Friday, 4 February 2011

East Victoria February 2011


East Gippsland – Victoria February 2011 

4th Feb Day 1 – After leaving work at lunchtime we were hoping for at least a 1.30pm departure but not far off our time 1,45pm from QH.  Jules did the first stint of driving to about 80km from Yass about 2.25hrs.  We had a good run down the M7 onto the Hume Highway.  There was quite a bit of traffic mostly trucks, utes, caravans and a few cars.   We travelled through about 3 storms with heavy rain in short distances.  The trucks sucked us in when they past us this is sometimes scary.  We made a petrol and coffee stop at the Yass Service Centre then straight through to Gundagai Top Tourist Park arriving at 6.30pm.  We pulled into an ensuite site so we could keep the car hooked up for an quick get away the next day onto Seymour, Victoria.

5th February  We left Gundagai at 8.15pm not far behind Gil’s Schedule!!!!!  The day weather wise started OK, cloudy and sort of sunny but it deteriorated very quickly.  The rain started and in some spots was very heavy.  Gil took first drive today to Wangaratta where we filled with fuel and had a coffee at Maccas and checked emails etc from there it was onto Seymour with more rain.  We cannot be disappointed as it was on the weather chart before we left home indicating rain but we did not think it was to be so heavy.  We arrived at Seymour around 1.30pm as expected but due to the weather we did not do any exploring instead relaxed and read/watched a little television and caught up on paperwork.  I like my EReader it is great very easy to read books.  We did not have an ensuite site at this caravan park and the ground was quite muddy but you take the bad with the good.  We heard on the news Victoria was getting flooded again so we took notice of where and unfortunately one of the roads we intended taking to see a historical village called Coal Creek was partly under water.  Which way to go???  After much discussion we decided to have a go down through the outskirts of Melbourne and down the South Gippsland Highway.

6th February.  Off to Inverloch and hopefully to see Coal Creek.  We started off really good the sun was shining Jules driving that is always a good sign ha ha!!  Gil navigating, he is a specialist at navigating.  We were going really good to we got to a suburb of Melbourne where we had to turn right down Bulleen Road, oh no it was closed this was the beginning of totally relying on our Garmin, what a great job it did for us, it got us through the outskirts of Melbourne.    We got onto the South Gippsland Highway and we were going really well when we all came to a halt, the police were detouring us off the highway to back streets around the farms to Koo-ree-rup Road.  We were having a little nervous feeling we maybe running into more flooded areas.  As we were driving along we could see the irrigation channels were so full and just under the bridges on the roads and all this water was flowing down to the highway flooding the highway in low areas.  We were in a traffic jam everyone held up for the same reason.  Eventually we got through and back onto the highway but unfortunately this took a long time and we decided not to go to Coal Creek but continue on to Inverloch, never mind we may get time to go there if not we will get there another time.  We had lunch in Wonthaggi where Gil took over the driving instead of a 1.50hrs to 2hr drive it took 4hrs. To get to Inverloch from Seymour.  We are staying at the Big4 in Inverloch
  
it is wonderful the owners are very caring they escorted Gil to our caravan spot and even parked the van for us, really great.  The area is very clean and well looked after the facilities are clean.  After unhooking the van we decided to go into Inverloch and buy some goodies for dinner.  We went via the Esplanade and on the beach we noticed lots of surf kites (if that is what they are called) 

it was truly amazing lots of colours and people everywhere.  We found out there is a competition in two weeks, good timing for us.  Inverloch is a little beach place lots of cafes and eateries we eventually found a Food Works where we could buy some groceries then back to the van to do more setting up, looking forward to our stay here.

7th February.  Our destination today was Wilsons Promontory.  We were to leave at 8am but got away at 9am, not like us!!!!  Our first stop was Tarwin Lower not a big place a fishing village on the Tarwin River.
  
There were boardwalks and lookout platforms along the riverbanks and these were very good for photography and bird watching.  We drove through the village and in the park was a table and seating built. 
 
Not your ordinary table this was very long with a gazebo roof half way along not to be missed.  Our next stop was a pretty beach area and fishing village of Venus Bay.  We left here and went onto Walkerville looking for Lime Burner Kilns there was a sign on the main road but after this – nothing - it was disappointing so we did not find where they were due to the lack of signage.  From Walkerville we drove through Yanakie onto Wilsons Promontory.  This is a very pretty place lots of high mountains very rocky with tea tree vegetation.  It was a very pleasant drive, great beach scenery along the way. 

We drove into the National Park expecting to have to pay a fee but not so it was free, a nice change. 

We drove through the park to the Tidal River section where we had lunch,
home made sandwiches, cake and a cup of tea surrounded by seagulls.  Gil and I went on a walk along the beach and the tidal stream it was beautiful with very big rocks smooth like river pebbles and covered in orange algae

this made interesting background with the green vegetation.  On our drive out we noticed quite a few caravans and tents we did not realise we could do this it was great to see and put something in mind for us to think about at a later date.  We called into a place we missed on the way in to the Promontory called Whiskey Bay

it was a 300m walk to the beach it was very pretty with a couple doing some beach fishing.  After leaving the Promontory we headed for a little town called Fish Creek this reminded us of a hippy type area, we had coffee and scones here also very nice, not good for us.  We were starting to feel a little tired so decided to head back to Inverloch and the caravan.  It was a windy chilly day but we still had a good day.

8th February.  Today was our trip to Phillip Island.  We had a brief stop at San Remo where Gil read of a cake shop for diabetes and thought there maybe something interesting there for him??????
Well it did not take long I don’t think there is a cake shop for diabetics!!

We decided to call into the information centre on Phillip Island to get a more detailed map and more info on the places we wanted to visit the people there were very helpful.  We started at the best place Pannys Chocolate Factory 

just what Gil and I needed.  As soon as you walked in the smell of chocolate had the saliva working.   There was every conceivable chocolate combination you could think of and very expensive.  We paid our $12ea to visit on how the various chocolates were made and tried some samples made available to us.  The staff was very friendly and we were able to take photos but we did not buy one chocolate to take back with us we thought we were very good.  Our next visit was the Churchill Island Heritage Farm

what a beautiful area.  It had wetlands with bird life on the way in then acres of land with sheep and cows.  We walked around the farm area where there were the Scottish highland cows and jersey cows, black-faced sheep and draught horses, chooks, Canadian geese and turkeys.
  
Quite a few people at the farm as there was demonstrations on milking a cow, sheep shearing and the general happenings of a farm.  The gardens were lovely with old fashion plants and a kitchen garden with vegies, fruit and herbs.  The whole area looked out into the Bay just wonderful surroundings.  Gil and I wandered into the homestead it was beautiful and old kept very well built in the 1800’s loved the old fire places etc.  After leaving the homestead we headed for Cowes just a drive through - this suburb seemed to be the main area of the island with lots of shops and a hive of activity, quite yuppie appearance.  We went onto The Nobbies,

which is the most western end of the island.  It was a beautiful view looking over the ocean so we walked along a long boardwalk to look over the rocky outcrops and the blowhole (which was not so good today as it needed a high tide to work properly).  We took a back track along a secondary road hugging the coast so we were able to look over the ocean on the way for a short while.  Our next stop was A Maze N Things this was fun, it reminded us of Wanaka in New Zealand where there is also a Puzzle and Maze fun park, apparently this place on Phillip Island has used some of the NZ ideas.
 
Lots of crazy things, mirror maze, leaning floors, puzzles, wooden maze and mirrors which make you fat, thin, tall (which I like) great stuff.  That was our day back to the caravan park to do our emails but alas the wifi was down again so back into Wonthaggi Maccas to catch up on the cyberspace family.

9th February 2011.  We had plans to go to Mornington Peninsula but we decided not to go due to the roads still under water and it was quite a lengthy drive so we decided to make it into a day of rest.  Mooching around the caravan park and the surrounds.  Gil and I went for a walk on the foreshore of Inverloch Caravan Park we found the Big 4 Park extended around the corner where there were more van spaces and room for tent camping.  Although these spaces were basic still powered sites they were clean and the grounds were beautiful.  Amenities not very fancy but good and clean right on the foreshore and a sealed road right through the park.  We walked out to the foreshore on which the tired was very low and you could see the ripples in the sand where the water had washed across it.   Also on the sand were hundreds of little blue sand crabs about as big as a twenty-cent coin.  When we came near them they would scurry to bury themselves in the sand and soon you could see all these little holes in the sand very quaint.  We returned to the caravan or read and just relax it was good.  We did spend some time at Maccas, as we needed to use the Wifi between sorting out footy problems etc and checking emails.  When we returned to the park we actually found time to use the indoor pool this was great possibly about 25min the deeper end but this was enough to do a few laps and enjoy ourselves.  This pool was also suitable for littlies half the pool was split in various levels for babies and toddlers and the remainder for proper swimmers.   The first indoor pool we had come across in a park it was great.

10th February 2011.  We did not have a lot planned today as this was to be our last day at Inverloch we would have to say we really enjoyed staying at the Big 4 Caravan Park a very clean well looked after holiday park.  Gil and I went to the Wonthaggi State Coal Mine this was very very interesting. 


There were buildings in their original state and skips empty and filled with coal.  We were lucky to be taken on a tour and it was the guide, Gil and Julianne you could not any more personal than that.   We went through tunnels 60metres below the surface and 300m long it was great.  We were shown how small some of the work places these miners had to work in and how hard they had to work to get the coal to the surface and all the old and antiquated equipment they started back years ago.  It was damp and a little smelly but very good.

11th February 2011.  Today we left Inverloch to travel to Traralgon just a 1.50hrs drive in the mountains.  Unfortunately we had another day of on and off rain.  We arrived at the Park Lane Top Tourist Caravan Park

and it was very good, clean and tidy.  We got another ensuite site Gil changed our spot when he went to book in.  We unhooked the van and set up and decided to head for the Tarra Bulga National Park we had our map and lunch and off we went.  Our Garmin was set to take us and as we got closer to the park we noticed where the really bad fires were back in 2009 but the trees are amazing a lot of them have new shoots and lots of re growth with the burnt trunks showing a dark contrast in between the green leaves.  We started to climb into the mountain but with the bad weather we were driving in low cloud like really heavy fog not willing to take a risk of not knowing where we were going we abandoned our trip and turned around and came back to the caravan park.  It is not worth trying to go on risking ourselves with an accident we will come back some other time.  According to the weather report the rain is supposed to be moving on (lets hope) tomorrow we are off to a gold mine at Walhalla.

12th February 2011.  Today we are off to Walhalla gold mine.  After a very windy night and some rain we did not think today weather wise would be so good.  It did not start off real well, cloudy and threatening rain.  We made our way to Walhalla it was a beautiful drive to the mountains the road was windy, lined with giant gum trees and tree ferns and many more plants. 

Driving into Walhalla is like going back in time the old buildings and surrounds. 
This once gold town had come and gone and was back again rebuilt to yester year.  We arrived in time to go on the Walhalla Goldfields Railway this was a two-carriage train pulled by a diesel engine. 

Again the rail was an important part of yesterday when the gold mine closed down and the town moved out around 1914 the rail line went to rack and ruin with the bush taking over and nothing to be found.  

In 1994 this was totally rebuilt by enthusiasts clearing, rebuilding and making Walhalla into a tourist destination.  The rail trip goes for about 4kms and crosses 8 bridges of various heights.  The rail line runs alongside a very pretty creek that is continually running with waterfalls every now and again and as the train moves at a slow pace we were able to enjoy the scenery.  The whole trip took about 80mins.  After this we had enough time to have lunch and make our way to the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine. 
We enjoyed this tour again we had to don hard hats to enter the tunnel.  Unlike the coal mine we went through at Wonthaggie the tunnels of the gold mine did not have timber supports. 

The rock was mainly made of quartz, shale and a little sandstone having an arched roof therefore the composition was much harder.  We walked in about 270 meters and about 150 meters below the surface.  We saw many chambers where the miners worked and various tools, skips and boilers used in their day.  It was very hard work and a lot of men lost there lives by accidents, diseases, malnutrition and just hard work, it seems if you reached the age of 30 you were doing really well.  Gil and I did a little sight seeing around the town itself where a lot of shops and homes have been rebuilt to their original state, it was very good.  A most enjoyable day learning more about this wonderful country we live in.

13th February 2011.  Leaving Traralgon to Lakes Entrance.  We left around 9.30am, as we were not in a hurry as the Lakes Entrance was not a long drive.  The view coming down the hill to Lakes Entrance was quite spectacular there were three viewpoints on the hill and we made a note to return and have a look. 
 
After unhooking and setting up we decided to go on a walk along the foreshore.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.  Along the foreshore was a walking bridge over the inlet to the beach it was a great set up.  On the beach side was the Lakes Entrance Surf Club and a shed with paddleboats and canoes. 

We walked over to the beach it was beautiful and we enjoyed our walk although we were both very tied.  We had our first dinner out at the Lakes Entrance Bowling Club it was very nice and a lovely change from cooking.

14th February 2011.  Today we went to a little place called Paynesville not far from Lakes Entrance.  We retraced our steps from yesterday and stopped at the viewpoints on the hill to look over Lakes Entrance and what a view.
 
You could see the lakes system and the opening into Bass Strait, the buildings at Lakes Entrance and the bridge over the lake, very spectacular.  Our first stop was Eagle Point a very small fishing village, the best was the silt jetty which is the second biggest in the world.  This is just like a road on an isthmus which goes out on the water for some time, we drove along this with the bay one side, which was very rough due to the high winds and a river on the other it was quite spectacular and very interesting.
We left Eagle Point then went to Paynesville another fishing village but a larger town.  Again this was on the water with a bigger shopping village and some nice eateries, we had lunch at Stanley’s, very nice, was our early Valentines Day lunch.  From Paynesville there is a car ferry goes a very short distance to Raymond Island it is a very big ferry to go such a short distance, looks good all the same.  There is quite a few leisure craft here as well from the old wooden launch to the very new sail boat, we think there is some dollars in this area.
After Paynesville we drove to Bairnesdale and on the way we stopped at a craft shop called the Jolly Jumbuck, Gil just sighed, this shop had some beautiful wool and lovely jumpers they make on the premises, I bought a small packet of wool to make our new grandchild a blanket made from knitted squares.  Onto Bairnesdale this is a beautiful town very wide streets with a beautiful grassy island in the middle, a huge bandstand from the early days and gardens through out a real credit to the town.  Although some of the buildings were old they were kept in very good condition.  We had a great day with more travel tomorrow hope the sunshine holds.


15th February 2011.  Our plan today Nowa Nowa to see the trestle bridge and Orbost.  We started off to Nowa Nowa a little township in the mountains north west of Lakes Entrance.  The roads were excellent and hardly any traffic at all.  We had a delayed start as Jules left the camera back at the van, a mortal sin fancy forgetting the camera of course Gil helped by moving it into a hiding area you do not need when you get old and forgetful.  On retrieving the camera we started again to retrace our steps, first we called into a beautiful place called Lake Tyers

we went on a short walk to the beach very quite.  We walked past a small lagoon where there were cranes darting and pecking at the water, obviously they could see things we could not.

After Lake Tyers it was off to see the old trestle bridge.  Off the main road we turned down a dirt road or actually track for 3km and there it was this beautiful old trestle bridge built in 1916 for the railway.  It is soooo high and it was built across a gulley that could possibly flood in times of rain.  Although not used for a long time the workmanship was still there all done by hand, no big electric machinery to hold posts together, or electric drills for bolts holes etc.
  
We just stood around and taking photos admiring this workmanship.  The township of Nowa Nowa was made up of just a few houses, petrol station come general store.  We decided after this to go to Orbost to see the slab hut and have a picnic lunch.
  
We were going to call into Orbost on our way through on Thursday but as this would have meant going off on a side road we fitted it in today. 
 
On our way to Orbost there were more trestle bridges these were much smaller in height, also used as a rail line in years gone by.  We travelled past some of the area where a bush fire had been a couple of weeks before we arrived in the area it was amazing to see how violent this had been every tree was burnt completely like sticks not a leaf or a blade of grass left.

We visited the slab hut what is now the information centre.  This hut is still in its original state very small it is hard to believe a family living in such a small area.  We had lunch at the beautiful park quite a large area of grass, picnic tables, toilets and a playground for kids, very well laid out.  Drove around Orbost town centre then came home a good day and another with sunshine.


16th February 2011 we made this a rest day, as the next day was our first leg to home we would be travelling from The Lakes Entrance to Ulladulla.

17th February 2011 The end of our holiday.  We were travelling from The Lakes Entrance to Ulladulla today a 5hour journey.  Unfortunately the weather was overcast and a little wet but we just took our time.  The caravan towed beautifully we had no trouble at all on this trip we were very happy with our portable home.

We came across road works on and off, log trucks

and the usual hold ups along the highway but we had a good run.  We commented on the number of caravans on the move there is a lot on the road good luck to them all.  We arrived at Ulladulla at the Tourist Park around 2.30pm, again a very well laid out park.  
Lots of grassy areas, the beautiful bird life, rosellas,

parrots of all kinds, beautiful trees a place we will have to visit again and spend some more time. 

Gil and I went to the local club for dinner, we were able to get a shuttle bus there and back which was very good as we left the caravan hooked up to the car for an early start for home the next morning.

A GREAT HOLIDAY CANNOT WAIT TO START OUR NEXT ADVENTURE WITH OUR CARAVAN.

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