Casterton - Easter 2015

We took a leisurely scenic journey inland to Casterton through tiny towns, including the cutely named Bessiebella and the larger more known town of Heywood on the Fitzroy River. Ate lunch at a park in Heywood – complete with nice new playground. 

Encountered a couple of other nice little rural locales, namely Digby and Merino. At Merino we paused at a disused servo and read about the heroic drovers who drove stock across these dry and distant plains.

Set ourselves at the small but adequate caravan park in Casterton which was not even half full – a good escape from the busy-ness of Easter. Casterton claims itself as the ‘birthplace of the kelpie’ and is an attractive town in a valley with the Glenelg River snaking its way through. The view from Mickle Lookout laid the town out before us!

We enjoyed several walks around Casterton, finding the few sculptures that celebrate the famous kelpie dog.  We also rode our bikes along the ‘Kelpie Trail’ while camped there.

During our 5 days in Casterton we partook in the family’s latest hobby of Geocaching. We drove for several km’s in each direction from the town and located many!

On one particular day trip out of town, we explored Bailey’s Rocks, in the Dergholm State Park. Bailey’s Rocks are a series of granite boulders spread randomly in a small valley. Some balance precariously and some we could scramble upon and explore.  They were like a mossy version of the ‘Devil’s Marbles’!

We drove out to see the ‘Bilston Tree’ – thought to have been a wee sapling back in about the year 1200, it’s a River Red Gum with a girth of over 7 metres and a height of around 40  meters. Some large limbs fell off a few years ago and have been carved quite creatively by an artist.

Warrock Homestead is where the sheep station where the kelpie was first bred. We visited the homestead which is still privately owned. We got a personalised tour from the lady owner.  It was an interesting old homestead. We also took a walk around the property checking out some of the out buildings, all built in the same Gothic Revival style of the homestead.