Saturday 21st March
Had a look around the attractions of Mt Gambia today: the town is known for its sink holes. The City Garden was the smallest, but an interesting one to visit, whilst the larger one on the edge of town was quite lovely. “What is a sink hole?” I hear you asking... well it's basically a limestone cave, which has lost it's roof due to erosion. After the collapse of the roof the space is developed into a garden area. The larger one was originally bought by a local businessman in Victorian times and converted into a small lake with its own little row boat. A sort of folly. After this we got back in the car and headed off to Robe. Linda by this time was feeling unwell so we headed onwards and found a campsite just outside the little town of Robe. The reception and YHA building attached to it were historical buildings with lovely old stone quarry tiles. We set up the tent and while I (Linda here) had a rest in the tent, Brent walked into the town for a stroll before dinner and bed.
Sunday 22nd March
After packing the tent we ventured around the coast and saw the red and white pyramid type lighthouse and a sculpture nearby before heading inland to Murray Bridge. As I hadn't had a lot of sleep we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a motel. We had a good look at everything that was available and chose a nice motel, where we had a nice room and where there was a barbeque area, where we had our dinner. It was great to just chill and watch TV.
Monday 23rd March
Had a good walk around Murray Bridge then headed towards Adelaide, stopping off at Mount Lofty Botanical garden for a walk, which was lovely, with great views of the Adelaide Hills. We then followed my cousin, Pete's directions and easily found their lovely home in Brighton. What a lovely spot! They are just a short walk from Brighton Jetty and the ocean. We were quickly made very welcome by Pete and his wife Chris, who cooked us a lovely meal. It was great to relax, especially as I still wasn't feeling 100%. It was also a treat to have a comfy double bed for a few nights!
Tuesday 24th – Saturday28th
A welome respite from camping! We've really enjoyed our time with the Jones' and feel that we've got to know Adelaide and their district quite well. On Tuesday we did our own thing... I saw a doctor in Marion, a nearby town. The surgery was close to a nice library, gallery, cafe and also a huge shopping centre, so I had plenty to see. Mind you I waited 3 hours to see the doctor...sounds awful, but I had a really good book on the go, which I just finished before I was called...so it wasn't so bad. Brent had a first look around Adelaide and got his bearings, so that in the following days we easily found our way around. We really liked the North Terrace area, with favourite places being: the City and State Library building, the Adelaide University area, where we enjoyed our lunches! The festival hall and riverside areas. The pedestrian area of Rundle street was also very nice to walk around, with buskers of all sorts. One day we decided to get the bus to Glenelg and walked back along the beach. The esplanade is lined with gorgeous homes..how the other half live or what? Glenelg had an interesting museum, called Bay Discovery Museum with a gallery where we enjoyed the postcard exhibition. On Friday night Pete and Chris drove us up to the summit of Mount Lofty, where there's a posh restaurant and a fantastic viewpoint of the city...splendid! In the evenings we relaxed and enjoyed Chris' cooking, Brent and Pete had a game of backgammon and we all played Rummikin. Tonight we are going to eat out. Brighton is fabulous with lots of little cafes / restaurants. We can't thank Pete and Chris enough for their hospitality – it's been lovely. We enjoyed meeting Caroline too and look forward to meeting Michael when we get to Alice Springs. Hopefully we'll be able to repay the hospitality some time in England.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Into South Australia ( and the fruit police )
Sunday 15th March
Around 7.30 the rain stopped for 5 minutes and we managed to get the tent down. After breakfast we got hold of a password, and as I write this we're waiting to get a connection so that we can do a bit of skyping!! Fingers crossed. Have just seen the news about the oil spillage in Queensland... I (Linda) really wanted to see the sunshine coast and swim on the Great Barrier Reef, but it has really had more than it's fair share of problems since we arrived: first the floods, which left crocodiles attacking babies on the streets and now this dreadful oil problem.
...9.30pm well, we managed to speak to Ruth and to Blanche which was good. We also had a quick chat with David, who was out on a Saturday night. Then we headed off to further explore the Port Campbell NP, which we really liked. After the rainforest of the Otway NP., which was quite beautiful, Port C. reminded us of the Yorkshire (or Lancashire) moors and was equally stunning. Every now and then we came across a lookout point where there were magnificent coastal views of the limestone structures. We would jump out of the car and run to look bracing ourselves against the wind. Fantastic fun!! Arrived in Port Fairy, hoping to celebrate st Patricks day there, as there were Irish named roads all over the place. After setting up the tent we walked into the town. We went into the largest hotel ( these double as pubs in Australia ) where we ordered two pints of Carlton and ended up paying the equivalent of £3.50 a pint, which made me really miserable all night much to Lindas chagrin...( I was well pissed off!!)
Monday 16th March
Headed into Port Fairy town this morning for a better look. Posted some stuff and had coffee. Really liked the little second hand bookshop, where Brent spotted a book on China and I found a couple of novels to keep me going. Travelled inland in overcast weather. Found the landscape quite flat and barren...and brown. Finally arrived in Dunkeld. This was quite a hard sell in all the literature but when we arrived turned out to be little more than a petrol station, cafe and a few shops. We decided to look at the arboretum, which was in the early stages of development, but quite nice. Had we not been so tired we would have moved on, but we decided to look at the campsite. This was run by quite a character. When we arrived he was in the middle of getting the toilet area and tap cemented, so that a lot of the facilities were out of bounds. He lived in a run-down converted bus, which was full of clutter. He also had 2 caravans...needless to say we weren't tempted! I slept ok but Brent had a fitful sleep listening to passing quarry lorries.
Tuesday 17th March
After camping in Dunkeld set off to the Grampians for a walk up Mount Abrupt. This was a 7k walk up a steep escarpment and along the saddle of two hills. I was struck by how precarious the path was when we noticed that some of the boulders had bounced down from the mountain side and landed very close. We even heard one fall later during the walk as it crashed through the trees. The view from the top was very spectacular and gave us a insight into the magical landscape to come.
After we returned to the car we set off towards the highest peak Mount William. This was rather strange and disappointing as most of it was climbed using the car on a tarmac road. The last stretch was also on the road but this time on foot to the top where there was a huge military aviation tower.
Drove on to Halls Gap campsite which was in a gorgeous wooded valley filled with kangaroos feeding at dusk, and lots of cockatoos and other birds.
Wednesday 18th March
Another lovely day in the mountains. We began by having a coffee in Halls Gap, very pleasant. Then we went to the Brambuk Cultural Centre, which was impressive and free! There were 2 emus right outside grazing. They are hugely majestic animals. The centre provided a fascinating background on the history of the area and white european exploitation of the aboriginal community. After lunch we did the Pinnacle walk. This can be as long as 11k but we chose to do the shortest version which was about 4k return... it was absolutely beautiful and after yesterday very easy for us. We climbed huge bizarrely shaped rocks with magnificent views to reach a lookout point, which was terrifyingly balanced over a sheer drop. Brent scared me to death by climbing nearby rocks to get photos... incredible. On the way back to the campsite when Brent was driving we spotted a wallaby right on the edge of the road. As we approached it took flight and bounced along the road ahead of us...magic!
Thursday 19th March
We awoke to yet another glorious morning in the Grampions. Both needed the loo around 8am so got up and on the road. Spent an hour back at the cultural centre using their internet facility. It was my turn to drive today ( ie Lindas) and I really enjoyed the windy roads... I particularly enjoyed Brent's reactions to them, as i knew how he felt having been in the passenger seat myself for a couple of days. We did 'A day in the Grampions', as directed in the tourist info guide....ie. visited Baroko lookout first, then Reed lookout and the Balconies, then Macenzie Falls, which were brilliant...thanks Janine... then on to Horsham, where a country music festival starts tomorrow. Will we stay??? The scenery in the mountains was just brilliant and I did suggest we stay another day, but Brent was ready for a move, so on towards South Australia we went ...and hit the heat!!! By the time we got to Horsham it was well into the top 30s and we couldn't believe it!! We headed off into the town in search of a hammer as the ground was very hard. Had to pay $12 for one,which was a bit steep but set up camp and enjoyed another clean kitchen, a few beers and a chat on skype to Jan and Mags. I also really enjoyed watching most of a chick flick on TV...the one where Catherine Zeta Jones takes on her sister's daughter. All in all a good evening.
Friday 20th March...Happy Birthday Pete!
After quite good night's sleep helped by last night's beer, I (Linda) woke up to discover one of my eyes wouldn't open.. conjunctivitis had struck. Went into Horsham and sorted out some drops...keep your fingers crossed dear readers that this does the trick as i hate not being able to wear my contact lenses! We hung around the town to listen to some of the country music festival, which was interesting. A lot of the more mature members of the community had taken along their folding chairs and enjoyed sitting in the afternoon shade listening to the performers. We enjoyed the first guy, who performed his own stuff which was quite folky, but moved on once the 2nd guy came on with more traditional country music. The drive into South Australia was just as we'd imagined the country... vast prairies of scorched grass with magnificent gum trees along the roadside from time to time. I decided to get a picture of a kangaroo sign and couldn't believe it when as we approached one a mother and her baby were sitting right next to it. Unfortunately it was a bit of a bumpy road, so the photo isn't as good as it could be. Just before we got into SA we saw signs about not entering the state with any fruit or veg...oh no, once again we'd forgotten about this and bought grapes, bananas and tomatoes just yesterday! We stopped and ate as much as we could but still had to throw some stuff away, which really riles us! We finally got to Mount Gambia around 6.30 and found the top ten campsite we'd picked out. It wasn't as good as the last site, but the tent site was very quiet and the kitchen adequate. Met a nice family... the son was with his Belgian girlfriend and had travelled in Europe, including a spell in London. Good to chat.
Around 7.30 the rain stopped for 5 minutes and we managed to get the tent down. After breakfast we got hold of a password, and as I write this we're waiting to get a connection so that we can do a bit of skyping!! Fingers crossed. Have just seen the news about the oil spillage in Queensland... I (Linda) really wanted to see the sunshine coast and swim on the Great Barrier Reef, but it has really had more than it's fair share of problems since we arrived: first the floods, which left crocodiles attacking babies on the streets and now this dreadful oil problem.
...9.30pm well, we managed to speak to Ruth and to Blanche which was good. We also had a quick chat with David, who was out on a Saturday night. Then we headed off to further explore the Port Campbell NP, which we really liked. After the rainforest of the Otway NP., which was quite beautiful, Port C. reminded us of the Yorkshire (or Lancashire) moors and was equally stunning. Every now and then we came across a lookout point where there were magnificent coastal views of the limestone structures. We would jump out of the car and run to look bracing ourselves against the wind. Fantastic fun!! Arrived in Port Fairy, hoping to celebrate st Patricks day there, as there were Irish named roads all over the place. After setting up the tent we walked into the town. We went into the largest hotel ( these double as pubs in Australia ) where we ordered two pints of Carlton and ended up paying the equivalent of £3.50 a pint, which made me really miserable all night much to Lindas chagrin...( I was well pissed off!!)
Monday 16th March
Headed into Port Fairy town this morning for a better look. Posted some stuff and had coffee. Really liked the little second hand bookshop, where Brent spotted a book on China and I found a couple of novels to keep me going. Travelled inland in overcast weather. Found the landscape quite flat and barren...and brown. Finally arrived in Dunkeld. This was quite a hard sell in all the literature but when we arrived turned out to be little more than a petrol station, cafe and a few shops. We decided to look at the arboretum, which was in the early stages of development, but quite nice. Had we not been so tired we would have moved on, but we decided to look at the campsite. This was run by quite a character. When we arrived he was in the middle of getting the toilet area and tap cemented, so that a lot of the facilities were out of bounds. He lived in a run-down converted bus, which was full of clutter. He also had 2 caravans...needless to say we weren't tempted! I slept ok but Brent had a fitful sleep listening to passing quarry lorries.
Tuesday 17th March
After camping in Dunkeld set off to the Grampians for a walk up Mount Abrupt. This was a 7k walk up a steep escarpment and along the saddle of two hills. I was struck by how precarious the path was when we noticed that some of the boulders had bounced down from the mountain side and landed very close. We even heard one fall later during the walk as it crashed through the trees. The view from the top was very spectacular and gave us a insight into the magical landscape to come.
After we returned to the car we set off towards the highest peak Mount William. This was rather strange and disappointing as most of it was climbed using the car on a tarmac road. The last stretch was also on the road but this time on foot to the top where there was a huge military aviation tower.
Drove on to Halls Gap campsite which was in a gorgeous wooded valley filled with kangaroos feeding at dusk, and lots of cockatoos and other birds.
Wednesday 18th March
Another lovely day in the mountains. We began by having a coffee in Halls Gap, very pleasant. Then we went to the Brambuk Cultural Centre, which was impressive and free! There were 2 emus right outside grazing. They are hugely majestic animals. The centre provided a fascinating background on the history of the area and white european exploitation of the aboriginal community. After lunch we did the Pinnacle walk. This can be as long as 11k but we chose to do the shortest version which was about 4k return... it was absolutely beautiful and after yesterday very easy for us. We climbed huge bizarrely shaped rocks with magnificent views to reach a lookout point, which was terrifyingly balanced over a sheer drop. Brent scared me to death by climbing nearby rocks to get photos... incredible. On the way back to the campsite when Brent was driving we spotted a wallaby right on the edge of the road. As we approached it took flight and bounced along the road ahead of us...magic!
Thursday 19th March
We awoke to yet another glorious morning in the Grampions. Both needed the loo around 8am so got up and on the road. Spent an hour back at the cultural centre using their internet facility. It was my turn to drive today ( ie Lindas) and I really enjoyed the windy roads... I particularly enjoyed Brent's reactions to them, as i knew how he felt having been in the passenger seat myself for a couple of days. We did 'A day in the Grampions', as directed in the tourist info guide....ie. visited Baroko lookout first, then Reed lookout and the Balconies, then Macenzie Falls, which were brilliant...thanks Janine... then on to Horsham, where a country music festival starts tomorrow. Will we stay??? The scenery in the mountains was just brilliant and I did suggest we stay another day, but Brent was ready for a move, so on towards South Australia we went ...and hit the heat!!! By the time we got to Horsham it was well into the top 30s and we couldn't believe it!! We headed off into the town in search of a hammer as the ground was very hard. Had to pay $12 for one,which was a bit steep but set up camp and enjoyed another clean kitchen, a few beers and a chat on skype to Jan and Mags. I also really enjoyed watching most of a chick flick on TV...the one where Catherine Zeta Jones takes on her sister's daughter. All in all a good evening.
Friday 20th March...Happy Birthday Pete!
After quite good night's sleep helped by last night's beer, I (Linda) woke up to discover one of my eyes wouldn't open.. conjunctivitis had struck. Went into Horsham and sorted out some drops...keep your fingers crossed dear readers that this does the trick as i hate not being able to wear my contact lenses! We hung around the town to listen to some of the country music festival, which was interesting. A lot of the more mature members of the community had taken along their folding chairs and enjoyed sitting in the afternoon shade listening to the performers. We enjoyed the first guy, who performed his own stuff which was quite folky, but moved on once the 2nd guy came on with more traditional country music. The drive into South Australia was just as we'd imagined the country... vast prairies of scorched grass with magnificent gum trees along the roadside from time to time. I decided to get a picture of a kangaroo sign and couldn't believe it when as we approached one a mother and her baby were sitting right next to it. Unfortunately it was a bit of a bumpy road, so the photo isn't as good as it could be. Just before we got into SA we saw signs about not entering the state with any fruit or veg...oh no, once again we'd forgotten about this and bought grapes, bananas and tomatoes just yesterday! We stopped and ate as much as we could but still had to throw some stuff away, which really riles us! We finally got to Mount Gambia around 6.30 and found the top ten campsite we'd picked out. It wasn't as good as the last site, but the tent site was very quiet and the kitchen adequate. Met a nice family... the son was with his Belgian girlfriend and had travelled in Europe, including a spell in London. Good to chat.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Hey...free wifi again!
Wow an immediate update...brill!
Saturday 14th March
Well...what a weird day! Woke up to torrential rain, so bad that we didn't want to take the tent down. We asked if we could leave it up until there was a break in the weather and this was fine. A family put on the Mr Bean film in the camp kitchen and we quite enjoyed it for half an hour or so, until the rain stopped and we got our tent down and on the road by about 10.30. We ended up having quite a good day, in between rain storms. We first went to the Otway fly walk... where you climb up a metal structure onto paths at tree height... it was fabulous and the suspended section was fun: it rocked away in the heavy winds and we thought of our friends Peter in Spain, and Pam in England, who would not have enjoyed the experience! After that we went to Triplet Falls, another area in the Otway National Forest, which had been recommended by Janine. Once again we couldn't believe our luck when the rain stopped as we arrived and the sun came out. This was a lovely walk through temperate rain forest and we saw the trees from a different angle, which was good – it has been a while since we've done a forest walk and we loved it...thanks Janine! Afterwards we got back onto the Great Ocean Road and travelled through very stormy, wet weather to the 12 Apostles. Would you believe it yet again the rain stopped as we drew up in the car park! Mind you it was scarily windy on the magnificent walkway on the cliffs, but we loved it and got some great photos of the spectacular rocks. Arrived in Port Campbell- a small inlet on this windy coast line. We found the campsite in the middle of this little town and immediately set up tent. This proved a wise move as not long later the heavens opened yet again. Cooking on some of the campsites has always been a bit of a hit and miss affair due to the varying conditions. Last night we had had four star facilities tonight we were relegated to one star. There were only two electric hobs with someone using them as we arrived to cook. When we finally got on there was no space to prepare. It was all a little fraught. The temperature had also taken a tumble and eating in the camp kitchen was no longer a cosy affair. One saving grace on this colder evening has been our investment in a light on a flex which in our small two (wo)man tent also provides some heat ( 60 watt bulb ). We even managed to hook up our computer to the external power but forgot to ask for a password for free internet before the office shut ( damn blast ).We both woke up at around 1.30am in need of the loo.. what a wild night! We waited til the rain abated and ran for the toilet block. Phew! Just in time...literally as we got back into the tent it began to throw it down again!!We ended up with intermittent sleep as we listened to the howling rain and wind and worried about the tent staying put. Around 7.30 the rain stopped for 5 minutes and we managed to get the tent down. After breakfast we got hold of a password, and as I write this we're waiting to get a connection so that we can do a bit of skyping!! Fingers crossed. Have just seen the news about the oil spillage in Queensland... I (Linda) really wanted to see the sunshine coast and swim on the Great Barrier Reef, but it has really had more than it's fair share of problems since we arrived: first the floods, which left crocodiles attacking babies on the streets and now this dreadful oil problem.
Saturday 14th March
Well...what a weird day! Woke up to torrential rain, so bad that we didn't want to take the tent down. We asked if we could leave it up until there was a break in the weather and this was fine. A family put on the Mr Bean film in the camp kitchen and we quite enjoyed it for half an hour or so, until the rain stopped and we got our tent down and on the road by about 10.30. We ended up having quite a good day, in between rain storms. We first went to the Otway fly walk... where you climb up a metal structure onto paths at tree height... it was fabulous and the suspended section was fun: it rocked away in the heavy winds and we thought of our friends Peter in Spain, and Pam in England, who would not have enjoyed the experience! After that we went to Triplet Falls, another area in the Otway National Forest, which had been recommended by Janine. Once again we couldn't believe our luck when the rain stopped as we arrived and the sun came out. This was a lovely walk through temperate rain forest and we saw the trees from a different angle, which was good – it has been a while since we've done a forest walk and we loved it...thanks Janine! Afterwards we got back onto the Great Ocean Road and travelled through very stormy, wet weather to the 12 Apostles. Would you believe it yet again the rain stopped as we drew up in the car park! Mind you it was scarily windy on the magnificent walkway on the cliffs, but we loved it and got some great photos of the spectacular rocks. Arrived in Port Campbell- a small inlet on this windy coast line. We found the campsite in the middle of this little town and immediately set up tent. This proved a wise move as not long later the heavens opened yet again. Cooking on some of the campsites has always been a bit of a hit and miss affair due to the varying conditions. Last night we had had four star facilities tonight we were relegated to one star. There were only two electric hobs with someone using them as we arrived to cook. When we finally got on there was no space to prepare. It was all a little fraught. The temperature had also taken a tumble and eating in the camp kitchen was no longer a cosy affair. One saving grace on this colder evening has been our investment in a light on a flex which in our small two (wo)man tent also provides some heat ( 60 watt bulb ). We even managed to hook up our computer to the external power but forgot to ask for a password for free internet before the office shut ( damn blast ).We both woke up at around 1.30am in need of the loo.. what a wild night! We waited til the rain abated and ran for the toilet block. Phew! Just in time...literally as we got back into the tent it began to throw it down again!!We ended up with intermittent sleep as we listened to the howling rain and wind and worried about the tent staying put. Around 7.30 the rain stopped for 5 minutes and we managed to get the tent down. After breakfast we got hold of a password, and as I write this we're waiting to get a connection so that we can do a bit of skyping!! Fingers crossed. Have just seen the news about the oil spillage in Queensland... I (Linda) really wanted to see the sunshine coast and swim on the Great Barrier Reef, but it has really had more than it's fair share of problems since we arrived: first the floods, which left crocodiles attacking babies on the streets and now this dreadful oil problem.
Friday, 13 March 2009
March continued
Sunday 8th March
Today we headed off to Phillips Island stopping for a quick coffee en route. Alas we had not been able to book accommodation prior to arriving at the tourist information. They were very helpful and fixed us up with a “ quiet cottage” This was run by a kindly man. It was basic but only one night so nothing lost. It had a kitchen, shower. living room with corner double bed and single room. The loo was outside with a bath, with shower over. It reminded Lin of chalets visited back in the 60s. Having viewed it we set off to look around Cowes. This was a pretty seaside town with a quaint pier. For Janine this was something of a walk down memory lane, although it was clearly more touristy than she remembered. Linda was pleased to find a cheap jacket to supplement her wardrobe! Janine told us of many of her lovely childhood memories of happy family times on the island. We visited the house her father built in Silverleaves which was in a quiet wooded lane very close to the beach. She soon got chatting to a lady who had lived there for many years and promised to get her mother in touch with her next time they visited the area. The lady looked very pleased to have this contact. It was great to see that the house hadn't really changed and to walk up the lane to the local beach. Janine was horrified to see a huge machine, which we decided was a dredger, but which really spoiled the otherwise idyllic views. We could imagine Janine as a girl sailing with her father and meeting other young people in the evenings.. sounded fabulous!
As it was getting later we headed to Penguin Parade where we could view penguins coming up the beach. We had been warned earlier that there would be in the region of 3000 people watching them so we arrived early. We sat down in a small amphi-theatre facing the beach. The sun was setting and at first it was pleasant to be there. As the sun set it got colder and colder with the wind coming off the beach. Fortunately Janine had thought to bring a blanket which kept us all warmer. At about the time we had been told, the penguins began to arrive on the beach in little clusters of 5 or 6. They seemed disturbed by the floodlights or the gulls facing them, retreating occasionally back into the surf before plucking up courage to venture out again. It was all very sweet but seemed a little contrived for tourists. The little penguins moved into the dunes to go and feed their young while being surrounded by tourists on boardwalks. Left us with a mixture of emotions about conservation and exploitation. We returned back to the cottage, grabbed a snack and slept.
Monday 9th March.
Today we saw Koala Bears for the first time. Their reserve was in a eucalyptus grove and had a set of boardwalks where we could view the sleeping marsupials. We found about twenty scattered through the reserve all precariously perched in some of the outermost branches. Linda and Janine were lucky enough to see one on the ground moving between trees. The reserve had been managed to ensure that the trees were not stripped bare by the koalas. Many of them had plastic collars on the prevent them being climbed ( the trees not the bears ). The experience was far more encouraging in terms of the treatment of the animals than the previous evenings.
We had promised ourselves fish and chips the day before but had arrived too late. We headed off to catch the take away early. The sun was out and we dined on beer and delicious “ flake “ and chips on the rooftop overlooking the island bridge.
The journey back was going to be difficult as everyone would be heading back after their long weekend. Janine had to be back for the next day and we were very grateful that she could drive us back. We arrived home tired but contented at having spent a relaxing time together.
Tuesday 10th March
Drove into Richmond with Janine ( where she worked ). We said our last goodbyes before going to pick up our hire car. It had been fantastic to meet up with her and meet her mum, sons Lincoln and James and daughter Rhiannon and be able to share her home and get a feel for Melbourne. We really appreciated the cosiness of her home and the welcome we had been given after our time on the road. Thank you so much Janine. Hopefully it won't be long before we meet up again in England. We would love to return your hospitality.
We picked up the car in Melbourne and drove back to East Malvern to pick up our things. All went well after some initial navigation hick ups. Back at Janine's place we managed to change our next flights: this took longer than expected but gave us the chance to say proper goodbyes to Linc and Rhiannon, and take their photos, which was good. We eventually headed down to the Mornington Peninsula an area of stunning coastal views and equally stunning properties. We spotted foreshore campsites as we approached Sorrento, but decided we'd prefer a site with more facilities... this proved impossible: the only site we found didn't accept tents!! So we ended up camping on the foreshore. The site was pretty basic, but as we'd arrived late and left early, we didn't pay anything... which was a bonus!
Wednesday 11th March
Got up early and went into Sorento for a coffee, before getting the ferry over to Queenscliff, where we stopped for quite a while: we thought this town was very pretty with some lovely Victorian buildings. We moved on along the beautiful coast and set up camp in Torquay, the surf capital of Australia, where the Ripcurl company was established. Whilst cooking in the camp kitchen we got to know a lovely French Canadian couple, who have been travelling for a while.
Thursday 12th March
Had breakfast with our Canadian 'friends' – Lea and Guillaume. He was feeling nervous about a surf lesson booked for 10am and we had a good chat. We later went down to the surf beach, but couldn't spot him amongst the others in the surf school. It did look a lot of fun though and we were a bit tempted to have a go....oh to be younger!! We continued along the road to Lorne, another pretty town. The tourist information here was excellent and a very nice lady recommended various campsites to us, including Kennett river campsite, where we decided to stay – tempted by the promise of seeing more koalas as well as free wifi! As we travelled along we kept bumping into the same people – a lady travelling alone who was having a break from her family and Lea and Guillaume, who must have been sick of the sight of us when we turned up at the same campsite! We were delighted to spot koalas even before we'd put the tent up and spent a really enjoyable evening sitting out watching them and some lovely birds: a red and blue parrot and another very tame kukkaburra amongst them. As it got dark we spotted a koala coming down it's tree.. we followed it as it sought an alternative tree to feed from: many of the trees had been protected from the bears to conserve their leaves, but it eventually found a suitable perch... fabulous to watch!
Friday 13th March
Woke up to a glorious morning and managed to get on skype to Alec, which was great. Unfortunately as we were chatting a sea fret came down and didn't disappear all day!! We decided not to go far in the hope of better weather. We ended up in Apollo Bay, where we had a lazy day. The campsite we found (Pisces) had a fabulous inside kitchen with a wide screen TV so we really enjoyed the luxury!
Today we headed off to Phillips Island stopping for a quick coffee en route. Alas we had not been able to book accommodation prior to arriving at the tourist information. They were very helpful and fixed us up with a “ quiet cottage” This was run by a kindly man. It was basic but only one night so nothing lost. It had a kitchen, shower. living room with corner double bed and single room. The loo was outside with a bath, with shower over. It reminded Lin of chalets visited back in the 60s. Having viewed it we set off to look around Cowes. This was a pretty seaside town with a quaint pier. For Janine this was something of a walk down memory lane, although it was clearly more touristy than she remembered. Linda was pleased to find a cheap jacket to supplement her wardrobe! Janine told us of many of her lovely childhood memories of happy family times on the island. We visited the house her father built in Silverleaves which was in a quiet wooded lane very close to the beach. She soon got chatting to a lady who had lived there for many years and promised to get her mother in touch with her next time they visited the area. The lady looked very pleased to have this contact. It was great to see that the house hadn't really changed and to walk up the lane to the local beach. Janine was horrified to see a huge machine, which we decided was a dredger, but which really spoiled the otherwise idyllic views. We could imagine Janine as a girl sailing with her father and meeting other young people in the evenings.. sounded fabulous!
As it was getting later we headed to Penguin Parade where we could view penguins coming up the beach. We had been warned earlier that there would be in the region of 3000 people watching them so we arrived early. We sat down in a small amphi-theatre facing the beach. The sun was setting and at first it was pleasant to be there. As the sun set it got colder and colder with the wind coming off the beach. Fortunately Janine had thought to bring a blanket which kept us all warmer. At about the time we had been told, the penguins began to arrive on the beach in little clusters of 5 or 6. They seemed disturbed by the floodlights or the gulls facing them, retreating occasionally back into the surf before plucking up courage to venture out again. It was all very sweet but seemed a little contrived for tourists. The little penguins moved into the dunes to go and feed their young while being surrounded by tourists on boardwalks. Left us with a mixture of emotions about conservation and exploitation. We returned back to the cottage, grabbed a snack and slept.
Monday 9th March.
Today we saw Koala Bears for the first time. Their reserve was in a eucalyptus grove and had a set of boardwalks where we could view the sleeping marsupials. We found about twenty scattered through the reserve all precariously perched in some of the outermost branches. Linda and Janine were lucky enough to see one on the ground moving between trees. The reserve had been managed to ensure that the trees were not stripped bare by the koalas. Many of them had plastic collars on the prevent them being climbed ( the trees not the bears ). The experience was far more encouraging in terms of the treatment of the animals than the previous evenings.
We had promised ourselves fish and chips the day before but had arrived too late. We headed off to catch the take away early. The sun was out and we dined on beer and delicious “ flake “ and chips on the rooftop overlooking the island bridge.
The journey back was going to be difficult as everyone would be heading back after their long weekend. Janine had to be back for the next day and we were very grateful that she could drive us back. We arrived home tired but contented at having spent a relaxing time together.
Tuesday 10th March
Drove into Richmond with Janine ( where she worked ). We said our last goodbyes before going to pick up our hire car. It had been fantastic to meet up with her and meet her mum, sons Lincoln and James and daughter Rhiannon and be able to share her home and get a feel for Melbourne. We really appreciated the cosiness of her home and the welcome we had been given after our time on the road. Thank you so much Janine. Hopefully it won't be long before we meet up again in England. We would love to return your hospitality.
We picked up the car in Melbourne and drove back to East Malvern to pick up our things. All went well after some initial navigation hick ups. Back at Janine's place we managed to change our next flights: this took longer than expected but gave us the chance to say proper goodbyes to Linc and Rhiannon, and take their photos, which was good. We eventually headed down to the Mornington Peninsula an area of stunning coastal views and equally stunning properties. We spotted foreshore campsites as we approached Sorrento, but decided we'd prefer a site with more facilities... this proved impossible: the only site we found didn't accept tents!! So we ended up camping on the foreshore. The site was pretty basic, but as we'd arrived late and left early, we didn't pay anything... which was a bonus!
Wednesday 11th March
Got up early and went into Sorento for a coffee, before getting the ferry over to Queenscliff, where we stopped for quite a while: we thought this town was very pretty with some lovely Victorian buildings. We moved on along the beautiful coast and set up camp in Torquay, the surf capital of Australia, where the Ripcurl company was established. Whilst cooking in the camp kitchen we got to know a lovely French Canadian couple, who have been travelling for a while.
Thursday 12th March
Had breakfast with our Canadian 'friends' – Lea and Guillaume. He was feeling nervous about a surf lesson booked for 10am and we had a good chat. We later went down to the surf beach, but couldn't spot him amongst the others in the surf school. It did look a lot of fun though and we were a bit tempted to have a go....oh to be younger!! We continued along the road to Lorne, another pretty town. The tourist information here was excellent and a very nice lady recommended various campsites to us, including Kennett river campsite, where we decided to stay – tempted by the promise of seeing more koalas as well as free wifi! As we travelled along we kept bumping into the same people – a lady travelling alone who was having a break from her family and Lea and Guillaume, who must have been sick of the sight of us when we turned up at the same campsite! We were delighted to spot koalas even before we'd put the tent up and spent a really enjoyable evening sitting out watching them and some lovely birds: a red and blue parrot and another very tame kukkaburra amongst them. As it got dark we spotted a koala coming down it's tree.. we followed it as it sought an alternative tree to feed from: many of the trees had been protected from the bears to conserve their leaves, but it eventually found a suitable perch... fabulous to watch!
Friday 13th March
Woke up to a glorious morning and managed to get on skype to Alec, which was great. Unfortunately as we were chatting a sea fret came down and didn't disappear all day!! We decided not to go far in the hope of better weather. We ended up in Apollo Bay, where we had a lazy day. The campsite we found (Pisces) had a fabulous inside kitchen with a wide screen TV so we really enjoyed the luxury!
March in Melbourne...or is that Melbin?
Sunday 1st March
Set off for Melbourne (pron. Melbin) this morning, stopping off at the Traralgon tourist office. Here we found a lovely guy who gave us lots of good tips for the Great Ocean Road as well as local places of interest: we went to the local Wild Dog Winery and bought a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc ( pron. Savblon). Got to Melbourne with no problems thanks to Janine's perfect directions. Navigator ( thats me ) and driver ( Linda ) worked in totally harmony. Was lovely to be greeted by our luvly friend on her own patch. Met Lincoln and enjoyed a pizza dinner together.
Monday 2nd March
Woke up at about 8.45 and checked the paper work re. the van... oh la la! It was due back by 11am today. Total panic set in and we rushed around like mad fools, leaving about 9.30 and finally getting the camper van back spot on 11am thanks to Linda's fantastic calm driving and despite Brent's panicked navigating. The Apollo team was over stretched and we were lucky to spot another English couple who were headed to the airport and who gave us a lift. We then picked up the shuttle bus from the airport to southern cross station, where we then sorted out a week long travel pass which proved very efficient. We enjoyed our first view of Melbourne:federation square was very impressive with a presentation taking place of a winning football team..on a big screen. We were quite tired, so decided to get back to Janine's place and get some rest. We enjoyed finding our way on the tram and bus, getting off the bus at the local mall where we had a look around and bought some fish for dinner. That evening Janine drove us to St Kilda – the beach area of Melbourne: it was a lovely evening and we walked down the pier – whilst looking out at sea I (Linda) fell over a step and for a moment thought I was going to fall over the edge into the brink! It was actually quite scary, as my cheekbone hit the floor with quite a smack !! Poor Janine was really upset! A nearby bar provided ice and a cool drink and in less than no time I was in the Espy ( the Esplanade) bar enjoying live music and a beer. Brent and Janine even managed a dance b4 we left.
Tuesday 3rd March
We had a lazy day today, catching up with email, washing etc. We did get to the local mall again – it's huge and we found everything, including a Dick Smith's where we bought a new memory card for our photos. Janine cooked us lovely lamb chops for tea then her mum picked us up and took us to her keep fit class. This was a lovely group of women, who made me very welcome. I really enjoyed it and was very impressed to see Janine's mum in action leading the class: she's over 80 and has run the class for many years. It was great- a mix of keep fit/ yoga/line dancing etc.
Wednesday 4th March
Today we got a bus to Caulfield and then got on the train to Frankston to see my cousin, Mal. She picked us up just outside the station and although it was over 40 years since we'd last met, we quickly got into a good natter! Back at her house she cooked us a lovely pork sunday roast and we spent the day catching up over several glasses of wine. It was good to see family photos and get to know each other....thanks for making us so welcome Mal.
Thursday 4th March
We got the train from Frankston and decided to head into Melbourne. We visited the moving images museum ACMI, where we had a lovely chicken and asparagus soup....have you noticed how important food is for us???!! We had a look in St Paul's cathedral before getting on the free shuttle bus tour of town. The bus driver was great and gave us lots of info.and insight into the city. We got off on the south bank and walked to the Crown Casino complex, which was amazing. We spotted the cinema and were delighted to get cheap tickets to Slumdog Millionaire, which we thought was very powerful and moving. After the film we fancied an Indian meal and found a nice restaurant in the lanes.. great. Back at Janine's we watched a film about life on a kibbutz, which sent Brent into nostalgic reminiscing of his experience back in the early 80s...the film gave a very negative view of things, which wasn't Brent's experience at all.
Friday 5th March
Brent stayed at home this morning and sorted out a hire car. Meanwhile Janine and I headed to town, where we had a coffee in an arcade of the lanes and had a look for a new fleece for me, in some very expensive, but lovely camp shops. We then went up to Victoria market and I really enjoyed the $2.50 lunch from the deli there. We headed off to meet Brent and pick up our tickets for Billy Elliott which Janine and I had decided to treat ourselves to. We ended up meeting Brent on Brunswick street where we found the gallery showing Kate Shone's work ( seen previously in Metung). We loved this area and after Janine left us we went to the beer hall she's pointed out to us and enjoyed a decent beer.
Saturday 6th March
Today we all headed into town and Janine and I went to a famous Italian restaurant for minestrone soup before going to see the stage version of Billy Elliott at her Majesty's Theatre...what a brilliant show! We loved everything about it and went through a whole gamut of emotion, including a good cry! Met Brent after the film up on Brunswick Street and he told us that he'd been having lunch up at Victoria market, turned around to see right next to him a German couple, that we'd chatted to back in Sydney at Lane Cove....what a small world! They were on their way back and had travelled the Great Ocean Road in the rain. Janine said goodbye to us and headed off to meet her friends and we found a great Malaysian restaurant in China Town where we overate but got a good taste for Malay food, ready for the next stage of our trip! Afterwards we explored some of the bars that Janine had recommended: we loved the Cookie Bar and decided to explore this high rise further.. 2 floors higher up, ie on the top of the building, we found the rooftop cinema bar, which was quite spectacular with breathtaking views of the city. Fab.
Set off for Melbourne (pron. Melbin) this morning, stopping off at the Traralgon tourist office. Here we found a lovely guy who gave us lots of good tips for the Great Ocean Road as well as local places of interest: we went to the local Wild Dog Winery and bought a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc ( pron. Savblon). Got to Melbourne with no problems thanks to Janine's perfect directions. Navigator ( thats me ) and driver ( Linda ) worked in totally harmony. Was lovely to be greeted by our luvly friend on her own patch. Met Lincoln and enjoyed a pizza dinner together.
Monday 2nd March
Woke up at about 8.45 and checked the paper work re. the van... oh la la! It was due back by 11am today. Total panic set in and we rushed around like mad fools, leaving about 9.30 and finally getting the camper van back spot on 11am thanks to Linda's fantastic calm driving and despite Brent's panicked navigating. The Apollo team was over stretched and we were lucky to spot another English couple who were headed to the airport and who gave us a lift. We then picked up the shuttle bus from the airport to southern cross station, where we then sorted out a week long travel pass which proved very efficient. We enjoyed our first view of Melbourne:federation square was very impressive with a presentation taking place of a winning football team..on a big screen. We were quite tired, so decided to get back to Janine's place and get some rest. We enjoyed finding our way on the tram and bus, getting off the bus at the local mall where we had a look around and bought some fish for dinner. That evening Janine drove us to St Kilda – the beach area of Melbourne: it was a lovely evening and we walked down the pier – whilst looking out at sea I (Linda) fell over a step and for a moment thought I was going to fall over the edge into the brink! It was actually quite scary, as my cheekbone hit the floor with quite a smack !! Poor Janine was really upset! A nearby bar provided ice and a cool drink and in less than no time I was in the Espy ( the Esplanade) bar enjoying live music and a beer. Brent and Janine even managed a dance b4 we left.
Tuesday 3rd March
We had a lazy day today, catching up with email, washing etc. We did get to the local mall again – it's huge and we found everything, including a Dick Smith's where we bought a new memory card for our photos. Janine cooked us lovely lamb chops for tea then her mum picked us up and took us to her keep fit class. This was a lovely group of women, who made me very welcome. I really enjoyed it and was very impressed to see Janine's mum in action leading the class: she's over 80 and has run the class for many years. It was great- a mix of keep fit/ yoga/line dancing etc.
Wednesday 4th March
Today we got a bus to Caulfield and then got on the train to Frankston to see my cousin, Mal. She picked us up just outside the station and although it was over 40 years since we'd last met, we quickly got into a good natter! Back at her house she cooked us a lovely pork sunday roast and we spent the day catching up over several glasses of wine. It was good to see family photos and get to know each other....thanks for making us so welcome Mal.
Thursday 4th March
We got the train from Frankston and decided to head into Melbourne. We visited the moving images museum ACMI, where we had a lovely chicken and asparagus soup....have you noticed how important food is for us???!! We had a look in St Paul's cathedral before getting on the free shuttle bus tour of town. The bus driver was great and gave us lots of info.and insight into the city. We got off on the south bank and walked to the Crown Casino complex, which was amazing. We spotted the cinema and were delighted to get cheap tickets to Slumdog Millionaire, which we thought was very powerful and moving. After the film we fancied an Indian meal and found a nice restaurant in the lanes.. great. Back at Janine's we watched a film about life on a kibbutz, which sent Brent into nostalgic reminiscing of his experience back in the early 80s...the film gave a very negative view of things, which wasn't Brent's experience at all.
Friday 5th March
Brent stayed at home this morning and sorted out a hire car. Meanwhile Janine and I headed to town, where we had a coffee in an arcade of the lanes and had a look for a new fleece for me, in some very expensive, but lovely camp shops. We then went up to Victoria market and I really enjoyed the $2.50 lunch from the deli there. We headed off to meet Brent and pick up our tickets for Billy Elliott which Janine and I had decided to treat ourselves to. We ended up meeting Brent on Brunswick street where we found the gallery showing Kate Shone's work ( seen previously in Metung). We loved this area and after Janine left us we went to the beer hall she's pointed out to us and enjoyed a decent beer.
Saturday 6th March
Today we all headed into town and Janine and I went to a famous Italian restaurant for minestrone soup before going to see the stage version of Billy Elliott at her Majesty's Theatre...what a brilliant show! We loved everything about it and went through a whole gamut of emotion, including a good cry! Met Brent after the film up on Brunswick Street and he told us that he'd been having lunch up at Victoria market, turned around to see right next to him a German couple, that we'd chatted to back in Sydney at Lane Cove....what a small world! They were on their way back and had travelled the Great Ocean Road in the rain. Janine said goodbye to us and headed off to meet her friends and we found a great Malaysian restaurant in China Town where we overate but got a good taste for Malay food, ready for the next stage of our trip! Afterwards we explored some of the bars that Janine had recommended: we loved the Cookie Bar and decided to explore this high rise further.. 2 floors higher up, ie on the top of the building, we found the rooftop cinema bar, which was quite spectacular with breathtaking views of the city. Fab.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Continuing Travels to Melbourne
Monday 23rd February.
Woke up to free pancakes. Fluffy and nice. We felt we should move to a cheaper campsite but found that the first site we tried was charging $40. Found a much more reasonably priced one on the cliff top. Decided to do the boardwalk along the side of the lake, passing by oyster farms on the way. Very satisfying views with lots of little soldier crabs. ...Lin here... when Brent says lots of little soldier crabs he makes it sound really sweet. In fact as we were walking over the beach to the board walk I suddenly realised that the area surrounding us was alive with these tiny crabs... I didnt half run to that boardwalk I can tell you! Creepy!! Back to Brent's account...Went back to campsite and got chatting to a young couple who had spent a lot of time in Asia and gave us some good tips – especially to carry American dollars. Got slightly pissed and played Quiddler. Linda then invited us all to share the rest of the night with some Ozzie lads....Lin here...just to clarify...I was well away and got chatting to the lads, who were the other side of the fence. We ended up having a good old natter and a laugh...although I have to admit ...I don't remember much about it!!
Tuesday 24th February
Lin here: well having just about recovered from my funny tummy today the drinkig on what was still clearly and iffy tum lead to terrrible heartburn. Oh dear and I bought it on myself. Anyway we moved on, saying goodbye to our new friends and moved on to Eden, staying at a campsite called The Garden of Eden! The site wasn't exactly paradise, but was nice enough and we got a good night's sleep.
Wednesday 25th February
This morning we enjoyed exploring Eden and it's wonderful Killer WhaLe museum. It was fascinating to see the bones of Tom, one of the killer orca whales that worked alongside the whalers to catch other whales which were then shared between man and whale... sounds far fetched but apparently the killers were only interested in eating the tongue and the lips of the other whales, so the townsfolk had the rest! The museum was full of whale remains and stories of how men and whale worked together. Outside the museum there was a set of mosaic panels depicting the history of the whaling community. Good photo opportunity.
We moved on to Mallocoota from Eden and were surprised to see quite a few folk free camping on the headland. We had a look roun quite a few sites, but they were all very busy and tightly packed. We've realised by now how important fishing is all along the coast here. It's the main attraction for holiday makers and everywhere we've been there are special sinks for cleaning fish once caught..these are on sea fronts and in all the campsites. Here in Mallocoota there were loads of fishing boats and fresh fish available everywhere...although the choice today was quite limited. Anyway we ended up camping on a site with more space a short way out of town. Before dinner we did a quite wonderful walk from the site, along the road to the path, which meandered through bush country around the headland to a wonderful beach, which for most of the time we had to ourselves. It was alovely evening and quite magical.
Thursday 26th February
Moved onto Lakes Entrance. Tried a campsite out of town but wanted to be a bit closer to civilisation. Loads of campsites but the first one we tried was tighly crowded so we moved on to one nearer front. By now we are getting used to the Oz Walk in and out vans... we think they are quite funny: you get a static caravan of normal size attached to a cabin, where you get sofas, TV etc. Seems weird to us and we can't work out why you'd want this combination.. in England you'd either rather be moving with your van, or you'd go for a larger static caravan ie a mobile home or a cabin. Still the system here is very popular and our neighbours had planted up in front of their walk in/out and taken their 2 large dogs along!! (fortunately they were very quiet!). We enjoyed looking around Lakes Entrance and found a video store with good internet where we caught up on skype before bed.
Friday 27th February
Spent this morning walking along the splendid esplanade here. We loved the figures carved out of Yew trees which represented the town's history and were very beautiful...more photos if we ever work out how to upload them!! We walked across the bridge to the wonderful 90 mile beach. All around the town we saw school children of all ages litter picking. They were all in smart uniforms with huge sun hats and really doing a good job. We later found out it was Keep Australia Clean Day. On the beach we saw an ambulance get stuck in the sand and rushed to help along with several others..Turned out they were on a training exercise, so no one was in there thankfully. Interesting to watch though.
After lunch headed off to the Buchan Caves, which were about 45 minutes away in a lovely National Park. They were really spectacular with quite amazing stalectites and stalagmites. After the guided tour we left the park to visit a local pub... still need to find some decent ale! We then went back to the park and used the campsite barbeque to cook up a gourmet meal. Then we set off in search of marsupials! We enjoyed watching a kukkaburra up close on the play equipment and then spotted a young kangaroo feeding quietly near the men's loo! Before we left the park we'd seen a load of kangaroos feeding and hopping along... they are just beautiful.
Saturday 28th February
Called into metung, a bit further down the coast. This is quite an exclusive resort and marina and we enjoyed a walk along the board walk where we saw lots more pelicans, before grabbing a morning coffee. Unfortunately I (linda) left my one and only fleece on the chair here...the one I bought in Millets in Skipton for £20.. oh well Can't find anything under $100 (£50) to replace it, so will make do with my M&S cardi! From Metung we moved to the other side of the mini peninsula to Paynesville, another exclusive resort. We parked up here and walked onto the local ferry to Raymond Island: we'd read that this island had a large amount of koala bears and naively wandered around expecting to see them! There was a map near the ferry port with KOALAS marked clearly on it, so of course we trekked several kilometres, before giving up on them. Only to read later that they were extremely shy and actually slept for up to 17 hours a day!! Oh well. Continued south and settled on a site in Sale for the night. This site had lots of room and we got a good night's sleep. It was right by the river and on the right road for us, which was great.
Woke up to free pancakes. Fluffy and nice. We felt we should move to a cheaper campsite but found that the first site we tried was charging $40. Found a much more reasonably priced one on the cliff top. Decided to do the boardwalk along the side of the lake, passing by oyster farms on the way. Very satisfying views with lots of little soldier crabs. ...Lin here... when Brent says lots of little soldier crabs he makes it sound really sweet. In fact as we were walking over the beach to the board walk I suddenly realised that the area surrounding us was alive with these tiny crabs... I didnt half run to that boardwalk I can tell you! Creepy!! Back to Brent's account...Went back to campsite and got chatting to a young couple who had spent a lot of time in Asia and gave us some good tips – especially to carry American dollars. Got slightly pissed and played Quiddler. Linda then invited us all to share the rest of the night with some Ozzie lads....Lin here...just to clarify...I was well away and got chatting to the lads, who were the other side of the fence. We ended up having a good old natter and a laugh...although I have to admit ...I don't remember much about it!!
Tuesday 24th February
Lin here: well having just about recovered from my funny tummy today the drinkig on what was still clearly and iffy tum lead to terrrible heartburn. Oh dear and I bought it on myself. Anyway we moved on, saying goodbye to our new friends and moved on to Eden, staying at a campsite called The Garden of Eden! The site wasn't exactly paradise, but was nice enough and we got a good night's sleep.
Wednesday 25th February
This morning we enjoyed exploring Eden and it's wonderful Killer WhaLe museum. It was fascinating to see the bones of Tom, one of the killer orca whales that worked alongside the whalers to catch other whales which were then shared between man and whale... sounds far fetched but apparently the killers were only interested in eating the tongue and the lips of the other whales, so the townsfolk had the rest! The museum was full of whale remains and stories of how men and whale worked together. Outside the museum there was a set of mosaic panels depicting the history of the whaling community. Good photo opportunity.
We moved on to Mallocoota from Eden and were surprised to see quite a few folk free camping on the headland. We had a look roun quite a few sites, but they were all very busy and tightly packed. We've realised by now how important fishing is all along the coast here. It's the main attraction for holiday makers and everywhere we've been there are special sinks for cleaning fish once caught..these are on sea fronts and in all the campsites. Here in Mallocoota there were loads of fishing boats and fresh fish available everywhere...although the choice today was quite limited. Anyway we ended up camping on a site with more space a short way out of town. Before dinner we did a quite wonderful walk from the site, along the road to the path, which meandered through bush country around the headland to a wonderful beach, which for most of the time we had to ourselves. It was alovely evening and quite magical.
Thursday 26th February
Moved onto Lakes Entrance. Tried a campsite out of town but wanted to be a bit closer to civilisation. Loads of campsites but the first one we tried was tighly crowded so we moved on to one nearer front. By now we are getting used to the Oz Walk in and out vans... we think they are quite funny: you get a static caravan of normal size attached to a cabin, where you get sofas, TV etc. Seems weird to us and we can't work out why you'd want this combination.. in England you'd either rather be moving with your van, or you'd go for a larger static caravan ie a mobile home or a cabin. Still the system here is very popular and our neighbours had planted up in front of their walk in/out and taken their 2 large dogs along!! (fortunately they were very quiet!). We enjoyed looking around Lakes Entrance and found a video store with good internet where we caught up on skype before bed.
Friday 27th February
Spent this morning walking along the splendid esplanade here. We loved the figures carved out of Yew trees which represented the town's history and were very beautiful...more photos if we ever work out how to upload them!! We walked across the bridge to the wonderful 90 mile beach. All around the town we saw school children of all ages litter picking. They were all in smart uniforms with huge sun hats and really doing a good job. We later found out it was Keep Australia Clean Day. On the beach we saw an ambulance get stuck in the sand and rushed to help along with several others..Turned out they were on a training exercise, so no one was in there thankfully. Interesting to watch though.
After lunch headed off to the Buchan Caves, which were about 45 minutes away in a lovely National Park. They were really spectacular with quite amazing stalectites and stalagmites. After the guided tour we left the park to visit a local pub... still need to find some decent ale! We then went back to the park and used the campsite barbeque to cook up a gourmet meal. Then we set off in search of marsupials! We enjoyed watching a kukkaburra up close on the play equipment and then spotted a young kangaroo feeding quietly near the men's loo! Before we left the park we'd seen a load of kangaroos feeding and hopping along... they are just beautiful.
Saturday 28th February
Called into metung, a bit further down the coast. This is quite an exclusive resort and marina and we enjoyed a walk along the board walk where we saw lots more pelicans, before grabbing a morning coffee. Unfortunately I (linda) left my one and only fleece on the chair here...the one I bought in Millets in Skipton for £20.. oh well Can't find anything under $100 (£50) to replace it, so will make do with my M&S cardi! From Metung we moved to the other side of the mini peninsula to Paynesville, another exclusive resort. We parked up here and walked onto the local ferry to Raymond Island: we'd read that this island had a large amount of koala bears and naively wandered around expecting to see them! There was a map near the ferry port with KOALAS marked clearly on it, so of course we trekked several kilometres, before giving up on them. Only to read later that they were extremely shy and actually slept for up to 17 hours a day!! Oh well. Continued south and settled on a site in Sale for the night. This site had lots of room and we got a good night's sleep. It was right by the river and on the right road for us, which was great.
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