Thursday...31 January 2013

Decided it was time we travelled the famous Great Ocean Road so off we headed from Horsham nice and early yesterday and travelled via Hamilton to Warnambool. We got there at lunch time. Our priority here was to check out the Warnambool cheese shop but we also found a lovely little museum and, wait for it, the Big Milkshake!

Then it was onto the actual Great Ocean Road.
We stopped and looked at and walked around EVERY spot marked with a brown tourist 'must see' sign. This took a bit of stamina as there was heaps of them. Each and every one well worth the stop. The scenery was incredible, beautiful, majestic, awesome and in some places, crowded!

We saw, the Bay of Islands, the Bay of Martyrs, The Grotto, London Bridge, The Arch, Thunder Cave, Loch Ard Gorge and, The Twelve Apostles.

To complete our travels for day one of this trip we continued on to Apollo Bay and stayed the night at a lovely cabin in a caravan park.
The road from the Twelve Apostles to Apollo Bay is one long windy bend. Very pretty scenery but one bend after another and all tight enough to need extremely low speeds. By the end of it I was feeling sick and giddy.

We began day two of our trip by backtracking for 20kms to go to the Cape Otway Lighthouse Complex. This one is on the most southern point of the Victorian mainland. We saw the Telegraph Station, the Head Light keepers house and the lighthouse. I actually climbed to the top of it which is a first for me. Himself has climbed a lighthouse before so was eager to show off his knowledge. The views from up there were awesome. Definitely worth the huff and puff to get there.

As we were leaving the complex we spotted a couple of koalas in the trees so stopped to take a picture then realised that there were koalas in nearly every tree around us. We had happened upon a whole colony of them.

Going back into Apollo Bay we continued our journey.
From Apollo Bay to Torquay is the most famous portion of the Great Ocean Road. This is where the road runs right along the edge of the sea. The scenery is breath taking and they got lots more bends! It is 91.6kms of non stop twists and turns with another Ahhhhh around every corner.
Along the way we passed through Kennet River, Wye River, Lorne, Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Torquay. At Aireys Inlet we stopped to check out the Split Point Lighthouse. Much taller than the Cape Otway one.

Between Anglesea and Torquay is the world famous Bells Beach. Bells Beach is Australia's most well known surfing beach. While we were there several young lads were out on the water catching waves. Looked good.

Continuing on we turned just before reaching Geelong and came back to Horsham through Winchelsea, Colac, Camperdown, Mortlake, Lake Bolac, Ararat, Stawell and finally back to our little home which we left parked at our daughters place.
Between Winchelsea and Colac it rained. It bucketed down making it difficult to see very far in front of us. The rain eased after an hour and all the way back we saw puddles on the road. Two tired travellers tonight but happy we have seen The Great Ocean Road, Bells Beach and The Twelve Apostles.
Postscript: On both days of our journey we passed the standard issue international bike rider travelling Australia on a push bike.

Monday...28 January 2013

Just got back from an Australia Day Long Weekend road trip with the daughter and her family.
Thought we would pop over to Robe in South Australia but having left it to the last minute we were unable to get accommodation.
Rapid thinking, change of plan and we went to Portland on the Victorian coast instead.
We found a lovely quiet motel with very friendly and happy owners.
The boys packed their fishing rods and spent most of the time feeding the fish while the girls strolled the shops. No fish caught and very little bought by the girls at the shops! Never mind, it was a lovely break in a very pretty little town.

We came home today through Port Fairy which is another pretty little coastal town in Victoria. We took a stroll around their wharf and harbour to look at the pleasure craft tied up. The boys sure did enjoy that. Then we had some nice fish and chips for lunch before heading for home.
Getting there and coming home we had to go through Hamilton. They have The Big Wool Bales. We did not stop to look inside as we feel we have all seen enough wool bales in real life. One assumes they have the odd sheep or two in their district!

Monday...21 January 2013

Day trip to Ararat today.
The purpose of the outing was to visit the infamous J Ward Jail.
J Ward was built as a local county jail in 1859 during the early gold rush days and when the gold ran out and the population decreased, it was incorporated into the Ararat Lunatic Asylum.
The Lunatic Asylum was eventually renamed Aradale Asylum and was a major psychiatric hospital that ran from 1865 to 1998 and housed up to 900 patients a year.
J Ward was used for the most depraved and dangerous men in Victoria (the criminally insane) who were housed in horrific conditions under the highest security. It closed in 1991 and is now a museum.
The tour is highly informative if a little confronting. It includes many pieces of archaic medical equipment used to treat, transport and operate on the inmates. Electric shock therapy was practised here and all inmates who died were autopsied for the purpose of medical science.

The building is a great example of the local blue stone readily available in the district.

After two and a half hours 'inside' it was lovely to get out into the fresh air again and we took a drive out to Aradale which is now being used as a local TAFE college. They do tours but only on Sundays so we had a drive around the grounds.

After all that it was off to Maccas for a late lunch then back to Horsham and a much needed rest!
Glad we went, definitely interesting. Thank you to the daughter and her family for the trip.

Saturday...19 January 2013

Today we were taken on a tour of the Grampians.
No wonder everyone raves about it. The tourist brochures nearly do it justice. Incredible! Stunning!
First stop was McKenzie Falls. As usual there were lots of steps to get down to it but oh wow, it sure was worth the tired legs. The noise of the actual waterfall was loud but a nice sound.  It was a very popular spot, we had plenty of company from local family groups having a day out like us to international backpackers.

From there we went to a lookout that had stunning views over the Grampians and two water reservoirs within the landscape. We also stopped for a closer look at another dam called Lake Bellfield which is the water supply for the town of Halls Gap and also feeds water into the Wimmera Mallee Irrigation supply.

After that we went into Halls Gap and stopped at the pub for a chicken parma which was rather tasty but way too big for little old me. I was unable to eat it all.
Next we went into Halls Gap township and wandered around the shops finishing with ice creams and a stop at the coffee shop. We were all very impressed with the intricate designs in the froth of their coffees and hot chocolates. Very clever and very pretty.
Finally, on the way back to Horsham we stopped at the Giant Koala. This tourist attraction serves to better educate people regarding koalas. We were a little underwhelmed by the display but the actual building sure is something.

Out the back Himself spotted a TransAm and promptly fell to chatting with the owner while the rest of us looked at the animals and waited not so patiently for them to finish telling each other how wonder that particular car is!
A great day out and our thanks to the daughter and her family for a very good trip.

Wednesday...16 January 2013

Happy Birthday to me!
I got a beautiful flower arrangement, several phone calls, lots of well wishes on facebook, a set of brushed stainless steel cannisters, a Millers voucher AND I am being taken out for dinner. Who's a lucky girl?
Staying with the daughter in Victoria. Today was sheep sale day and they now have another bakers dozen of lambs to grow into nice juicy roast dinners. What a shame we will not be here when they are ready!
Weather has warmed up and another total fire ban day tomorrow. No plans, just relaxing.
Just heard that the Queensland grandson has been offered a place in his first choice subject in university. Well done him.

Monday...14 January 2013

The first born of the grandchildren has his car licence. Congratulations to him. He got it late last week so I think I will let him do a week (year) or two of solo experience before I go for a drive with him! He must be a really safe cautious driver as we sent him to the shops for a maccas sundae and it was melted by the time he got home! Maybe it was the drive all over town to show off to the mates that melted it? So next time young man, do all your sight seeing first then buy the maccas and come straight home.
My day today is shopping for the ingredients for a list (long) of baking that has been requested.
The weather here is being a bit crazy. The day we arrived it was 39, blowing a gale and a total fire ban and two days later it was 24 and raining! I believe it is going to get hot again this week but it is hard not knowing how to make the bed. One day is sheets only the next I had blankets and the doona on. In a caravan it is hard putting everything away in cupboards and having to fetch them back out again.
Had a lovely chat to my sister in Townsville yesterday.
The boys have gone fishing twice this weekend and have caught heaps of carp but so far nothing to fire the bbq up for!

Friday...11 January 2013

Moved from my sisters place to our daughters place.
Got to do two OMG's along the way. One was a fool in a car who decided to do an illegal U turn in front of us without looking to see if anyone was coming behind him! Close, way too close for me. The second one was a fully loaded semi coming out of dirt road from a standstill onto the sealed main highway in front of oncoming traffic moving at the 100km/h speed limit! You see it happening, you react but your brain refuses to believe it is really happening. Well that got my heart beating for the day.
On the way it was hot as hell and blowing a gale. The wind was strong enough to feel in our very heavy rig. No wonder they called it a total fire ban day. Anything that started today would move like greased lightning.

Monday...7 January 2013

Sunday...6 January 2013

Very hot day yesterday. It got to 43. It was my turn to cook so we went into town to the golf club for dinner. Their air conditioner was very effective. Nice club. The entertainment was a couple who did easy listening music and were very good. They had the dance floor full all night. One elderly gentleman really loved his dancing and was jolly good at it too. He was on the floor most of the night and wore out several partners. I take my hat off to him, he certainly showed the younger people how to stay fit!

Cool change came in over night. Today is only going to be 38!

Saturday...5 January 2013

Get well wishes to the daughter with the black and blue face!
Went to Melbourne on Wednesday. Left at 8am and got back at 9.30pm. Big day out. We had to take a bus from Shepparton to Seymour then a train from Seymour to Melbourne, a total journey of nearly three hours. The first thing we did was to catch a tram and have a look at the famous Myers window display. Every year this company decorates their store front windows at Christmas time and children big and small flock to see it. It is usually quite magical.
A bit of lunch and a visit to a specialist for my sister then it was back on the train home for another two and a half hours.
Yesterday we took a drive to Benalla to have lunch with my foster parents and came home from there through Murchison for afternoon tea with a niece.

Tuesday...1 January 2013

Happy New Year!
Had new year with my sister and we went into town to the local Mardi Gras which was a bit of a fizzer as not many people came and the usual street parade got cancelled for the first time ever. Still we did bump into some people we knew and had a nice chat while watching others try their luck at the crayfish wheel.
Then we went down to one of the local hotels. The last time I was in this particular one was 44 years ago for my sister's wedding reception! The whole time we were there I was looking at people on the next table and kept asking why do they look familiar when I hardly know anyone in this particular town even if it was the one I was born in...Turns out they were Para people! There you go, proof that it really is a small world.
Sister and I are off on the train to Melbourne tomorrow. Top of the list is a look at the Myer Christmas Windows. Then a spot of shopping and a couple of appointments.