Victoria

After saying good bye to NSW we headed to Mallacoota, in East Gippsland. A very pretty place, it is the state's most easterly point. Our camp site was on the banks of the inlet which runs into the ocean. Which of course was wild due to the windy conditions!! Despite this we went for a long walk along the beach, and in the morning Mark had a surf- the first on the foil after its repair. Mallacoota also boasts a cafe called Lucy's which is run by a Chinese lady who makes dumplings! Who would have thought!!

Then to Lakes Entrance (sorry about the previous blog title, got carried away), which is a popular  holiday place. Again the beach was blown out but we braved the conditions for a walk.  The town itself was pretty soulless.

From here headed inland. Originally were going to drive up and over the Victorian alps which should have been very pretty in November, but a chilly snap had seen snow falling. Arvi does not have chains or the body habitus for windy slippery roads!! I don't either!! So we headed west through Bairnsdale - the epicentre of the Buruli Ulcer outbreak! But also has an Indigenous Museum called The Krowathunkoolong Keeping Place which was a very interesting and thought provoking exhibition detailing the  indigenous Kurnai clan's life from the Dreaming until after European settlement. Their Dreaming ancestors were Borun the Pelican and his wife Tuk the musk duck. Sadly of 2-3000 population in 1839, their numbers were reduced to 150 by 1849 - after Europeans/English arrived.

Onto Warragul which we can't say much about as due to a big storm and rain we were stuck indoors. Mark braved the walk to the camp kitchen with a large umbrella to cook some sausages for dinner!! Arvi got bogged temporarily on the wet grass by the campsite. We were parked next to a train line so we heard a lot of (toot toot) day and night!

Then to Seymour to visit friends.  As Mark navigates by the stupid sat nav, we don't get an overview of where we are going like you do with a REAL MAP. So how surprised and excited I was when there was a road sign saying we were in the Yarra Valley and even more so when the next sign said Tarrawarra Winery!! We know this winery from a previous visit. And it was still lunch time. Park Arvi alongside the fancy cars, pull up the blinds, get changed from our tracksuits to something a bit smarter and there we are enjoying a beautiful lunch and a glass of wine! Still had time for a nap before reaching our destination.

Angela and Richard live on a sheep farm just out of Seymour. We stayed inside their home and slept well in a larger bed with a huge bathroom compared to ours. Caught up with all their news of family and mutual friends over dinner and more wine! The sheep had just been shorn and the truck arrived next morning to pick up the bales of wool ready for selling. Which fortunately is getting a good price at present. Such a different life to that of ours where our work is not affected by weather or other conditions outside of our control.  Thankfully the fires which had been wreaking havoc in NSW and QLD were not affecting this part of Victoria.

We then headed to Daylesford where Mark's sister Mandy and her husband Dermot live. Their house backs onto the lake which is surrounded by flora reminiscent of the English countryside including elms, rhododendrons, lime trees etc. Really enjoyed our walks around the lake and especially Dermot's 60th birthday dinner at the Boatshed restaurant right on the lake! Daylesford contains Australia's largest concentration of natural mineral springs and one can visit Hepburn Springs to soak in the public baths or book a private room with a tub! Around the lake there are still pumps where you can fill up a water bottle - it's a bit minerally - not surprising? Gold was found in 1851 and people came from Italy and Switzerland came to find work. It remains a special place of healing since the first holiday makers came to visit at the turn of the century. For us seeing a kookaburra on a bridge railing around the lake, the magpie family which have been visiting Mandy and Dermot's place for 15 years bringing their children and grandchildren, the echidna digging for ants right outside of our van, and the peacock we spotted on a walk will stay in our memories! Along with horses both large and miniature, black faced sheep and normal ones, belted galloway cattle (the ones with the wide white stripe around their bellies) and regular ones, goats, alpacas, pigs, ostriches, camels, kangaroos and sadly dead wombats, cockatoos, lorikeets, corellas, blue wrens and other unidentified birds we have seen on our travels so far.

From Daylesford we headed set off for the Grampians National Park  This is a hikers paradise with a series of 5 sandstone ridges running north to south with steep and craggy slopes on the east side and gentler slopes on the right - yeah right!! Lookouts have stunning panoramic views and there are several waterfalls along the way. We left our campsite and walked about 2kms to the start of our walk- the loop to the Pinnacle. The longest walk and the steepest. We can do this!! Off to a good start and making good time. But then came Splitter Falls which the map said to GO THROUGH to the track to to the Pinnacle. Mark climbed up rocks to search for the track leaving me alone with 4 young men lounging by the falls for a LONG TIME! Came back and said oh yes there's a track and pulled me up over the rocks onto a sort of track which was surrounded on both sides by dense bushland including very spiky ones. The track stopped, Mark insisted we keep going having to use a branch to make our way through until I said ENOUGH! Of course then we got lost on the way back and couldn't find the track at all. I was thinking of the back pack contents - 2 trail mixes, our rolls, 2 nectarines and 2 bottles of water and wondering how long we could make them last for!! And the fact we had no service on our phones. But we followed the noise of water and eventually made our way back to the falls luckily not falling into them. Lunch nursing our scratches and then found the right path to the Pinnacle signposted on the other side of a small bridge we had passed previously!! A steep and long walk and we finally made it to the top and enjoyed the glorious views over the land, the town and reservoir below. Knees aching! Always harder on the way down. All went well until I tripped over something minor and twisted my ankle. Immediate pain and swelling. Many kms to go.  Luckily could weight bear gingerly and with Mark's assistance made it down. I said what if I couldn't walk - you would have had to carry me down. Answer - you're dreaming!! Iced, elevated,
bandaged. Meant to be rest too - did that driven with leg up on dashboard while Mark driving.

So here we are in Robe SA - our stop for a couple of weeks. Mum's final resting place.
More next blog!

Gerroa to Lakes Entrance

Now well into the second week of our BT. Camping life has its moments! We have done some washing and I noted the following - 6 pairs of undies hung up for me ( after washing a week previously), Mark 3. Either he is doing some secret washing on the side, or he is re-using even inside out perhaps, or even worse going without!! Words were exchanged over the clothes line. Also as soon as it is nice weather (hard to come by lately) everyone washes so the machines and line space are in high demand. We had to walk to another amenity block to hang our washing- and who says caravan life is not hard!!!We have learnt from previous trips to have $2 coins handy for the machines - they can't fool us more than about 10 times!! And every campground has codes for the boom gate and for the amenity blocks ie the shower and loos! The best are codes made up of the last 6 digits of our phone number as I can remember that! Otherwise I make it to the door and have forgotten the code - unless someone else comes along I have to go back to the van and ask Mark or look at the code AGAIN! Finally after driving in Arvi for a while the message that Mark is finding hard to remember  (and me occasionally) is "when opening overhead cupboards or fridge/freezer take care as contents may have moved"! As the frozen meat lands on your feet or the bottle of oil on your head.

We arrived in our camp site at Seven Mile Beach Gerroa just in time for a thunderstorm with lightening overhead and then the rain! Dinner indoors! Thankfully awoke to clear skies but still very windy. That should be Mark's middle name- wherever we go where beaches or potential surf is concerned we have WIND. I have become fixated on doing 10,000 steps at least a day and we have a tracking device on our phones. Big walk at Gerroa along the deserted beach except for a few  people on horseback was helpful.

Next day we drove further south stopping at Berry for a walk along this pretty but touristy town where we indulged in a donut from the infamous Berry Donut Van.  More steps needed!!! Onto Nowra where  Jim Wild's Oysters are found- of course as we were getting close I discovered that they are shut on Monday's - so close but so far- about 24 hrs later we would have been in heaven eating freshly shucked oysters! Another stop at Hyam's Beach which has very squeaky white sand due to its quartz content- apparently locals thought the best in Australia and promoted it as such. Tiny main street which then became so full of traffic they had to have traffic control. That all seems to be forgotten now and it was a rather sleepy but pretty beachside town. Even Arvi got a park near the beach.

Motored on to Jervis Bay and headed to the Booderee National Park.  Stayed in a campground where there was difficulty parking Arvi in the allotted spot due to its rather large turning circle. Plenty of spots further along so No 9 it was, Mark reassuring me that this late in the day we were safe. Shared our dinner with a curious wallaby. Of course as we were getting ready for bed a foreign fellow with limited English was telling Mark No 9 was his!! Somehow Mark convinced him to take no 1 explaining with hand gestures how we couldn't fit!! Had a great walk the next day along the clifftops and then explored the Australian National Botanic Gardens found in Booderee NP.  Jervis Bay is actually part of the Australian Capital Territories having been surrendered by NSW to the ACT in
1915 so that ACT would have access to the sea! Fun fact!

Onto Ulladulla a picturesque fishing town where we stayed 2 nights. Rode our bikes around the town and to a beach and walked to the marina for battered fish and chips (Mark) and grilled whiting and a salad (Me). I also got out the yoga mat etc and did some moves - the kookaburras in the nearby tree weren't inspiring me with their laughing! Next stop Batemans Bay a short drive south.  These towns and Mollymook were places where my family stayed when we were children. I remember Batemans Bay having an outdoor picture theatre and also being able to pick oysters off the rock, open them and then eat them with the lemon and Worcestershire sauce  we brought along. We have my Mum's ashes with us (in a pretty box) as we are scattering them in Robe which we also did with Dad's ashes so have taken pictures of places along the way of me with Mum - her final road trip! She loved travel of all sorts. So oysters and prawns in Batemans Bay -local oysters prawns from Exmouth WA!! Called into Rosedale Beach where my friend Jenny's Dad died and another photo for her introducing Mum to Noel whom she hadn't met. Somehow Mark got the idea I was trying to hook the two of them up rather than making sure Mum could introduce herself and Dad to Jenny's parents wherever they are!

Also drove past Bodalla dairy shed making and selling cheeses and ice cream fresh from the cows!! Well had to stop and sample everything then buy up big on their produce!! Onto Tilba Tilba a gold mining town from the 19th century which has remained unchanged with a tiny main street lined on both sides by beautiful buildings now cafes and gift shops. Arvi emerged unscathed as was the town!! Another stop at Foxglove Gardens and it was like we had stepped back in time to the English countryside. Very beautiful.

Heading to Merimbula our stop for 2 nights but stopped at Bermagui because I had heard about a bakery there (food is always on my mind). Sadly they were sold out of their famous Swedish buns and everything else but had 2 croissants! Wandered down to the wine shop and found a tasting in progress - who could resist that. Several tastes and a few bought bottles later we headed onto Merimbula. This coastal town along with its neighbour Pambula are famous for guess what - oysters!! Lovely camp site on a cliff overlooking the ocean and 35 knot winds.  I went to a yoga  class while Mark mooched about and due to the weather being very beach unfriendly we played 9 holes of golf in drizzling rain!! Kangaroos on the course, birds in the trees dodging Mark's wayward shots!!

And then off again. Drove into the Ben Boyd National Park and had a nice walk to the Pinnacles; a cliff face with red ochre rock cliffs contrasting with the white sands and azure blue ocean fringe (thank you Mark for that description). Stopped at Eden to see the Killer Whale Museum which details the history of whaling in this town from the late 1800's until the 1930's.

And hello, it's Mark again. I just wanted to put my 2 bobs worth in here because of all the museums we have been to, this one was very interesting. Well, it held my attention for 20 minutes. It told the amazing story of the whalers, the hump back whales and......those killer whales. The ORCAS. I think they are the scariest thing on the planet. I have seen the David Attenborough shows with them beaching themselves to get a sun baking seal.

Well in Eden there is a beautiful natural double shaped harbour set back inside the coastline. The story goes that the orcas were arranged in 3 groups.
Group 1: found the humpys going past and herded one, into the "harbours of death". And then formed a line to stop any attempt of escape.
Group 2: led by the main boy "TOM," went close to where the whalers were sleeping and caused water commotion to wake them up and get them into their boats to hunt the humpy.
Group 3: after the hump back was killed the rest of the orcas came to get their spoils which were the lips and tongue of the whale.

That was the basis of the entire relationship with the orcas. And it lasted for about 50 years. Until 1932. And then whaling stopped. Now people go to Eden to watch the whales come past to breed and not be slaughtered. They even have a Whale Festival.

After Eden we headed to Victoria - that will be the subject of the next blog.