Friday 30 March 2012
Robe to Goolwa

Croweys day today
 Up early, beautiful still morning, 100metre walk to the beach for an early morning bodysurf then back for shower, breakfast, pack up stuff and hook up van (getting real smooth at this now as the grey nomads look on in awe lol)
 Off we go sticking to the coast as much as possible off the main drag a lot of the time. We stop at Kingston S.E to check out the tractor museum next to the big lobster just hoping I might get to see a little old bulldozer or two (some people like old cars etc I like old bulldozers) Well did my eyes light up there were heaps I was in awe and could have stayed there for the rest of the day checking them out and talking to the old collector but was dragged out being told we have to keep going.
 On and on we went driving along a massive long thin swamp / lake called the Koorong where the birdlife was great so we had lunch at a public table and chairs (Murf's amazing tomatoe and avocado on dry biscuits).
  We jumped on the ferry at Wellington to experience crossing the mighty Murray before it runs into Lake Alexandrina then kept cruising along country roads (getting lost once) until we found Goolwa (the trailer sailer mecca). I have wanted to visit this place for some years because of its trailer sailer history infact that was where my boat was built.

 Dropped the van off at a park, went for a drive and all we could see was trailer sailers slowly silently racing back to the marina with a beautiful red sunset in the background this really was a day for me to remember thank you sweetheart for putting up with my excitement.

27.03.2012 Mt Gambier to Robe

Mt Gambier is a very large regional town. We ended up stopping there for 2 nights, mainly due to Crowey having computer problems, but it didn't worry us as the town was very pleasant, quite pretty with heaps of shops, gardens and very tidy. We were staying at the Blue Lakes Caravan Park, right across from the infamous Blue Lake, where we later rode our bikes around to take in every viewpoint we could(please see picture below.)

From Mt Gambier we headed along the SA coastline stopping in little pituresque places like Port Macdonnell, Beechport (where we worked along their looooooooooooong jetty) and finally into Robe. We are staying at Long Beach Caravan Park, which is just a hop, skip and a jump to the Long Beach. Let me help you picture our day today........ first thing walk on the beach where we saw a dolphin having breakfast. We then decided to go for a swim (yes we had our swimmers on) and did a bit of body surfing. Crowey even rode his bike along the beach, the sand is so fine and the tide out, allowing him to easily ride. We then went back to camp and had scrambled eggs on the BBQ (Crowey is getting very good at using the Weber!) and then off for a leisurely ride on the bikes around town. Are you jealous yet?? lol. Oh yeah then we got back and went for another swim on the beach. We are tired but both totally agreed we had a fantastic day today.

Tomorrow we head off from Robe and along the Limestone Coast to.......??? keep tuned :-)

26.03.2012 Narrawong to Mount Gambier

This morning Crowey and I decided to have a lovely walk along the beach. All of a sudden Crowey decides he wants to go for a swim, but one small problem, we didn't have a swimmers on. Looking around there was not another soul on the beach, so yes you guessed it, we went in the water in our birthday suits, mind you it took a little bit of coaxing from Crowey for me to venture into the water, but I thought what the hell and soon joined him. It was quite vigorating to say the least, and no there are no photos (we thought we would spare you).

After breaky we headed off along the coast, reaching the South Australian border (and proud to report we did drop our fruit and vegies into the provided bin) and headed to Port Macdonnell (smelly town full of seaweed). We had a bite to eat there and then took off for Mount Gambier where we are staying the night or maybe two. Tonight we look at our map and decide where we are going, probably heading towards Robe where everyone we meet says it is a must. We love the fact that we are treating each day as it comes, really gives us the freedom to do what we want to do.

24/03/2012 Port Fairy to Narrawong

We left Port Fairy heading to Portland for the day, however Crowey hung a lefty and we ended up in a lovely little caravan park in Narrawong (17 km East of Portland) where the Surrey River meets the Ocean. After settling ourselves in we hopped in the car and went exploring Portland (the first permanent settlement in Victoria dating back to 1834) including Cape Nelson (lighthouse) and the turbines that are spread along the Portland Coast. On the way back to the caravan park of course Crowey had to look at the yachts in the Portland Bay.

25/03/2012 Portland surrounds

Today we decided to take our bikes and head off to Cape Bridewater where the blowholes and the pertrified forrest are located, just 15km out of Portland. Again we could not believe how rough and rugged this coast is. The bike riding was hard going (steps will do that) but we perservered and loved the different experience it gave us.

After Cape Bridgewater we went to Tarrigal Lakes and Cave, had some lunch and decided to climb up the cave, giving us a fabulous view. Heading back to the caravan park we decided to go for a walk along the beach (are any of you envious yet?) and then a leisurely bbq back at camp. Yes you could say we are really enjoying ourselves. :-)

We're Off!

23/03/2012 Melbourne to Port Fairy

Well it was looking like we would never get around to taking off on our trip after a few hiccups with ensuring Crowey's ankle would be ok to withstand our travels and not to mention the trouble we have had with our caravan...............but that would be a whole blog in itself. But we headed off on Friday 23rd March 2012 with Portland in our sights as the first stop.

We decided to go the Great Ocean Road and to experience the sight of The Twelve Apostles, something Crowey had never seen before. To say the weather was wild and woolley would be an understatement, with the rain at one stage near the apostles actually going horizontal. But what a great way to see this spectacular attraction. The sea was angry, the wind blowing (so much it blew Crowey's hair off) and the sea spray hitting the car and caravan like a car wash. But we loved it.

There was quite a bit of time spent along the Great Ocean Road, hence it got a little late in the day to head to Portland, so we decided to camp the night in Port Fairy.