For The Love of Travel

Yay! We have a visitor from England and we are very pleased to have developed an itinerary to show off a little slice of Victoria. Firstly off to Bendigo, founded in 1851, originally a gold rush town with a history of Chinese heritage. Now home to the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, a Mahayana Buddhist temple with a surrounding Peace Park. The temple contains a priceless 2.5 metre high carved jade buddha, weighing about 4 tonne. We visited and were blown away by the scale of the development and vision of the project designers and fund raisers.

Next to Rupunyap, Sheep Hills, St Arnaud, Brim, Beulah, Patchewollock, Nullawil and Lascelles to see the large outdoor gallery – a trail of artwork that celebrates the Wimmera Mallee region through a series of large scale mural portraits, by renowned Australian artists, that have given new life to 90 yr old grain silos – each one telling a unique story about the host town.

Sea Lake, the heart of the vast cereal growing food bowl of Victoria and home to the tough and unforgiving but at times beautiful, Lake Tyrell landscape (the elevated salt levels in soil and water limit the types of plants and creatures that survive here). A 1.6kms walk out from the carpark to the observation platform to greet the sunrise.

Off to Mildura for our 3 day houseboat extravaganza. Always getting our priorities straight, its a fenced doggie park first for Mitzy the wonder pooch; she does love exercising and walking us 🙂

Onto Kerang on the Loddon River, home to the largest solar and battery farm in Australia, and the commercial centre of the irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. Had to make way for some seriously large truckloads of machinery on the way…..

Then onto Robinvale, known for its production of grapes, olives, carrots and almonds with a large itinerant and multicultural heritage and labor force (Italian, Pacific Islander, and Asian).

Stopped at Echuca for coffee, discovering the town was celebrating the “Winter Blues Festival”. Lots of live music, food stalls and main street pumping with tourists exploring the very picturesque boutique shops’ offerings.

On the way back to Melbourne, visited 2 more silos – one at Rochester, and at Colbinabbin – a greyish sort of day but it didn’t take away from the artwork which we loved.

Our last 2 days on holiday…..and we had a long way to traverse over the next couple of days.

We headed for the free Ferry which took us across the Murray River @ Wellington, cutting an hour off our journey and we drove along the Coorong for about 5 hours, allowing for Mitzy stops:).

On the approach to Kingston SE, Larry the spiny LOBSTER loomed…built in 1979, this 17 metre fibreglass and steel sculpture, weighing 7 tonnes is a popular spot for pics. And that’s about it. Nothing more to see, we travelled onto Beachport.

We discovered the Bowman Scenic Drive which started in town opposite the boat ramp. The winding sealed road ensures many viewing surprises along the way – with names like Salmon Hole, Post Office Rock and the Pool of Siloam – lookouts offer views of secluded beaches, fishing spots, the salt lake and Lake George. We had windy weather, and the crashing waves were awesome.

I got a rather rude “are you coming or not” message from the B&B we had booked in Southend ….and sent back a very polite, ‘yes, we’ll be there around 7pm’. Didn’t augur well though.

We ordered takeaway at the Bompas Restaurant, thinking this was our best chance of getting reasonable nosh, before we set off for the B&B.

We were greeted sternly by mine host as we pulled into the driveway at the side of the house “don’t park there, park over there”. This B&B had great reviews on Booking.com.

The lounge room faced west and was really hot on entry so we turned on the aircon – which after half an hour started dripping water, which developed into a little waterfall – hastily gathering towels to put on the floor, I contacted the owners who lived upstairs….who both came down glaring at us and in an accusatory tone said, “well clearly you’ve had the aircon on for some time”, mumble, mumble, mumble. They sorted it out, and we were glad to be rid of them for the evening. We were AMAZED to read the guest books..”owners are friendly, generous, genuine people’; ‘they couldn’t have been more helpful’ – its like the review comments were about completely different people.

We were dreading next morning’s breakfast interaction, but it actually ended up being okay – the cooked breakfast was delish and the conversation reasonable. We were glad to leave though. But even on departing, Lynne had to bolt to the local ATM to get cash, as they didn’t accept card.

So then a 7 hour trip back to Sunbury, with regular stops along the way for coffee and Mitzy leg stretches….a great holiday catching up with friends, food and wine indulgences, and breathtaking landscapes – memories that will last!

And as this had been Mitzy’s first ever long holiday trip …she had really been such a delightfully obliging and good doggie!

We stayed at the Ocean Crest motel….very cheap accommodation, dog friendly, but oozing fumes from its ‘take away kitchen’ at night…..not one we’ll EVER return to.

Victor Harbour, known by the Ramindjeri people as Nulcoowarra, is a coastal town. Since 1860’s, horse-drawn trams have transferred goods across the causeway to the Granite Island settlement …..home to a wild penguin colony. Lynne and I booked to be transported to Granite Island on the first morning trip, but discovered they had rescheduled the tramway timings by an hour…so we walked across instead. I loved seeing Rebecca Rose’s ‘In Awe’, comprising 56 oars collected from rowing clubs across NZ – reflecting on the circumstances that precipitated ancestors to pick up their oars and make those journeys. Good exercise for the morning and we got to catch the first horse back….haha!

We picked Stef up and headed for a walk of a section of the Victor Harbour Heritage Trail, from Petrel Cove towards Kings Beach, probably about 4kms return. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful coastline……a challenge for photos because of the angle of the sun. Stef, Lynne and Mitzy really enjoying the environs!

A short drive from Victor Harbour to the Hindmarsh Valley, and there’s a short walk down about 200 steps to the official lookout to see the Hindmarsh Falls, but you can peep through the trees on the descent, to see water cascading over numerous pools.

Off to Goolwa the following day, a historic river port on the Murray River, where the Murray mouth and South Ocean meet and gateway to the Coorong National Park – of enormous cultural significance to the Ngarrindjeri people, with ancient mounds of discarded shells throughout the park revealing archaeological evidence of campsites over thousands of years. Also where ‘Storm Boy’ was filmed in 1976.

Saltwater Cafe for lunch, with Mitzy in our bad books, because of her barky behaviour vis-a-vis other tethered (and ‘chilled’) canines.

We did a lovely drive along the Goolwa waterways towards the Barrage, a dam constructed in 1940, to restrict salt water ingress into the river during tidal events, as well as maintaining water levels in the lower lakes. Lots of birds gather here: we saw terns, grey herons and pelicans.

Then across the bridge to Hindmarsh Island. Captain Charles Sturt stood on the highest point on the island when he identified and mapped the mouth of the River Murray. We looked for Cape Barren geese but alas, none in sight. Just did a stroll along the waterfront.

We stopped off at the award-winning ArtWorx gallery, just out of Goolwa. Fantastic paintings by local and interstate artists, indoor and outdoor sculptures, jewellery, ceramics and artisan timber works – so much to see and delight in. I had to get “the Climber”…and 3 flying pelicans for Lynne.

Another highlight of our trip was the beautiful Port Elliott, situated on sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. The port was established to provide a safe seaport for Murray River trade which terminated at Goolwa. Goods and passengers were carried between Goolwa and Port Elliott on the first public railway in Australia completed in 1854. We strolled over a part of the Harbourmaster’s Walking Trail with delightful coastal views.

Overnighter at Victor Harbour, with a delish dinner at the Golf Club bistro.

And bid a fond farewell to the area next morning @ Qahwa Coffee Roasters Espresso Bar for brekkie – with a view of the Fleurieu volleyball courts next door! Only in SA!