Wimmera and Mallee, Victoria. Part 2

From Jeparit we moved along to Rainbow. In Rainbow we heard the expression. "Many small country towns are dying but here in Rainbow we are Surviving!" The condition of the town and the traffic in the town seems to bear out this belief. There are some empty shop fronts but we were advised that they are owned by an 'Out of Towner' who doesn't want them leased but is using them as a 'Tax Dodge'. Maybe that is the case in many small country towns. After exploring Rainbow's main environs it was time to make camp for the night. We had already planned on camping at Western Beach Camp Ground on Lake Albacutya. That was where we headed. As you would expect, being on the boundary of the Little Desert, this is a desolate place. Very dry and deserted, only one other camp in sight. Also as we expected, there was no water in Lake Albacutya. What we didn't anticipate was the flies! Well, the number of flies. We stayed inside the caravan with the fan pushing some air around inside to make us feel comfortable. After an overnight shower of rain the flies weren't so bad next morning and we were able to do a little exploring. Time to pack up and move onwards, this time our destination is Yaapeet on the end of a branch line of the railway system that services the grain silos there. If ever a town deserves the title 'dead', this must be the place. Everything is closed except for a mechanical maintenance workshop. We spoke to a couple of people who once had businesses here but could not leave the town after the closure. They still had a sense of humour, but that's country people for you. They can see some blue sky in any situation. We are returning to Lake Lascelles (with water) in Hopetoun for our camp tonight and then in the morning heading off towards Mildura through Patchewollock and Walpeup. Tune into the next blog for reports on these out of the way towns.

The symbol marking the entrance to Rainbow.

The median strip between the lanes of the very wide main street hosts the Memorial Garden. This is titled Federation Street, because the town was formed in 1901, the year of Federation.

The Royal is the 'bottom Pub'.

The Eureka is the middle Pub but unfortunately the top Pub is no longer in existence as it has burned down.

Strauss's has been here since the town began and still in operation today.

This was the Picture Theatre, built by Strauss, the proprietor of the General Store across the road. Originally this was the site of a competing General Store owned by a Mr Cust. The story goes Mr Strauss burned Mr Custs store to the ground, and got away with it, so that he could build his picture theatre. Well, it's a great story anyway!

Rainbow has several Murals around town. You can see Strauss's General Store in the original town layout.

Our view of Lake Albacutya from the camp site.

There is a boat ramp here, so don't forget to bring your boat. Looks like the boys have been going for a bit of a drive looking for water!

We had a general sprinkling of rain overnight but even that couldn't revive any spirits in the town of Yaapeet. Officially dead I think.

A few boys were in town with some of their machinery. Looking for repairs, maybe, at the only surviving business, a mechanical repair workshop.

Small park for the tourists who get lost. The Post Office is closed but the PO Boxes are housed in this shelter.

This marks the towns Centenary, 1998 from memory.

Wallaman Falls, Girringun National Park

We waited on the weather forecast each day before venturing out to Girringun NP and the Wallaman Falls. Each day we could see low clouds shrouding the ranges to the west of Ingham. Finally, the weatherman said that Saturday was the day to venture out, so off we went. It takes about an hour to drive out to Wallaman Falls from Forrest Beach through Ingham and the small town of Trebourne and when we arrived the falls were invisible behind a wall of mist. The weatherman was in error again. We could hear the water falling but could not see anything but mist. People were arriving and not being able to view the falls, were returning to their vehicles after about 5 minutes and leaving the park. That is not our 'style' so we took the hard option and walked the 2 km down a steep trail to the base of the falls. We felt that we were sure to get a glimpse down there. The walk down was relatively easy but we knew that coming back up was going to be hell of a lot different. The trail was very wet and the stone steps were quite slippery. We had to be very cautious where we placed our feet. Didn't want to walk back up with a sprained ankle or something like that. All the other people taking the walk down to the falls base were under age 30, that either made us stupid or still young at heart. We made it down without mishap and really enjoyed the view. The walk back up was challenging but obviously we made it back to the top. It was about 2 hours round trip to the falls base and back up. By the time we surfaced, the top of the falls was clear and we could view them from above as well. All in all, a brilliant day and well worth the drive out.

This is the view that greeted us on our arrival at Wallaman Falls. The gorge was completely full of mist.

This is the story of what we should have been witnessing. These falls are claimed to be the longest single drop in the Southern Hemisphere.

On our way down the trail we found other sights to stop and wonder at. The water droplets on this grass was one of them.

To prove that we actually made it to the falls base.

Judy too.

There was a slight breeze coming up the gorge from the right and driving the mist up the rock wall to the left, this water then ran back into the base pool.

It's not my imagination going wild but while we were at the falls base a brief ray of sunshine made itself evident and provided a faint rainbow in the mist at water level. Surely you can see it too!

On the way back up the trail I contented myself with taking some photographs of various fungi growing in the damp conditions. At least I was having a much required breather at the same time.

Another variety here.

Yet another.

Still another, this was only the varieties we noticed.

A team of ants was busily engaged in transporting this unfortunate butterfly back to their nest. The ants were working well as a team too.

Not sure wether this is a 'yeti' in the forest but it was following me up the trail. I think it became wetter inside the Poncho than outside by the time we reached the top of the trail.

A large proportion of the rock along the trail was impregnated with green stone as this photograph displays.

The view of the falls that eluded us on our arrival. What a magnificent sight. Well worth the visit. We were actually on those rocks in the bottom right of this photograph.