Mornington Peninsula

I was fortunate to spend 3 wonderful days with friends Nancy and Ann at their home at Tootgarook.  They took me on walks with  fantastic costal and country views.

 Nancy (L) & Ann (R) at the Visitors Centre at the start of our walk to Point Nepean.

on the way to Point Nepean at the tip of the peninsula.

  In this photo one can see the rough sea of the Pacific ocean on the left and the calm water of Melbourne Bay on the right.

We also visited the heritage site of The Quarantine Station, part of Australia's history of immigration.

Above the memorial to the immigrants who died in the shipwreck of the Ticonderoga on their way to Australia.

The museum holds interesting artifacts like this luggage of an early immigrant.

At the Quarantine Station all the immigrants had to go through the bath house and their luggage was fumigated in the fumigator shown above.

During wartime Australia was fearful of invasion and built defenses to the harbour.

Aftermath of war in Fort Nepean

Another day we walked to Cape Schanack and Bushwrangers Bay, passing through a protected wildlife sanctuary I was thrilled to see a mob of Jacks, Jills and Joeys (male, female and baby kangaroos) in the wild.

Picnic lunch at Bushwrangers Bay

and after we walk and paddle for fun!

Nancy and Ann enjoying life!

Soverign Hill, Ballarat

15th December we visited Soverign Hill an Outdoor Museum telling the story of Ballarat's first fabulous goldrush decade following the discovery of gold in 1851 -  the museum covers 25 hectares of a former gold mining site.

The experience begins with an example of the living conditions of the early prospectors. What hard times they lived through!

The early prospectors panned and dug shallow holes but it was the Cornish miners who arrived with their know how who dug deep shafts and set up machinery.

We visited later settlers cottages shops, theatre and workshops. Yasmin and Francois had a go at panning and actually found about 10 grains of gold!!!

Finally we made the excursion into a deep gold mine, but in the safety of an enclosed caged trolley. Very exciting and interesting (not for the claustrophobic)  After the ride down we walked quite a way, the lighting was dim for atmosphere but I found it difficult to see my way. 

First of all the miners used hammer, chisel and pickaxe. Later dynamite was used, followed by the above machines. All gruelling hard, unhealthy work and miners who were not killed or wounded died young.

Bendigo

On 12th December we visited Bendigo, the famous gold rush town of the Victorian period.  It had more gold than anywhere else and by 1851 prospectors were rushing in from all over the world including China and Cornwall.

The dots at the top of the tower are Francois and Yasmin.

Many fine civic buildings were build on the prosperity from gold

and many federation style buildings buildings of the period still exist.

The chinese community in Bendigo are still thriving and we enjoyed our visit to the Chinese Museum, garden and temple

Yasmin in the heart of the outdoor section of the museum.

That day the deluge came and Francois drove home in frightful monsoon rain conditions.

To Paradise and back

Yes, it is true.  Lara and I went to Paradise - a really beautiful almost surreal spot.

Stepping stones to Paradise

Lara in Paradise

Waterfall at Paradise

Sublime - if I was a poet I could wax lyrical!

Otway Fly

We were going to do a day trip to the Otway Fly deep in the Otway temperate rainforest.  I did not know what to expect.  After a longish walk along a track through the rainforest I was amazed to find this structure 600 m long and 25 m high.  It was a tree top walk from which one looks DOWN on the canope giving an entirely different view from ground level walks.

It also has the eco effect of saving the forest floor from the tramping tourists!  Left to right - Lara, Yasmin & François 'flying'.

'

As if that were not high enough there is this 45 m high lookout tower 'for the adventurous' - what a challenge!  Well, luckily I got to the top and down again without a heart attack!

Also . . .  the Cantilever - a great arm of metal structure sticking out into space with no visible means of support.  Going out to the end definitely gave me a weird feeling - not one for suffers of vertigo!

There is an option to abseil down instead of walking down - I did NOT do that, but treated Yasmin to the experience.

'Bye!

 I have a video clip of her descent but have not yet mastered the technique of putting clips into my blog - sorry.

Want to know more about the Otway Fly?  otwayflytreetopadventures.com

The beaches and surfing

 The Great Ocean Road is famed for its dramatic costal scenery and miles of fine sand beaches and yes, surfing.  We were within walking distance of the beach but often drove to others to explore the variety.

One does need a wet suit - this is the Pacicic Ocean, but with a wet suit you can stay in the water for hours.

Here Yasmin enjoys a rest after the exilirating exercise.

and of course, the Oldie in OZ g.o.d!!!

Sadly our last three days the surf was rather flat - well there is always rock pooling at low tide.  Endless interesting marine wildlife to explore there.

                    

Apollo Bay, Great Ocean Road

27th December and we are off for a family holiday -150 k car journey to Apollo Bay.

Stopped at a service station for a break and an elderly woman with her motor bike laden with tent, camping gear, etc. pulled in beside us.  I told her I used to motor cycle when I was young - she did also and had recently taken it up again. Honorary g.o.d. member?

François's new red car behind.

Apollo Bay is within the Otway National Park,  We had some amazing walks in the rain forest.

There used to be logging in the forest but now it is a National Park and is protected. There are very many fine old trees like this one - can you see Yasmin in the hole in the trunk?
















The native Fern Trees thrive under the canopy of
Gum Trees giving magical effect.  It is a wonderful area for walking with many different trails.




We stayed at the Eco Beach YHA Hostel at Apollo Bay, an architect designed purpose built hostel, beautifully appointed with excellent facilities.  Very nice indeed, we were all comfortable there, near to the beach and shops.