[VIC] Portland,Warrnambool,Apollo Bay, Colac,Ballarat,Avoca

Portland's tiled shell

Tuesday 5 October we crossed the border into Victoria and stopped at Portland, a pretty harbour-side city where the European settlement history for the colony of Victoria began in 1834. Finding a caravan park right in the heart of town, we took a walk around noting the beautiful old Mac's Hotel which we had stayed in back in the 90s (we can't quite remember which year) - anyway it still looked exactly the same. The city has over 200 historical buildings from the 1800s. We strolled down by the water where there was a large shell and chair made out of tiles. We had mixed weather conditions over our two days in Portland and spent one afternoon hiding inside our van as a severe storm warning was broadcast on the radio, including hail. Luckily the caravan park was not full and so we moved our van to a back corner sheltered against a brick wall and out of the wind. Happy hour started early that day!

"Pip" the sheep dog at Port Fairy

Our next stopover was at Warrnambool, via Yambuk's "The Crags" with fantastic views of Lady Julia Percy Island and then Port Fairy where we noticed a sign advertising some Australian & New Zealand Sheep Dog Trials at the local oval. We stopped at the oval and had our lunch while enjoying the sheep dog trials - very entertaining. There was then an announcement made that the lunch prepared by the local country ladies was ready in the hall  - Paulie and I both looked at each other and knew that would be an awesome lunch, all that yummy homemade country food - shame we'd just had our lunch! We had a couple of nights in Warrnambool, seeing some local touristy stuff but also doing some administrative duties like spending over an hour in the Telstra Shop trying to sort out an incorrect bill - that was fun.

London Bridge, Great Ocean Road

Two of the 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road

Next day we had a big day driving the Great Ocean Road (which involved lots of stopping to check out 11 spectacular viewing points - Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs, The Grotto, London Bridge, The Arch, Razor back, Thunder Cave, Loch Ard Gorge and Cemetery, Mutton Bird Island and of course the 12 Apostles). There were heaps of tourists at each of these stops but the most popular by far was the 12 Apostles. We got caught in the rain a few times as the weather kept changing. The big chunk missing from the London Bridge collapsed into the water in 1990 while people were standing out on the end - they had to be rescued three hours later ... how scary! We then drove on to Apollo Bay for the night where we had a fairly water-logged muddy site from previous heavy rains there. We decided to shout ourselves out to dinner that night, so we rugged up against the cold wind and walked to the local pub for a delicious and hearty meal.

Otway Ranges

Leaving Apollo Bay next morning we took the Otway Ranges road to Colac - a very steep, narrow and somewhat scary road with the most awesome scenery of green rolling hills and valleys - reminded us of Maleny in some parts. When we arrived in Colac, we heard there was a festival on about 20kms away at Birregurra, so we headed for there. This was quite a big annual festival which runs for the weekend with lots of stalls, live music, wood chopping, pig racing, line dancing, snake shows and terrier races! Luckily it was a sunny day so we strolled around the festival enjoying the sunshine with all the locals.

Beeac's restored windmills

Monday 11 October we did our morning walk through the beautiful Colac Botanic Gardens before driving to our next destination - Ballarat. On our way to Ballarat, we stopped at the tiny town of Beeac to see the display of seven old windmills which had originally been built by Beeac windmill makers back in the 1850s and which had been restored to life again by the locals. The windmill park was being completed as part of the town's 150th first settlement celebration in late October. We then drove on to Ballarat and checked into the caravan park and took a walk into the city which was surprisingly big. Next day was an overcast and stormy day with a forecast of hail, which thankfully didn't happen. In between showers the next day we walked to Sovereign Hill and the Gold Museum.

Back home after Avoca Cup race day

Our next stop was to the country town of Avoca where we stayed for a few nights. Avoca is only a small town so it didn't take long to do the town tour - the one thing that did stand out was how many pie shops there were! Recent heavy rainfalls in the area made the caravan park a bit squelchy/muddy underfoot and we had more rain while we were there too. Friday 15 October we walked into town in the rain to get the newspapers and then it continued to rain all day and was freezing cold and very windy, so we basically spent the whole day in the van reading the newspapers, watching movies and cooking our meals inside (which was a first), thankfully we had everything on hand. We hoped the weather would lift in time for the Avoca Cup on Saturday - well it sort of improved - we caught the local booze bus to the races where we experienced the four seasons in one day which Victoria is famous for, but we were dressed in multiple layers in readiness. It was a great day though with a huge turnout of people from all over the state. We had a few small wins, plus I backed the winner of the Caulfield Cup and Paulie backed the second place BUT it was the only bet all day where we forgot to put on a Quinella (which paid $145) DOH! After the races, we joined the crowd of race-goers back to one of the local pubs for a few more drinks and dinner to top off the day.

[SA] Nullabor Roadhouse,Ceduna,Streaky Bay,Coffin Bay,Port Augusta,Clare,Kapunda, Nuriootpa,Tailem Bend,Mt Gambier

Whilst the trip across the Nullarbor(ing) was pretty boring in parts, there were lots of beautiful wild flowers about, many more trees and shrubbery than we expected, collections of clothing, shoes, socks, hats, and stubbies hanging in trees, and heaps of very long road trains which nearly blew us off the road. There were also areas of the road which were marked as landing strips for the Royal Flying Doctors Service - it would have been awesome to see one land on the road!

Great Australian Bight

After leaving Cocklebiddy on Monday 20 September, we drove 470kms to Nullarbor Roadhouse, stopping along the way at various lookout points of the spectacular Great Australian Bight cliff faces. The day was overcast and showery with a cold wind of course but the scenery was breathtaking. The border check from WA to SA is not right at the border, so that night we had to cook up all our vegies before the border check next day at Ceduna.

Whale at Bunda Cliffs

On our way to Ceduna the next morning, we stopped at the Head of the Bight whale viewing platforms and saw a few whales lolling about below the 70m Bunda Cliffs. There were no big tail splashes or anything, they were just taking it easy. We drove on to Ceduna and stayed for one night, enjoying a dinner out at a very nice tavern near the caravan park, and we were joined by a lovely couple whom we'd chatted with at Cocklebiddy.

Next day we drove to Smokey Bay for a quick look on our way to Streaky Bay, a very nice little town with a caravan park along the foreshore. We walked around town for a look and out to the jetty and then had a delicious and cheap $10 soup lunch at a waterfront cafe. The weather was still quite cold, especially at night.

Coffin Bay

Our next stop was at Coffin Bay for a couple of nights, where we braved 91kms of scenic dirt road to see Sceales Bay, Cape Labatt (for the sea lions) and Murphys Haystacks which are actually bolders not hay. We then drove on to Elliston and did 6kms more of dirt road to view the cliff top sculptures which were interesting but not interesting enough for me to get out of the car to take a photo in the arctic cold wind! We headed back into Coffin Bay to settle into the caravan park overlooking the beautiful bay. Coffin Bay is renowned for its oysters, so next morning we did the oyster trail walk around the bay and watched some of the boats come in with their oyster collections. They are big boats and are towed to the ramp by tractors, so it was funny to see all these tractors parked in the carpark. I don't eat oysters, but Paulie loves them, so we tracked down a dozen which he devoured for afternoon nibblies with a chardy. We also bought some beautiful fresh King George whiting fillets for dinner (from the local butcher of all places) - delicious!

Saturday 25 September we drove to Port Augusta (via Arno Bay, Cowell and Whyalla) and stayed at the Big4 caravan park there. We didn't feel like exploring the town much, so just chilled out for the afternoon listening to the AFL grand final (the first one, that is) on the radio.

Sevenhill Cellars

Our next stop was the lovely town of Clare in the Clare Valley wine region which is considered Australia's home of riesling. We drove there via the Main North Road instead of the highway, as it was much more picturesque through the lush green countryside and the gorgeous historic buildings. We checked into the caravan park for two nights and then drove around town and to the lookout. The weather was overcast and very cold and we planned on doing the Riesling Trail on our bikes the next day but it was raining and bitterly cold. Next morning we stopped at the Sevenhill Cellars which is the oldest winery and vineyard in Clare Valley and also unusual as the winery has been owned and operated by Jesuit Priests since 1851. The beautiful Aloysius Church is at the heart of the winery.



Kapunda's historic copper mine site

Kapunda (northern edge of the Barossa) was our next stopover and we visted the information centre in town, where they had a great interactive mining display downstairs telling the story of the town's copper ore mine history - the highest grade ore found anywhere in the world, which began in 1838 but then closed down in 1878 after the rich ore had been worked out. For those "McLeod's Daughters" fans, this was the town known as Fisher in the series. That afternoon we did the walk around the historic mine site past open cut tunnels, the mine chimney and lookouts. Even on an overcast day, the colours in the rocks were amazing. Unfortunately it rained as we were nearing the finish and we had to sprint back to the car in the rain! The town was also once home to Australia's cattle king - Sir Sidney Kidman and is renowned as some of the best farming land in Australia. His horse sales were recognised as the largest in the world, supplying horses to the Light Horse Brigade. Kidman donated his family home "Eringa" to the Education Department which is now the Kapunda High School. A very interesting and beautiful town.



Wolf Blass Winery

 Wednesday 29 September we drove on to Tanunda and then on to Nuriootpa (Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place") where we secured a site at the caravan park. A surprisingly large town with some of the best-known cellar doors. We did the tourist drive to the Mengler's Hill lookout for a picnic lunch, even though it was quite cold and windy. Next we visited the Maggie Beer's Farm Shop filled with lots of her yummy chutneys, pates, sauces and other goodies - Paulie bought some delicious pheasant pate with quince jelly. Next stop was the beautiful Wolf Blass winery and cellar door (one of my favourites) where we read all about it's history, did the wine tasting of course and walked out with a couple of bottles!

Grant Burge Winery

Next morning we did a walk before leaving Nuriootpa and then headed out of town to the Lyndoch Lavender Farm - such peaceful and beautiful countryside. We walked amongst the lavender bushes in some lovely sunshine and then checked out the lavender shop, buying a few goodies there. When leaving the lavender farm we came across Grant Burge winery and cellar door - wow, a magnificent looking winery with the most beautiful gardens - and the wines aren't too bad either! Again walking out with a couple of bottles under our arms after the wine tasting ... oh well, this is the Barossa. We then drove on to Gawler for the night but couldn't get into a caravan park as all booked up - school holidays plus an orienteering weekend had filled the town. So we drove on to the town of Tailem Bend on the Murray River and went straight to the Information Centre where we chose a caravan park from the the two in town. Well, I'm just going to say it ... dodgeyville with some very strange folk ... think movie "Deliverance" and you might get the picture! The caravan park amenities rating was about -1 star, we couldn't even bring ourselves to have a shower there even with our thongs on! Once again we had been fooled by the glossy brochure. One of the permanent tenants came over to chat to us (a little scary but harmless enough), anyway we locked ourselves in the van after dinner and slept through the night with one eye open!

Dust flew up as we hightailed it out of Tailem Bend early next morning without breakfast and drove to Meningie on the Murray for breakfast (an omelette we prepared the evening before in preparation of our early escape from Tailem Bend). Our destination was Mount Gambier, some 400kms away. We drove through Woods Well, Tintinara and Keith and stopped at Padthaway for a very informative winetasting at Padthaway Estate cellar door and magnificent old homestead - tasting their champagnes, whites and reds and again walking out with a few bottles. The wine cellar in the van is well stocked now but then we are drinking some as we go ... as they say, life is short - drink the best!


Mt Gambier's Blue Lake



Cave Gardens


We drove on through the Coonawarra region to Naracoorte and Penola and then settled into the Blue Lake Holiday Park at Mount Gambier. After so much town-hopping lately, we wanted to stay put for a few days and catch up on some washing, shopping, relaxing etc, so we stayed at Mount Gambier for four nights. The park we stayed in was nice and grassy, quiet and lots of space around us, so we chilled out for a few days just doing local sightseeing to the beautiful Blue Lake and Valley Lake within walking distance. Blue Lake is one of three craters of an extinct volcano and each year around November changes colour to a spectacular turquoise blue colour. We also visited the amazing Cave Gardens which is right in the middle of town. At last we had some slightly warmer sunny days to enjoy. 

This was also our last stop in SA before crossing the border into Victoria.