Back in the big smoke

COORONG NATIONAL PARK Today we left Robe, we had planned to only stay there for two nights but as the weather was so rough with wind gusts recorded of 54km's an hour and rain we decided not to head off and stayed the extra day. We took it easy and hired a couple of movies from the park office.

Today we drove straight through to Adelaide, it is unusual scenery with really scrubby sort of bush and numerous salt lakes. As you head in to Adelaide it is very hilly, we are staying in a caravan park beside the beach, just need the weather to improve as still a bit windy and the odd shower, great for the area as they are always desperate for rain.

ANZAC day

SENTINEL We didn't get up in time for the dawn service but went past there today. Every town we have visited has had great tributes to their soldiers, Australia is a very proud nation. There are some really lovely old buildings and streets which are heritage listed in this seaside town where fishing, particularly lobster is their main trade
ROBE JETTY As you can see it was a very overcast morning, man the wind coming off the Southern Ocean just cut through you, it was even hard to keep the camera still to take photos. We definitely do not like 'cold' weather and the wind is predicted to gust up to 90kms an hour tonight, luckily our park is a bit sheltered.

Wet, wet, wet

BEACHPORT we called in here after leaving Mount Gambier this morning for Robe, for the first time in 14 weeks Paul had to pack up in the rain. Good for South Australia as they badly need it. It was also raining when we set up at Robe, luckily the weather cleared slightly and we had a drive around the town, see below.
WEOKMINE CUTTING this was along the way, a farmer went to drain his swamp, it took just under 3 years, was 1km in length up to 28-34 metres deep and they removed 276,000 cubic metres using some Caterpillar equipment, bit of an advertisement for them.

CAPE DOMBEY at Robe, really unusual rock layers and to the left in the shaded area you can see some birds sheltering, presume they are pigeons. Weather permitting we will do some walks tomorrow.

The Green Triangle

THE BLUE LAKE one of the most famous lakes at Mount Gambier, the lovely colour at the side is from the limestone base. This lake changes colours at different times of the year. This area called The Green Triangle is the number three crater area in the world.

VIEW FROM CENTENARY TOWER at Valley Lake across to Mount Schank and Port Macdonnell. The lakes in the area are at their lowest on record. In the grounds of Valley Lake they have a wildlife park and boardwalk, Paul thought that the two wallabies had actually broken in - we started to think that we were the exhibits, I won't mention some of his other comments.

Across the Border

PORTLAND Today we left Port Fairy and headed towards Mount Gambier which is across the border in South Australia. Along the way we called in to Portland, it looked very pretty, magnificent old buildings and a lovely bay but alas the eyesore is the aluminium smelter.

UMPHERSTON SINKHOLE Mount Gambier is the city of craters, lakes, caves and sinkholes due to the limestone and underground water. This sinkhole is near the city and the original farmer created this garden within it. We visited one in the city but if you are in Mount Gambier - don't bother, Paul reckons it should be filled in and a car park put there.

VIEW FROM OUR CARAVAN PARK Don't be surprised to see some cow photos from now on as there really are some great photos to be had with their surroundings. If we hadn't had the caravan on board today I would of made Paul turn back as there were some cows beside a church and I could just see the caption "Holy Cow".

South West Victoria

PORT FAIRY We have had three nights in this pretty town, very historical so some lovely old homes and churches. Griffiths Island is a walk at the point and the nesting area for the mutton birds after they have flown all the way from Alaska, saw some wallabies. Went into Warrnambool one of the days, this is the nearest big city with a population of about 30,000. On the way into the city we called into Tower Hill and walked to the lookout which is set on an old volcano, saw another koala and some emus.

"MERRIJIG INN" is the oldest inn in Victoria, if you are after some fine dining this is the place to visit, the chef is Ryan Sessions and he has obtained a 2 hat rating. No, we did not dine there but had the pleasure of dining with his parents, Jan and Russ at a local pub. We met Jan and Russ once before in Tasmania, they have just signed off on their blog after three years and two months on the road, so the start of a new chapter for them. We have caught up with them the last two nights and had a great time, will miss seeing their whereabouts.

Last of The Great Ocean Road

BAY OF ISLANDS Today we left pretty Apollo Bay and followed the Great Ocean Road through to Port Fairy. We called in to the lookouts that we missed the other day. all very spectacular.

THE LOCALS It is very hard to take photos that do the area justice. A few bods wandering around, but not many when you consider it was the last day of the Victorian school holidays and only part way through the South Australia school holidays.

From here on we shouldn't have to book ahead, have three days here at Port Fairy and will then head on to Mount Gambier.

Back to the Bush

HOPETOUN FALLS Near Beech Forest in the valleys behind Apollo Bay are several lovely rain forest walks leading to waterfalls which are all flowing quite majestically. The rain forests are the same type as ones we visited in Tasmania.
APOLLO BAY View from Marriners Outlook, Apollo Bay is very pretty and in behind it before the rain forest are rolling hills with cattle and sheep, all very lush land.

We have been on the road 13 weeks today and have seen and visited some amazing places, we are just so fortunate.

More of the Great Ocean Road

KOALA On the road into the Cape Otway Lighthouse which is the oldest lighthouse in Australia we spotted three koalas, they look so cute, have an easy life as you only ever see them sleeping.

TWELVE APOSTLES Some of the remaining Apostles; there are now only six left, when we saw them in 2000 there were eight of them, easy to see how they are eroded away with the pounding surf.
ISLAND ARCHWAY from the Loch Ard Gorge lookout, the gorge is named after a boat that was wrecked in the area, this section of the Great Ocean Road has taken a few boats.

ANOTHER GREAT VIEW from the Loch Ard Gorge viewing area, all very spectacular with the noise of the waves crashing.

The Great Ocean Road

ERSKINE FALLS NEAR LORNE. Lovely to be able to visit some rain forest and green rolling country after all the drought stricken areas that we have seen around Victoria. The other day coming to Apollo Bay from Ballarat there was a lot of dust and see on the news tonight that there have been dust storms rolling across to Sydney.

EAGLE ROCK, AIREYS INLET The Great Ocean Road really is spectacular, today we drove through to Torquay with the plan of stopping off at the lookouts on our way back to Apollo Bay, alas the weather turned just before we got to Lorne. Weather and time permitting we will back track to there.

One consolation, we saw a koala in the wild, up a tree at the side of the main road, funnily enough a 100 metres away was another perched on a branch overhanging the road - very exciting, just need to see a wombat now, have certainly seen a lot of their pooh.

Sovereign Hill

SOVEREIGN HILL is a replica town of Ballarat in the 1850's when it was a prosperous gold mining area. It is very well done with the shops etc being open for you to wander through, there are gold mines to go down and the area where the Chinese had camps was very impressive.

PAUL, HEATHER AND NEIL Heather and Neil are friends from the Gold Coast, they are holidaying in Melbourne and came through to Ballarat for the day, so it was great to catch up with them. After visiting Sovereign Hill we had lunch and then had bit of a drive around the city before they headed back.

Ballarat

EMU EGG This has been carved by a lady staying in the park here, it is quite exquisite, not bad for her first effort.
1966 MKI MUSTANG Tomorrow is a huge day here in Ballarat with around 500 Mustangs going on display. The man next to us who is the proud owner of this one is here from WA. The car has only 24,000 miles on it and is original, it sat in a pawn brokers shed in Reno, USA for 16 years under a cover. He has rebuilt the motor and bought it here on a car trailer that he has built.

We have found that there isn't a lot to do here, the main street is lovely with two lanes each way divided by an avenue with statues. The Botanical Gardens are quite nice with a Prime Minister Avenue which has statues of all of the Prime Ministers. There is a huge lake covering 238 hectares just a couple minutes out of the CBD which is empty due to the drought which looks very sad and a stark reminder of that. It is strange seeing a yacht club and other walkways leading to this dried out patch of land.

Last day in the Grampians

MC KENZIE FALLS This waterfall was looking very good with a good water flow, the park walk was great with lot's of steps and handrails, a bit hard on the old knees.
BOROKA OUTLOOK Fabulous views over the ranges, Halls gap is at the base with Lake Bellfield and Frey valley in the distance.

COCKATOO Been lovely here with lot's of birds around such as kookaburras, parrots, currawongs, ducks and pigeons. In Tasmania they do not have many colourful birds and on the West coast hardly any birds due to wet weather and birds nests not being a good combination.

More of The Grampians

THE PINNACLE Just one of the amazing rock formations on the walk to The Pinnacle lookout. A few bods out and about taking in the incredible scenery, you sure do need to be fit.

EMUS BY LAKE BELLFIELD Lake Bellfield is dammed with it's water piped to a lot of local towns and as far up as The Murray. The mountains in the background look similar to the ones surrounding Coles Bay, Tasmania. What an amazing country we live in.

The Grampians

THE GRAMPIANS by Halls Gap, we are staying at the base of the mountains, so a very scenic backdrop. Today we walked for about 5kms from the park here up hill and down dale with the rock formations constantly changing. SPLITTER FALLS in all it's glory - this pretty much sums up the rainfall in Victoria. Coming from Bendigo through St Arnaud to Halls Gap it is still tinder dry everywhere, these areas have missed any of the recent downpours. This part of the Grampians still has signs of the bushfire that came through in 2006.

Botanical Bendigo

ROSALIND PARK is in the centre of town, it is very nice with tree lined avenues, fern garden and the above floral display. The building in the background is the courthouse.

CITY VIEW from the top of the tower in Rosalind Park, the Catholic Cathedral is huge, magnificent inside with marble floors and amazing timber ceiling with angels on the columns.

GOLDEN PHEASANT at the White Hill Botanical gardens, they only had a few birds but this one was exquisite, they come from China.

Today we took a drive to Echuca, haven't been there since 2000, a really bustling town with tourists. The Murray River is very low and today there were a lot of houseboats parked up, hopefully they will be out and about with the school holidays due to commence.