The Prom

Wilson’s Promontory is probably the most interesting walk we’ve done so far. It is the states largest coastal wilderness area with 130 ms of coastline. Granite headlands, mountains, forests and rainforests, beaches, flaura and fauna all within the one walk.

We chose to do the 4-day southern circuit (from the John Chapman guide book) where we stayed close to beaches on the first 2 nights, then inland for the 3^rd night. It is around 65kms walking but not too difficult. This is a really popular place. At Tidal River, which is like a little caravan park village it was very busy. Along the walk there were many walkers, overnight hikers and school groups. We saw many interesting things including whale bones, hatching crabs, wombats and the boaties hall of fame (including the Bass Strait by kayak!). The 3^rd day was extremely difficult because of the 35 degree heat. We took it easy that day, and decided not to go out to the lighthouse side trip. The next day we decided to leave at 6:30am to get most of the walk out of the way before the midday sun, but it turned out overcast anyway.

This walk is highly recommended for anyone interested in overnight hiking, nature and the beach. It has many changing features and the beach is especially nice in hot weather.

Great Ocean Road

After Warnambool we hit the Great Ocean Road. It was an overcast day and conditions weren’t ideal for photos but we got a few in. The 12 Apostles is such a huge tourist attraction there are helicoptor rides and Asian squat toilets.

After lunch at Lorne we headed inland up to a state park. The next day we went to Hanging Rock and a beautiful place called Mount Macedon. Mount Macedon has a few mansions, but all properties have beautiful gardens. We stayed in a caravan park there for the night and then headed to Geelong.

Next was Melbourne. It’s big and crowded. We stayed at Moonie Ponds for a couple of nights, then at Elwood, which is next to St Kilda. We didn’t take the camera into town, as most people know what it’s like. Besides the city we visited Albert Park for the aquatic centre, Brunswick, Smith & Gertrude streets in Fitzroy but didn’t make it to Carlton for great Italian.

Beeripmo Walk

Beeripmo Walk – 21kms, 11 hours total, 2 day circuit.

The Beeripmo walk winds through Mt Cole State Forest & Mt Buangor State Pak, about half way between the Grampians and Ballarat.

It was an easy 2 day walk which meant we could take our time instead of pushing through in one day. The walk passes through fern gullies, alpine plateaus and tall forests. Unfortunately recent fires had seriously affected the forests and for much of the first day we were amongst burnt out trees, ash and charcoal. I'm not sure when the fire went through, but the park had only just reopened.

On the way back to Ararat where we spent the last few days since getting out of the Grampians, we saw a Challicum wind farm. There are about 8 wind farms in Victoria totalling 428 MW which generate enough power for approximately 200,000 homes. According to www.sustainability.vic.gov.au a further 900 MW of wind farms are under construction and are scheduled for completion by 2012.

The Grampians National Park, Victoria

The Fortress 3 day walk - Grampians National Park, Victoria

The Fortress is a 3 day walk in the lesser known area of the Victoria Range within the Grampians.

The Grampians ranges are a series of exposed sandstone ridges separated by valleys. Water erosion has increased the cracks and weaknesses leaving the spires behind, of which the Fortress is an example.

The Grampians were originally named Geriwerd by the aboriginals. The caves which are a feature of the area, and the many shelters throughout the ranges show evidence of their occupation of 5000 years. With colonization the area was used for mining gold, cattle grazing and logging. In 1964 the national park was created and many of the old overgrown logging roads today form part of the 3 day walk.

Day 1 – 6.1 km, 3.5 hours

Waking today straight up into the ranges themselves. With our packs filled with camping gear and food for 3 days it was a fairly challenging few hours.

After one hour we reached Manja shelter. It’s a cave known as the Cave of Hands because of the aboriginal art of hand stencils made from ochre. The next 2 hours was pretty much uphill, until we reached the steep descent into Western Cave, we we camped in a small cave for the night. The cave was a great spot, well sheltered, and in the book I was following the walk on, there was a photo of a tent in the cave. But the problem was that it was down slanting which didn’t make for such a comfortable sleep. As we came into the area we could hear people who turned out to be 2 teachers and 7 kids on a school excursion! Luckily it was a big camp area and they were on the other side of the creek, so they didn’t bother us at all. There was dead wood in the cave so we were able to cook on a fire and keep warm. It got to about 5 degrees.

Day 2 – 8.1km, 4.5 hours

It’s almost unfair to have to set up the campspot just for 12 hours when you have to pitch the tent, blow up the air mat, zip the sleeping bags together, and then pack it all away again to keep walking! Today wasn’t as difficult going, although still a gentle ascent. Atleast some of the weight in my pack was gone due to eating some of the food. We left late- about 10.30am, but what’s the rush? Today we began to see some really good view of the Fortress and other rock formations. We made it to Mt Thackery campground about 3pm to setup. After the setup we took the side trip up to Mt Thackery 940 metres. Amazing view from up the top and very windy.

Mt Thackery camp ground was a great spot, but because of the rain we couldn’t have a fire. By about 9pm it got really dark so we headed inside.

Day 3 – 13.5km, 5 hours

We awoke in a cloud of fog. The whole campground was foggy, but it quickly cleared to a nice day. Today the track used some of the old logging roads. They were easy to follow, but very rocky and steep at times, but mostly downhill. There was a part of the track where we had to cross a creek 3 times. On the 2^nd time we got completely lost. What had happened was a huge tree fell over the track, so people had diverted around the tree, but in the process had made a track which leads to the creek. We followed that track, crossed the creek, then tried to follow an imaginary track to somewhere. Busting through branches, spiderwebs, ferns and shrubs we got very lost. After 20 minutes we decided to go back and when we did we realised our mistake. As there were some many flowers in bloom we sneezed the rest of the walk back to the van. We were very tired when we got back and drove to Halls Gap to have a coffee. It was a great walk, and being 3 days is a run up to the 6 day Overland Track we’ll be doing in December in Tasmania.

Old Tailem Town

OLD TAILEM TOWN

Ever wondered if it is possible to go back in time?

Ask kids my age and they would def quote their all time fav movie - Back to the Future.

Marty McFly: Doc are you telling me you built a time machine . . . out of a Delorea?

Dr. Emmett L. Brown: The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style.

And in style we did it in our Super Ford Transit Time Machine.

Well… it only took 110km per hour on the South Eastern Freeway 5km north of Tailem Bend and approximately 90kms from Adelaide exact for us to travel through time.

I was observing the green landscape filled with happy cattle chewing on the green grass when out of the blue Rodney spotted some old trucks rusting away in the grass beside the freeway. With a sharp U-turn on he steered the Super Ford Transit Time Machine back in time to the 1900s.

What a surprise! Very curious we got out of our Super Ford Transit Time Machine into Old Tailem Town.

We opened the door and were greeted by a lovely lady dressed in a Red Victorian dress...we looked at each other and were still trying to pick up our jaws from the floor because honestly, we were very excited by our discovery and felt like kids that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

The Victorian dressed lady took us through the back door and there before our eyes was an entire pioneer village!! It was like we stepped out on an old cowboy movie scene, all that was missing was a shoot out in front of the parlour door with Ned Kelly and his gang…and we also wanted pioneer costumes too…we were in the zone.

First established in 1982 this town is Australia’s largest pioneer village. We spoke to one of the gentleman who had been working there for 5 years. He told us that the old houses/shops/sheds/cars/memorabilia are donated or brought from all over Australia and the houses also have to be transported from far away in one piece to the village. He introduced us to Rosie and Monte the local horses and the goat who was very lazy and didn’t want to get up. Apparently the poor goat was operated on a while ago and had a shoulder plate replacement but looked happy just to sleep under the shade of a tree.

With a map we walked through the winding streets filled with old cars, train carriages, an old cinema, shops, pub, sheds and houses.

The village came with a church, graveyard and undertaker which included a dead body ready to be coffined...don’t worry it was only a fake body...I think???

As you enter the houses and shops, the smell of old antiques and collectables take you back in time. It was nice to be able to walk in and actually be part of the furniture, playing on organs, acting like were blacksmiths, sitting at preset dinner tables and Rodney even attempting to be a lawyer/judge from the pioneer period…watch out John Whitehead and Michael Howe! Creaking doors and mannequins greet you as you enter dark rooms and walk past dusty windows and curtains waving in the wind. An old doll in a pram in the corner possibly blinked their eyelid if we looked fast enough. If you listen carefully you can hear whispering ghosts hiding behind cupboards and faces smile at your from old black n white portraits on walls and ledges. A local newspaper article on the church door shows a tourist photo that proves a blurry ghost floating above the preacher’s bench. We also had the opportunity to walk into a working shed where the son was repairing old engines from trains, tractors and cars whilst his mother was restoring some beautiful antique items. Inside the shed is also some of the largest collections of memorabilia from the old times including collected match boxes, biscuit tins, sowing machines, medicines, irons and much more.

We wished we had more time to explore the town. We had fun reliving the pioneer period and could have easily taken more photos and sat in a few more rocking chairs.

Tailem Town was fantastic and we would definitely travel back in time to the place...all you need is a Ford Transit Time Machine going at 110km! ;)