Saturday 26 October 2013

Our first Aus trip

When the company I was working for in 2001 transferred us to Melbourne from Christchurch (NZ) as Australia was part of the territory I managed. I would whenever possible drive to the different state capitals and cities/towns to conduct business. One of the first of such trips was to Adelaide, we left early one Saturday taking the Main Coastal Road to Colac and on to the Gibsons Steps. We walked down the Gibsons steps to the beach, all 86 of them and 70-meters later we were on the beach looking up at the vertical cliff line, in awe at God’s creation.

From there it is a short drive to the 12 Apostles, the 
car park is located on the land side of the road, the 5–minute walk takes you under the Great Ocean Road and to the viewing platform where one can view the splendour of these magnificent limestone rock formations rising up from the Southern Ocean. Wind and sea erosion continually batter them, with some having collapsed over the years, I believe there are now only 8 standing.

It was then on to Port Campbell, the area consists of steep, rocky cliffs with pristine sandy white beaches in bays at the base of many of these cliffs. Next was Peterborough, a sleepy charming seaside village, population 178, there are many walking paths where one can experience many rock formations, arches and blowholes. From here the road turns inland and meets the Princes Highway near Warrnambool, from there to Port Fairy, we stopped at Codrington Settlement Portland;

it's a teahouse inside a general store and a step back in time, it still has its original counters and tin’s etc. that they used to hold product. It was wonderful sitting there having a Devonshire tea being served by the Codrington family dressed in Victorian clothing.




We left there feeling refreshed and on to the Princess Margaret Rose Cave. We took the 40-minute tour led by an expert guide of this marvelous cave which was created by the constant slow drip of rainwater through limestone over thousands of years. It is often referred as 'the jewel in the crown' of the Lower Glenelg National Park.


 We arrived late afternoon at Mt Gambier found a motel for our night stop. Unfortunately we did not have time to explore, that would have to wait for a later visit. Early next morning we continued on to Robe where we stopped for breakfast, we did a little tour of the town which has a lot of history and a 4x4 beach run, this will also have to wait for a later visit. We continued up the Coorong, the lakes are amazing then on to Wellington where we boarded the ferry which holds 12 cars and takes about 10-minuets to cross the Murray River. From Wellington to Satrathalbyn down to Goolwa and on to Victoria Harbor where we had lunch and a bit of a tour then on to Adelaide.

We left on Thursday and headed for Broken Hill, why you may ask, well Kangaroo Kath's mum was born in 1911 and lived in 3 Argent Street and one of her dreams was to visit and follow up on her family
3 Argent St., Broken Hill
history. After Gawler the road is straight for long stretches with 
canola fields as far as the eye can see, some were in bloom and it was just a mass of yellow quite spectacular. It was then on to Terrowie a heritage town founded in 1870, houses are still standing only just and some are still occupied, we were unable to determine what they do for a living. From there the terrain changed being very rugged, we stopped at Yunta which is  about halfway for lunch then on to Broken Hill. This was our first taste of the outback.


The next day we did some research at the archives, great fun for Kathleen to find out about her forefathers, she traced her grandfathers grave number and discovered that his first born and brother were buried in the same grave! We put flowers on the grave, said a prayer, then into town to visit the historic sites. 

Silverton

We visited Silverton about 25 Km out of town, it offers a thriving art scene, a beautiful landscape and is a good way to learn about the rich heritage of the region, very interesting indeed and well worth the visit. On the way back we visited the Daydream Mine - the mine is no longer in operation but is an experience and a half and should not be missed. 





Another must see is the White's Mineral Arts & Mining Museum it is a unique experience, you can go underground without actually doing so! A video on the history of mining in Broken Hill can be seen. There is also an exhibition of crushed mineral art which is fascinating, each masterpiece is of an event of the history of Broken Hill and an extensive collection of handmade dolls and bears are also on display.




We left at 6 AM the next day for home, at this time of the year it is still quite dark, we were not far from town when a Joey jumped into the front wheel of our car, we did not see it until the last second,  it was flipped under the car and died instantly, fortunately there was no damage to the car, God really looked after us. After that scare we had an uneventful trip home arriving at 4 PM after 847 Km.

Until next time..............remember miracles happen everyday

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