We arrived back into Melbourne early next morning and caught a most beautiful sunrise over the skyscrapers of the city.

As we drove from Melbourne, back to our friend, Phyllis’s, there was an earthquake and we wondered what on earth had happened! We later found out that it had measured 4.6 on the scale. We came back to Rye again as Bev is very sick and so we wished to spend a little more time in the area, before we continued along our journey. We send our best wishes to Bev, and her friends and family.

Phyllis was kind enough to take us out for a day to the Healseville Sanctuary. It was a wonderful place that helped to care for Australia’s native animals and the centre has been very busy recently, having to care for injured and sick, and/or homeless animals following the area’s severe wild bush fires. It was very interesting to visit the animal hospital and to watch live operations through the big screens. The staff appeared to be very positive and passionate about their roles and do a fantastic job. The fires got extremely close to the sanctuary and some animals were actually evacuated as a precaution.

Driving through some of the nearby, fire stricken National Park was devastating to us. We could only begin to imagine the extent of the destruction that has been left behind. The strong smell of burning timber was still in the air, this time later.

While we were along the Mornington Peninsula, we also caught up with Jack and Kath, who are relations of some of our friends at home. They were very hospitable, as we turned up on their doorstep and we felt at home, as they even had an English style bar inside their house! Many thanks to Jack for taking the time to show us around, including to Arthurs seat (on a brighter day), and to Flinders where the first communication lines were laid - from there to Tasmania. These lined helped world-wide communication........

As we gave our thanks and wished our Rye and Safety Beach friends well –please remember our UK door is open for us to return some of your favours.

 We set sail on another ferry, on a mission to meet up with some long-lost cousins! The Sorrento to Queenscliff ferry took just over half an hour and saved us a huge drive right around the bay to the Geelong side of Melbourne. It was a novelty to be able to stay with Aussie on this ferry, as the vehicles were not stored below the sea level.

It was great to meet Neil (my Nan’s cousin’s son!), Lou and their family! The children all got on very well together (and the adults did too!) and we must say special thanks to Marlee for all her patience with the Billy lids (kids!). We had a walk along the beach, with some of us adding a paddle or two. As we walked along there were a bride and groom having some photos taken with the sandy backdrop –a very romantic setting!  Later on, we enjoyed a BBQ and met more of the family, including Ken (my Nan’s cousin) and Louis, who we remember from their visits to the UK!

Once again......we always said that we would be ‘down under’ ....one day! Ken actually sent me 20 dollars in 1992 to begin to begin my savings and as we did not have any other changed up money when we landed in Brisbane – this was the money we used to pay for the taxi to get to the camper pick up point!! It got a strange look as it was old fashioned ‘paper money’ rather than ‘plastic money’ –but at least it was still accepted!

The next day was Sunday so we were able to spend more time with the family. Serendip Sanctuary had a very wide variety of birds and animals to see – which was another hit!  The day was topped off by a walk along Geelong Seafront, and a celebratory swim when some young legs reached the other side!

Our children enjoyed good ‘ole ‘sleep – overs’ with their new friends, while we kept Aussie company for the nights! As Monday dawned to the calls of school and work for the Geelong family, we took ourselves off to try our luck panning for gold at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. The discovery of gold in 1851 bought a flood of gold seekers from all over the world to Ballarat.  Today, Sovereign Hill is a working township that tells the story of the world’s richest alluvial gold rush. We took a tour underground to a mine and witnessed some of the struggle of work and sheer delight of the minors, as they fell upon a nugget of gold. We watched a demonstration to show the time consuming process of how ‘old fashioned’ sweets were made. At the smelting of a gold ingot –Jemma was lucky enough to be asked to hold the finished product – at a value of $140,000!! Apparently, Jemma was chosen for her innocent face?! We met the lady in the Robinson & Wayne shop on the Ballarat main street who was dressed in period costume (along with all her colleagues) and her shop was nostalgically stocked with a selection of soaps, lavenders, and sweets in a jar!

We enjoyed a meal at the Shell Club – many thanks to Ken for his treat and we were able to meet one of his brothers, Harold, again, two sisters and a niece! We learnt lots about the travels we have yet to come- through the central outback of this country and its gems along the way! The evening was completed in the pokies hall. We didn’t chance our luck too much – it was better to watch the experts at work!

We would like to thank Neil, Lou and family for our extended visit (we do hope we didn’t over stay our welcome -but we were having such a good time!). Thank you for everyone’s efforts to accommodate us, in the already hectic weekly schedule. At any time you land in England we would love to return the favour!

We said more goodbyes (this doesn’t get any easier for us on Macswayround –but we do know we have good friends in a variety of places around this world!)

All of us set off down the infamous Great Ocean Road. For the first part, the coast road reminded us of the Devon/Cornwall coastline, at home. We stayed at Prince-town – NO – not at the prison- for those Devon folk amongst you! In the morning the wild kangaroos were all around Aussie, which was great!

We enjoyed the power and presence of the Twelve Apostles, the scenery was stunning and very unusual – although all twelve are not still intact any- more!

It was great that we were able to spend some more time with Steve and Jen and co as they met up with us again at the Prince-Town camp-ground.  Happy Hour once again!

As we made our way to Dartmoor, Aussie kept stopping for just another photo- as the scenery around each bend was amazing. A part of the London Bridge collapsed not that many years ago but an enormous arch still remains to be seen. There are also many other smaller tunnels and bridges that have been formed by the powerful erosion of the sea.

We left Steve and Jen in Dartmoor as we had to go into Adelaide to do a few jobs. We stayed at the Adelaide Shores Caravan Resort before heading off to Port Augusta. The temperature crept up to 42 degrees and it was only comfortable sat right under the air conditioning! Port Augusta Caravan Park was full of animals and birds again and Ben found a beautiful peacock feather!

On April Fool’s day we took off for our big journey towards the centre from Port Augusta to Coober Pedy........................more about this unique place soon!

FACTOIDS-

·         The Serendip Sanctuary covers 250 hectares through the western plains of Victoria.

·         Geelong is the gateway to the Bellarine Peninsula: one of the most bountiful and beautiful regions near Melbourne.

·         Geelong is one of Victoria states most historically significant cities, with more than 200 buildings that are registered with the National Trust.

·         The Great Ocean Road follows a route around the coastline for 300kms from Torquay to Warrnambool. The road was begun in 1919 and completed in 1932 and is now dedicated to the memory of the First World War. It was actually built by returned servicemen using only picks and shovels.

·         In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, many ship captains sailing through south-east Victorian seas found themselves, their crew and passengers at the mercy of the wild weather and an unforgiving coast – it is now known as Ship-wreck Coast as over 700 ships have met their watery grave along the stretch.

·         Bells Beach, in Torquay, is world- renowned for its surf and competitions.

·         The Twelve Apostles are mighty limestone monoliths which have been ground away by thousands of years of wind and waves. The limestone columns reflect a kaleidoscope of reds and golds from sunrise to sunset. They were originally named the Sow and Piglets.

·         Dartmoor has a Memorial Streetscape which was officially opened on Anzac Day 2003. There are spectacular carvings in the trees along the way. The Cedar trees were planted in September 1918 to commemorate World War One Servicemen and Nurses from Dartmoor and the District. The trees had to be felled due to disease and so a feature was made of them.

·         Adelaide is traditionally the ‘Place of the Red Kangaroo’.

·         Australia note money is now REALLY made out of plastic – instead of paper!

WILDLIFE HITS-

·         Straw Necked Ibis

·         Australian White Ibis

·         White Faced Heron

·         White Fronted Tern

·         Bell Birds

·         Pied Curra Wong

·         Common Myna Bird

·         Little Grey Heron

·         Australian Little Raven

·         Blue Heron

·         Sea Gulls

·         Fish Eagles

·         Fairy Wren – Superb

·         Brown Falcon

·         White Breasted Eagle

·         Australian Great Teal

Monday, 20 April 2009 00:24:19 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)      Comments [1]  Australia