Day 19 – Fern Tree Gully and Fish Creek

Said our goodbyes to sunny Melbourne. We left with every intention of heading up to the Dandenongs to take a ride on Puffing Billy. However, owing to poor/absent planning we found that we would arrive a minute or so after it left for the day. We quickly changed plans to visit Fern Tree Gully and hike the Kokoda Memorial Walk.

We thought better of doing the arduous 1000 Steps Walk, and did a shorter trail instead. The area, part of the Dandenongs National Park, is beautiful.

The trail includes a memorial and information about the WW2 conflict in Papua New Guinea, on the Kokoda Trail. Sobering reading, amidst the tranquil bush.

Thereafter, we drove through the scenic southern Gippsland region to Fish Creek, our base for the next couple of days. Looking forward to visiting Wilsons Promontory National Park tomorrow.

Day 18 – Melbourne Zoo

Today we went to the Melbourne Zoo. The family split up to cover more ground, and everyone had a fine time. A bunch of the animals seemed to be a little shy, but we saw many creatures.

Bashful the giant tortoise:

Seals:

The very rare Wooden Meerkat:

A highlight of the zoo was the butterfly house. Hundreds of butterflies in a tropical greenhouse.

Reptiles:

Carnivorous furniture:

Melbourne Zoo seems fairly compact, but it’s laid out well and landscaped beautifully. Well worth the visit.

Later in the evening, it was off to Sian and Tom’s house for a roast dinner. The home cooking was very welcome. This was our last night in Melbourne. Big thanks to Briony for housing us, and letting us tie up the washing machine for a couple of days straight. It was very much appreciated.

Day 17 – Melbourne lanes and ways

Today was about sampling a little of Melbourne’s inner-city vibe. This meant taking the train into Flinders Street station and wandering the lanes at almost-random.

We ate a churro-donut (best invention ever!), got coffee, then walked the lanes of the CBD.

We ate beef pho, macaroons, Japanese egg omelette, Nutella calzone and brownies. We browsed a boardgame store with much lust. We admired the beautiful State Library, because libraries are great. Melbourne’s lanes are a great way to absorb a little of the city in a morning.

After the train ride home, we later drove out to Saint Kilda to see the fairy penguins come in for the evening. The kids were pretty overjoyed to see a bunch of them arrive back at the breakwater to feed their chicks.

Still full from the day’s activities, we snacked on chips and white bait for tea. River preferred feeding me:

We had every intention of a visit to Luna Park, but that turned out to shut at 8 PM. Never mind, I was scared off by the frankly terrifying entry. Those eyes:

Melbourne is enormous, and we’re sorry to only be spending a few days here. Looking forward to another day of touristy stuff tomorrow.

Day 16 – Chillin’ in Melbourne

Today was all about looking for Easter eggs, hanging out with family, doing some overdue chores (mainly laundry), and generally taking a break from long drives.

Holiday from the holiday. It’s a hard life.

Day 15 – Great Ocean Road

We escaped camp early in order to maximise the time we had on the Great Ocean Road. This is one of the most scenic bits of driving in Australia, so today is all about the photos.

Loch Ard Gorge:

Islands Gorge:

The Razorback:

The Twelve (Nine?) Apostles:

Following this tour of the limestone coast, we followed the road into Great Otway National Park. First we took a walk through the superb Melba Gulley, an area of dry rainforest.

Next we drove a little further to Mait’s Rest, another unmissable walk through rainforest. Tall trees and huge tree ferns abound.

We then followed the road a little further east, stopping at Kennett River to see if we could spot a koala in the wild. We did! However, I didn’t get a picture of them. There were also many tame Rosella parrots around.

It being late afternoon, by this stage it was full speed to Melbourne. Stopping briefly in Lorne for a sit-down dinner, we then drove nonstop to Briony’s house in Mordialloc. This was our first incidence of driving into the night, and Fi did an admirable job of navigating through an unfamiliar city after dark. After two weeks, it was a nice change to sleep indoors. Clean sheets feel like a luxury.

Day 14 – Lower Glenelg to Port Fairy

Despite the bitter cold overnight and our general lack of food, we found it hard to drag ourselves away from this camp site. A magnificent bush camp on the Glenelg River just inside the Victorian border.

The kids made a bunch of friends and had a ball playing hide and seek around the camp.

By 11:30 we managed hit the road and check out Port Fairy, a beautiful coastal town with a magnificent walk out to the lighthouse.

After, we drove a little further up the coast to Port Campbell to stop at a community campsite. This was basically an okay site, but for the noisy neighbours. Still, we all got to shower and sleep.

Tomorrow we drive the Great Ocean Road. Looking forward to it a lot.

Day 13 – Mount Gambier

Tantanoola: nice place to stop in overnight, but not to stay. Bye! Time to visit Mt Gambia, about which I knew basically nothing. Turns out that it’s basically built on top of a bunch of inactive volcanoes.

We visited the Lady Nelson Visitor Centre to get some ideas. They have a pretty good education display about the local environment, geology and history. Below is a video dramatisation of parts of the diary of Christina Smith, an early settler who documented the local Aboriginal population. It was very well done.

From there we went for a walk around Blue Lake and Valley Lake, which both happen to be craters of the aforementioned volcanoes. Notwithstanding some dodgy maps, we found our way.

Later, we went to the Main Corner Complex in town to see a free movie about the history of the volcanoes in this region. This film turned out to be way better than I was expecting. It was beautifully filmed, well-produced and interesting. Hats off to the local government for making an educational film that our kids both liked.

Having been well-schooled in vulcanology, we headed out to our campfire in the Lower Glenelg National Park. While our navigation program led us down some creepy back roads, we avoided breaking down and being murdered and instead we arrived at a beautiful bush campsite in the park. Next to the Glenelg River, it was the sort of place that makes the long drives all worthwhile.

Day 12 – Tantanoola

Today was mostly about getting from place to place. Packed and said good bye to Hahndorf, heading south toward Mt Gambier. We passed through a number of quiet coastal towns, all of which looked pleasant enough.

The Big Lobster in…some town that I forget:

Eventually we fetched up at the tiny speck of Tantanoola, at a free caravan site. A bit of a nothing travel day, but they can’t all be nonstop fun times. Tomorrow should be more interesting.

Day 11 – Hahndorf

It was another go-slow day. We slobbed around the campsite all morning, played mini golf, then travelled several minutes into town for lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering between the local shops, admiring the old buildings and eating local delicacies.

We visited at least four confectionery shops before the kids decided on juuuust the right lollies to buy.

The Adelaide hills are a beautiful place, but you get the idea that Hahndorf is the jewel in the crown. It’s rare that there is this much preserved historical architecture in any one place in Australia. It’s well worth the spending the time here. Even without the delicious food.

Dinner was just the wurst, though: