Australian Four State Trip – August 2004
South Australia Part Two
We stay the night at Napier-like Warrnambool
We eventually arrive at Warrnambool at dusk. Warrnambool is a Napier-like town on the south coast of Victoria with a population of around 30,000. We choose a motel called City Heart Motel, just off the main road to lessen the traffic noise. Cost is $78 for the night. It’s a bit small but OK. The fragrant smell of an electric insect spray release is a bit overpowering, so I turn it off. We then walk downtown in the dark and buy some fish and chips for tea. We have to wait a long time for some reason. We take them back to the motel. The fish pieces are huge, and very tasty. The chips are nice also.
Marie then had a shower and went to bed early and fell asleep instantly. She is still worried sick about “the Abos” in Wilcannia.
I sit up and plan tomorrows activities and driving. I enjoy doing this. Tomorrow we cross the border into South Australia and start heading north to warmer temperatures. Exciting!
Thursday 19th August
Early morning walk to the beach
We both had a good sleep last night. Warm bed. Marie’s a bit better this morning, but still wants to go home. Sunny day but cool.
I get up early and go for a walk through the town to the beach. The few passerbys I see avoid my eyes and do not seem very outgoing.
I see some Pukekos which surprise me. I thought they were native to NZ.
The beach has brown sand with lots of grass stalks and seaweed. Cold wind.
The river mouth is quite beautiful. The only clear water river I have ever seen in Australia.
We visit the Warehouse and Spotlight
Marie and I visit the local Warehouse later this morning. Almost empty. Nobody at the single checkout counter but us. Prices are cheap. The shop assistant is friendly as always, but the Australian female nasal strine is beginning to grate on my ears a bit. No music to it.
The I then let Marie go and shop at Spotlight while I wait in the car. Spotlight is the most boring shop in the world to me. I can’t find one item of interest in the whole shop. I eat a NZ kiwifruit (3 for $2) and a Grannysmith apple. The OZ Grannysmiths are very tasty when you get a good one.
I improve the car’s bumpy ride
We then fill up with gas, $1 a litre, cheapest yet, $37 for ¾ tank . Not as many gas stations in OZ as in NZ.
Because some of the roads are very bumpy I decide to lower the tyre pressure in the rental car. The tyres are all at 34 psi. The recommendation is 32 psi front, 27 psi rear. I lower the front to 30 and the back to 26. The car now rides much better. It has Pirelli P3000 tyres which are noted for good handling and ride but are rather noisy.
We leave Warrnambool and set off again on the coastal highway toward Adelaide. I mention to Marie that I’ve not seen one travel agency in OZ so far. She can’t remember seeing one either.
The volcano crater wildlife sanctuary
After about 15 kms we turn off to visit a large extinct volcano crater that has been converted into a wildlife sanctuary. We drive up the rim and then down inside the crater.
The inside walls are ribbed limestone. I stop and have a close look.
The centre of the crater is a big swampy lake and the rest a mix of grassland and forest with the road winding all over the place.
There is also a small but high hill in there, like a small version of Mount Maunganui.
There are lots of birds down inside and we see two wild emus out in the swamp area. We park on the grassy roadside and I walk down through the forest to the swamp edge, hoping to see a snake on the way, but no luck. I see some more emus. Marie didn’t want to get out of the car.
We then drive on to the circular Visitor’s Centre, park under the trees and tour the building. Lots of Aboriginal art on display and for sale. Quite a striking high gloss desktop made from a huge native tree. We meet a chatty guide who is also named Marie.
I wanted us to climb the hill before we left, but not unexpectedly Marie dismissed the idea.
The tower at Portland.
Later this morning we come to Port Fairy, a fishing town. Quite picturesque as we drive around the river mouth area. Marie sees two different black and white birds on a lawn.
Then on to Portland. This is a windy area of the South coast and there are windmills on the coastal hilltops, like the ones on the Palmerston North hills.
I go to climb up an old tower at Portland, just like the one on Drury Hill at Wanganui, but the cost is $4. I think it’s a bit steep. But Marie insists I do it and pays the $4.
The friendly old codger who looks after the tower lends me his binoculars. The tower has an inside circular staircase (124 steps) and old war photos on each of the five landings.
From the top, through the binoculars I see many windmills around the harbour and also an aluminium smelter. I would have liked to have toured the smelter but the old fellow tells me there are no tours on Thursdays.
We also visit a model railway display, which Marie likes, and which also has a small car museum.
The Petrified Forest and blowhole
We then take a detour out to the rugged coast to see the Petrified Forest and Blowhole. When we arrive there is a strong, buffeting, cold southerly wind blowing off the sea. Marie stays in the car while I walk the track over the limestone rocks down to the Petrified Forest, about 200 metres.
I am a bit disappointed. The formations don’t look much like trees at all, too close together. I have never seen a forest with large trees that close, only inches from each other. There would be no room for the roots.They look more like old stalagmites. So does the texture of the rock. Although they do appear to be hollow which I don’t think stalagmites are. I take a broken chunk, and put it in my pocket.
I then walk about 400 metres in the other direction to see the blowhole. It wasn’t working, but the boiling sea was a vivid shade of turquoise blue. Very attractive.
It was lovely, finally, to get back into the warmth of the car. What a chilling wind. I show Marie the rock sample.
Pine tree pollen flowers
There are lots of pine tree plantations in this area. At this time of the year just like in many parts of NZ, everything gets covered in yellow pollen.
We stopped alongside one plantation and I inspected the flowers that grow on the trees and shed the pollen. By flicking the flowers with your finger you can produce yellow clouds of pollen that float into the air.
We stay the night in Mount Gambia
It’s a long drive to the next main town Mount Gambia. Still on the coast. Mount Gambia is a pleasant tourist town of about 40,000 people. It’s built on limestone. Lots of caves and sink holes. Sink holes are places where the ground has collapsed into an underground limestone cave.
One local Aussie later likened Mt Gambia to the Tauranga of Australia.
While Marie is doing some shopping, I visit a huge, well presented bedding shop called ‘Forty Winks’ which I think is a quite cool name for a bed shop. The sign is cool also.
We have just bought a new bed and I was surprised to see the same beds on sale here as we saw in NZ. I tell the girl that we have just bought a latex rubber mattress. She said her boss also has one. I asked her if he had ever said he found it hot in the summer, (ours is so warm in winter I suspect it may be too hot in summer). She said yes, but he solved that by putting a pure cotton underlay on top. She takes me and shows me one. It’s about an inch thick, soft, cool and luxurious and cost $98. If it wasn’t so bulky I would have bought one, but they should be available in NZ.
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