REST AREA TO UNDERBOOL

REST AREA TO UNDERBOOL = 25KM

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 386KM

UNDERBOOL REST AREA CAMPING = $10 powered.  (not sure if there is a non powered rate)

 

Neil had a suggestion this morning that sounded great in theory but in practice it wasn't good for me!  His suggestion was to get up and cycle the 4km into Walpeup and have brekky at the rest area where there will be a table ... in hindsight I think yup that is okay if it is just around the corner but for some strange reason my body did not want to ride that 4km before having brekky ... call it a caffiene thing or "40 odd years of breakfast before anything" conditioning!

But after our brekky I felt fine, the decision was to continue on to Underbool as per usual even though it was on just down the road rather than try for another 80km to Murrayville.

So we joined the Malley highway and there wasn't alot of traffic but now we are here at Underbool there is quite a few traffic - maybe weekend campers going home (as the pink lakes are not far from here but all by dirt road so it is not practical for us to go and look!).  There is, however, an incredible amount of caravaners going along this road and in both directions!

The wind today is not so strong and mainly a south westerly so it was a litte in front of us but ridable.

We get to Underbool and looked at where the local camp spot is and thought 'ooops' should have stayed at Walpeup much nicer!  We read somewhere that this was a nice rest spot with clean amentities ... maybe that person was the first to use the amenities straight after it was built because they are okay but by no means the best in Victoria like they stated.

We did find a spot to camp and  it is $10 for powered although there are only 4 powered sites and they are all outside the public toilets we opted to use the power here at the bbq.  There is a womens and mens shower and the water is nice and hot (but don't bother using the cold) as the hot is at the 'right' temperature.  The shower head is a little weak for my liking and there is a tendancy to hug the wall so that all your body gets water on it.  Another problem is that the roof is sort of open at the ends and lets in a draft and the door has an opening at the bottom which also lets in the draft - perfect for a stinking hot day but on a day like today (around 18 degrees) it is damn cold in there!

We are sandwiched between the Mallee highway and the train track which is used during the wheat season I think.

Around the train tracks there are a few wild flowers ...



this one is a bit like a poppy.  Our tent spot is below ...

for lunch we decided to get some hot chips and have a 'chup butte' (pronounced but-tay) the local newsagent come post office come grocery store come lunch bar had some delicious hot food and very popular as quite a few people stopped by to eat there ...

mmmmm dinner tonight is 'butter chickpea' (a play on butter chicken!).  This is the first chance I have managed to get this close to the wheat silos at a train track that we see in each town  so I took this opportunity to take a photo of the silos, the chute where the wheat comes out to load on the train and the tracks ... it is a shame there wasn't a train loading ... although that would make this little rest area camping spot rather noisy I think :)

Tomorrow is Murrayville.