Melbourne to Canberra

Victoria   

Rosebud (Mornington Peninsula)  28/01/13

It was a great passage last night with the boat rocking a little, but not enough to be uncomfortable. Di had trouble sleeping but Craig got a reasonable amount of sleep. At 5.30am we got woken up to advise us it was time to get ready to head to our vehicles for 6.15am. It was relatively quick getting off the ship & then we headed to Maccas for breakfast. After a relaxing breakfast we decided that due to the beautiful day we would head out to the Mornington Peninsula. On the drive out on the Peninsula we could not believe how packed all the caravan parks were right along the beachfront which seemed to go for about 5km. Luckily for us we got a spot at the Rosebud Foreshore Camping as it was the last day of the Australia Day long weekend. It cost $30 for the night, & we arrived at 9.30am. In the afternoon we got the bikes off and went for a ride through all the beach front camping areas. By mid-afternoon 95% of the campers had left the campground so it was nice and peaceful. We travelled 79km today.

Phillip Island  29/01/13

With a late checkout this morning we decided we would go for a drive to Portsea which is at the end of the Mornington Peninsula. We first went out to have a look at the old Quarantine Station and Lookout which was just a short stroll from the carpark of the Mornington Peninsula National Park. We could not believe the amount of huge houses and expensive cars that were in Portsea. We then headed back to Sorrento and watched the ferry come in from Queenscliff while we had some morning tea. We drove back to the caravan park for an early lunch before packing up camp and heading to Phillip Island. We drove up the eastern side of the Peninsula to see some different scenery before hitting the highway and heading for Cowes on Phillip Island. We arrived at 4.15pm at the Kaloha Holiday Resort which cost $43 a night. We travelled 171km today.

30/01/13

We woke up to another beautiful day today so we headed out to the Penguin Parade Information Centre, and after looking at all the options we decided to buy a 3 parks pass which entitles you to go to the Penguin Parade, Churchill Island and the Koala Conservation Centre. The information lady advised us to see the daily pelican feeding at Sam Remo at 12pm, so we headed there with a detour to have a look at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit where we saw a number of cars racing around the circuit. After a quick stop we continued to the Fishermans Co-Op to watch about 30 pelicans being fed by a lady with fresh fish. 

The lady gave an informative commentary on the birds which took about 30 minutes which we all enjoyed. We then had a bite of lunch and headed over to Churchill Island; an historical island approached by bridge which is a working Heritage farm. Once inside we all hopped on a horse drawn cart for a brief trip around the grounds before heading over to watch a cow get milked. Braydon loved having a go at milking the cow and seemed to be an expert at it. They had the usual farm type animals that you could pat and a beautiful old homestead in original condition to look through. It only took a couple of hours to look through the whole place before we headed back to the caravan so the boys could have a sleep as we were going to see the Penguin Parade tonight at 8pm. After dinner we headed to the Penguin Parade Centre to see the Little Penguins. The place was packed with foreign tourists everywhere, so we headed down to the viewing platforms by the beach. It was a beautiful night for watching the penguins as it wasn’t freezing cold and there was little wind. About 9.30pm, (just after sunset) groups of penguins hesitantly came out of the surf and waddled up the beach to their burrows in the dunes. It was great that you could go for a walk around the boardwalk and get amongst their burrows and watch them feed their young. All up there were about 900 penguins that arrived on the beach and slowly made their way up to their burrows. We all had a truly enjoyable night. We got home at about 10.30pm.

31/01/13

After a sleep in this morning from our late night, we decided we would go to the Koala Conservation Centre which is a couple of tree top boardwalks set amongst the gum trees. We saw about 10 koalas all up which was a little disappointing considering what we had seen for free along the Great Ocean Road at the Cape Otway National Park. Then we went for a stroll through the Woodland Walk. After about an hour we headed out as Di was keen to have a look at the Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, where we sampled some of their chocolate. We resisted buying anything as it was quite expensive, and headed home for lunch. We spent the afternoon catching up on odd jobs. At night we had a storm come through with a bit of rain.

01/02/13  Trevor Bentley comes to visit

Today we took a drive out to see the Nobbies Centre, which has got a series of cliff-top boardwalks along the rugged coastline to see the power of the wild waters of Bass Strait crashing into the cliffs. Luckily the wind had picked up this morning so the swell had increased for a spectacular sight of the waves crashing on the rocks. There is a blowhole that was just working, and a viewing platform to see one of the biggest seal colonies in Australia. The seals were a long way away though, and could just be spotted when using binoculars. We then headed up to the Visitor Information Centre for a look around, which is a huge building full of marine information with spectacular views out to the sea. We stopped in to see some surfers on the way back to the caravan park. In the afternoon we went into the town of Cowes to do some shopping and have a look around the tourist shops. Tonight, one of our friends Trevor Bentley drove all the way from Melbourne to catch up with us. We all walked into town along the beachfront to the local Hotel for a nice meal. It was great to talk about the old times and also what our families are doing now. On the way home we walked out onto the jetty before heading back to the caravan for a good old chin wag. With a big drive home Trevor left at about 11pm. We had a fantastic night & can’t thank him enough for coming out to see us.

Tidal River (Wilsons Promontory National Park)  02/02/13

Today we left the beautiful Phillip Island at 9.45am and headed towards Wilsons Promontory National Park which is the southernmost tip of the Australian mainland. It was quite a nice drive following the farmlands and coastline till we reached a small picnic spot on the banks of a river for lunch, where a lot of people were fishing. After lunch we made a detour to Foster as there was supposed to be a dump point their as per the Camps 6 Guide book, due to there not being a dump point at Phillip Island. We were disappointed to find no dump point but they said that there was one at Tidal River (which the Camps 6 Guide book made no mention of) where we are staying tonight. It was a pleasant drive through the Wilsons Promontory National Park with windy mountainous roads & lovely bay views. On arrival at about 2.30pm, we checked into the National Park Campground and got our pre-booked powered site. There are only 20 powered sites but 484 unpowered sites. Unfortunately the powered site cost $53 a night which is so expensive for a National Park Campground, but it did have nice amenities. We set up camp and then went for a walk around the park which is right on Norman Beach with a river going down the side. Craig went for a walk around the park at night to see a Wombat walking around the campground, and the people camped behind us in a tent told us that a Wombat was scratching at their tent in the middle of the night trying to get in. We travelled 170km today.

03/02/13

We woke up to rain this morning so our plans of doing any bushwalks were put on the back burner. By midmorning it was down to a drizzle now & again but the weather looked like it would improve for the afternoon. We kept an eye on Mount Oberon as we were planning on climbing it, but most of the morning it was covered in cloud. At about 2pm the clouds lifted so we got organised to catch the 2.30pm shuttle bus which was about a 10min trip to Telegraph Saddle carpark. The use of a shuttle bus is to limit the traffic in this area. We knew we would have to do this walk fast as it had a 2hr guide walk time, and for us to catch the last shuttle bus back we had to do it in exactly 2hrs. The walk was 6.8km and it was graded moderate to hard. The track you walk is a graded closed road used by crews to get to the top of the mountain to maintain the transmission towers.
 

 The steep and windy track just kept going up and up which was very tiring considering we were on a time limit. With about 200m to go we came upon steps to the summit to overlook Tidal River, the coast and many offshore islands. The view was perfect but we only had 12 minutes to enjoy it before heading back down the track. Considering we took about 20 rest stops on the way up, we did the downhill descent without a stop. As we were walking down the clouds came over the mountain and it was a white out which looked great. Braydon was very excited about walking in clouds. When we got about halfway down we had to put our wet gear on as it started to rain. We made it back to the bus with about 5 minutes to spare. Everyone is amazed by Braydon setting the pace for these walks as he does them so well. While all the adults are complaining, he has a big smile on his face loving every minute. After dinner Craig took Braydon Wombat hunting, and after about 30 minutes we saw one out eating some grass. Braydon took some photos and then we went back to the van so he could take Di over to show her the Wombat where a man was patting it. Craig then went back to have a pat as well.

Lakes Entrance  04/02/13

We left at 9.45am & stopped at a lookout with views over the popular Squeaky Beach on the way out of the National Park. It is a beautiful day today & we are headed towards Lakes Entrance. On the way we saw a huge enclosed slippery slide in one of the small towns we passed through. It was a free slide just in a park so we all had a fun time sliding our way down to the bottom. Now this must be the biggest slippery slide in the world! We arrived at Lakes Entrance at 3.15pm at the Big 4 Waters Edge Holiday Park which cost $39 a night.  This must be a really popular tourist destination as we had 19 caravan parks to choose from. It is the entrance to Gippsland Lakes which is Australia’s biggest expanse of inland waterways. We went for a walk into town & afterwards had fish & chips overlooking the lake. We travelled 292km today.

05/02/13

It is another beautiful day today & we had a nice relaxing day. First up this morning we went for a ride on our bikes along the esplanade & the river. We went grocery shopping in the afternoon.

06/02/13

After doing the washing first up this morning we went on a 1 ¼hr cruise on the M.V. Thunderbird. It was about a 30km scenic cruise through Reeves Channel, Bancroft Bay & to the village of Metung where we moored for 10mins or so. Some people who had paid for a lunch cruise got off here to have lunch at the hotel near the jetty. On the way back we went up on the top deck which was much nicer. The cruise was very relaxing & we saw heaps of wildlife on the lakes, particularly lots of Black Swans. In the afternoon we drove to a lookout with great views over the Lakes System & ocean, & we also went for a drive & saw some homes with spectacular views of both the lakes & ocean. After this Craig, Braydon & Aaron went for a ride on their bikes while Dianne cooked tea.

New South Wales

Merimbula  07/02/13

We left Lakes Entrance at 9am & headed towards Eden. We weren’t sure if we would stay the night there or travel a little further north. After morning tea we crossed the border into New South Wales. We had lunch at Eden & after having a little look around we decided to go a little further north to Merimbula. We arrived at 2.30pm at the Big 4 Merimbula Beach Holiday Park which cost $32 a night. In the afternoon the boys had a play on the jumping pillow. We travelled 272km today.

08/02/13

This is a beautiful caravan park with a lovely outlook & excellent facilities. It is positioned above the cliffs of Short Point Beach & has breathtaking ocean views. As well as all the normal type of facilities you would expect in a good caravan park, it has 2 resort pools, a tennis court & the best games room we have ever seen. In the morning Braydon went to Kids Club where he got his face painted as Spiderman, painted a picture & made a bird on a perch out of craft material. While we have been to many caravan parks that run kids clubs in the school holidays, this is the first one we have been to that has it also running in the school term. After morning tea we all had a swim in the gas heated pool which had views out over the ocean. After Aaron had a sleep in the afternoon we went for a drive around Merimbula. It is a lovely coastal town with nice beaches. We also had a look at a local theme park called Magic Mountain. We arrived at 3.30pm & it shut at 4pm so we just had a look around. It was free to enter & then you paid for each ride or alternatively a day fee to ride whatever you wanted. It was a big place & was excellent for kids, with waterslides & pool, rollercoaster & many more fun rides & activities.

Narooma  09/02/13

We would have liked to have stayed here another day but we thought we had better keep moving. We need to be in Sydney by the end of this month & there is still plenty to see, including Canberra. We were on the road by 9am & stopped for morning tea at Bermagui with views overlooking the coastline. It was a lovely drive today through a couple of National Parks, & this next stretch took us past some lovely lakes. This area of NSW is a fisherman's paradise. We arrived at Narooma at midday & checked into the Big 4 Narooma Easts Holiday Park which cost $46 a night. After setting up, having lunch & letting Aaron have a rest, we went for a drive around yet another beautiful coastal town. We firstly went to a lookout with views out over the ocean & the bar. It was spitting lightly with some lightning & thunder around so just Craig got out to have a look. He was talking to some people who had been watching a run-about boat trying to get into the bar, & had made 2 unsuccessful attempts so far because it was too rough. It was about to make a third attempt so we drove down to the bar wall to watch it. On the way we passed about 7 cars all parked on a grassy hill perfectly side by side. We wondered what they were doing but assumed they too were watching this boat. We parked at the bar wall & Craig & Braydon walked out on the bar wall to watch this boat. After a couple of minutes it was clear it had failed again, because it had lost its engine & was drifting sideways to the breaking waves unable to get back out to sea. Ironically Craig no longer had a good view of it but Dianne was watching the action only 200m in front of the car. Every wave was doing some damage but then one wave in particular slowed it right down, & then Dianne could tell by the size of the next wave that it wouldn’t survive. Sure enough it capsized. Dianne felt a little sick with worry. She could see the overturned boat with 2 people bobbing about. Within about a minute all the cars that we had noticed earlier came down & all these guys went running out on the bar wall. Then they came running back & 5 of them clambered down the rocks right in front of Dianne. Craig & Braydon were back at the car by now & Craig said that both boaties had lifejackets on. While they were heading in the right direction of shore there were rocks all around & the waves were huge & rough because of the storm. The guys on the rocks were pointing out to them the best spot on the rocks to aim for. One of the boaties seemed to be coming in alright but the other guy was being pushed over to the rocks of the bar wall; so 4 guys jumped in to help both boaties – 2 rescuers per boatie. They got to the first guy pretty quickly & brought him in, & the other 2 rescuers eventually got to the 2^nd boatie & slowly brought him in to where they could all stand up. After expecting them all to then clamber back up the rocks, they stupidly tried to save the boat. After about 5mins of trying they gave up. The waves were just too strong. By now the storm was getting pretty bad so we left. What we couldn’t understand was where the coast guard was during all this drama. We had Thai for tea which was a very nice change. We travelled 108km today.

10/02/13

In the morning we drove back to the bar to see if we could see any evidence of the wrecked boat. While we didn’t see any sign of the boat, we saw 5 seals; 2 swimming & the other 3 sunning themselves on the rocks. Craig had said yesterday that the bar entrance looked very dangerous, & it certainly was with waves breaking right at the entrance even though it was a nicer day today. It was high tide now so the area of drama looked a little different to when we had seen it at low tide. We probably take for granted how safe the Gold Coast bar & seaway is. After lunch we went for a bike ride around the inlet & on a boardwalk for part of the way. We rode out onto the bar wall on the other side. It looked even more dangerous now as the tide was trying to rush out while the waves were crashing in, so creating a real swirl in the water. While Dianne was cooking tea listening to the Channel 9 news, she heard the headline saying that 2 guys should buy a lottery ticket after a dramatic rescue by locals when their boat capsized in rough seas at Narooma. She called Craig in, & it was quite surreal to watch on TV what we had seen firsthand. We are pretty sure the video would have been taken by the people at the lookout that Craig had been talking to.

Australian Capital Territory

Canberra  11/02/13

We left Narooma at 9.30am with intentions of staying at Batemans Bay on the coast tonight. On the way there we heard on the news that it was going to rain for the next three days, so we decided to go to Canberra firstly where it wouldn’t matter as much if it was raining. We were originally planning on coming back on that same road to Batemans Bay to head further north anyway. We had morning tea at Batemans Bay & phoned ahead to the Canberra Motor Village to book for 5 nights, but they only had an ensuite site for 2 nights. This was disappointing because this caravan park was highly recommended to us by friends, & it was the closest one to most of the attractions in Canberra. We decided to check into another caravan park & paid for 5 nights, but when we drove to our site we were very disappointed in the condition of the caravan park & it was very expensive, so we went back to the office & asked for our money back. So we decided to go to the Canberra Motor Village for the 2 nights & hope for a cancellation to extend a few more nights. We arrived at 3.30pm & it cost $48 a night. Even though we didn’t need it, it was very nice to have an ensuite site. We saw 3 separate accidents on the drive from Batemans Bay to Canberra due to the windy roads & rain. It was beautiful to see the Black Mountain Tower all lit up at night from our caravan park. We travelled 236km today.

12/02/13

We started the day with a delicious Buffet Breakfast at the restaurant in the caravan park. We then went for a drive to the Black Mountain Peninsula, & then we went up to the Black Mountain Tower Lookout. It rises 195m above the summit of Black Mountain, & besides being a lookout with a revolving restaurant, it provides essential communication facilities for Canberra. We had fantastic 360 degree views from up there, & it was fascinating to see Canberra’s beautifully planned layout. It was particularly great to see Capital Hill & the Captain Cook Memorial Jet that is in the middle of Lake Burley Griffin which shoots water up to 140m in the air. 
 After lunch, we went to Parliament House. It is one of the world’s most acclaimed, yet accessible parliament buildings, being completed in 1988. After going through a security check we entered the impressive Marble Foyer. Parliament was sitting today so we went to the Public Gallery area of the House Of Representatives Chamber where we saw Question Time. We could see why it is called Question Time & not Answer Time – enough said on that! To get into the Public Gallery we first of all had to put anything in our pockets in the Cloak Room, & then we had to go through another more intense security check where we both had to take our belts off & Dianne had to take off her boots. After seeing the noisy (Braydons’ description) Politicians, we then went up the lift to the grassy roof top to see the giant Australian flag on the 81m flagpole. From here you get an incredible view across Lake Burley Griffin & up Anzac Parade to the War Memorial. We then went to the Royal Australian Mint where we discovered how coins are made, & saw robot’s producing Australia’s circulating coins from the elevated observation windows. The Mint has the capacity to produce over 2 million coins per day.

 

13/02/13

Unfortunately we were unable to extend our time at this caravan park, so we drove 14km & checked into the Canberra South Motor Park. We arrived at 10am & it cost $42 a night. After lunch we went to the National Carillon (Bell Tower). It is a striking landmark & a unique musical instrument with 55 bronze bells. We were fortunate enough to hear it being played & were able to watch the young guy play them on a monitor via a live stream. 

 

 
Then we went to The Australian War Memorial – a tribute to our fallen heroes. It was very sobering to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier & The Hall of Valour. There was much to see & read & reflect upon.

14/02/13  Valentine’s Day

We spent most of the day today at Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre. It is Australia’s leading science centre & has more than 200 exhibits. There were 8 themed galleries with science shows, interactive exhibits & experiments. One of the galleries was for 0-6 year olds which both Braydon & Aaron loved. Braydon enjoyed many of the other exhibits as well. The highlight for Craig was trying to beat a Robot at air hockey – he lost, but he did score 1 point to the robots 3. The other highlight for all of us was feeling the artificial earthquake. The simulation was of a 6.5 earthquake on the Richter scale. It only went for a minute but it felt like much longer. It must be very scary to experience the real thing. We were intending to have a special lunch to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but because we were enjoying Questacon so much, we just ate in their café, which was quite nice anyway.

15/02/13

This morning we did the washing, & other than that took it easy. In the afternoon we went shopping at DFO where we grabbed a few good bargains.

16/02/13

This morning we went shopping again. This time we went to the Canberra Centre & the mall  in the heart of the city. In the afternoon we went to the National Museum of Australia where we saw & heard stories that helped shape our nation. We were also able to build a space-age vehicle on a computer & then see our creation in a 3D theatre. Braydon loved it because it was personalised by incorporating a photo image of us as the driver of the vehicle.