Canada Geese are the only ones enjoying Britannia Beach in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 1st.

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Parked by the graveyard... all of our neighbors are very quiet!

When we left you last, we were on our way to see the glow in the dark mushrooms. We had read about them in advance, so we had a good idea of what to expect and how best to find them.

The best thing you can do is to show up in the area during daylight hours so that you actually know where they are. Most people show up at dusk or nighttime with flashlights glaring and then they never actually see anything!

So we had found the mushrooms late afternoon. They look like this...


But they don't actually glow until it's pitch black outside. Around here at this time of year, that means showing up after 8:00pm. We met people with little kids who were just coming in at dusk, and I told them they were at least an hour too early.

So, we knew exactly where to go to find the mushrooms we had seen during the day.

Unfortunately, my camera would not cooperate. This camera is fantastic for daylight zoom shots. But it sucks at low light night shots. They say that to properly photograph the mushrooms at night you need a camera capable of doing a 30 second exposure on a tripod. I'm not prepared to carry that kind of gear around with me... our camera will do maximum 4 second exposure.. not nearly enough.

So I stole a photo from the internet for you. This is approximately what your eyes see in the darkness... 

The ghost mushrooms at night.

It's a pretty neat phenomenon though. From a distance of 20 or 30 feet, you can easily see the glow from a colony of them.

We had left Bundy and Joyce at a forest service trailhead nearby where we were pretty confident we would get a good night's sleep.

Parked up for the night.
Taken at 7:00m this morning!

Sure enough, it was a great night's sleep.

But, we had no cell signal because of all the trees. We drove back into town and found a sports park with open washroom facilities and we had our breakfast and internet time in the parking lot there.

Then, we had some driving to do.

We're trying to optimize the weather, and from Monday noon until Tuesday evening it's supposed to be beautiful. And we want to get some hiking done in Grampians National Park. So we got some driving in today in order to be up there for the sunshine. Hopefully the forecast is somewhat accurate.

Shortly after we started driving, we crossed into the state of Victoria.

We had heard all kinds of warnings about crossing state borders and having food items taken away. Some fruits and vegetables... even honey! But on this fairly main road, there was just a sign. We had planned in advance and didn't have much they could take away, although we were worried about our honey. But, there was nothing!

Scenery along the way.
LOTS of sheep farming!

We pulled in to the town of Casterton. This town is an RVFT... an RV Friendly Town!

What is an RV Friendly Town?

An RV Friendly Town (RVFT) is one that has satisfied a set of guidelines to ensure they provide a certain amount of amenities, and a certain level of service for RV travellers. When deciding whether a town should be RVFT, we also consider the general attitude of the council and business people – after all it is called the RV “Friendly” Town Program..

Essential criteria to become RV Friendly

  • Appropriate parking for RV’s of all sizes within the town centre (within a kilometer of the Post Office), with access to a general shopping area for groceries and fresh produce. This parking is required to be clearly signposted for ” RV Parking Only”
  • Short term, low cost overnight parking (24/48 hours) for self-contained RV’s as close as possible to the Central Business District ( no more than 5kms from the Post Office)
  • Access to potable water for refilling fresh water tanks. Access to a free dump point at an appropriate location.
Casterton has a free camping area for stays of up to 30 days!

We decided not to stay though... we still had some driving to do... however, we did notice some kind of event going on at the showgrounds...


It turned out to be a dog show.
It was all about the Australian Kelpie.

This young Kelpie wanted nothing to do with those sheep!

We watched them work. They're amazing!

This dog got the sheep all corralled and into the gate.

Then he ran right over their backs to guide them out the other side!

Wow, what smart and agile dogs!

We had fun watching them for a while, but we still had some driving to do.

Back on the road. 

We pulled off at a scenic overlook, but there wasn't much of a view.

Wannon Falls.

We stopped at Wannon Falls Park. Interesting waterfall, but now is not the best time to see it. They say that in late September the water is just crashing over at this point.

And in late September, you wouldn't even think about walking across here.

They have a nice free campground here as well.

We had lunch here, but we still had more driving to do!

Off in the distance, there was a mob of kangaroos!

We are learning that kangaroos here in Australia are much like deer in parts of the U.S. and Canada. There are simply too many of them! And just like in Canada, you see them dead at the side of the road... one of the reasons that most vehicles (including Bundy) have a big strong bush bar bolted on as a front bumper. Apparently at night, they aren't the smartest animal. When they see you coming, there is a 50-50 chance they will simply bolt back onto the road instead of running away!

We found a spot at the end of a dead end road...
 literally dead end, because it ends at a cemetery!

Should be a quiet night!

Here's Sunday's drive...

Sunday's drive, 185 kms (115 miles).

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And in Canada...




17 comments:

  1. As a cookout several kangaroo IG accounts, one thing I've read is that if you hit and kill one, stop to see if there is a Joey in the pouch. There are many rescues that will take them and save them.

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    1. That was something I thought about the other day when we were driving and I saw quite a few kangaroos dead at the side of the road, and I wondered if any of them had a joey or not. Hopefully we won't hit one, but it will be something that we would stop and check. They also advertise a phone number to call on a road sign should you find an injured animal at the side of the road.

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  2. We watched the movied "Red Dog" last night all about a famous kelpie. They are amazing dogs and it's great that you got to see them in action. We couldn't believe how they scrambled over the sheeps backs. So hopefully a dead quiet night for you and a good days hiking ahead.

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    1. I have marked down this movie so hopefully we can get a copy somewhere. Yes, we were totally amazed watching some of these dogs working. Very smart and very friendly.

      Unfortunately it wasn't a "dead" quiet night. The wind howled and shook us like crazy for most of the night. :-(

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  3. Even the dogs are trained differently. The old adage of a Deer in the headlights is a little different in Australia.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. These dogs were amazing to watch, they sure knew what their job was and they didn't need much direction either in order to do their job. Very smart dogs!

      Yep, kangaroos are Australia's deer.

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  4. Holy crap that's a lot of kangaroos. I never knew the dogs ran over the back of the sheep - must be difficult to train them to do that

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    1. You think that was a lot of kangaroos, well we saw even more all through the town of Halls Gap, they were everywhere and they weren't afraid of you either.

      These dogs are smart and agile, I bet it didn't take long to train them, a lot of what they do is just natural instinct, including jumping and walking on the backs of the sheep which is a actually a signature move of a kelpie.

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  5. Binge blog reading and I'm finally all caught up. Great wildlife pictures and trip so far. Yes, that camera is amazing! Couple of questions please. Just wondering, do the Australian people eat much kangaroo? Do they farm them like sheep or just strictly a wild animal in the bush? I never really thought about it , but it seems that there is so many of them all over the place. It's probably not just throw a shrimp on the barby, throw a roo burger on there too, why not. Also, does Joyce have just a portable 20 lb tank in a cabinet for propane? Just curious about the RV propane situation down under as compared to the Great White North. Thanks for sharing your awesome trip with us! Cheers!

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    1. Thanks Scott, we are glad that you are enjoying our posts. :-)

      Yes, some Australians do eat kangaroo, it would be something akin to Canadians eating deer. You can apparently buy it but only at some butcher shops, we have not seen any in the normal grocery stores. It is mostly from wild animals as part of a population control program. It might be more like throw another kangaroo steak on the barbie! ;-)

      Joyce has two 3.7kg tanks, so they aren't that big. When we go to fill them up, Kevin will be sure to take a picture of them. We have been in Bundy and Joyce since June 1st and we have only just switched over to the second tank yesterday and the tanks weren't full when we got them so we are doing pretty good. Kevin will also post the price of the propane.

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  6. Looks like you're finding good spots so far. Fun trip!

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    1. We are finding some great boondocking spots. :-)

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  7. (dumb talk to text typos) ooooh the sheep herding you went to sure looked like fun. I did some of that with my first sheltie and it was enjoyable. Glad you're finding some great boondocking spots.

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    1. It was fun, we couldn't get over how smart these dogs are and apparently a lot of it is natural instinct. We were very lucky to have been in town for this festival. This is also the town where the first Kelpie ever was born and where the breed started from, I guess that is why the hold the annual festival here.

      We are finding some great boondocking spots. :-)

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  8. Looks like North America could get some tips from Australia about RV Friendliness! Great boondocking places!

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    1. We agree, although we have found some midwest towns and even going all the way to the west coast that are very RV friendly. I have to say though that parts of Canada and the east side of the United States could learn a little more from this!

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