it twice, as I (Shovel) put a water filter on too heavy for the mains tap, the water feature is nice though, isn't it? We went for a walk in the afternoon to witness the almighty 8 metre tall flaming Pink Galah and the stunning silo art put together by artist Cam Scale in 2017. The silo artwork is quite jaw dropping with the amount of detail thrown into the 30 metre towering concrete cylinders. We finished the day off with a delicious curry dinner at the servo. You might think delicious, curry and servo are never seen in the same place but Kimba is an absolute game changer.
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town that thrived in the gold rush days back in the 1850’s. The region was originally known as Mayday Hills until regular findings of gold transformed the grazing land into a thriving gold rush town, officially being called Beechworth on the 1st of January 1854. The boom times brought in a large variety of industries to the town, this included a tannery, jewellers, boot makers, a brewery, blacksmiths and livestock sale yards. It had schools, a convent, hotels, a prison with imposing stone walls, a hospital, a mental hospital, court house, police barracks, stage coach companies and a powder magazine.
Echos of History Guided Walking TourThis is an Apple Box, But But Eucalyptus Tree measuring approx. 8m in diameter and standing at 23m high. It is said to be over 300 years old and the result of two trees merging together. In the gold-rush era the tree was used as a message board, with messages nailed to the tree. Evidence of which is still visible and is listed on the heritage national trust database.
The gold rush days brought people in from the United States, United Kingdom and China, all to try and get a slice of the golden cake. Mining Camps and leases popped up around the region, seeing a population of 3100 soar to 22000 people. Two well known figures of Beechworth are bushranger Ned Kelly, who had many links to the town and Robert O’Hara Burke, the local police officer who embarked on the ill fated Burke and Wills expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The winding narrow challenging roads from Canberra brought us into Beechworth in the afternoon, which welcomed us with blooming autumn flora and streets filled with Victorian Colonial architecture. It was extremely pleasant and even the caravan park was nestled in behind the local Lake Sambell, giving us a beautiful place to stay.
Ned Kelly Guided Walking Tour
The cell in the Beechworth Courthouse where Ned Kelly spent time prior to sentencing. It is still in the original condition, with the addition of electricity.
The our day kicked off with a run out to Lake Kerferd, which provided great views and a hard fall to the ground that left Gumby with a few nasty scars on the leg which are still with us to this day. The injury brought her much pain but she soldiered on refusing to let it stop any exploring. We got ourselves out to the town and enjoyed a walking tour by a knowledgeable local. The tour was hours of information on Beechworth’s eventful history. Every part of the town had a story to it, of course every building does, but things you would just walk past like an apple box butt butt eucalyptus tree that was used to pin messages on, or a hook on the wall of one of the shops, used to hang dead cattle so it could get pickled to avoid maggots and flies.
We got to know the notable locals a bit better. Robert O’Hara Burke was not just a famous explorer but one of the local policemen of the town. Although known for leading explorations, he wasn’t too good of a navigator when finding his way around Beechworth constantly getting lost out bush. Another well-known figure in Beechworth was Ned Kelly; the notorious bushranger had many links to the town. He was a regular visitor of the courthouse and spent two years in the local HM prison, where four of his other gang members and his mother also spent time. Beneath the town hall is a cell where Ned Kelly’s mentor and Bushranger Harry Power spent time in 1863 and 1864. One of his most famous Beechworth events was a boxing match with Isaiah Wright to settle an argument over a horse. The bare-knuckle match endured for an astonishing 20 rounds seeing Kelly come out on top. He created a lot of history in the region with countless acts against the law, from as small as riding over a footpath drunk to being part of one of the most famous gangs in Australian history. His life of 25 years has more documented history than Queen Victoria and most of it lies within the region. It was a big day on the history so we thought the best way to see in the night was a pizza from the local Bridge Road brewery. We also had our first ever beer together, which was the Bridge Road Robust Porter, unbelievably delicious! The only thing that we found disappointing about Beechworth is that we only spent one day there, we were in love with the town. It surprised us with beautiful architecture, scenery and endless chapters of history. The food is amazing and local beer so good that we even gave it a try. Saddleback Mountain Lookout
Panoramic view of Saddleback Mountain and the coastal town of Gerringong
Panoramic view looking towards Kiama
Saddleback Mountain
Blowhole
George Bass was the first recorded European to have witnessed the blowhole, writing of its 'tremendous noise' when he anchored off the coast in 1797.  By the 1820's Kiama was a major supplier of the softwood, Cedar, providing the Sydney population with a vast supply for furniture production. Prior to European settlement the area surrounding Kiama was saturated by a thick sub-tropical forest, with dark imposing foliage-dense canopies, towering trees and lofty palms. Minnamurra Rainforest is a good example of what the region would have looked like. During this period of intense 'cedar-getting' John Oxley explored the area, but it was not until 1839 that the township of Kiama was gazetted. With a safe harbour the town developed as a shipping centre, sending cargo loads of quarried basalt to other ports, and with the rainforest cleared, the region's dairy industry was born on the town's backdrop of rolling lushly green hills. The close proximity to Sydney has transformed this industrial and agricultural based seaside town into a mecca for retirees and holiday makers seeking respite from the woes of city life. Bombo Headland
Lighthouse to Kendalls Beach Walk
Looking towards the Surf Beach (closest) and Kendalls Beach
Sunrise at Kendalls Beach
We relaxed at Kiama for four days enjoying the mild climate, jogging, strolling, website updating and taking in the sights. A beaut totally chilled hideaway, called Forest Eats feed us a sensational Jackfruit burger, which we'd been craving since leaving Byron Bay and jazz musicians serenaded us as we wandered through the streets of this cozy seaside retreat.
 We woke up just short of sunrise and took a drive out to Mount Tomaree, one of the Volcanoes that welcome the ships into the Karuah. We took a walk to the summit that sits 161 metres over the Port Stephens region. The views are blissful panoramas of the sun rising over coastlines, islands and deep blue ocean. Another walk below the summit track took us around to remains of the Tomaree Fort gun emplacements. The Fortress is a great showcase of how hard the military worked during World War II not only in training regimes, but also in building magnificent structures to survive the worst-case scenarios and protect the steel being manufactured in nearby Newcastle.
The population of Julia Creek swells annually from 300 to 3,000 for the Dirt and Dust Festival. The festival incorporates a Sprint Triathlon, Horse Race and Rodeo, including other events like cow pat throwing and bog snorkelling. Shovel, having grown up in Australia’s Rodeo Capital has been to his fair share of Rodeos, but this was my first Rodeo. I felt conflicted going as I don't believe animals should be used for entertainment, but was surprised how well the bulls were treated and seemed to be celebrities in their own right. We both agreed the Bull Fighters were the stars of the show, however as they threw themselves in front of the bulls to protect the cowboys. It was incredible to watch one Bull Fighter throw himself on top of a cowboy to protect him after he was knocked unconscious, whilst the other Bull Fighter, trying to coax the Bull out of the ring got slammed up against a wall. We slept on a camping mattress in the back of Rex over the weekend at their Show Grounds and were blessed with stunning sunrises.
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