We went into Penola and found the laundromat.
While the machines were working, we went across the road to a cafe for morning tea. The price was outrageous but the cheesecake was divine.
We drove on to Bool Lagoon which we last visited in November 1998. There was no water in sight so we pressed on. At the turnoff to the lagoon there is a sign to Bourne's Bird Museum so we went there.
This is a very small, private museum well off the beaten track so we didn't have high expectations. We were amazed by the size, diversity and quality of the collection.
The proprietor had started taxidermy as hobby many years ago. The hobby became a bit of an obsession and the collection grew from examples of the birds found in the area to a wide ranging display augmented by donations of freshly dead birds from friends, wildlife officers and other people who knew of the collection. We chatted for quite some time with the wife of the collector who was obviously part of the team that collected the specimens. There were some hundred and fifty odd species and several hundred examples in the collection, all of them beautifully presented in display poses. We also talked about echidna, reptiles and amphibians. This visit, which we had not planned, turned out to be another example of serendipity, a hidden treasure revealed by chance.
After this visit, we drove on through Naracoorte to the next big rig accessible rest area which was a bit noisy at times but quite comfortable.