Victorian Charm

Victorian Ruin


Narracoorte Cave


Wannon Falls


Horsham Sunset Reflections


Grampains Infrared

Another firsts,  Em has ticked over 90,000K a few days back.  I know that doesn’t sound like much, but considering that when we bought her we think she had about 65,000K.  Even if she didn’t, we traveled many K in the last 6 months.
 
We last left you in Mt. Gambier and all its sites.  The guide book really panned it, but it really wasn’t that bad of a town.  The campsite was really nice.  You only needed a pass code to get into the campsite and not one to use the loo, laundry or anything else.  It also had a terrific camp kitchen that even had a tellie so we could watch the evening news.  It was so cold our nights there that one night we just hung out watching TV and talking to other campers while staying warm.  From there we did a day trip up to Penola.  This is the home of Australia's one and only saint, that was just canonized two weeks ago, St Mary Mackillop.  Aside from that it is the home of an Antarctic explorer and mapper, one of the first wineries of the region and many other things.  We really loved a little vineyard just on the outskirts, it has been in the region for over a hundred years, but what drew us to them was they had goats.  Any place that has goats draws our attention.  After buying yet more wine we continued up to Coonawara for more wine tasting. 
 
Continuing on up the road we had lunch in Naracoorte, then went to the caves.  They were really cool although I think that Steve is getting a little caved out.  The first cave was a self guided wet cave, the second was a guided tour of the Alexandra Caves.  The whole area it lettered with caves, and the grape growers are always finding them when they go to put in stakes for the vines.  They are truly fascinating but I could never be a spelunker, not enough light for me!
 
From Mt Gambier we turn east and shortly cross the border into Victoria!   We drove through little towns of Casterton to Hamilton, then north to Horsham where we based ourselves for two nights so we could see the Grampians NP.  They are very different from the Flinders, much more jagged and sharp looking.  We walked the walks and saw the waterfalls, then just ‘cause, we hiked up Mt William, the highest peak in the Grampians with an elevation of 1167m for a stunning view.  We only had to walk the last 2 K but that was enough, going down was much harder than going up.
 
Yesterday we were in Dunkeld, a tiny town at the base of the Southern Grampians, touring the southern end of the range, trying to se it all before the bad weather set in.  We did, and it has.
 
Here we are in Port Fairy, a very charming seacoast town at the far end of the Great Ocean Road.  We found Port Fairy last Feb. when we were traveling and really fell in love with it, so here we are again for a couple of days.  No traveling, just enjoying the moment.  Tuesday?  Who knows where we will point the car…