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Published: March 20th 2009
Port Fairy
The peninsula to Griffith IslandDAY 132
Title Time & Lime
We got up earlier today as we are moving on from Warrnambool, so a quick breakfast of tea and toast before packing up camp. Just before we leave town we head over to Rays Outdoors to return the faulty camp kitchen that we had purchased the day before. We were disappointed; however there is no point in paying all that money for something that is not complete. They took it back without any fuss, and frankly so they should.
So still without a table we thought we would pop into the large Bunnings next door (equivalent to B&Q in UK), we had a look around the outdoor area, looking for picnic tables we asked for some help as we could not see what we wanted, they took us to a main display section and there was just the table, the right size and the legs folded easily meaning that it would be easy for us to pack in the trailer. $49 later we leave the store happy, a significantly lower sum than the camp kitchen we had purchased the day before, which if you were paying attention and have read the
blog properly you will know that we returned.
Heading out of Warrnambool now on this beautiful hot sunny day, there is not a cloud in sight and probably around 30° plus. Not long after we are heading into Port Fairy as had been recommended to us.
Port Fairy is quite historic, there is not a lot here, however drive down to the wharf and have a walk down the river and to Griffiths Island just on the end of the peninsula. Being such a beautiful day it was a nice walk and the historic buildings stood out and look beautiful in this appropriate environment, however you can see the modern with the old living side by side as this small community is obviously developing and people that are moving into the area with money are showing this in the size and style of property.
John Griffith, who set up a Seal and Whaling company when the town was originally called Belfast, developed Griffiths Island. This small part of the coastline has a good few Irish street names.
We moved on to find a place to stop for our lunch; as we were driving we could see
the large turbine blades of wind turbines, one after another for several kilometres and spinning well in this coastal wind. These turbines are 50 metres high to the rotor hub and they are part of the Crodington Wind Farm. It may keep the greenies happy because they have no carbon footprint but they are a blot on this landscape. At one stage Crodington was the largest wind farm in Australia.
We could not sit in the car for long without the a/c on, as it was too hot, so we quickly ate lunch and got back on the road. Further down the road we see a fenced in area containing lots of masts blades and rotor hubs, they must be waiting to install on this wind farm. Perhaps it will once again become Australia’s largest.
Andy rests a while and I drive on picking the coastal road back up so that we can start looking for our “bed for the night”. We are again using Camps 5 to help us, we have spied one at Princess Margaret Rose Caves which is Camps 5 number 626 (Victoria) We will check it out before deciding if to stay. We are
Marina
Port Fairy Marina, nice for a walk trying to get an early site so that we can take advantage of the area and relax before nightfall.
We are driving through forested areas where they are clearly logging, they are pine trees and we comment on the devastated areas from this logging and how much wildlife must have been affected. However civilisation is caught between a rock and hard place as we need wood for furniture, paper, houses, the list is endless so of course managed forests like this one are much needed and nature always loses with loss of habitat.
Along this road we see plenty of loggers, but while I am driving I also see an echidna wobbling its way along the grass verge, however Andy does not see it so I cannot count it in our wildlife score.
Sadly there are plenty of dead Wallabies and Kangaroos on this road, and we now have fitted some sonic animal repeller’s on the bumper of the truck. The aim being that as we drive the wind creates a high-pitched frequency that can only be heard by animals, we don’t know if they are working but we have not hit anything (yet!). We installed them
after we had a near miss with a Wallaby a few days ago. They do just bound across the road in front of you, they do not look they just bounce.
50 metres before the South Australia border we see the sign for Princess Margaret Rose Caves, we turn right and follow the sign across a dusty track for 9 kilometres, the dirt track breaks into bitumen and we arrive in a beautiful village called Donavans. It is a small but quaint village, there is not a lot here, but worth a peek.
The track resumes, we are following a river around and find ourselves at the caves, where there is a privately run campsite. Before we commit ourselves we find out how much and at $15 per night per pitch it is a bargain as it has hot showers a great little camp kitchen, that we find once we have set up for the night. This is all sited within a conservation area.
Upon checking in we are told that we will see Wombats in the evening around the car park and at night we should be able to hear the Koala’s which is a cross
between a growl and a moan (actually it sounds as if they have tummy ache!). Lets hope we see them and not just hear them.
Bliss, it is early afternoon, we are pitched up, the sun is out and we can relax and enjoy the environment.
Walking through to the camp kitchen we spot what I think is a Walleroo, I think they are identified by the white mark across their cute little faces (across the cheek), however not being an expert in this field I cannot be certain so I will come back to you on that one.
We sit in the camp kitchen and settle down with the blog, a cup of tea and a book of birds. There are loads of birds around here so it will be nice to know if we can recognise any of them. In particular we can see the Superb Fairy Wrens and the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo. A sign says the Red Tailed Black Cockatoos are endangered; you should be able to see them in this area, however because of their endangered status you should report any sightings of them.
The Kookaburra’s start with their laughter, we
Our Camp
Princes Margret Rose Cave, camp site $15.00 bucks for a site it is excellent cannot see them yet, but shortly after that we hear some high pitched squawking, that can only mean one thing, Cockatoo’s, they are in a large flock, maybe around 50 or 60 and it is noisy, believe me. When they fly over we see that they are black, but are not certain if they are red or yellow tail, we have seen the Yellow Tail Black at Freycinet National Park.
Andy tells me that this coastline also has Shy Albatross, we should be so lucky, as they are shy I am not convinced that we will be seeing one anytime soon.
I get chatting to a gentleman called Rick, he and his wife Liz are camping over the way. I tell him what we have been up to and he asks for the blog address so that he can see. He is fascinated by what we are doing and the number of hits we have had since the beginning.
We drive back up to the reception area and walk down the jetty; we are on our hunt for wildlife, of course wombats and koalas. However we see a large mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroo’s they stop and
Jetty
An early evening walk to the jetty watch us as we have stopped and watch them. I am wondering if it was an Eastern Grey I saw earlier. Rick has already mentioned that he does not think Walleroo’s are in this area.
At the jetty we find that about 20 million years ago the place that we are standing was in fact beneath the Ocean. When the sea level fell it left large areas of limestone and eventually the river formed a large gorge this is also how the Princess Margaret Rose Caves were formed. We have learned earlier on our trip along the Great Ocean Road that places as far inland as Hamilton and Ballarat were also beneath the sea - very hard to imagine really.
Andy and I cannot find any evidence of Wombats, but we do find evidence of Koala. We cannot see any other wildlife. I think Andy is disappointed that we have not seen Wombats. We think we heard the grumble of a Koala.
We cook our evening meal and sit out eating it, which was just as well as it was very very hot (spicy), Andy cooked Chorizo and pasta with a hot Mexican sauce and diced tomatoes,
wow!
We came up to the camp kitchen to wash up and sit and play cards, we also brought a cup of tea with us (well I had a glass of red wine spritzer). However Rick turned up to wash up their tea things and invited us back to their camp and sit around the fire that they have made. Well the offer of a good fire was too good to miss and of course good conversation.
Rick and Liz are both retired and come from Melbourne. Liz was a primary school headmistress and Rick worked for the Shell Corporation. Rick has also been a scout master for some 20 years and also heavily involved with the Surf Life Saving club, which both encourages youngsters team activity, learning new skills and of course giving them confidence to be better adults.
Being so dark in this forest, the night sky was truly amazing, there were so many stars to look up at through the trees, quite a spiritual feeling while sitting around the fire.
The one conversation that dominates most conversations with people is the current economic crisis and how it has affected both our countries.
Time rolls on, it is now past our bedtime and it is really really cold, Liz is sitting with beanie hat, coat, scarf, gloves, thick socks and boots and cannot believe that Andy and I are sitting there still with our shorts on, ok we do have fleeces on too!
I have to say though, getting into bed we can really feel the low temperature now and do our best to get warm, Andy disappears fully in the sleeping bag with the blanket and sheet over the top.
We discuss the option of maybe buying another blanket, as it is so cold at night. We knew that in some places we would experience this, however not this cold!!!
As we drift into our sleep we can hear the gentle thud of Kangaroo’s around camp and that dull moaning sound, could that be our Koalas?
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