Whew!! Missed that!

Well, here we are stuck in a place called Widonga, whose only claim to fame for us is that it has a Winnebago dealership. Again we need some attention and we are waiting for parts!! We were stunned, however, to watch the tv coverage of the storms that hit Wilsons Promontory and caused the closure of the road down there for what could be several months to come. School kids in their hundreds had to be airlifted out. Roads are cut and it is all unbelievable for us who were there only 10 days ago having such a great time. It is so difficult to plan ahead what route to take as the weather is so unpredictable. Tasmania also copped it and we have seen some horrendous shots of places that we were at not long ago.

With a bit of luck our van will be fixed (again!) and we can move on tomorrow. Meanwhile we are not in the worst place -- and we have met some very interesting people. More soon.

Lakes to mountains

It's more than time I updated this blog, especially for those who may have seen today's news of flash flooding. Fortunately we decided to leave the coast for a while and go up into the ski resorts of Victoria. Had we not done that we could have been copping the worst of the latest flash floods. In fact we got rain, heavy at times, but nothing to compare with places like Orbost which ended under water.

Looking along Ninety-mile Beach

Since we left Wilson's Promontory we have been at the Gippsland Lakes, an interesting and very scenic part of Victoria. The lakes are very close to the coast, with a narrow strip of beach between them and the sea. The beach is actually ninety miles long and is superb but swimming is a little doubtful as the currents are pretty strong. There is a holiday resort at the opening from the sea to the lakes, which goes by the original name of Lakes Entrance and there we spent three days.

In this part of the world bird life is abundant and we are doing our best to learn what they are and something of their characteristics. We have not come across much animal life otherwise, in spite of the roadsigns that would have us believe otherwise.

We assume that they are all sticking strictly to the rules of being nocturnal and are well out of the way during the day. On our walking trails there is ample proof of their existence, however. Wombat poo in particular is everywhere and very recognisable. Interestingly, wombats produce cubic turds, often deposited on a rock or a root or some other prominent place. By the amount that we come across on our walks there must be a lot of wombats or else they have dire gastric problems! Sadly, the only wombats we have seen around here are dead by the side of the road. It is always upsetting to see them. At least here the amount of roadkill is much much less than in Tasmania, where it was excessive.


We will be in the mountains tomorrow and perhaps another day before heading back to the coast (depending of course on floods which we will try to avoid!)

Culture shock and aftershocks

Well, here we are back on the "Big Island" and experiencing a bit of culture shock! Admittedly, we found ourselves in the city, and although the caravan park which we now know well, and is so well situated for the ferry, is extremely well kept and upmarket, it has the misfortune to be situated on the edge of one of Melbourne's less salubrious suburbs. Walking out from the caravan park, we couldn't help noticing the litter, the scruffiness of the streets and gardens, all in sharp contrast to the cleanliness and tidiness of Tasmania. There even the most modest of houses was surrounded by a beautifully manicured garden brimming with flowers. Tasmania lives at a different pace also.

All that being said, we are at the moment on Wilsons Promontory, not far from Melbourne, in a beautiful National Park. Warwick was amused to read a warning notice informing people that they should not leave food in their tents, but put it in their cars. Wombats apparently can smell food in tents and will rip the tents open to reach it. People are asked to report aggressive behaviour by wombats to the ranger. One wonders what the punishment is!

Meanwhile, of course, we are again seeing nature venting its wrath on the world. We had no sooner sent off a donation via an ex-student of mine from Jakarta days*, the daughter of a friend now back in Scotland, to help the Christchurch disaster effort than the tsunami struck Japan. Horrific events there.

*Lucy has had beautiful long blond hair all her life. With a husband from Christchurch, she wanted to raise money for the Salvation Army's disaster relief effort and to publicise this she had all her beautiful hair shaved off. Bless her, she has raised over 2000 NZ dollars. We could hardly resist adding our little bit of support. Well done, Lucy! Since she now lives in Brisbane we may be able to catch up.

So now we are making gradually for Sydney and expect to be there in about three weeks or so. Winnebago at last dry but still no television which in this time of dire world events is very irritating.

More soon.

The spirit of Tasmania

Russell Falls, Mount Field National Park

Nelson Falls, Gordon-Franklin National Park

   

 Waterfalls and canyons 

Hogarth Falls, Strahan

St Columba Falls, Pyengana

Leven Canyon, looking south

Leven Canyon, looking north

The spit of land joining North and South Bruny Island.

Coastlines .....

Coastl 

Cliffs on Bruny Island

Maria Island from Bruny

Looking down from the South Bruny lighthouse

Hell's Gate

Cliffs on Maria Island

"Painted Cliffs" on Maria Island

Looking down on Wineglass Bay from the lookout on The Hazards

The coastline of the Freycinet Peninsula

The blowhole at Bicheno

Rocky foreshore at Bicheno

Beaches at the Bay of Fires

Looking down on Stanley Caravan Park from The Nut

The sea at Arthur River on a wild and windy day

..... and mountains

Mount Wellington standing above Hobart

Bishop and Clerk on Maria Island

Cradle Mountain from different angles

 The Hazards on Freycinet Peninsula

The Nut, above Stanley

Flora .....

.... and Fauna

.....

.... and bits and pieces