Where are all the Drovers?

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December 30th 2008

Published: December 12th 2008

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NatF

Drive to Mt Gambia

30/11/08 = A double treat day

Woke up really early needing the toilet like I knew I would. Jogged to festival gates, praying they were open, only to find they were closed and people inside were just starting to clean up after festival - was 6:15. Mission toilet began then. Ran around all the outside perimeter of the fenced off festival to try and find a gap I could crawl through - no joy. Ran down beach a little to try and find some toilets - no joy (all the while in my pyjamas with a pair of trousers pulled over I might add). In end, decided to try a cafe or the bowling club = no joy, both closed. But did see that where the bowling club met the fair, there was a break in the fence. Quickly jumped over and darted into toilet, although I'm sure they saw me.

After all the mission, couldn't get back to sleep when I got back to van and we both got up at 7:30 and got a quick wash in toilets (which were now open). Then that I discovered the fateful error of having your face only partially painted in

The Blue Lake

Australia. Although had been freezing wind yesterday, sun had still been shining and burnt all my face, leaving a very nice rectangle print on my cheek where the England flag had been! Nice! Rubbed more cream on and kept my hair covering that side of my face, then set off for Mount Gambia.

Got to Mount Gambia quite early and headed for the Blue Lake, which supposed to be really nice. Wrapped up as again freezing cold, then went and walked around the lake. The Lake was beautiful and really wierd/amazing blue colour. Something to do with the light apparently, although it said that scientists still didn't really understand it. Was a shame about the walk though, could only walk round on the pavement next to the road and the usual evil flies were there to follow us, land us and just generally annoy us all the way round! Nice 3.6 km walk and just what we needed to ward off any hangover.

Went to information centre next to find out about anything else good to do in area. That's one thing Australia is really good for: every town, even really small towns, have got information centres. Turns

Full blueness of the lake

out that we couldn't do that much though really. Had forgotten it was a Sunday, so most things closed and the rubbish rain and cold meant that we didn't want to be outside all day looking at things! Used the internet (always a good thing to do in the cold) and then had treat number 1 for the day....found a laundrette!

Only had our clothes washed properly once so far, so the thought of wearing properly clean and nice smelling clothes is very exciting! Put nearly everything in and only cost $5 to have it all washed and dried - brilliant. Wasn't such a good experience for Deb though because the owners had a dog that they let out into the shop. She had to leave and then I sorted the clothes. Was good for me though because got to stroke and fuss the dog.

Were stuck for things to do after that and was only late afternoon. Tried to visit the famous sinkhole in town, but as soon as we stepped out of the van it started pouring down and even our super strength macs couldn't keep us dry in that. Remembered that we had seen a

Us and the lake

That's it now I promise...no more lakes.

cinema in town then, so settled on that idea as our second treat of the day. Went to garage to ask for directions and the really nice man boiled his kettle so I could have some hot water for my pot noodle (that's like a luxory meal these days - would never eat one at home!) and also told us a good place to stay for the night. Ate the pot noodle (so nice to be warm), went to garage and bought some chocolate (took 10 minutes to decide which one to have...went for king size Mars bar in end) and then headed to cinema to watch Australia. Weren't really too interested in seeing the film, but was only thing on and seemed appropriate considering where we were.

Definatley one of the best films seen in a long time and would definately recommend it to anyone. Sat perfectly still for 2 1/2 hours and didn't talk to anyone. Came out really happy, but also a little sad that we haven't met any drovers! Maybe they don't exist anymore?
Went for nightly wash in cinema toilets, then drove van to a good park the garage man had told us about.

Attempt to visit Sink Hole

Again...a terrible photo, but a moment to remember for us.

Such a cold night and got really layered up in clothes and zipped sleeping bag tight round body. Both went to sleep still talking about Drover!

1/12/08 = Warrnambool and chlorine

Woke up still cold and had been cold all night, no matter how much I squirmed about. Went for the most awful wash ever in the most awful toilets ever, which was made worse when spotted myself in a mirror! 3rd day again today = caravan park day. Not only feel grimy, but look grimy and the only time have ever seen my hair this greesy is when I've been really ill and too poorly to wash it. Couldn't get to the campsite soon enough.

Had breakfast then headed for library. Had to wait an hour for booked slot, so had a look round town (keeping head down at all times). Got my glasses tightened, which cheered me right up, then went to library, which turned out to be disappointing because cameras didn't work. Before leaving Mt Gambia, decided to visit sinkhole while it was not raining. Was really nice actually and an amazing garden growing inside of it. Funny to think that it all started

The sinkhole the morning after

What a difference a day makes...

with a volcano.

Set off for Port Fairy/Warrnambool then and was quite a long drive. Were undecided about which place to stay in, but when we got to Port Fairy, it made our minds up for us. A really lovely place, really quaint and pretty, but was more a place to relax or retire; not much to do for us. So carried on to Warrnambool and searched for a campsite, getting very excited for a shower! Tried 3 campsites before we settled, but they were all quite expensive, so went back to the first one and saved a dollar. Ha! Nice site with a tennis courts and indoor heated pool, but were much more excited for hot food and a shower. Did the food thing first. Spaghetti on toast. Lovely. Did the pool thing second and Im sure I saw actual grime coming off my body into the pool. Lucky there was only really me and Deb in. Did good bit of exercise (first in a long time), although had to keep head out of water because chlorine was so strong my eyes nearly fell out when I first put my head under! Finished off with hot tub, which

Sinkhole Curtains

....24 little hours...

should have been more enjoyable, but when a bit of water splashed up into my eye, realised it must have had at least 10 times more chlorine in than the first pool. Both of us had red and sore eyes by then end of it!

Got shower and had to really scrub at skin to get chlorine off - think I preferred it when I was grimy. Washed my bikini 3 times and soaked it twice, but still smelt of chlorine, like a really bad bleach smell. None of us could get it out. Made shower non-enjoyable. Maybe the lesson was to not exercise?

In the evening, decided to go and check out the Shipwreck Sound and Light Show. Was quite expensive at $25, but sounded good, so booked it for tomorrow evening. Also rang about doing a horse trail ride on beach, but they couldn't fit me in - will keep looking for one. Back at campsite we made some tea = hot wheetabix and banana, which was actually really nice. Washed it down with a hot chocolate and chilled out in TV room until it closed at 10 o'clock. Zonked in van then and went straight

Me in the hole

to sleep.

2/12/08 = The Shipwreck Show

Woke up to sound of rain again - really not the weather we expected in Australia, hope it gets better soon. Got a shower and had to wash hair again because chlorine so bad. Did bikini another 4 times - still not right! Headed out for Tower Hill Reserve = nice place to walk around and also good for wildlife spotting. Still haven't seen a koala yet, so we are on the hunt. Did a good walk around a crater and saw lots of rabbits and emu's on route, but no koalas. Went back to the information point to ask again and a young guy told us a place where we were 'guaranteed' to see one. He was right aswell, we did see a baby and his Mum in a tree exactly where he had described. Saw something even better on the way through. A koala climbed out of the tree and started walking along the road right next to us. He even sat down, faced us less than a metre away and posed for pictures. Brilliant - absolutely brilliant. He was so cuddly and cute and really wanted to stroke

The sinkhole from above

Again...that's it now.

him, but the size of his claws soon put me off! He walked along and started crying out to Mum and baby to tell them he was coming. Really cute. Then he climbed tree and we all watched from bottom like we were star struck. Even Australian people thought it was brilliant. Got chatting to a really nice Australian couple here, who had retired and were spending rest of life travelling - sounds good to me. They recommended loads of things for us to do and see on next part of our journey, which was really good.

Saw a few more koalas in trees, then set off for Thunderpoint = nice lookout over sea. Was a really nice view. Were going to walk across Shelly beach but decided against it; didn't want trainers to get all sandy and smelly - that's last thing we needed! Had to move on then and look for somewhere to stay for night. Drove to a big park area we had seen earlier and managed to find an area without a 'No Overnight Stay' sign. Had lunch in the park, then headed into town to use the library internet and get a nice cup

The crater we walked around

Not your traditional crater...but a crater non-the-less.

of tea in a cafe. Used the library interent and another cafe, but cameras didn't work in either = really frustrating. Lucky we went to cafe and got a nice bun to cheer us up. Deb got some tea and a scone - v.English. I got a hot chocolate and the chocolateiest cake slice I could find - was v.nice, but v.sickly towards the end. Think I am losing my touch with chocolate eating...can only be a good thing I suppose! Sat in cafe for a while, then went to supermarket and re-stocked.

After the supermarket, we drove van back to information centre ready for the Shipwreck show. Passed some time in van, then at 8:30, started getting layered up and ready for candlelight walk = first part of show. Was a really big group of school children on a trip and turned out to be a really good thing to do for a school trip. Started at 9:05 with a show in the information centre. Was a film giving all the history and background infromation about the Loch Ard (the ship that crashed...well one of them) and the 2 people that survived: Eva and Tom. After 15minute film,

Koala on the move

we all got a lantern and did a walk through a model village that they had purpose built. Even though the village was really cool and the lady did stop and show/explain everything to us, we were both a bit disappointed, because had thought it was a walk through the real town. Was only a 5 minute walk really. After the walk, we went and sat across the river in an outdoor theatre. The Light and Sound show was really cool. It started with a storm and they had lightning cracking in the sky, thunder sounds and even through out sheets of rain. Lokoed really good. Then laser show started and told story of the Loch Ard crash in laser form. The seats moved as the ship crashed and the laser pictures were really good. Didn't last quite as long as we had expected, but still good.

Walked back to information centre then. Was a good show, but probably not worth $25 for us. The film part was a bit poor too. The sound was really quiet and some of the props used in the film were awful - especially the captains beard, which looked like something you would

Absolutely brilliant

One of the cutest things I've ever seen.

buy from the pound shop - a completely different colour to his hair and I'm sure you could see the elastic. Still, it kept us entertained for the night. Drove the van to the park to sleep, had some cereal for dinner (glamourous) and then went straight to sleep.

Would have been a brilliant sleep, but about an hour later, at 1 o'clock, a stupid idiot banged really loud on the van. The van moved with the force of it and we both woke up in shock. Wouldn't have been scared at all, except we couldn't hear his/her footsteps leaving and there was no sound of talking or laughter - why bang on the door if not for fun? We both got a bit panicked because we thought he/she (probably he) was still out there, but daren't look out of curtains just in case he/she was. Made even worse because I was sure I'd left back door open. Both of us laid still and whispered our emergency get out plan, which involved me jumping into front seat and driving us off in pyjamas, while Deb fended him/her off with her pocket knife - ha! Luckily, we didn't need to