Melbourne to Bairnsdale

We enjoyed our time in Melbourne even if it was a tad cold and showery.  The rain only came at night and never affected us so we can’t complain.  We had a big day on Saturday catching up with brother John and watching Collingwood vs Geelong at the MCG.  

1st time at an AFL match at the MCG 

ready to check out Monet's masterpieces...

John has a lot of change in his life. He is on his way to Collac which is a couple of hours west of Melbourne and still close to the Great Ocean Road coast.  We hope he enjoys it there and settles into a good job.  The AFL match at the ‘G’ was an experience with a good crowd and a good game with the ‘Pies ahead at the end of the 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th quarters.  We had a chat with a very pleasant gent in front of us who is a long times Pies supporter and gave them up at ¾ time.  We quickly formed the view that the Refs were clearly the real enemy of all players and supporters; poor buggers.  I hope they are paid heaps.  Prior to the game we spent a good while wandering through the Sports Museum.  The displays were great and we enjoyed the Olympics and the Cricket sections the best.  Seeing Warney in very lifelike 3D hologram form was impressive.  There are heaps of interactive sports displays to try and we would recommend it for Kids.  We used buses, trams and trains to get around in Melbourne and found them cheap, easy and reliable.  $3.50 gets a Senior on all Metro buses, trains and trams for the whole day.  We found a Trash and Treasure Market at an old Drive In site and were amazed at the junk some people sell.  There were hundreds of stalls but had nothing that we just had to have.  We found our way to a huge shopping centre and took in a movie on Monday while waiting for our hot water system to be fixed.  The Movies were quiet and we had our own private viewing; only the 2 of us in a big theatre.  We were very pleased with the repairs to our van.  Tony did a great job, was prompt, reasonable and also repaired a board under our bed that had cracked and we only noticed as we prepared the van to go in.  Northern Caravan Spares (and Repairs) in Thomastown.  It is good to have hot water again and without a leak this time.

Instead of taking the ring road around and out of the city we decided to stay north east and head straight in to the ranges.  With the cold dewy mornings our start times have drifted back significantly so it seems we no sooner hit the road and it’s time to stop for morning tea.  We made it about 60kms and pulled up for a wander through Healesville.  This is one town that suffered through the bush fires of a few years ago but is now as pretty as a picture.  The autumn colours add to the beauty of green hills and leafy valleys.  The 1928 concrete dam wall and lake in the hills on the edge of town is a very pretty area with nice parks and a great smoko spot.  The main street is full of old shops and pubs with several good book shops and Op shops.  

Healesville pub

Reservoir outlet

not sure who placed the "Sun" dial in the shadow of the dam wall??

even the outlet tower is grand old 1920's style

lovely day for reflections

The showers had disappeared overnight and we had beautiful clear blue skies and for our drive on to Phillip Island.  This was our second visit and the last time we were here it was overcast, cold, windy, wet and unpleasant.  This trip was like it was a different place.  It is a very nice place with green grass, gardens, dairy cows, and autumn coloured trees surrounded by blue seas and skies.  It was still very cold!!  Garry spent an afternoon at the Vietnam Veterans Museum and a quick visit to the Grand Prix Track.  The VVM was interesting with several helicopters, jeeps, tanks, and a Canberra Bomber in the display.  Most memorable was listening to real life Vietnam Vets talking about their experiences and another hologram featuring another 3D Vet walking amongst the display pointing to items and telling a very powerful story about the War and what the conscripts faced in the jungles and at home.  The things that struck me the most were that the Vietnam War was not a War about territory but an ideological war in a country trying to stop a rising political force;  i.e. there was no battlefront just a presence to quell Communist uprisings.  The other thing the Vets could not understand was how come the people who were protesting their involvement and spitting on them when they returned home (mostly students) were the same ones who voted for the Government that conscripted them and forced them to go to the War in the first place.  The stories about the “Tunnel Rats” and what they had to do was chilling and was a job that I doubt that I would have been able to do myself.  The sort of stuff that generates nightmares.

The icon of the Vietnam War

not sure how many of these were used in Vietnam but still an impressive machine

The Grand Prix Track was a picture as usual.  Audi was there doing driver training in a V8 GT sports car which looked a heap of fun.  The Museum seemed smaller than 9 years ago but was still worth the few bucks to wander amongst the cars and bikes and stories from champions past.  We finished the evening with drive out to Nobbies Point for some great coastal views among the penguin nesting areas and then back to watch the penguin parade.  

Audi driver training

M Skaife/T Kelly Holden

Nobbies green hills & rocky coastline

rugged coastline & rugged up tourists

another cold front sweeps over Nobbies....

Tourists have been watching the Fairy Penguins come ashore since the 1920’s and they now get about a thousand tourists per night every night of the year.  It is expensive (more than $70 for 2 Seniors) but is a wonderful experience.  The little penguins waddled up right passed us in large groups and we saw hundreds of the cute little fellows pass within a few metres of us.  They are noisy when they are calling to each other when first ashore and even louder when they get to their nests and call out for their partners.  It was a good night and cold but we were warned to take and wear all of our warm clothing.

We had planned to head for Sale next but the guy at the van park suggested we should look at Wilson's Promontory and that’s where we headed.  It is a beautiful drive and the National Park at the bottom of the Prom is spectacular.  The large granite hills, thick rain forest, white and gold sand beaches and plentiful wildlife were well worth the visit.  There are 29 walks around the park ranging from 300m to 30km.  We chose a few short walks including a walk from the campsite at Tidal River across a foot bridge, around the hillside above the river to overlook the river mouth, then up over the ridge and back along the western side of the ridge overlooking Squeaky Beach.  It was probably the most spectacular coastal bush walk I have been on.  Norman Beach at the camp area is a gold sand beach and Squeaky Beach next bay around is white.  The rocky islands off shore made for some great photos and the birds and wombat made the bush interesting also.  The wombats are thick and wander through the camp.  When we first pulled up in the camp ground we spotted some beautiful red parrots in a nearby tree.  After stalking them for several minutes trying to get a photo we had a cup of tea and next minute the parrots were sitting on our step and table and trying to pinch our cake and bickies out of hands.  After our walk we were sitting at a picnic table and the parrots came straight up to us and walked over our bags, sat on our heads, and generally walked around as if they owned the joint.  It was lovely to see them so relaxed around people.  

green hills and fat dairy cows 

very brightly coloured parrots..

the Tidal River footbridge beside the campground

river mouth onto Norman Beach

Granite coast and off-shore islands

these waves even look cold - and they were...

another creek emptying on to Squeaky Beach

party crashers checking out whats for afternoon tea

even comfy on our head

Fatso..

Being almost winter, the campground is quiet but it must get busy as it has 480 camp sites (only 20 powered) and dozens of cabins and dormitories for groups.  We would definitely have this as one of those ‘must come back to’ places.

We finished the week trekking across through Sale; the home of the RAAF Roulettes, and on to Bairnsdale to catch up with the Robbos.