Aussie Road Trip Day Thirteen, Saturday July 27th

A long day in the saddle .....

It was always going to be a long drive from Nairne to Warrnambool. We had decided that a very early start was needed, and planned to get away by 6.30 am. It was a big ask to get all four of us up, packed and breakfasted by 6.30, but by golly we did it!

We mostly packed the car the night before so it was just overnight things and toiletries to add in the morning. David had prepared a delicious Bircher Muesli for our breakfast the night before and left it soaking overnight. Oh Yum! It certainly hit the spot and was very filling too.

The journey to Keith was achieved in good time. We had a bit of difficulty finding somewhere open for coffee before 9am on a Saturday morning. The streets looked mostly deserted, but we spotted a few signs of life and cars coming and going from the local bakery cafe. Bingo!

It was really a very pleasant drive through the very green pastoral and wine growing countryside. We had to have very strong resolve NOT to pull into the many cellar doors we passed. Thankfully a few of them were closed. Spring has sprung early and we noticed that many of the sheep we passed in the fields had recently delivered lambs. They were very white and fluffy and frolicked on unsteady legs near their mothers. There were also lots of calves in paddocks near homesteads, perhaps deliberately kept from their mums .... it is a dairying area.

We finally saw kangaroos! Surprisingly they've not been much in evidence during the trip, despite warning signs. Not even as roadkill - maybe the recent rains have meant their food source is plentiful and they don't have to hang around near the roads.
 



Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier was the planned lunch stop. There were a few things we wanted to see in this city. The area is not called the Limestone Coast without reason, and firstly we had a look at a sink hole and its rock garden/cave right in the middle of town. This was a little spoiled by the addition of a shopping cart which had been thrown in from the above street. 



Ailsa and David view the sink hole and caves in town




Might be difficult to get the shopping cart out of here

We then wandered around the town and stumbled upon a cafe called Molten Chocolate. Sounds like my kind of place! Without arguement we all entered and after ordering lovely healthy quiche and salads and rolls, feeling virtuous, we then negated the efect by indulging in some classic hot chocolate. David had ordered carrot cake, a weakness to which he confesses particular addiction. We were discussing whether or not they would warm it up, something he really doesn't like. When he decided to go and request that they didn't, he caught them just in the act of popping it in the microwave. David is a tall chap and says that he had to stand close and be very assertive in the face of "oh, but it's only for 3 seconds". Good save!



Ailsa and David view the Umpherston Sink Hole

After lunch we drove a little way out of town to the Umpherston Sink Hole. The gardens here were much better cared for than the ones in town. The sinkhole was situated in a lovely park, and the hanging plants and manicured gardens were ethereally magnificent.

The manicured tiered gardens

Ailsa and John walk down to the bottom

Barb and John in the sink hole gardens.
Yep, he finally managed to chop her legs off
and cut her down to size.

Very deep hole

Thank God for the stairs

Umpherston Sink Hole

The gardens at Mount Gambier

We did not drive out to see the famed Blue lake at Mount Gambier - it was not the right time of year for it to be blue.

We pushed on towards Warrnambool through the occasional stand of state forest pine trees. They are planted very densely and looking into them all we could see was deep gloom, giving a rather spooky feel. These forests gave way to open farming areas at intervals, so the scenery kept changing to keep things interesting.

Reaching Port Fairy (that really is its name!) in mid-afternoon we paused to enjoy tea and scones at a Turkish tearoom and then had a brief look around the town. The architecture here was somewhat different, contrasting the sandstone of most of the older buildings we had seen with the use of a dark porous local stone. To John it was very reminiscent of London before the cleaning of smoke stained stonework after the 1960s. There were some pretty decent waves breaking at the beach just near the river mouth and a number of surfers were out on their boards in the freezing surf. Even with full wet suits they looked cold.

John at Port Fairy

Watching the surfers at Port Fairy

Catching the break

Arriving in Warnambool in the late afternoon we were delighted to find the Deep Blue Hotel and Spa, where we were booked in, to be a rather luxurious multistorey hotel with ocean views.
Can't wait now for our day doing the Great Ocean Road tomorrow.