Road Trip ~ Victoria

Awhile between posts, however life,as always dear readers, has been interesting. Had not wanted to spend another winter in Victoria, but... As things turned out that is exactly what has happened lol.  Decided to do a  Victorian Road Trip this time round and set off with Loretta, Beau Dog and Zoz the cat to explore and photograph the western part of Victoria.  
We have a real little convoy on this trip, with the Toyota Coaster, the Jeep and the Bike in the trailer.  We left Melbourne on the 17th of May and headed for Colac where we stayed a Lake Colac for
a couple of nights. Great free camp spot. We christened the camp oven over the fire but made the mistake of putting it directly on the coals. Oops we won't be doing that again.  We explored the area and got a few shots...
Well more than a few.  

Leaving Colac we went to Dandos Campground alongside of the Gellibrand river.. Another great free camp spot but busy and noisy on the weekends.  The fire pits are awesome. We were only staying a couple of nights but a flat tyre changed those plans. Back to Colac to get that sorted, whilst there we got brave and bought a roast of lamb for the camp oven. Yummy.  What a fab way to cook.
From Dandos we went south to Joanna's Beach camping ground
, it was tad disappointing as a site, but we kicked back there for three nights. Sadly Zoz caught a bird even though he was on a lead. Loretta was very upset as it was a beautiful native thrush. 

On the way there we stopped off at the Otway Fly, Tree Top Walk. A Temperate Rainforest that is Inspiring restorative and peaceful.
We also visited the Lighthouse at Cape Otway. Saw a koala in a gum and managed to get a few shots of it too.  
The complex at Cape Otway is well worth a visit and the view from the lighthouse is amazing. 
Got some great shots too.
We headed off from Joanna Beach, along the Great Ocean Road stopping off at Port Campbell, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch and a glass or two of wine, before continuing onto our next our next planned destination to camp, that being Warrnambool.  whilst there we checked out the Flagstaff Maritime Museum and village. It's hard to believe that the village is not original it is so realistic. Spent the arvo there snapping away.
Next stop was Port Fairy,
where we stooped to shoot some images and have lunch at the Fish Restaurant on the Jetty.... Fish and chips were sumptuous and very reasonably priced too.  Port Fairy is a delightful little town and well worth a stopover.  
From there we headed off towards Hotspur. 
This one was unplanned as we didn't like the camp ground we'd chosen.  We propped for four days alongside the Crawford River,
nice spot, albeit a tad close to the road, with the resultant noise from the transports which rolled through the night. 
Given it was a back road the traffic surprised us. Nothing out there just a pretty free camping spot. Had great fires to keep us warm. More to the point we made bread in the camp oven for the first time. Loretta stuffed up the recipe but it came out delicious anyway.  Found we did not have to worry about putting the milk back into the 12volt fridge, as it was colder outside than in the fridge!!

Leaving Hotspur we headed north to Cavendish,
a delightful little town, on the Southern end of the Grampians, a very friendly with a great Pub, the Bunyip.  Another unplanned stop but the Recreation reserve is very pretty and the showers were great. Some of the sunsets here were alo quite spectacular.

All revenue from the camping goes to support local groups and that is a good thing.
Blair cleaned up all the fallen wood for fires. We're getting proficient at roasts bread and vegies in the camp ovens.  Loretta ad to go back to Melbourne for a week,so I enjoyed some me time with Beau Boy.  Nice to have her back though after the week away :)

Made some new friends, Jim and Joe, who had pulled in for an overnight stop at the camp ground.  
Jim rode a Triumph American and his partner Joe rode a Honda 400 cc Shadow. Went on the Meanstreak, with them, for an all day ride through the Grampians... Stopped off at McKenzies Falls,  Wartook and the Pinnacles lookout, before heading back to Cavendish via Dunkeld.  

Now we're at Halls Gap in the heart of the Grampians. Came here via Dunkeld. Sweet little town. If you are ever passing through Dunkeld, c out The Old Bakery for fab bread and a coffee. 
We're actually paying for camping in Halls Gap, staying at the Grampians Gardens Caravan Park, pbecause it is the only place we can have the animals as everything else is in the National Park. 

Yesterday we walked for over 7kms over three walks. Visited the Silverband Falls
and the Pinnacles Lookout.  Not great on my injured knee but the view from the Pinnacles was well worth it.  
Today we're slacking it doing the washing. Enjoying showers and kicking back by the fire.  Beau is rugged up on his bed soaking in the warmth. Zoz is on Loretta' knee and the billy is singing.  Aaah life is good!!
Till next time dear reader, take care and stay safe.
Blair.,