A day out west

Luke and I went for a day trip out west yesterday. First we visited the Red Rock lookout near Colac, an area of highly concentrated volcanic activity 6,000 - 12,000 years ago. You can see several craters (or maars) from the lookout. 

You can also see Lake Corangamite, which is Australia's largest permanent salt lake, as well as lots of gorgeous green fields. 

As we approached the turn-off to the lookout I saw a big hill in the distance and said to Luke that it looked like Mount Elephant, but I didn't think it was in the right spot. Turns out that it was Mt Elephant! Go, me. I know my big hills. Western Victoria is home to hundreds of dormant/extinct volcanoes and as I grew up in that part of the state, I have seen quite a few of them. I lived near the foot of one (Mt Rouse) in my teens and my Dad built the fire lookout that sits on its summit. 

Anyway, here are my photos from the day. 

On the road again...the other side Geelong

Lots of canola fields on the way to Geelong

 Some of the craters seen from Red Rock lookout

 Looking towards Red Rock lookout, Lake Corangamite on the horizon

 So green

We had lunch at the bakery in Colac and then headed towards Beech Forest, which is on the edge of the Otway Ranges and close to several waterfalls. We visited Hopetoun Falls because it's only a short walk (downhill) to get the best view of the falls. 

Lots of steps, but it's a beautiful walk

 Look! A waterfall! 

 I enjoyed walking through mud and puddles 

 Taken from a rock that I stepped into the creek to get to. 

Yay, gumboots 

Ready to unfurl

We stopped for a little while in the redwood forest near Hopetoun Falls before heading home via the Great Ocean Road.  

The trees were planted in 1939

A creek runs alongside the forest

On the Great Ocean Road 

A spontaneous Sunday adventure

Great Ocean Road from Teddy's Lookout, Lorne

Luke and I made an impromptu visit to Lorne on the spectacular Great Ocean Road yesterday. We had lunch in a little town west of Geelong called Birregurra just for a day out somewhere different, but rather than head back home on the highway, Luke suggested we head south to Lorne since it wasn't that far away. It's hard to say no to zooming along the GOR. 

With our bellies full of lamb snags (Luke) and beef burger (me) supplied by farms in the Birregurra region, we set off. The trip took us from farmland, through the forested Otways National Park to the coast.

Fabulous old petrol bowser at Deans Marsh 

A ghost sign on the building behind the bowser

While in Lorne we took in the view from Teddy's Lookout and visited the lush spendour of Erskine Falls - my first time there. It's not the mightiest waterfall we've visited, but the setting is beautiful. Cool, green and cavernous. 

 Erskine Falls near Lorne

Kookaburra sits in the old gumtree

We dropped into the secondhand bookshop in Birregurra (naturally) and while we were there, the owner dropped a bookstand on the floor near my feet. I picked it up for her and she said that meant I would get a surprise. Apparently that was a thing when she grew up - if someone drops something and you pick it up for them, a surprise will come your way. Country karma, I suppose. My surprise is due on Wednesday. I assume it's going to be a nice surprise. 

It might have come early actually. I thought the interest I pay annually in November for an investment thingo hadn't been debited from my account, but today I realised it had; it was just much smaller than usual. This means nearly all of my tax return can go towards other, more tangible things, like saving for holidays next year.  Yay. Oh, OK; I did buy some shoes too.    

November: day 20

Nail art of the day

I showed my latest nail picture to Luke and he's completely grossed out that I kept the 'nail', as if it's actually my real nail. He's a strange boy, but I like him.  Then I told him I bought the 'nail' home with me... I have a creative vision, dammit! 

I fell over crossing the road today and several lovely people stopped to ask if I was OK (I was). I've fallen over four times this year and have only suffered a few bruises and scrapes. Lucky...especially as two of the tumbles were at waterfalls. Stupid slippery rocks.  

Hunky Dory, the fish n chip place, is our new Friday night dinner haunt. I'm in love with their lamb skewers. They're so juicy and tender and flavoursome. We're often served by the same young woman and she knows what my 'usual' is now. 

New Year road trip: our last day

We were met with gloom and drizzle when we emerged from our motel the next morning, although it wasn't cold. Despite the expected limited visibility, we headed back to Powers Lookout, which I had managed to locate on a map in a tourist brochure on the Prosecco Road I picked up in nearby Milawa. (Side-note: this part of Victoria is called King Valley and it's notable for its food and wine offerings. And I like prosecco.) (Further side-note: I just spotted Powers Lookout on the map I had with me the whole trip. Map-reading fail.)

We couldn't see a thing when we got to the lookout. It was more a case of no visibility rather than limited visibility.

 Nice um...tree

 Anyone for a picnic?

Oh well. The King Valley isn't that far from Melbourne and there's plenty of other things to see/eat/drink up there, so we can come back again in better weather.  Not that the weather bothered me much. Yes, it would have been nice to see the reportedly amazing views from the lookout (a friend had recommended we take a small detour to see the view), but the low hanging cloud/fog was quite picturesque in itself and added a dramatic atmosphere to our photos that's often missing when it's a sunny day with blue sky. And besides that, the rain made the bush smell AH-MAY-ZING. All fresh and eucalyptusy. I love it. 

The rain was widespread in Victoria that Saturday, so the clouds stuck with us most of the day. Our next stop on the way home was Mansfield, which was conveniently located at the end of the road we travelled on to get to Powers Lookout. Road trip serendipity. Serentripity. 

We stopped for a quick look around Mansfield - the bakery, the lolly shop, the gun shop, the horse shop (no, it doesn't sell horses, just horsey stuff, including horse shoes that are like human shoes that you actually slip your horse's hoof into). Although I grew up on a farm, the gun shop and horse shop felt like being in a different country. My dad had a gun, but I don't remember seeing gun shops in town. And I was scared of horses from when I was a small child. (I'm still not a fan.) 

But Mansfield is in the high country, a long way from where I grew up, and guns and horses are clearly an integral part of the culture there. We even saw people - young people! - walking down the main street wearing cowboy hats. Nobody wore cowboy hats in the Western District where I grew up. Yes, we giggled at them. 

Next up, we hit the road to Alexandra, which felt like a verrrrry long drive on more winding roads through the mountains, skirting Eildon National Park and past Lake Eildon.  

More photos of rural serenity...and cows. 

These cows retreated to a safe distance before stopping and turning around to watch us intently as we took photos. We saw a lot of cows on our trip and few sheep. Clearly east of Melbourne is Cow Country and west is Sheep Country. Maybe that explains the lack of cowboy hats where I grew up...
  

 Lake Eildon (an artificial lake, hence the drowned trees)

Lake Eildon again

 This might be the Goulburn River? 

Or maybe is isn't big enough? I dunno

We stopped at Snobs Creek to visit the falls, another spontaneous decision as we'd never heard of this waterfall before, despite its relative proximity to Melbourne. The actual creek that Snobs Creek takes its name from is a pretty insignificant watercourse, so we were surprised when we got to the falls and water was fairly thundering over the rocks. 

 The top of the main drop (hard to get more than this in shot)

 Above the falls

The cascades

I've said after previous holidays that it's not a proper holiday without me falling into something (e.g. a creek in Tassie) or stepping in something gross (stagnant mad that looked like beach sand on the Coorong). This time I slipped and fell on the rocks, hurting both wrists and my left shoulder, and getting a wet patch on my bum. Kind of serves me right because we had slipped through a gap in the viewing platform and walked out onto the rocks to take photos. Miraculously, the family that was at the viewing platform mere minutes before wasn't there when I looked up, and Luke had his back turned. That's called winning at falling. 

Our next and final stop was Alexandra, where we stopped for a late lunch before thee final stretch of highway that took us home. It was sort of nice to be home - I really enjoyed sleeping on my own pillow, which I had forgotten to take with me - but honestly, I wish we could have just kept on driving. One day, I'd like to take several months off work, and just drive keep on driving.    

A note about my photos: I've realised I need to recalibrate the colours on my laptop, which is why my photos probably look over-saturated on your device. They look fine on mine!  I'll fix that when I work out how to do it...

New Year road trip day 2: Lakes Entrance

I woke the next day with very sore glutes, calves and quads from the previous day's exertions (as well as sunburn on the tops of my feet because I forgot to suncreen them), but I dragged myself out of bed early, ready to hit the road for Lakes Entrance. The morning was pleasantly cool and dewy. 

For non-Victorians, Lakes Entrance is in Gippsland - the southern section of Victoria that's east of Melbourne - and it's such a beautiful part of the state. It has amazing beaches, lush farmland with rolling hills and not-too-distant mountains. Despite being more than a month into summer, parts of it were still green. 

We turned off at the small town of Toora to visit Agnes Falls and there was gorgeousness everywhere we looked. And cows. It was just so verdant. 

I'd never heard of Agnes Falls until planning this trip, even though they are the highest single drop falls in Victoria - but they were a very impressive sight. The Agnes River was calm and glassy before tumbling into a deep, rocky gorge. 

Look at that mirror-like river 

More of the falls (not the full drop)

The wall of the gorge opposite the falls was a series of tall, rugged, rocky columns, but there were too many trees in the way to get a photo of it (damned nature!). No, wait. I love nature. The native bush smelled amazing and we saw (and heard) two black cockatoos screeching in a tree near the falls. 

 Agnes River and fallen tree

A nearby windfarm

 More verdure...and a river runs through it

 More hay rolls and green hills

  

 Green hill with curious cow

Next we headed for Woodside Beach, near the start of the iconic Ninety Mile Beach. At about 150km (94 miles), Ninety Mile Beach is one of the longest uninterrupted stretches of beach in the world. I was thrilled to read that sharks - including Great Whites - have been known to breed in the shallows along the beach, but we weren't there during mating season (note to self: revisit during shark sexy time). 

 

The Surf Life Saving Club patrol

We missed a turn and ended up in Lochsport, which sits on a skinny finger of land between two lakes, right on the coast (that triangle of blue is the ocean).   

It's home to a cousin of the Loch Ness Monster, and her baby.

Our next stop was another lakeside town called Metung. Allow me to share a snippet of the conversation as we drove along: 

Me (looking at map): Where's Metung?

Luke: In your mouth! (Laughs hysterically)

Hawhaw. It's pronounced MEE-tung, but after that we called it Me-TUNG. 

I'd heard many people sing the praises of Metung, and it was certainly pretty - a pleasant mix of water views, and a village spread across low hills covered with native bush - but I found it a little too...Portsea for my liking (i.e. a place where people with plenty of money like to take their summer holidays with their big, shiny boats).

 Rich person(s) holidaying with yacht

Lakes Entrance, named for the artificial channel (highlighted below) connecting Bass Strait to the Gippsland Lakes, was our final destination for the day.   

We booked into a motel room for the night and then took ourselves for a walk. 

 Footbridge over lake to the beach

 Fishing boats

Some other boats

A friend had highly recommended a fish and chip shop in Lakes Entrance  - the best fish n chips EVER - so we headed there for dinner. Going on the number of patrons in the shop and the long wait for our order, it was indeed a purveyor of fine fish n chips. 

I don't eat fish, but I can say that the chips were excellent: crispy outside and fluffy inside.  I also sweet potato cakes for the first time and they were yummy (also enormous).

Then it was back to our motel and to bed. I think we were in bed before 10.00 pm (maybe even 9.30 pm) every night of our trip and I sighed with contented exhaustion every night as I laid down my weary body. Aaaaaaaah.  

On that note, I'm going to take my weary body to bed. Day three to follow...

Good Friday - Part I

 A rare sight for me

I got up on Friday  - a public holiday  - about the same time as the sun. Granted, the sun doesn't rise very early this close to the end of daylight savings (about 7.30), but that's still early for me, especially on a non-work day.

We set off on our day trip to Bendigo in central Victoria. Our first stop was Trentham, a little township about half way between Melbourne and Bendigo. We parked on the main street and went for a wander in the chilly morning air. Yes, chilly! It was quite nice after our recent hot weather and kind of...well, just plain cold. Brrrr. No pleasing some people, eh?

I spotted this sign, which was just visible over the top of shrubbery, straight after getting out of the car.

I hesitate to call it a ghost sign because it looks as if it's been restored. It's great that people value their old signs, but restoring them robs them of some of their character, I think.  If it hasn't been restored, it's either lasted very well or it isn't that old. Indian Root Pills  - essentially a herbal laxative - went on the market in the early 1800s in America but the Wikipedia entry for the pills is a little ambiguous -  they are either still sold in Australia or they were sold here until 1992. I'd never heard of them until recently, and that was only because I saw photos of other old Indian Root Pills signs (like this one).

Some other Trentham sights. 

Trentham is at the edge of the Wombat State Forest and they work those furry (not-so) little fellas hard. There's a statue of a wombat in the little garden on the main street and quite a few business in the area with quaint wombat-centric names. And why not?

 Gotta love a town that cares about its feathered friends

 Trentham obviously loves a bit of whimsy

Large ginger cat is not amused

One of the town's two pubs. Yep, tiny town, two pubs.  

How very Australian.

We stopped at Trentham Falls on the way to Daylesford, but because rain has been scarce, it wasn't a very impressive display. The landscape was interesting though and the smell of the cool, damp native forest was AH-MAZING. Eucalyptus fresh. That alone made the stop worthwhile. 

 

Basalt columns

Then we were off to Daylesford, a larger town and popular destination for day trippers from Melbourne, particularly because of its natural mineral spring spa resorts. According to Wikipedia, Daylesford has 65 mineral springs, which is 80 per cent of the known minerals springs in Australia. (Some of this water ends up bottled and sold as Mount Franklin mineral water.)

We didn't have time for luxuriating in a spa though. We had a gourmet hotdog for lunch and a wander about the centre of town. Daylesford is another place that sprang up with the discovery of gold in the 1850s. Like its neighbours, the riches of its gold mining days are still evident in the town's grand buildings (which I haven't captured very well with my photos).

 The old mail box is still used!

This fountain at the start of the main street is reminiscent of the Hochgurtel Fountain in Melbourne's Carlton Gardens. Perhaps this design was the height of fountain fashion way-back-when. 

We saw a few old signs (which I will share in a separate post), and this old car which looked as if it hadn't been moved from its parking spot just off the main street in at least 50 years. Closer inspection revealed that the registration had only lapsed late last year. 

 

It even had lichen growing on it

 Cat on a bookshop roof

It's not a real cat, just a silhouette, but I like that someone went to the trouble of putting it up there. We successfully resisted the pull of the the bookshop, which doesn't happen often. 

We stopped for a little while at Lake Daylesford. There was a gang of ducks hassling picnickers for food. The picnickers left and then the ducks spotted me and started heading my way. I thought, "Ha! You think I have food for you, but I'm just going to take photos of you!" I seriously underestimated their ability to distinguish between bread and a camera because they didn't even get to me before losing interest and heading off in another direction!  I made a little video of them deserting me.  

 

Look at them eyeing me suspiciously

You might recognise these as the breed of duck recently revealed to be wearing dog masks. They SO are! Look at them!

We then hit the road for our final destination - Bendigo - to visit my friend and her two boys, but I'm going to finish here for tonight.