Port Albert, Coronet Bay, Melbourne, Sunbury.

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 3^rd 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 17^th 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.

Back 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.