Well it’s about time that I get around to updating this blog as many people are reminding me that it is now sorely out of date. But I have an excuse – we just returned from an amazing 10-day trip through the southeast corner of South Australia over to Victoria where we drove the Great Ocean Road, went through the mountains and returned home. Because I can’t possibly do justice to most of the places with my own photos, I have added some links on this page so that you can all experience a little of what we saw.
So let’s get started. We left Adelaide for Mount Gambier to spend a few days with the parents of
my friend Terriann. The beauty of the countryside continued to leave us dumbfounded as we wound our way through country roads to a farm belonging to one of her friends…where we were very warmly greeted by a giant man with huge paws for hands and one of the warmest smiles I have ever seen. Craig and his girlfriend treated us (6 adults and 6 girls aged 4 – 12) to lunch and a tour of the farm. The kids got to play with the farm dogs and ducklings, but the real treat was cuddling the baby guinea pigs. It is important to note at this point, that guinea pigs are considered a delicacy to some…and we kept the fate of the fuzzy little guys a secret from the girls as they snuggled them and named them all. As you can well imagine, at this point I was a little concerned about what in fact was being carved on the dinner table and asked Craig what I was about to eat – he motioned towards the field where I turned to see a flock of goats happily grazing.
After lunch, we got a tour of the sheep farm and the kids had a blast being herded by the dog (Pooch) and Craig who was manning the gates on the chute. The kids were running through the maze of fences and gates, working their way to the shearing shed – with dogs in hot pursuit. Anyways, it was a fabulous day and we said our goodbye’s and left for Mt. Gambier.
As we drove through the fields of sheep and cattle, set among the gum trees (a scene straight out of Thorn Birds) we saw our first wild kangaroos…the first of many on this trip. We arrived at the farm, again to the warmest of welcomes and greeted by the farm dog, “Mate”. We fell in love with this place, the apple orchards, the cow paddocks, the beautiful garden with chooks (chickens) wandering under the trees. We were treated to three days of cook-ups on the back veranda with all of the neighbours. We immensely enjoyed the farm experience…watching the 6 girls run around with what seemed like a whole pack of dogs at times. They got to feed the cows in the morning and Sophie and Elise got to bottle feed and 5-week old calf. They hunted for bugs and fed the chickens…spent 3 days tired and very dirty.
While in Mt Gambier, we spent a wonderful day in the Coonawarra - tasting (and buying) fabulous wines. Terriann had rented a bus and there were about 20 of us on it, enjoying the scenery and a lot of laughs. As you can well imagine, Dug I were the subject of many funny joke and our accents (didn’t know I had one?) continued to amuse all.
The next day, we went to the most amazing set of limestone caves nearby at a place called Naracoorte. They were unbelievable with the most amazing formations. The kids loved it. We even got to walk through a cave that is home to hibernating bats – even more interesting is that this cave was used for parties by the English in the early 1900’s. It even still has the signatures of kids who signed and dated their names with candles – one read “Kay, 1925”.
We then had to say our goodbyes and leave for the remainder of our trip as we headed south to cross over the Victoria border and drive to a beautiful seaside town of Port Fairy. It was stunning and we stayed in a house right on the beach. The girls and I went to collect shells and all Sophie said when we got down on to the sand was “this is shell heaven”. I think we will be bringing home an entire suitcase of seashells.
The day we left Port Fairy, we stopped at a park called Tower Hill, which is an extinct volcano. As you drive into it, the sides are thick jungle with grasslands forming the bottom. During some times, it is filled with water, but when we were there, it was a field, home to countless grazing emus. It was like stepping back in time…like the opening scenes of the Land that Time Forgot. We had a good time exploring the park, but the highlight had to be sharing lunch with a pair of pretty persistent emus. Sophie and I arrived back at the car a little later to join Dug and Elise for lunch…only to find that Elise had locked herself in the car as Dug was brandishing a stick, trying chase away the emus who were eying the contents of the cooler in our trunk. Wish I got a picture of that.
Then on to a place called Apollo Bay - along the way, we traveled the Great Ocean road, which is a narrow and windy coastal road with magnificent views of limestone sea stacks and sandy beaches - truly amazing.
We arrived at our cottage in Apollo Bay just as it was getting dark…deep in the temperate rainforest. We were greeted by a cacophony of what I can only describe as screeching coming from high in the trees. We had our suspicions of what might be calling out from the dense trees, and they were confirmed as I stepped on to the deck first thing in the morning and was greeted by several kookaburras. They all lined up on the railings of the deck, waiting for breakfast. Turns out that kookaburras want nothing to do with rice cakes – they much prefer bacon, stolen fresh off the BBQ. These birds were amazing and provided hours of fun for the kids as they got to pet them and feed them bacon crumbs.
The next 2 days were spent exploring the Otways – a National park that boasts giant redwoods, ash forests, waterfalls and towering ferns. It reminded me of Cathedral Grove – damp and smelling of earth and a freshly watered greenhouse. We visited a place called the Otway Fly. This attraction is a steel walkway suspended 25m above the ground that wound through the rainforest giving a birds-eye view of the trees and ferns below. To get to the walkway, we wound through rainforest trails amidst 10ft high tree ferns along a path called Dinosaur Trail – hidden through the underbrush dotted along the path were life-size and very realistic dinosaur models. The kids were in heaven. We eventually got to the Fly, and even with my fear of heights, I was spellbound. However, we did eventually come to the main attraction – a 47m high tower and an arm of the walkway that swung like a pendulum. This is were I declined further exploration and had to watch the rest of my family climb 47m into the air with great enthusiasm while I clung to the base of the tower too scared to look up or down.
After this truly astounding morning, we made our way back to the coast to the Cape Otway Lighthouse. Given the “high” morning we had, I declined the climb up the lighthouse that sat on an 80m cliff edge. Of course, Dug and girls thought it was great. We have come to the conclusion that Elise has not fear at all and likely will spend her youth hurtling down a mountain on a snowboard!
Sadly, we left Apollo Bay and continued along the Great Ocean Road to the next amazingly beautiful town called Lorne. This is a little seaside town, famous for its surfing. We only had one night here, but could have stayed a week. We had a magnificent apartment across the road from the beach where we could watch the surfers. Even more incredible though, was the flock of visitors that we had as we sat on the deck enjoying a morning coffee – a flock of cockatoos that ate banana chips from the girls’ hands. These birds are so beautiful and big, much bigger than their pet-store cousins that we see at home.
Now off to the mountains. We sadly left the beaches and coast road for the Grampians Рa mountain range near the Victoria/SA border. Of course, we had to pass though another wine region (and cellar doors) on the way!! We wound our way through the narrow and windy mountain roads to arrive at our last stop Рa cottage in a little valley in the middle of a 1000 acre horse ranch. It was absolutely exquisite, totally private and nestled in among the gum trees with kangaroos at the edge of the clearing. We were again greeted by the farm dog РSally, a border collie that led us on walks through the forest, leaving our sides only to be called in for dinner. This was truly a happy place of solitude and relaxation. We spent the next days exploring the rugged mountains, lunching with kangaroos and exploring the ranch. We celebrated the last night of our trip with a cheeky bottle of Ros̩ (yes, Dug drank Ros̩) and a campfire, complete with marshmallows.
Sadly, we left our little piece of paradise, eager to return as soon as we can.
So let’s get started. We left Adelaide for Mount Gambier to spend a few days with the parents of
my friend Terriann. The beauty of the countryside continued to leave us dumbfounded as we wound our way through country roads to a farm belonging to one of her friends…where we were very warmly greeted by a giant man with huge paws for hands and one of the warmest smiles I have ever seen. Craig and his girlfriend treated us (6 adults and 6 girls aged 4 – 12) to lunch and a tour of the farm. The kids got to play with the farm dogs and ducklings, but the real treat was cuddling the baby guinea pigs. It is important to note at this point, that guinea pigs are considered a delicacy to some…and we kept the fate of the fuzzy little guys a secret from the girls as they snuggled them and named them all. As you can well imagine, at this point I was a little concerned about what in fact was being carved on the dinner table and asked Craig what I was about to eat – he motioned towards the field where I turned to see a flock of goats happily grazing.After lunch, we got a tour of the sheep farm and the kids had a blast being herded by the dog (Pooch) and Craig who was manning the gates on the chute. The kids were running through the maze of fences and gates, working their way to the shearing shed – with dogs in hot pursuit. Anyways, it was a fabulous day and we said our goodbye’s and left for Mt. Gambier.
As we drove through the fields of sheep and cattle, set among the gum trees (a scene straight out of Thorn Birds) we saw our first wild kangaroos…the first of many on this trip. We arrived at the farm, again to the warmest of welcomes and greeted by the farm dog, “Mate”. We fell in love with this place, the apple orchards, the cow paddocks, the beautiful garden with chooks (chickens) wandering under the trees. We were treated to three days of cook-ups on the back veranda with all of the neighbours. We immensely enjoyed the farm experience…watching the 6 girls run around with what seemed like a whole pack of dogs at times. They got to feed the cows in the morning and Sophie and Elise got to bottle feed and 5-week old calf. They hunted for bugs and fed the chickens…spent 3 days tired and very dirty.
While in Mt Gambier, we spent a wonderful day in the Coonawarra - tasting (and buying) fabulous wines. Terriann had rented a bus and there were about 20 of us on it, enjoying the scenery and a lot of laughs. As you can well imagine, Dug I were the subject of many funny joke and our accents (didn’t know I had one?) continued to amuse all.
The next day, we went to the most amazing set of limestone caves nearby at a place called Naracoorte. They were unbelievable with the most amazing formations. The kids loved it. We even got to walk through a cave that is home to hibernating bats – even more interesting is that this cave was used for parties by the English in the early 1900’s. It even still has the signatures of kids who signed and dated their names with candles – one read “Kay, 1925”.We then had to say our goodbyes and leave for the remainder of our trip as we headed south to cross over the Victoria border and drive to a beautiful seaside town of Port Fairy. It was stunning and we stayed in a house right on the beach. The girls and I went to collect shells and all Sophie said when we got down on to the sand was “this is shell heaven”. I think we will be bringing home an entire suitcase of seashells.
The day we left Port Fairy, we stopped at a park called Tower Hill, which is an extinct volcano. As you drive into it, the sides are thick jungle with grasslands forming the bottom. During some times, it is filled with water, but when we were there, it was a field, home to countless grazing emus. It was like stepping back in time…like the opening scenes of the Land that Time Forgot. We had a good time exploring the park, but the highlight had to be sharing lunch with a pair of pretty persistent emus. Sophie and I arrived back at the car a little later to join Dug and Elise for lunch…only to find that Elise had locked herself in the car as Dug was brandishing a stick, trying chase away the emus who were eying the contents of the cooler in our trunk. Wish I got a picture of that.
Then on to a place called Apollo Bay - along the way, we traveled the Great Ocean road, which is a narrow and windy coastal road with magnificent views of limestone sea stacks and sandy beaches - truly amazing.
We arrived at our cottage in Apollo Bay just as it was getting dark…deep in the temperate rainforest. We were greeted by a cacophony of what I can only describe as screeching coming from high in the trees. We had our suspicions of what might be calling out from the dense trees, and they were confirmed as I stepped on to the deck first thing in the morning and was greeted by several kookaburras. They all lined up on the railings of the deck, waiting for breakfast. Turns out that kookaburras want nothing to do with rice cakes – they much prefer bacon, stolen fresh off the BBQ. These birds were amazing and provided hours of fun for the kids as they got to pet them and feed them bacon crumbs.The next 2 days were spent exploring the Otways – a National park that boasts giant redwoods, ash forests, waterfalls and towering ferns. It reminded me of Cathedral Grove – damp and smelling of earth and a freshly watered greenhouse. We visited a place called the Otway Fly. This attraction is a steel walkway suspended 25m above the ground that wound through the rainforest giving a birds-eye view of the trees and ferns below. To get to the walkway, we wound through rainforest trails amidst 10ft high tree ferns along a path called Dinosaur Trail – hidden through the underbrush dotted along the path were life-size and very realistic dinosaur models. The kids were in heaven. We eventually got to the Fly, and even with my fear of heights, I was spellbound. However, we did eventually come to the main attraction – a 47m high tower and an arm of the walkway that swung like a pendulum. This is were I declined further exploration and had to watch the rest of my family climb 47m into the air with great enthusiasm while I clung to the base of the tower too scared to look up or down.
After this truly astounding morning, we made our way back to the coast to the Cape Otway Lighthouse. Given the “high” morning we had, I declined the climb up the lighthouse that sat on an 80m cliff edge. Of course, Dug and girls thought it was great. We have come to the conclusion that Elise has not fear at all and likely will spend her youth hurtling down a mountain on a snowboard!
Sadly, we left Apollo Bay and continued along the Great Ocean Road to the next amazingly beautiful town called Lorne. This is a little seaside town, famous for its surfing. We only had one night here, but could have stayed a week. We had a magnificent apartment across the road from the beach where we could watch the surfers. Even more incredible though, was the flock of visitors that we had as we sat on the deck enjoying a morning coffee – a flock of cockatoos that ate banana chips from the girls’ hands. These birds are so beautiful and big, much bigger than their pet-store cousins that we see at home.
Now off to the mountains. We sadly left the beaches and coast road for the Grampians Рa mountain range near the Victoria/SA border. Of course, we had to pass though another wine region (and cellar doors) on the way!! We wound our way through the narrow and windy mountain roads to arrive at our last stop Рa cottage in a little valley in the middle of a 1000 acre horse ranch. It was absolutely exquisite, totally private and nestled in among the gum trees with kangaroos at the edge of the clearing. We were again greeted by the farm dog РSally, a border collie that led us on walks through the forest, leaving our sides only to be called in for dinner. This was truly a happy place of solitude and relaxation. We spent the next days exploring the rugged mountains, lunching with kangaroos and exploring the ranch. We celebrated the last night of our trip with a cheeky bottle of Ros̩ (yes, Dug drank Ros̩) and a campfire, complete with marshmallows.Sadly, we left our little piece of paradise, eager to return as soon as we can.
