WARRACKNABEAL TO DONALD

WARRACKNABEAL TO DONAL = 61km

CUMMULATIVE TOTAL = 2750km

DONALD CARAVAN PARK = $20 powered ($15 unpowered)

 

Yesterday I think we were glad to leave Warracknabeal caravan park ... we stayed there last year and it was a really nice and well looked after park but this time the manager from last year has retired and apparently the Council has taken over the running of the park and it has gone to the dogs so to speak!

We get there and set up and go through our usual ritual of having a cuppa and something to eat and then I go off a have my shower and all that was fine until Neil comes back from his shower and says the mens is not  open and the womens toilets has been turned into a 'unisex' toilet!  maybe I should have payed attention to all the signs on the walls and doors ... I thought that really strange and what is worse is Neil spoke to one of the permanents and it has been like that for 3 months ... it has taken the council 3 months to fix the mens toilets!  Most of the women in the park are paying for the use of the ensuites so basically I was the only woman using the unisex toilets.  Now that was the first thing wrong with the campground the other was a noisy bunch of weed sprayers ... did I just hear everyone say "o-oh"" yes well you will be pleased to know that I didn't say a word ... that's not to say that I was thinking about saying something!!!  There were 6 males all come back from a days work and they

have just been paid as they are loaded up with tinnies and away they drink, for most of the night they were okay and not so rowdy and we all thought they would quieten down by 9pm as they are going to  work tomorrow .... at midnight they were still going and they had got out their guitar and were singing along ... by then I had drifted in and out of sleep and it wasn't until Neil got up to go to the toilet which frightened the heck out of Kouta who in turn lept out of his basket and landed square on me, staggering along wondering what they heck he has just done and realising that he is in the tent and it is only Neil getting out of the tent and not someone trying to get in! that I woke up fully and could hear the rowdy men ... by 1 o'clock I was drifting in and out of sleep and thinking that maybe  I should politely go over and threaten to throw their keys in the Yarriambiack creek ... alas we heard raised voices and one guy was a bit to drunk and beginning to argue and fight ... so I thought it might not be a great idea to go over and ask them to be quiet!

The funny thing about these sorts of situations is that everyone is affected by them but no one wants to go over and say anything.  But anyway the rest of the men around this guy that was yelling and arguing with them decide that enough is enough and they quietened him down and from there I think they all went to bed.

I woke in the morning thinking should I go over and wreak revenge on them?  No it wasn't worth it, but what got us was why were they up so late when they had to work the next day ... well our question was answered when they weren't up with the birds and the bees like us ... it was their day off!  as one left them before us on his motorbike.

Anyway glad to get out of there.  So we left pretty early as it was going to be a hot day and we had around 60km on flat road to get to Donald.  We found a quiet road and on most maps we saw that it was sealed all the way.  We took the road that goes to Stawell and we turned off onto Sheep Hills road about 14km from Warracknabeal.  This road goes right across and east to Donald but we had an idea that not all of it was sealed and one truckie collecting his crop said becareful of the unsealed road ahead and another mechanic fixing a harvester also said the same. 

Along this road are fields of crops and we did see one truck collecting canola from a storage tank

We did come across the unsealed road just after the CFS building at Boolite - at this point we were umming and ahhhing as to whether or not to back track 1km and go down the Runpunyup road but the trouble with that is that we didn't have food with us to stay there as the local store has probably closed down (it was on its' last legs when we past through last year!).  So we perservered, you had to think alot on this road as there was alot of soft spots with huge chunks of gravel and then there was smooth parts.  This was unsealed for 6.5km and for the most of it it was okay to ride (bumpy for Kouta) but in the last part there is a dog leg and the road is slanted either side and you have to ride the dead center or top of the mound which was near impossible for me as Kouta kept moving at the back and putting us in the soft patches!  Alas it took us longer than what we anticipated to get to Donald

Riding along the road is pretty flat and broken up a bit but not too bad considering it is a 'c' road.  They have begun to harvest along this road now and we had to get off for a few grain trucks ... of which there were quite a few driven by females.  We did stop for a quick break at a field of chickpeas

We got into Donald at around 12.30 and the park is on the very edge of town.  It is very run down and not exactly in the greatest condition.  It is big and is up for sale ... somehow unless the 2 owners pull their fingers out of the butts this place is not going to sell!  It is cheap to stay at and the only bonus is that it is quiet and next to a lake so we have a view ...

We staying here for 3 nights as the weekend is going to be very hot.  At least there is a fridge in the bbq section so we can store cold drinks.  Yesterday we moved our tent 3 times as we were unsure as to the line of the setting sun in regard to the shade given by the trees - we think we have settled in a spot that gives us shade at the most important times - between 5-7pm.