Month: September 2024

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Australasia Australia Victoria

12 Sep 2024 Balnarring – Ferntree Gully

My first stop today was at the Royal Botanical Gardens -Cranbourne. These were so superb! So many different environments created and also had loads of orchids on display. I took way too many photos – looks amazing with the spring flowers.

Next, I hiked up Trig Point Lookout in Churchill National Park-apparently one of the best views of Melbourne skyline from afar. This is mainly a mountain bike park. So, the maintenance roads are used for walkers. The walk isn’t spectacular really.

 

As I couldn’t find any campsites within reasonable distance to Dandenong Ranges National Park, I ended up staying in a motel in Ferntree Gully for 2 nights.  I headed there as I had a date tonight – dinner and a walk in the park.

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Australasia Australia Victoria

11 Sep 2024 – Sorrento – Balnarring

Always an easy morning when you don’t need to pack up camp.
 
I had the whole southern coast to explore between what were due to be rain showers throughout the day ,so I planned short walks so that I wouldn’t get to drenched !
 
I headed back out east a bit again to go and see London Bridge – a rock arch.
 
Then Jubilee Point
Spray Point & Koonya Beach
 
The views all along this coast are incredible with all the eroded rock formations . The 2 day coastal walk would be worth doing!
 
Before reaching Schank Point and Lighthouse I wanted to stop by for a coffee and maybe quick bite. Not sure how I got it right but I found the only full vegan Cafe in the area !! I had a pretty tasty “sausage roll” but skipped the coffee as I don’t like the “milk” options … and so I grabbed a coffee elsewhere.
The lighthouse was pretty amazing as is the walk down to the headland and beaches. It’s down a series of steps and boardwalks. 
 
Probably the busiest stop in terms of tourist numbers. 
 
I couldn’t believe that with all my stops there’d been NO rain and it was warm and sunny !
 
I decided to drive to camp and set up as the clouds came in …just in case it started to rain. The campsite wasn’t particularly impressive . The amenities were clean though. 
 
I set up camp with no rain, had late lunch and then headed to Coolart Homestead and wetlands for a walk.
 
The homestead is rather impressive , a style which I’m not used to seeing in Australia. The gardens are also styled and have a pond and many flowering trees and plants.
 
Not too many exciting bird species at the wetlands but it was peaceful. 
 
I was hoping to get a pizza in the village but turned out that the place was closed – bummer ! So I headed back to camp. 
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Australasia Australia Victoria

10 Sep 2024 – Phillip Island – Sorrento

I wanted to do one more short walk to Forrest Beach Caves before leaving. I needed a low tide which wouldn’t be until late morning, so there was no rush in getting ready. 
 
I got there about 1.5hrs before low tide but it wasn’t low enough yet to pass and neither did I have the right footwear to climb over the sharp rocks . So I gave up on that and headed off.
 
I decided that I’d make my way to Arthur’s Seat first as tomorrow the rain was supposed to come in, so the elevated views would be no good. Honestly the summit view is really a waste as the trees cover most, but the view points on the way are pretty cool! 
 
I then decided I’d find a camp in the west so that I could set up my tent before doing the hike to Fort Nepean. I wasted 30min going through campsite by campsite to find them all closed for the winter !! What bullshit is that !?!? Not even one !! 
So then I got to looking for a place to stay …and 135 dollars later I booked it !! It was nice but very unnecessary !! 
 
The whole Point Nepean National Park is pretty interesting as it was the quarantine area for incoming ships. Many buildings still stand today . One of the most interesting ones is the steam chambers that were used for disinfection of all belongings and luggage.
 
The western most end is also a fort with many gun emplacements in place around Bass Strait.
 
I did the walk from Gunners Cottage to just past the barrack locations and then decided to head back before the sun caught me out.
 
Had a great encounter with a very non chalant echidna . It waddled towards me with no bother. Must have been too busy eating the ants around. They are usually more skittish.
 
Also saw a blue tongue lizard sunning itself and very slow to move.
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Australasia Australia Victoria

09 Sep 2024 – Phillip Island – The Nobbies

I spent the morning at the Nobbies Peninsula. There are several lookouts and walks here . I was so delighted when I had the whole boardwalk to myself and had time to just watch the waves crashing on the rocks ! 
On my way back I met at least 30 people and the parking was much fuller !! But only when I I was near the end of the walk did they all come flooding in.
 
After this I drove down the dirt track along the coast to check to lookouts along here . All great views !! Also so great to see the grey geese here at different levels of mating and chicken rearing. Some were still sitting on eggs while others had tiny chicks and others still had well grown teenagers :).
 
As I had a fair bit of time I went in to Cowes to have some lunch at the RSL, it was great and huge so no dinner required. 
I made my way back to the Penguin Parade in the late afternoon as I had tickets for the nightly penguins coming in. It’s a huge tourist activity. The visitors center is huge !!! There are a few stands in which we all wait patiently on until the first penguins pop out of the water about 30min after sunset. 
 
These are Little or Fairy penguins…the smallest of the species. They are dark navy in colour on top and have white tummies. They only weigh about 1kg and are about 1 foot high .
They form rafts of a few penguins when coming in on the beach and suss it all out. Many of them seem to get spooked and waddle back in to the water !! Cute to watch! Then they get enough courage and make.for their sandy tracks up to their burrows with their tummies full! 
There are already a few fluffy chicks around in the burrows and they call out so that their parents can find them.
 
The experience was nice but of course so crowded…and not even peak season…and you only get 50min with them before the lights are turned off and everyone needs to be out ! 
 
No photos after dark… not that the Asians cared about that rule ! 
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Australasia Australia Victoria

08 Sep 2024 – Phillip Island

The main activity for today was to hike the Woolami Circuit…8km along scenic cliff edges . It definitely delivered on that …and some wind too! But at least sunny .
 
A few stops before the main event… Kitty Miller Bay & Pyramid Rock
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Australasia Australia Victoria

07 Sep 2024 Morwell – Phillip Island

Finally left Morwell with the apparent forecast being for no gale force winds 
Said farewell to Jan and hit the road. Have been here waiting out the extreme winds and weather that no one from around here remembers ever experiencing !! 
 
A couple of small stops
Firstly in Loch … small little village that has a distillery. ..that was closed …imagine that at 9am .
 
And also at a lookout over the bay.
 
Had an interesting conversation with a local here … being both drunk and high and offering up a free ball of weed… no thanks …he was chatty though and took a bit to move on but no harm done 😆
Categories
Australasia Australia Victoria

30 August 2024 – Inverloch

Had a walk around town in the morning and spent some more time at tourist info, gaining some valuable info :). I then had lunch & a chat with Stew- he came over from Corinella. 

Once we were done I did a short section of Scenic Drive 92- west of Inverloch. Some nice lookout points in this area. The tides were pretty big- despite it not being high tide. 

The last walk in the afternoon was from camp- to Townsend Creek and Lookout across the inlet. 

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Australasia Australia Victoria

29 August 2024 – Wilson’s Prom – Inverloch

The weather was intense during the night- especially the wind! It continued to rain until about 10am and then turned into a pretty good day. 

I did a few walks today: started with Norman South Beach , Lilly Pilly Nature walk and the heathlands around to try and spot some orchids and wild flowers – a bit early but I was lucky. 

 

The last walk for today before making my way to Inverloch was Sparkes Lookout. It is a fabulous Granite boulder lookout. I also saw some Greenhoods/ snail orchids on a mossy rock. 

At $43 per night at Inverloch Foreshore the facilities were a bit disappointing. No camp kitchen 🙁 . I tried to set up camp in a sheltered spot…and it worked until about 1am… when the winds really picked up. So i decided to pack up the tent and all in in, into the car and sleep in the passenger seat. Not a comfortable night at all… I didn’t bother setting up the tent for the 2nd night…

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Australasia Australia Victoria

28 Aug 2024 – Yarrum – Wilson’s Prom

There are a few small towns along the coast. I stopped at Port Albert and noted how large the swells were and very choppy waters! Then moved to Port Welshpool. This has among the longest jetties in the southern hemisphere. It is over 900m long. The piles were driven in with a pile driver. It is wooden and built with a long arch as to allow trains to get all the way to the end. Though it never had a train line constructed on it. 

A fire damaged a large portion of the jetty in 2010 before many fund raising efforts were made to get it to the restored state it is today. 

The drive to Agnes Falls winds through dairy farms. With the rain the grass is all luscious and green and the dark skies made it very dramatic. Agnes Falls has a drop of 59m .

Driving down to Wilson Promontory (the Prom) I stopped by for a walk to Whisky Bay and the lookout. The views to the wild seas were great but coming on to the beach I got beaten and sandblasted so I got out quick!

I was excited that I’d get a non-rainy window to set up my tent ! 

I booked a powered site for 3 nights. 

After setting up I went to go read up the info at the visitor’s centre. I was there for a little while and ending up running o the car because it had started raining. The wind picked up a lot and I moved the car to try and block the wind from the tent a bit. It seemed to come from all directions however! 

As I sat in the car I thought to myself  Ï don’t think this tent is going to make it through the night. I was recording how damaging the winds were when the whole tent lifted and got blown in to a nearby pole. I threw the phone down and ran after it in the driving rain and gale winds! 

I dragged the tent back to the car and also caught the tarp which flew up. As i kept fighting the winds i unzipped the tent to get the mattress, sleeping back and pillow bags out. I’m very glad that I hadn’t made my bed or everything would be covered in mud and wet!! 

The lady next to me had pity on me and got out of her caravan to help when I was about 70% done. I was laughing, she said she would have been crying if it was her! 

All was thrown into the car, i locked it and ran to the visitors centre before they closed to see if any accommodation options were available. 

I got a hikers hut (4 bunks) for 120 per night but shared camp amenities.  At least there was a heather and kitchenette. So I spent the evening cleaning my tent and checking for damage. 

It wasn’t bad actually. some of the poles had been bent but actually I could still pitch the tent. 

The wind howled the whole night! As a matter of fact the highest gust was measured here at 154km/h and steady winds of over 100km/h were measured during today!! 

Categories
Australasia Australia Victoria

27 Aug 2024 – Morwell -Yarrum

With a forecast that was patchy at best but storm activity supposed to be completed , I headed down south.  I hit the scenic road to Turra Bulga National Park. It is not a very frequented NP but the tall trees in this area and especially the beech trees made it pretty epic! 

As I hit the very narrow and windy sections and noticed the massive swaying trees I was somewhat apprehensive but the wind did calm a little and nothing fell across the road …or car! 

I did a few walks to experience this small section of rainforest that is still left in Victoria.

I wasn’t sure where I would spend the night, but upon arriving in Yarrum and it being around 3pm I decided this would be it. 

I booked in, in the small caravan park and got a sheltered spot very close to the undercover pool and amenities. 

I did a walk around town to spot the street art and then hit the heated pool for a lovely swim. Another fella also joined me and we ended up chatting for an hour in the hot tub. He is also doing life on the road. The tub was nice and warm and bubbly too!!  

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Australasia Australia Victoria

26 Aug 2024 – Yinnar Loop

The weather was still uncertain, so stayed at Jan’s again. 

Got out a little bit to Yinnar/ Churchill for a drive and short walk in between showers.  Yinnar has a few sculptures round town- the most fun probably being the mirror ball Hyuandai Accent with surfboard. 

Rose’s gift also arrived by express post from Dalby- Thanks for that Rose & Megs!! 

Categories
Australasia Australia Victoria

25 Aug 2024 – Morwell

The Morwell Gallery (Latrobe Regional Gallery) had a few exhibitions .

The horse themed Horse Girl Energy; Straight Torque (sisters) & Clinton Hayden. 

In the evening a big thunderstorm came in-so was happy to be at Jan’s and not in a tent somewhere!