Yackamoorundi Park, Victoria.

Playing with morning shadows, you can see our tent on the right.

On our first night out of Adelaide, we stayed at a little town called Yacka and camped in Yackamoorundi Park.

The park is open to the public but it also provides a small camping area for travellers. There is a locked gate and we had to visit a nearby house to pay our fifteen dollar camp site fee and to collect the key. Showers and toilets are on site and we were asked not to camp on the grass.

The rabbits are so bad here that the ground was thick with rabbit droppings that stuck to our shoes an inch thick!

We didn't have a chance to check out the showers as they were out of order. Damn. So it was a sponge down the next morning.

The birds were everywhere...galahs, some sort of swooping birds that swooped in huge flocks at sunset over the weedy creek bed nearby, magpies...

We had a good night's sleep, no traffic noise to speak about, no trains, factories or noisy neighbours and woke to another glorious sunrise accompanied by birdsong.

Very early on into our journey, it's become obvious to me how much we miss out on in nature by sleeping indoors! When was the last time you watched the sunrise out your bedroom window?

In the tent we can't see if the sun's up or not, it blocks out that much light, but we can't wait to see what piece of art nature is dishing up for us outside and once we've opened our eyes, it's not long before one of us is peeking out the tent flap to see. Even cloudy days are pieces of art...sometimes more so. When we get back home, I'll be sleeping with the bedroom curtain open! Even though our bedroom faces west, just to see the colour of the sky is a bonus. If only humans were as joyous to see the sun rise as what the birds have been over the past weeks...they really know how to greet a new day!

But then I guess they're not off to the office for eight hours either...

Mount Gambier - City of Lakes, Craters, Sink Holes and Towers

Sink hole, formed when the roof of a cave collapses in then fills with water.

Blue Lake, Mount Gambier.

Leg of Mutton Crater

Centenary Tower.

This tower reminded me so much of St Michael's Church on Glastonbury Tor, even the landscape around it was so similar to Glastonbury. All the lakes around gave it the same ambience of Glastonbury too.

I knew so little about Mount Gambier until we arrived. Always believed it to be a pretty run of the mill city. How wrong I was. It's a grand city, not too large, but so beautiful.

So many natural formations...so unusual.

But...there's always a but...Honey thought there was negative energy around.

We found a nice little caravan park to set up for the night and guess what? It started to rain. That was not all though...the tent would not go up...Honey Pie tried and tried for a full forty five minutes, still no tent to get into...why now? No problems what so ever until now.

In the end I said to him...here are the instructions maybe we'd better look at these.

Which we did, Honey only had to read a few lines before he realised that he was setting up the tent in the wrong order...five minutes later, the tent was up.

That night Mount Gambier had a thunder and lightening storm...unusual for that time of year we were told the next morning.

Also, we have a little ice box we use just to keep our dairy stuff in which we top up each morning and night with a fresh ice pack. The next morning Honey Pie assured me that he'd changed over the thawed-out pack for a new one.

Found out that night that even though he'd taken out the thawed ice pack, he had not replaced it with a fresh one.

I was seriously becoming worried that my Honey Pie was coming down with some serious ailment, namely early onset alzheimer's.

As we drove out of the city , I swear I could feel my head clearing, without every having noticed that it wasn't clear before.

Having Fun at Yambuk Lake

Camped at Yambuk Lake at the end of a beautiful day and a sunset with wind turbines.

Honey trying out the slide...a dud!

That Island. (Lady Julia Percy Island).

Duck Shooters at the lake on Saturday morning.

The Twelve Apostles

Nothing prepares you for The Twelve Apostles.

There is a sacredness to the place that I can only compare with Stonehenge. I would even go as far as saying there is more a feeling of sacredness here than at Stonehenge. What more can I say? You have to see it for yourself to believe it.

Hey, and have you noticed? The weather was on our side at last!

Gibson Steps Great Ocean Road, Day Two

Nothing prepared me for what we would see on our second day along the Great Ocean Road.

We were now approaching The Twelve Apostles.

First, Gibson's Steps. These steps lead you down to the sand and The Southern Ocean.

I was determined to dip my feet into the Souther Ocean, but just like in Lorne, almost go swept off my feet. The surf here is viscous. Certainly not to be messed with!

The magnificence of the Twelve Apostles is something to behold.

Bells Beach

Thursday 15th April we start the run down The Great Ocean Road starting at Bells Beach.

This is also where the The Men's Rip Curl Pro was held over the Easter weekend, starting on Good Friday, apparently it's the only sporting event that's allowed to go ahead on a Good Friday.

As you can see the weather was still not the best but the views made up for that.

Point Leo

Hey, maybe most puddles have a natural tendency to form maps of Australia?

After the Mornington, we stumbled on this beautiful spot, right on the ocean. As you can see from the pictures, the weather was still against us and it rained on our tent that night. These are pictures of the sunrise the next morning. To wake up to this view is something else.

The amenities weren't anything to write home about but the location certainly made up for the lack. Pity it wasn't warm enough to go for a dip.

This is were we first encountered the Portuguese Millipede - from here on in, they would continue to grow to plague proportions....

Hey, is that blue sky I see?

Mornington Peninsula

After leaving Melbourne, we drove to the Mornington Peninsula via the Westgate Bridge...no didn't get any photos but that's a bridge to behold...well I closed my eyes 'cause it was too high for me! Never thought I had a fear of crossing bridges until we approached the Westgate bridge.

As was becoming the norm, the day was dull, damp and cold. Took lots of photos of the peninsula, but too depressing to post...despite this, both Andrew and I thought it a very beautiful area in Victoria.

Found this little place Arthur's Seat State Park in the area and went for a walk.

These sculptures are by William Ricketts and are in Seawinds Gardens.

The Docklands

Found these characters at The Docklands, Melbourne, everyone else had gone home but they insisted on hanging about!

What a combination.

Dame Nellie would turn in her grave if she knew wouldn't she?

On the way to Wilson's Promontory

On the way to Wilson's Promontory did some shopping at Toora Lions Club Market, mainly fruit and veg. Headed up to Silcock's Hill Lookout and the Toora Wind Farm.
I just find wind farms to be very eerie.
As expected, it was quite windy while we were there, to me the noise made by the turbines sounds like aeroplanes that never arrive.
Another interesting place where we spent some time on the way was Fish Creek. We had morning tea at the Flying Cow Cafe which must be the only building in Fish Creek not adorned with some fishy icon, even the church had the fish symbol on its roof!
At a sleepy little town called Foster we topped up on supplies before heading for Wilson's Prom. By this stage the weather was drizzly.

Den of Nargun

The Den of Nargun. 8th April 2010.

The Nargun is reputed to live here, a creature, half human half stone who deflected spears back to the thrower. The Nargun was feared because it took children away.

The walk down to the den was rocky, slippery and steep. As we went down into the area, it rained on and off and almost turned back at one stage. A brave family with a baby in a sling made it all the way to the den and on their return, the mother told us that the child cried uncontrollably when they were in the den. Could the baby sense the vibes of the place? Who knows. The Den of Nargun reminded me a bit of Mossman Gorge in North Queensland which has a similar story regarding women

Bairnsdale Victoria

This tree at Bairnsdale has had bark removed by local Aborigines with which they made a canoe. The tree continues to survive in a magnificent playground for children living in and visiting the area. There was even a flying fox. As it was school holidays, the grounds were teaming with children having heaps of fun.

Drove into Bairnsdale on Thursday 8th April. Once more found the ladies at the Tourist Information Centre very helpful. Had coffee and cake at the McDonald's Cafe (naughty) then visited the Catholic Church right next door to the Centre.

Below is the Bairnsdale Court House.

Bairnsdale is on the banks of the Mitchell River. Loved this town. The Catholic Church of St Mary's is adorned with hand painted murals...just astonishing to see.

Orbost - Victoria

(Arrived Wednesday 7th April).

Orbost Information Centre is housed in this old slab hut. Below are the town's resident geese which are housed at the information centre. The bottom photograph shows the old pump house at the butter factory by the Snowy River on which flood markers have been added over the decades.

Found Orbost to be a sleepy little country town with the odd cafe here and there. The ladies at the Info Centre were very helpful and friendly. We had lunch in town, I think it was at the Courtyard Cafe, opted for indoor seating as the flies were numerous! Had the most delicious freshly squeezed strawberry, pear and pineapple juice.