Port Albert
We are now starting to curl around the bottom
of Victoria and pop into an advertised Free Stay at Port Albert.
The town is
trying to attract travelers and have set aside part of the parking area for the
boat ramp for caravans and camper vans. If the weather had been kind it would
have very picturesque but again the weather has closed in and it is FREEZING
and blowing a gale. Unless you held onto the door of the caravan it would get
ripped out of your hands. We met Janette and Barry from Cleveland, who had been
travelling for some time. We invited them over to get out of the cold and just
chatted for hours. That night we wandered over to the local fish shop,
apparently the attached restaurant is rated the 3rd best fish
restaurant in Australia but was closed so we got fish and chips at the shop,
fantastic. We went for a wander around the town the next morning and soon
discovered it is very much a ghost town trying to revive itself, many smalls
towns are struggling.
On our way
to Coronet Bay we dropped into the Toora Wind Farms. It was a windy drive up
the mountain but apparently it is not the right thing to be dragging your van
up there as these people were staggered that we were parked up there with our
van and made sure that we were not thinking of going any further up the
mountain. These 12 turbines are huge being 67 metres high with blades 66
metres. Onto the town of Foster, very friendly town with community gardens in
the main street where you could pick a strawberry and in a few weeks lettuce
and other vegetables. The museum was great and was based primarily on the
schooling in the area around the early 1900s. Schools were built 5 miles apart
to make it attractive for families to move into the area. There are many drives
where you can visit the sites of where all these old schools were. Onto
Wonthaggi to get supplies, we are moving along quite quickly as we need to get
to Melbourne for the wedding on the 17th November and to meet up
with Karen and Chris at Coronet Bay later today.
Coronet Bay
What a lovely place and Karen and Chris have built a beautiful holiday
house overlooking Phillip Island, the sunset was spectacular.
The next
day Karen and Chris have taken up for a tour of the area, having a beautiful
breakfast and dropping into this shed where if you could think of it he would
probably have it. If only I had some room I am sure we could have bought have
bought something old. Karen and Chris had to get back to Melbourne, so they
left the keys to their house with us and we settled into a bit of luxury for a
few days. We drove around to Phillip Island and again being confused by the
daylight saving missed a couple of things but we did make sure we got to see
the ‘Fairy’ Penguins which are now called ‘Little’ penguins. I thought it must
have been political correctness gone mad but these same penguins have different
names across Australia and New Zealand so they have adapted the same name of ‘Little’,
must have something to do with their size. We gathered at 7.00pm on the far
Western end of Phillip Island right on the beach on viewing platforms on the
waters edge and waited and waited and waited. But the wait was worthwhile when
these beautiful little creatures came waddling out of the water and scurried up
the beach and into the bush searching for their nests. I always thought that
their nests were close to the beach but they were up to 100 metres into the
bush.
B
ack to
Wonthaggi to have a look around, get a haircut, and have a look at the black coal
mine, this tour has been a highlight. Brian was an ex-miner who now does mine
tours. We dressed up in the hard hats and headed down 167 metres via the old
entrance where they dragged the coal out by horses. Just the whole atmosphere
of the mine and the grounds was an eye opener, I just love this stuff. The jaw
bones are of a whale washed up on the beach in 1923.
Time to
pack up and move onto Melbourne to stay with Karen and Chris again and help
them to prepare for the wedding, towing the van through the suburbs and finding
a park in the local shopping centre was a test which thankfully we passed.
The next
few days were a blur with meeting up with relatives, performing the wedding
ceremony and having a highlight of meeting up with Ben and Shell at Melbourne
airport, there were lots of tears. The wedding went like a dream, with Belinda and Al being entertainers
they had some great friends and they certainly entertained, a great night with
lots of fun, hugs and kisses. Belinda is also a music teacher and had her students performing during the ceremony, she has done such a great job in teaching them.
Sadly we
had to say goodbye to Ben and Shell that night as we were staying in Sunbury
and they were staying in the city. A double-decker bus picked up the party
goers, including the bride and groom and they disappeared into the night to
party some more.
More
breakfasts, no more drinks more hugs, caught up with some friends, Neil and Di
who had come to Sunbury for a birthday party from Brisbane. We visited Rupertswood which was the birthplace of the ashes, opulance in the highest degree. The classic old building has been brought back to it's former glory.
A family lunch at
the Goonawarra Winery, more hugs and kisses, back to pack up and move on to our
next adventure and meet up with John and Wil who are coming down the Murray.
Wonderful Bendigo, A very interesting town with it’s enormous old wealth from the gold days, the kilometers of underground mine shafts, the beautiful architecture and of course the great fun we had at the Bendigo Pottery. 
The mining history of the town is amazing, from the amount of gold taken, Bendigo has produced far more gold than Ballarat. There were hundreds of mines producing gold in the early 1900. The model to the left is typical of the mines operating. 
Nyah
