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Port Fairy
This is the view of the boats tied up at the town jetty. A most picturesque place.It rained during the night but blue skies one side of the van and grey clouds slowly moving towards us from the other. By the time we left it was grey with sunny patches here and there, allowing us to take some good photos of the Bay of Islands, our first stop.
Warrnambool was the first town we came to next, a big place which looked interesting. We'll probably come back here from Port Fairy, leaving the van there.
The mobile numbers we had for Margaret & Ralph were either incorrect or not answered so we were in a bit of a dilemma as we didn't have their home address. No problem, Judy had her trusty Iphone and soon had the home number & address using White Pages.com.au.
A great welcome was received from both Marg & Ralph, who then took us for a quick tour of the area before taking us for a coffee in town. We felt we could spend a few days here without any problem.
The afternoon was spent setting up the van on the verge and reorganising the back of the Jeep so that
Port Fairy
Many of the original buildings were built with the local blue stone. This was the original flour mill, now converted to units. the bikes are more accessible. We then rode into the town centre for some groceries and continued on to the marina, along the river to the now attached Griffiths Island. This island is a special reserve as it has a large colony of Short-tailed Sheerwaters or mutton birds. These birds are here from about September to April, flying 15000km from the Aleution Islands near Alaska. Only a few remain at this time and we still haven't seen one. We did see several black wallabies, they quite content to eat nearby, just keeping an eye on us in case we came in too close.
Ralph was away at a meeting, so after dinner we played fairly evenly matched games of Rummikub, Marg winning 3 games to 2 each to us.
Friday 7th May 2010 A slow start to a grey, wet day. The morning was spent with us catching up on the blog and sorting photos, Ralph & Margaret working away in their separate offices.
The afternoon was spent walking around Port Fairy with us able to find a few different things to take home as presents for those that had or will have
Port Fairy
A real country feel to the place during the week. In the weekends and during summer or special festivals the place is packed. birthdays whilst we are away.
Margaret cooked a great dinner for us that night after which Upwords was played until bedtime.
Saturday 8th May 2010 This morning we said farewell to Margaret & Ralph, they off until Thursday, they going to Sydney and then to Canberra to hear the Budget announcements. Ralph is preparing to stand for the Wannon seat. This is a strong Liberal seat, once held by Malcolm Fraser, but Ralph has sensed dis-satisfaction in the electorate and as an Independent thinks “It's time to shake the tree”. Not holding out high hopes of winning, but who knows, he's a very credible alternative.
It was great to catch up with them again since we last saw them in 2008, hopefully they'll come to WA so that we may reciprocate.
Port Fairy has a market on the town green every fortnight and we were lucky to catch it. The first stall was a lady who baked cakes and scones for her stall, getting up at 3am to ensure they were fresh. The date scones were delicious, Rags going back for a second to her delight.
Judy found a stall where she was
Port Fairy
These black wallabies are plentiful on the island and around town. They don't show much fear of humans, obviously used to them. able to buy a few locally made gifts as well as some fresh socks. Ray, the stallholder assured her that the socks marked 2-8 were small enough to fit her but on arriving home she found she'd been duped! Never mind, they'll fit Rags! Markets such as this one are common around Victoria, some better than others.
From here we drove to Warrnambool, where we spent some time at the harbour and then to the lookout overlooking both the beach and the town.
Lunch was had at the RSL where we had our main meal for the day at a very reasonable price. This RSL has lunch and dinner every day of the week, the pokie machines there must subsidise the meals as there weren't very many patrons eating.
We stopped at the Fletcher Jones Mill, now operating as a cheap clothing outlet in one part, and with several floors of collections of old period clothes and bric-brac. Interesting, but the prices were higher than new!
Sunday 9th May 2010 An early start saw us in the Mt Eccles National Park, about 40kms away, before 10am. There were already 3 small buses in the
Mt Eccles
This extinct volcano is just one of many in this part of Victoria. Lake Surprise, in the centre of the crater, can be seen behind. carpark but no-one was to be seen.
We set off on the Crater Rim walk which is about 2km long. From up there we looked down on Lake Surprise, a lake in one of the three craters of this extinct volcano. The scenery was once again quite stunning, helped by the green grass all around and the lush vegetation. Lava flows and a lava cave all helped make this area the attraction it is.
We returned to the car just before the weather turned and enjoyed our peanut paste sandwiches and fruit. From here we went to the nearby town of Hamilton where at the Information Centre we were directed to the Waterfalls Drive, a highlight of this particular area.
Wannon Falls were the first, accessible by two roads whose entrances are next to each other. One takes you straight to the carpark overlooking the falls, the other takes you to a lookout and then you continue on a 2km or so ramble along a path. Of course the latter was the one we ended on, not very welcome after our walks at Mt Eccles. The waterfall itself was ok, would be stunning when in full flow,
Mt Eccles
Fungi grows abundantly in the forest areas, showing how damp the ground is most of the time. today it only had a half-hearted stream of water going over it.
We continued to Nigretta Falls which was visible from the carpark and fell into a pool below. We didn't have the energy to climb down the stairs to the pool, and as it was in shadow it wouldn't have made a good photo anyway.
Instead we joined a lady on the lookout and watched her partner walk down the stairs, look around and then climb back. In the 15 minutes we were with them we learned that they had been together 9 years, that her husband had died when she was 38 and she was now 69, that her partner had to return to NSW for a root canal treatment, that he had suffered from prostate cancer, and that he was no longer interested in sex!! Some people like to talk more than others.
The town of Penshurst was our next stop on the way back, here we stopped at an antique shop/cafe. This was a great find, two mugs of cappuccino plus two large chocolate macadamia biscuits for $9 must be the best price in Australia!
Just out of Penshurst is Mt Rouse,
Dunkeld
The War Memorial in Dunkeld is set in a manicured garden opposite the Information Centre. another extinct volcano. There is a parking area just near the summit, needing only a climb of about 200 steps to the top. Great views from up there and we could see the Southern Grampians in the distance.
The 85km back to Port Fairy seemed to take ages, both of us looking forward to putting our feet up and raiding Ralph's collections of DVD's for our evening entertainment!.
Monday 10th May 2010 Wonderful - what a good night's sleep and waking up to a blue sky can do. On the road again by 9am, this time headed for the Southern Grampians we had seen in the distance yesterday.
We drove the 100kms or so straight to Dunkeld, known as the Southern Gateway to this area. A picturesque town, nestled beneath Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt. The lady at the Information Centre was most helpful in advising what route to take and which walks were the best. The Mt Abrupt walk is rated as Hard, is 3.5kms long and takes about 3 hours. This was the walk recommended if we were going to do a long one.
We decided Mt Abrupt was our goal and
Grampians
Still fresh at the beginning of a 3.5km 'walk' up to the summit of Mt Abrupt. we drove the 8km to the carpark below. The way up was along a track through dense bush gradually the bush became thinner as the track zig-zagged up the side. We had agreed that if Judy flagged (she had been fighting a throat bug) she was happy if Rags continued to the summit, but as it was, Judy continued on even if a little slower than Rags. She was happy she did, not only for the view and the sense of achievement, but near the top we met an older couple, the lady, particularly, not very fit, returning.
Lunch was eaten at the top (peanut paste sandwiches again!) and lots of photos taken. Rags sent an sms to a friend referring to the “Abrupt” reminding him of him but as there was no response it either wasn't received or wasn't understood. No matter, Rags knows his sense of humour isn't appreciated by all!
Before we got back to the carpark we passed the couple we had met at the top, they coming down much slower than us. You have to admire them both, she for persisting and he for the patience he must have.
We had promised
Grampians
Halfway to the summit. ourselves to stop in Penshurst on the way home and have a repeat visit to the cafe, but on getting there we felt quite happy to continue on to our 'home' in Port Fairy.
Tuesday 11th May 2010 We slept in after a restless night, because of the heavy rain. Got up to a hailstorm, luckily small hail which did no damage. It's a grey, cold, wet day good for catching up with a few things and Judy made a good start at all the uni assignments she has to mark.
Wednesday 12th May 2010 Another of those days. We did however tidy up our mess in the house, do some washing and prepare the Jeep & van for our departure. We have really enjoyed Port Fairy, its surrounds, and having a base. Pity Ralph & Margaret weren't here for more of the time. Judy manged to get over half her assessments marked and felt pretty pleased with herself.
During a dry patch we took off on the bikes to look at the lighthouse again and hopefully see a Short-tailed Sheerwater or Mutton bird. No luck, they've all left! We did see a couple
Grampians
Great views from the summit. We stopped here to eat our sandwiches. of night heron's waiting for a fish from a couple of fishermen on the causeway to Griffith Island.
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Grampians
I thought you would like the Grampians. Did Ryan tell you he was surprising Sabrina by taking her to Sydney for a long week-end ? They left today, 14th, and return on Monday. I hope they have a great time.