I don’t know why it is that travellers are routinely described as ‘weary’. If I’m describing myself, I just say I’m a traveller – not a weary one. But when travel publications refer to havens for the weary traveller; and weary traveller’s resting places; and recharging the weary travellers batteries and the like, you start to believe the hype.

So after a long day on the road when we arrived in Victorian mallee town Hopetoun looking for fuel and were overcome by a sudden and inexplicable travel weariness, instead of driving on to our planned destination these two (newly) weary travellers decided to stop and look for somewhere to stay.

Luckily for us, Hopetoun delivered. And delivered so well, we stuck around for a couple more days to check it out.

That was Visit #1.

Which we enjoyed so much, in 2014 we sandwiched a week at nearby Wyperfeld National Park between two more Hopetoun stays.

Why?

Because travellers (whether weary or not) who use Hopetoun as a base to explore Western Victoria’s mallee region will find AT LEAST five good reasons why Hopetoun Victoria makes it onto our TOP Aussie Town list!

1 Mallee Bush Retreat

Our camper trailer is like having our very own portable micro-nation. It’s the one constant in our travels – we know what’s in it, where everything is, how it works. So it’s a rare day on the road that I’d rather sleep somewhere else.

But who wouldn’t want to sleep in a Silo?

The Silo Cabins are just two of the quirky and inexpensive accommodation options built from local materials like wood, stone and corrugated iron at The Mallee Bush Retreat on the shores of Lake Lascelles.

Even the public loo gets the rustic treatment!!

The Retreat’s brochure description – ‘an ideal stop for not only the weary traveller but people seeking adventure and excitement’ – was a sign, so I suppressed my disappointment at foregoing the pleasures of snoozing in a silo, and we set up on one of the several grassed, powered sites overlooking the lake.

Which with its easy access to an excellent amenities block, camp kitchen, lakeside fire bucket AND low price tag* quickly became one of our all-time favourite powered campsites ANYWHERE!

In fact, cheap powered sites and FREE unpowered sites make Hopetoun an attractive alternative to camping at Wyperfeld National Park (see #5 below) 40 km away on a fully sealed road (to the southern entrance) – since 1 July 2014 it costs between $34-$37.80** for an unpowered campsite.

2 Lake Lascelles

I don’t know from whom I inherited the compulsion to walk around the perimeter of any given (smallish) lake I find . But despite our travel weariness, we soon gave in to the urge to circumnavigate Lake Lascelles’ shores – an easy 30 minute walk.

More if you’re there at sunset or sunrise with a camera handy.

Named for EH Lascelles, one-time owner of local Corrong Station, the lake is always full thanks to the Grampians-Wimmera Mallee Pipeline. And that meant the sensational sunset, sunrise AND moonrise reflections had me regularly jostling for the best vantage point. Yes, my friends, that’s why I have elbows!

Pilchard’s elbows get used if anyone’s between him and a clear view of the birds that find the lake an attractive home, or in the case of avian weary travellers – staging post!

And at night, the welcoming glow of campfires all around the lake tells us we’re (sadly) not the only weary travellers to have discovered this killer campground!

3 The Bow Bakery

Where does one go when the energy-depleting effects of exercise, exploration and elbow-nudging takes their toll on ones energy reserves?

In Hopetoun that’s an EASY question.

The Bow Bakery, of course!!

An off-shoot of the bakery in nearby town Rainbow (RainBOW bakery, geddit?) it’s another reason why weary travellers might want to break their journey in Hopetoun.

And then visit Rainbow for a go at the original Bow!

4 Patchewollock

It’s a little off the beaten track if you’re not visiting the northern section of Wyperfeld National Park (see below), unless you’ve heard of Patchewollock’s BIG attraction – and my all time favourite Australian BIG THING – the BIG Malleefowl!

Since my only visit to this awesome creation a few years ago, my complimentary*** copy of The Little Book of Big Aussie Icons tells me there are now TWO Big Malleefowl – with rumours they’re going to breed, which means eggs and chicks in the future.

And surely that’s something to excite even the most jaded of weary travellers. If not, then maybe this isn’t the blog for you

5 Wyperfeld National Park

The day of Hopetoun Visit #2 was actually meant to end at Wyperfeld National Park.

Ever since a day trip on Visit #1, we’d planned to return to this mallee wonderland, one of several Victorian Mallee National Parks collectively covering over 1,000,000 hectares.

But another attack of lethargy-inducing travel weariness forced (!) us to settle for somewhere with facilities to recover from our exhausting ~6 hour drive (including bakery stops – Lameroo is GOOD!).

One night turned into two – but in our defence, Hopetoun’s excellent main street was the perfect place to stock up with supplies for a few nights in the mallee wilderness.

And so the long weekend we’d planned for Wyperfeld turned into a week!

Spending 7 days in Wyperfeld was easy.

We hiked the Desert Walk through a strangely beautiful fire-ravaged dune system, recovering from the summer bushfires 6 months before. We walked through spinifex and sand dunes to Mt Mattingley lookout on the Discovery Loop, explored the Park’s history at the Visitor Centre, and its habitats on the Tyakil Walk. We climbed Flagstaff Hill at sunset and drove the Eastern Lookout loop, searching for Mallee Fowl on the Lowan track.

And sometimes we just walked along the roads.

While the park and surrounding area is a 4WD mecca, that meant our walk/rest/eat/sit-around-the-campfire-when-your-travels-make-you-weary lifestyle in the zero degree night air (it WAS mid-winter!) passed relatively undisturbed.

But if you want to know what avid 4WD enthusiasts talk about around the campfire after a hard day on the tracks, then you’ll have to come to Wyperfeld on a long weekend too!!

If sand dunes, space, spinifex, solitude and scenic loos – the Wonga Campground loo is in MY BOOK – aren’t your thing, then Wyperfeld probably won’t thrill you as much as it did me.

In which case, head for Hopetoun and hope like hell the Bon Bon Cafe and Takeaway is still serving their killer pizza!

Back in Hopetoun with 8 days of washing piled up, a pantry ready for re-stocking and two weary travellers in dire need of a shower we reclaimed our site at the Mallee Bush Retreat and sat back waiting for the sunset. Then the moonrise.

Two more nights, and we reluctantly left this little gem in the middle of the mallee despite so many reasons to stay. But many reasons to stay means we know we’ll be back!

Like this post? Why not register to get RedzAustralia updates via email HERE! THEN … share it (buttons below)!

Want MORE?

• Hopetoun, Victoria
• The Mallee Bush Retreat, Hopetoun Victoria
• Wyperfeld National Park, Victoria
• The BIG Malleefowl, Patchewollock and MORE Aussie BIG Things
• My FIRST trip to Hopetoun, Victoria
• MORE Victoria Mallee Photos on Flickr

* $20 per night for a powered site; FREE Bush Camping around the lake as at July 2014

** As at 26 Jan 2015

*** Complimentary because MY photo of Ballina’s BIG Prawn is in it!

Next Post: Walk Wild Wilkawillina!

Previous Post:
A Day in the Border Ranges National Park

The post Why Hopetoun Victoria is a TOP Aussie Town! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

At LAST I’ve got the answer to that irritating question – Have you been to all the Australian National Parks?

I’ll just get out my recently released 2^nd edition of Explore Australia’s excellent Explore Australia’s National Parks!

And point out that to visit ALL of Australia’s 500+ National Parks would be a life-long project.

The question comes up because lots of visitors stop counting after Uluru-Kata Tjuta, the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and the Blue Mountains. But what about the other 500 or so? Over the years, our travels in Australia have taken us to some spectacular National Parks that we’ve often had all to ourselves.

Using Explore Australia’s National Parks will help to narrow the field. And I’m not just saying that because I was lucky to get a complementary copy – check out the infographic at left, then take a little armchair tour of these 6 less well known Australian National Parks and you’ll see what I mean!!

And if this doesn’t whet your appetite for Aussie travel, then NOTHING will!

Let’s head to South Australia first!

1. Great Australian Bight Marine National Park, South Australia

Driving the Nullarbor is the ultimate road trip – part of a 4000 km journey from one side of Australia to the other, its big chunks of nothing broken only by roadhouses, rest stops and ‘roos! And stopping for the obligatory photo of yourself in the middle of a long stretch of empty road with nothing all around …

But the drive through the Nullarbor Regional Reserve is an adventure in itself with several world exclusives, including Nullarbor Links, the world’s longest golf course; the Nullarbor itself, world’s longest, flattest limetone formation; and the Bunda cliffs – longest unbroken stretch of cliffs without a natural harbour in the world.

For those unimpressed by such things, the Great Australian Bight – that big concave bit along the bottom of the continent – is a world reknowned Southern Right Whale nursery and migration path.

And on a good day – May to October – literally dozens of whales and calves can be spotted up and down the coast from the Head of Bight viewing platforms.

Such a spectacle, in fact, that I almost didn’t notice the scenic public toilet!

Read MORE: Whale Watching at Head of Bight

2. Wyperfeld National Park, Victoria

For a complete change of pace, Victoria’s Mallee country is a surprise to those who thought the Outback was confined to Australia’s more central parts.

Only 450 km north-west of Melbourne, visit Wyperfeld’s eastern section from nearby Hopetoun or Rainbow, but for a real outback experience camp in one of the park’s two campgrounds and explore the park on foot.

With walking trails to suit all levels of fitness, the park is part of a complex lake system and is a known habitat for the endangered Mallee fowl.

During our May 2012 day trip, we saw two other cars. But although lots of others joined us for our second stay on the June long weekend in 2014,  we were on our own again once the weekend was over.

And when you’re done with Wyperfeld, drop in to nearby Patchewollock for the BIG Mallee fowl!

Read MORE: Patchewollock and Hopetoun 

3. Cape Range National Park, Western Australia

The poor relation of Exmouth’s two parks, Cape Range is often overshadowed by the world famous Whale Sharks of Ningaloo Reef. And while these Western Australian Coral Coast offshore attractions are undeniably spectacular, Cape Range was so intriguing on our August 2012 visit, we saved Ningaloo for next time.

After escaping our campsite between the twin delights of the amenities block and the backpacker accomodation, Yardie Creek Gorge along the western side of the range running down the middle of Northwest Cape was a welcome surprise.

It’s not every day you get to see a classic Outback Gorge with a river running into the ocean!

The eastern side of the range was even more dramatic. A very rough, narrow, winding and steep drive along the aptly named Charles Knife Road revealed more rugged Outback scenery with staggering views across to the ocean.

And in the height of tourist season, with caravan parks and campgrounds full to bursting, we lucked out with only a couple of other vehicles!

Although one contained quite possibly the only sarong-wearing Frenchman in the world …

Read MORE: Exploring Cape Range National Park

4. Keep River National Park, Northern Territory

Described to us as the ‘mini Bungle Bungles’ in a nod to one of Western Australia’s big ticket items, the Northern Territory’s Keep River National Park actually abuts the WA border. And makes a mockery of the 1½ hour time difference! Although we left Kununurra early, by the time we’d visited the Ranger station and nearby Cockatoo Lagoon, then driven to the 7km Jarnem Loop walk trailhead, the morning had all but gone.

No matter.

This spectacular walk through bizarre rock formations to the 360ºlookout, then down through a lightly wooded valley past more rock formations to an Aboriginal rock shelter complete with paintings was virtually people free!

Add a lifer – White-quilled Rock-pigeon – for twitcher Pilchard and I see a return to this remote Top End park in our future …

I can only imagine the views at sunset and sunrise – but one day we’ll stay in one of the campgrounds for a few days and find out!

And when one day we visit the real Bungle Bungles, we’ll see how it got it’s nickname.

5. Paroo-Darling National Park, New South Wales

Jolting along the rough road from remote opal mining town White Cliffs towards Paroo-Darling National Park’s Peery Lake, we spotted a Winnebago parked in the middle of the road. Stopping to make sure the owners were OK, we asked where they’d come from. The middle aged couple exchanged guilty glances and seemed strangely reluctant to tell us.

‘You’re not Park rangers, are you?’, she finally asked. Then the penny dropped! They’d illegally stayed at the lake overnight.

‘It’s not really camping,’ she continued. ‘We’re fully self-contained!’

And that was our introduction to both Paroo-Darling National Park and the new definitions of ‘camping’.

The park is a string of seven old pastoral leases, several of which form one of the only reserves on the Darling River floodplain.

The park’s only campground – the Coach and Horses – is in this section, more easily reached from Wilcannia.

In the northern sections, along the Paroo River Overflow before it meets the Darling near Wilcannia. In this part of the park, the massive bulk of Lake Peery, full during our 2010 visit, supports abundant birdlife but when dry its unique mound springs become visible.

Read MORE: White Cliffs, New South Wales

6. Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park, Queensland

Back in 1998 on our first and only visit, Queensland’s Lawn Hill was considered a remote destination with the riverbanks at closest town Gregory Downs a makeshift stopover campsite before the rigours of 100 km of bulldust and gravel.

Nowadays, nearly 15 years later, it’s still a long, hard 100 km of unsealed road. With either mud or dust, depending on the time of year.

But it’s still one of the most spectacularly memorable National Parks in Australia, an Outback oasis with a soaring red rocky gorge system, clear water and staggering scenery. The canoe trip from the camping area up the gorge, then over the portage point into the higher gorge is an amazing experience. Get close to the wildlife too! Swim with the giant carp, spot freshwater crocodiles lurking in the gorges – and watch out for snakes in the water! My first instinct was to paddle like hell when my oar nearly hit a snake in the water; but Pilchard wanted to paddle back to see what he’d missed.

I guess that’s the essential difference between us!

Back at the campground’s cold showers, the high limestone content in the water gave a whole new meaning to ‘sculpted hairdo’ …

While travelling to these National Parks may take a little longer, the trip is well worth the extravaganza of stunning scenery, wonderful wildlife and extraordinary experiences you’ll encounter.

If YOU would like to explore Australia’s National Parks further, Explore Australia’s Explore Australia’s National Parks would make a GREAT investment in your Aussie travel!

The post 6 ALMOST Secret TOP Australian National Parks! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The insatiable curiosity that leads me off the main road to explore an interesting sounding place or rumoured oddity isn’t always rewarded.

But in the tiny town of Patchewollock, deep in the Victorian Mallee and just off the Hopetoun/Walpeup road, I hit paydirt.

Big time!

Unmarked on any tourist literature (that I’d seen) Patchewollock hosts one of the most bizarre Australian Big Thing I’ve ever seen.

So far, anyway.

The Big Malleefowl, constructed almost entirely from painted corrugated iron, is perched near the restored railway station and goods shed, classified by the National Trust. Thanks to the decades of relentless country Australia de-railing by successive governments, the trains no longer run.

And neither does the Big Malleefowl. A little unsteady on its feet, the orange netting around its claws stops people adults children from attempting to climb it.

The heartland of the vulnerable Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) is unsurprisingly the Mallee country and nearby Wyperfeld National Park is a known habitat. This notoriously shy bird incubates its eggs on the ground in a large mound of earth and leaves, so is therefore under threat from both bushfires and foxes, despite it’s protective colouration that acts as camouflage.

Or perhaps the Big Malleefowl was designed to echo its megafauna ancestor, Progura naracoortensis …

Whether its unknown maker/s intended it to be male or female is uncertain. And with no distinguishing characteristics between them, I’ll wait for an expert chicken sexer to make a determination!

But whatever its gender, I suspect Outback Patchewollock has scored itself an exclusive. While Malleefowl are found in other areas of Australia, I’d be amazed to find that anyone else had the foresight and vision to actually make a Big One!

And because it’s an Australian endemic, I’m betting you won’t see a Big Malleefowl anywhere else in the world!

Now THAT’S worth visiting Patchewollock for!!

Want more information?

• Patchewollock, Victoria
• Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata)
• Victorian Mallee
• Wyperfeld National Park

The post Only in OZ #22 – The Big Malleefowl, Patchewollock, Victoria appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.