Week 06

Day 36

Warrnambool

Today: 15kms, Total 4028kms

A quiet day today.  Just shopping, refuelling and household dreariness.

As it was at the height of the school holidays, vacancies were hard to find.  Our site was a bit of a squeeze to get in and out of without tearing out our neighbours' tent ropes.

Day 37

Warrnambool

Today: 24kms, Total 4052kms

Much the same as yesterday as we decided it was so cold and windy it was better to stay inside.

Day 38

Warrnambool

Today: 52kms, Total 4104kms

A drive around the town today.  It's a lovely little city (33,000+ population) with some delightful Federation style homes.  It was still blowing a gale down at the harbour, but at least the sun was out.

At the harbour next to the breakwater were these strange dome-shaped tanks - stone-based with concrete domes. We have been told variously that they were holding tanks for fish, or holding tanks for a sewage system.  Answers please, on the back of an e-mail.

At Logan's Beach, there is a beautiful purpose-built whale watching terrace.  Most of the whales that come here are Southern Right Whales.  They arrive here from Antarctica between late May to September to raise their young.

As we weren't there between May and September, I took this photo as a local told me that if I took a shot and then looked at this photo between the months that the whales visit, they'd appear in the photo.  So, keep staring at the photo and let me know how many you see.... 

 :-)) 

Day 39

Warrnambool - Twelve Apostles - Warrnambool

Today: 140kms, Total 4244kms

This was a photographically experimental day and the results won't be in for a couple of days after I process the shots.  With all the high wind and rough seas I was interested in seeing if my time-lapse idea would generate anything worthwhile.  We'll see!

Day 40

Warrnambool - Port Fairy - Hamilton - Halls Gap <Map>

Today: 225kms, Total 4469kms

Today we see the last of the sea for a while as we head inland.  However, first we set off for Port Fairy.  This lovely little port was first established by whalers and sealers in the early 19th century.  It was named after the whaler The Fairy in 1828.  

The port on the river was a good place for morning tea, and we came across a very unusual sight as we arrived.

This is the Notorious, a replica of a 15th century Portuguese Caravel.  It is built entirely from local reclaimed timber, took nine years to build and is inspired by the legendary Mahogany Ship, a Portuguese/Spanish/French/??? sailing vessel that is purported to have been wrecked on the coast between Warrnambool and Pt Fairy in the early 16th century.  It's a fascinating story, more of which can be found HERE.

Leaving the coast behind, we arrived in Hamilton to have lunch with the Moorhens.

Our destination for the next two days was The Grampians.  These sandstone ranges rear out of the flat landscape in NW Victoria and are not only beautiful but also the location of many Aboriginal rock art sites.

With peaks up to 1167m (~3800'), they give magnificent views across the surrounding plains.

This area was the scene of terrific rainfall and associated floods in December 2010 that caused landslides and great devastation across the National Park and surrounding areas. 

This is what Daisy Creek and Silverband Falls used to look like before Dec 2010.

This was the bridge over the creek.  It's now 100m downstream of where it was built.

Silverband Falls.  Friends who live in the area say that this used to be a proper set of falls, not the cascade it now has become.  Note the landslide of rocks on the left.

However all is not all is lost.  The birdlife is still around.  We were berated by this Grey Fantail for daring to come near its domain!

Day 41

Halls Gap <Map>

Today: 74kms, Total 4543kms

We had booked in to a very rural park nestled underneath the wall of the Lake Bellfield Dam.  As a dear friend had worked on the dam expansion before his retirement, we hoped he'd done the calculations correctly!

The paddocks next to the park were full of about 50 very tame Grey Kangaroos and a dozen very shy Emus.

"What's up, Skip?"

Likewise, the park had squadrons of ...

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, and ...

... Long-billed Corellas.  Both were very noisy and made sure you didn't miss them!  

We think the Cockatoos were responsible for shredding our interlocking rubber mats that we place at the foot of the van entrance. 

Between the campground and Halls Gap is the Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre owned and managed by people from the five Aboriginal communities with links to the ranges and surrounding plains.  It was a very interesting centre to visit and gave a lot of information on their links to the land.

Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre.

After getting all the info on what was open and what was still under repair from the landslides/floods, we set off to Mackenzie Falls.

Before we got there, we had to call a momentary halt to allow a rather slow-moving pedestrian to cross the road.

The Echidna's ant-eating nose is quite evident here.  These are a very ancient species called Monotremes as they both lay eggs and suckle their young.  The only other animal that does this is the Platypus.

We decided that a walk to the bottom of the Mackenzie Falls was beyond the call of duty as we'd done the Hopetoun Falls in the Otways only a few days previously and felt we didn't have to prove anything.  :-))

Next stop was Reed Lookout.

We went for an afternoon drive around part of the Wimmera district, ending up at the summit of Mt Arapiles.

Late afternoon sun drops shadows across Wimmera wheat fields.

Continue to Week 7