Gundagai to Home

All dressed up and ready to go to dinner last night. We decided on a Chinese Banquet which included dessert of Fruit Salad and ice-cream - Wayne encouraged Phil to up-grade the dessert to Pavlova, Fruit Salad and ice-cream - once again a magnum was held to his head - a bad influence!!

It was a little chilly when we left Gundagai this morning and there had been a very heavy dew. Fuel is no longer available in town so we set off for the fuel station just out of town next to the 'Dog on the Tuckerbox'.

We said our farewells at morning tea near Goulburn - this has been a most enjoyable trip, we had a great time together and look forward to other such trips in the future (when Phil has lost the weight forced upon him by Waynes extravagance!)

Mulwala to Gundagai

After a beautiful sunrise over Lake Mulwala we set off for Gundagai for our last night -  at the Top Tourist Park (photo).

We drove through Albury and then came across two very wide loads being transported on trailers - they took up almost the entire width of the highway -  the drivers of the trailers contacted us on our CB's and advised us that they would, when possible, wave us through when they figured we had room - thank goodness for the radios.

After setting up we took the history walk through the town. This included a walk down to the river to see the 'Old Bridges' - the traffic bridge is now in a sad state but it was part of the road link on the Sydney-Melbourne road until 1977. The rail bridge was built in 1903 and must have been an incredible project in those times - this bridge is about 900 metres long. We also visited the old Railway Station - this was in beautiful condition, well maintained.

This is the last night of our fantastic trip (we will be home tomorrow) so we will dine out at the local club.

Swan Hill to Echuca to Yarrawonga

Last night, by recommendation, we dined at the 'Java Spice' Thai restaurant. The ambience, food and wine were excellent. We dined inside but could have been outside in bure type bungalows - it was all very well done and we can also recommend this restaurant.

We set off from Swan Hill towards Kerang - this section of the road had been flooded but we did not have to detour until just out of Kerang - there was much water beside the road (photo).

We continueed on to the Old Port area at Echuca. This is most interesting - we see old paddlesteamers, smithies and woodturning shops and many others places of interest. We made the decision to push on to Yarrawonga for our overnight.

We had lunch at Nathalia in a park beside the river - very pleasant. It was then on to Yarrawonga where there is a huge lake - water skiing - we drove across the bridge to Mulwala, set up in the Big 4, washed our cars and vans (many, many locusts) and explored Yarrawonga. Water was flowing very strongly through the weir (photo). Back home for happy hour - another great day!! 

Mildura to Swan Hill

We left the Mildura crickets behind (thousands of them everywhere, including in our washing off the line) and set off for Swan Hill. Morning tea was at a rest area beside the Murray (photo) just out of Robinvale.

We set up in the Big 4 at Swan Hill - this is an excellent park with large, grassed sites and outstanding amenities. After a little shopping we headed for Lake Boga (photo) and the Catalina Museum - they are restoring a Catalina (photo) in a new building which was actually built around the plane. Lake Boga was a maintenance facility for catalinas and other flying boats during World War 2 - there is a very interesting Museum here including video footage of Catalina attacks on shipping.
Until recently the lake was dry but is now close to overflowing - sand bags were in place.

We then drove to the banks of the river to once again see it in all its magnificence.

Tomorrow we have a short drive into Echuca for our overnight.

Mildura

Since our cruise did not leave until 11am we once again supported the local economy with retail therapy and drinks at McCafe (Wayne forced Phil to have an iced chocolate - he is a bad influence!!). We then headed to Mildura Wharf to board the P.S. Melbourne for a 2 hour cruise. Usually this cruise includes going through Lock 11 since the river level below the weir is normally 4 metres lower than that of the lock. However, since the water below the weir (which has been removed from the river - yes that is correct, they actually remove the weir from the river) is now 4metres higher than normal, we cruised downstream for the first time since 1996 without going through the lock.

The river level is clearly very high as we cruised past beautiful scenery, houseboats, old paddlesteamers (the Avoca is still used for functions and it was built in 1877), and very attractive homes. On the NSW side of the Murray people can own land right to the waters edge but on the Victorian side there is a 30m buffer zone which allows public access to the river.

This device provides the weir engineers with data regarding river flow, clarity and temperature of the water. In December 2010 they determined that the flow was such that they had to remove the weir from to river to avoid even worse flooding upstream. It is anticipated that the weir will return some time in March when the water level returns to a manageable level. 

After the cruise we went to the Trentham Estate winery on the banks of the Murray River for wine tasting (it was pleasing to the palate so we felt compelled to support the NSW side of the economy!!) and a very enjoyable lunch. It was then time to re-fuel and return home for a swim and happy hour.

We are hoping that it is a little cooler to-night so that sleeping is more comfortable. 

Tomorrow we set off for Swan Hill.

Horsham to Mildura

It rained steadily through the night but we woke to a beautiful day. We set off from Horsham for the 310km drive to Mildura - arrived about 1pm, set up, booked our cruise for tomorrow, supported the Mildura economy and drove through the town to the Murray. Lock 11 (photo) is not operating - the level of the water in the lock is slightly lower than that of the Murray - at the moment the weir is not in place, we guess because of the volume of water coming through.

The river is almost lapping at the top of the banks - it is a real picture.

And then back home for a swim - it is 6:30pm and still very hot. The air-conditioner is working overtime.

We are here for two nights.

Warrnambool to Portland to Horsham

The morning tea stop was at Portland. This is the site of the first settlement in Victoria - by Henty in 1834. This is the only deep-water harbour between Melbourne and Adelaide - it is a very pretty place and deserves more time than we can afford on this trip.

On leaving Portland we travelled about 5km along the Horsham road to a serious road accident which would block the highway for some hours - so we turned around and took a 1 hour detour. We travelled through Hamilton to Cherrypool (photo) about 50 km south of Horsham for lunch and then set off for our overnight at Horsham.

The drive from Portland was relatively uninteresting through country which is clearly in drought. Just South of Horsham the locusts started to become a problem so radiator guards (photo) were a necessity.

After cleaning our cars and caravans of splattered locusts here we are - enjoying happy hour again - this is exhausting but somebody has to do it!

PS. Young people pitched their tent next to Wayne and greeted him as 'Old Timer'. Thank goodness I am Phil the Younger.

Apollo Bay to Warrnambool

We woke to a brilliant sunrise over Apollo Bay with a heavily overcast sky and set off along the GOR.

This is really a stunning drive. We stopped at every lookout and each time the view was magnificent - the above photos are some of the twelve apostles which can be viewed from various vantage points near the 12 Apostles Centre. Victoria Parks have constructed a tunnel under the road and then a series of boardwalks to various lookouts. Magnificent!

And more magnificent coastal scenery. Here we met a couple from Dresden (in the old East Germany) out here to visit their daughter who lives in Melbourne. They could not believe how beautiful Australia is - they have four weeks to see the country and they were going to really pack it in - everyone in Germany mentions Ayers Rock as a 'must see'. This is a dream come true for them as they thought they would never be permitted to leave East Germany - thank heavens that wall came down!

And then the Grotto above.

We then set off for Warrnambool where we are booked for one night - happy hour was once again very enjoyable.

Apollo Bay and the Otway National Park

To-day we left our vans overlooking Apollo Bay to explore the area.

We turned off the Great Ocean Road onto the Cape Otway road to view the lighthouse but on the way we saw a man up a tree - why ?? He was photographing a koala with its baby - so we stopped and saw more koalas than we have ever seen - they were quite active, grabbing for leaves and actually watching us - people after us saw them walking across the road! It was quite special until the man up the tree tried to take Wayne's car (their car was the same colour - he went to the wrong one!)

We then continued to Cape Otway to view the lighthouse cottages, the Telegraph Station, the World War 2 bunker, radar station and then to the top of the lighthouse. Our walk included the aboriginal cultural display.

We then re-joined the Great Ocean Road through Glenaire, Lavers Hill and into the National Park and rainforest. Our first stop was at the Triplet Falls - this involved a loop walk through a magnificent rainforest - beautiful ferns, mountain ash hundreds of years old which were enormous trees reaching tens of metres above us. We then came upon the Triplet Falls and they were spectacular.

The Hopetoun Falls were next on the list and here we met three Dutch fellows out here for twelve months - we gave them a map.

 

We continued on Binns Road back to the GOR to Apollo Bay for a visit to the Marina, Fish shop, beach and then some shopping. (Wayne forced me to buy a Magnum!)
Back home for happy hour and Wayne cooking a lamb roast - please do not worry about us, we are fine!

Ballarat to Apollo Bay

Someone commented that Ballarat is the coldest city in Victoria - probably correct.

Whilst it was a little chilly when we left Ballarat (jeans) the day steadily improved as we drove through Geelong to Barwon Heads (Seachange fame) for morning tea and a stroll on to the jetty to take in the view of the heads and the river.

We left the highway for a detour to Bells Beach - it really is a beautiful spot and a good surf was being enjoyed by a number of surfers.

We rejoined the main road and continued through Torquay, the beautiful Anglesea and then on to Airey's Inlet. By this time the weather was beautiful and we all changed into shorts for our walk to the lighthouse and a leisurely lunch under our umbrella - a cold beer was very welcome.

We passed under the Memorial Arch signifying the start of the Great Ocean Road which was built by the diggers following the First World War in honour of the fallen and also to give returned diggers a job. This was a toll road from 1929-1936. We continued on the Great Ocean Road with many stops - some to take in the breathtaking views and others because of extensive roadworks following rock slides. We all thought that Lorne was really beautiful and if there is time we will return.
Next stop was Pisces Resort for two nights - this is a magnificent park overlooking Apollo Bay. The amenities are excellent with soothing piped music as you sit and ponder or stand and think.
Happy hour was spent planning tomorrows activities.