LakeEildon

A couple weeks after Kinglake, we decided to take another camping trip to Fraser National Park, a.k.a. Lake Eildon. This is Melbourne's main water supply, and a popular place for boaters, skiiers, fishers, etc. We got there late Friday night, after a 4 hour drive in Melbourne traffic. Again it was raining, but we saw lots of animals on the dark drive there--including 3 wombats and heaps of kangaroos.

We were able to get a fire started at the boat ramp, where we decided to stay for the night. The lake looked completely dry in the darkness, and we wondered if anyone could actually use the boatramp for access. A ute (truck) full of auckers drove up around 1AM just when we were turning in. They were loud and intimidating, and we ended up driving back to the rangers station to call the cops on 'em. Hated to do it, but they were assholes...Don't think the cops took us seriously in the end anyway. When we awoke in the morning, we realized the lake wasn't empty afterall, just very very low.

After breaky, we went on a hike around the lake. The fact that it was low made it all the more beautiful to us, but it also explained why Melbourne was on water restrictions...

The next day, we went to a more secluded campsite called CandleBark. After our morning hike, we had lunch that included some unexpected visitors. Magpies and Rosellas!

We took a desperately needed nap after lunch and then headed out for another hike. When we returned to the campsite, kanagaroos were congregating in the field (dried out lakebed) behind our tent. Kookaburras descended in the trees around the barbie, where we were cooking our meal. It was idyllic, and I got these great shots...