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!
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