Purposeful Meandering Around Victoria - week 1

We’ve all got something or somewhere that COVID has limited our enjoyment, I could name multiple trips or destinations that we’ve planned, only for COVID restrictions to spoil our dreams. For us, sitting at home wasn’t the way to manage COVID so we decided to embark on our first family holiday in over 2 years.

With much of the country opening up we packed the car and headed south towards Mexico (Victoria). With Dave already in Wangaratta, that seemed like a logical place to start our 3 weeks adventure of Victoria. Arriving in Wang the temperatures were nudging 35deg so it was straight to the Ovens River for a relieving swim before heading out to the Warby-Ovens NP for a night’s camping. Unfortunately overnight temps offered little relief and a sticky sleepless night marred our first night of holidays. Undeterred by a restless night the following day we headed towards Bendigo where we checked out the local pottery, while the kids got a glimpse of their first tram. Continuing southward, we stopped at Hepburn Springs with an expectation of thermal springs or something similar, how wrong were we….haha! Before days end we’d arrived in Ballarat where we found a lovely 2-bedroom cottage for the next couple of nights.

Our cozy cottage and cooler overnight temps ensured a lazy start to Tuesday, but it wasn’t long before we hit the tourist attractions of the Eureka Stockade, Sovereign Hill and a glimpse of when the 1956 Olympics came to town. By days end we all commented that we’d packed a lot into one day.

Wednesday saw us heading further west, the towns of Aarat, Stawell and Seppelts Wines all demanded a quick inspection before heading to Halls Gap, and The Grampians. I could have easily spent a few days here exploring the many adventures or sights on offer but we’d made a family decision that we’d simply drive through this time, vowing to return another time for a specific holiday in the Grampians. By mid-afternoon with the temps in the mid 30’s we snuck across the border into South Australia. Actually, there was no border enforcement, leaving us both to comment on how nice it felt that most of our country could work as one nation. We were soon in Mount Gambier which was our home for the next couple of days. The town is known for its Limestone history which has created numerous sinkholes around the region and its pre-historic volcanic activity with many old volcanoes now filled with water for both recreational and human consumption. Blue Lake immediately grabs your attention due to its amazing turquoise colour.

With lots to see ‘n’ do on Thursday we headed out reasonably early to take in the sights. Our first stop was Mount Schank, Australia’s youngest extinct volcano allows visitors to walk around the rim or even venture into the earth filled crater, an experience we all enjoyed. A short drive south saw us on the limestone coast at Port MacDonnell where coastal erosion provides an amazing rugged rocky scenery. A plaque at the old lighthouse reminded us of how tough the early settlers did it, with 35 ships being lost at sea throughout the late 1800’s. Our next stop/s were the numerous sinkholes and caves that litter the landscape, Little Blue Lake provided a great opportunity to cool off while other sinkholes were for the more experienced cave divers. Back in the heart of Mount Gambier a must-see was the Cave Gardens and Umpherston Sinkhole. Our day culminated with us exploring the beauty of Blue Lake and a picnic dinner beside Valley Lake.

Friday we were on the road again and back in Victoria, the coastal towns of Portland, Port Fairy and Warrnambool all provided some amazing sights, none more than in Portland where the local timber exporting industry takes place. B-double semi-trailers laden with wood chip are hoist into the air at almost 60deg which unloads their cargo at an amazing rate, the whole process only taking minutes before the next semi-trailers move in to do the same. Leaving Warrnambool we soon found ourselves on the picturesque “Great Ocean Rd” and our first glimpses of the amazing coastline didn’t disappoint with the Bay of Islands provided a perfect example of what lay ahead. We seemed to spend more time getting in and out of the car over the next few hours as every point of interest was worthy of a stop. By days end we’d made it to Port Campbell where the temperatures once again demanded we cool off with a swim…. Has anyone ever said swimming in the Southern Ocean in summer can be very cold? Needless to say it was a short but refreshing swim. Our day concluded with some sunset pictures overlooking the 12 Apostles.

More driving along the Great Ocean Rd beckoned on Saturday and once again the sights were breathtaking, a walk into Loch Ard Gorge and the early morning sun on the 12 Apostles was beautiful. The road soon leaves the coast as it heads into the Otways and does scenery, rainforest and mountainous trees filled the void for the next few hours before we once again popped out on the coast at Apollo Bay. The abundance of crowds was the first thing to grab our attention, it seem every Victorian heads to Apollo Bay or Lorne for summer holidays. Continuing east we did the final stint of the Great Ocean Rd as it winds it way along the waterline with its towering cliffs swapping from either side of the road. By days’ end we’d arrived in Geelong at a quaint Airbnb which would be home for the next few days.

Our first week on the road culminated with a lazy Sunday morning, we caught up on numerous loads of washing and restocked our food supplies before deciding to head downtown and explore the foreshore and surrounding city centre. Another glorious hot day ensured all the water vantage points were busy jostling for somewhere to cool off. As our first week of holidays came to end we caught up with friends for dinner who we’d met travelling Australia back in 2014, lots of laughs and reminiscing of past travels ensued.

Week 1 is done