Monday, 5th February, 2018
That early rising is still in my system after having been out to the Red Centre! I was up at 4.30 and as everyone is fast asleep at that time, my internet connection was great to down load the pictures onto my blog. So I finished my blog about our 3 day Uluru safari and posted it and then went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours! We woke up round about 8 am to the sound of my alarm – not Cat Stevens but New Age music which I get every morning!!
Anyway while Gerry got coffee and tea ready, I sorted out the laundry room which was just a few doors down from our room, however I needed 1 dollar coins which I exchanged at the reception – yes Monday is laundry day. Once that was sorted, we went to the main building to have our breakfast. This place – The Barn – is an oasis compared to where we were the last 5 days!!! Beautiful roses, lavender and emerald green lawns!!
While the laundry was going on and in between loads ( only one washing machine and one dryer), I explored the beautiful grounds of our accommodation – The Barn – roses and lavender blossoming, gazebo with cream coloured roses climbing around it, tennis courts and luscious green lawns!
When our laundry was finished it was close to midday so we packed our stuff into the car to do some sightseeing in the neighbourhood – well not exactly neighbourhood as we drove back to Robe – some 80 minutes away from Mount Gambier where we were staying. We were very careful as to not hit any passing kangaroos –we saw a couple dead on the roadside – but luckily we didn’t see any today.
The coastline we were driving is known as the Limestone Coastline with vineyards along the way, rugged coastline changing with pure white sandy beaches and little towns dotting the scenery. There were many settlers arriving in these areas back in mid 1800’s and unfortunately alos many shipwrecks, where after sailing for a few months, the settlers met with ill fate just off the coast line – hence part of the coastline is also name Shipwreck Trail.
Our first stop was at Beachport, with sweeping sandy beaches on one side and rugged rocky cliffs on the other. Originally back in the 1830’s Beachport’s settlers were a whaling community but now Beachport is a safe haven for crayfish fishing. Because of its shallow waters, a very long jetty was built some 120 years ago and is considered as the longest jetty in South Australia – 772 meters long!
After having lunch at Beachport – again fish and chips and potato wedges with salad – we were back on the road and this time driving along the coast and vineyards, we arrived in Robe – a seaside town and fishing port located in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. The town’s distinctive combination of historical buildings, ocean, fishing fleets, lakes and dense bush was great to see. There were quite some waves in the sea which was a magnificent colour but great to watch!
We drove out of the little town to explore the surroundings The rock formation which is very similar to Malta’s – limestone – is just spectacular but you really need to watch where you are walking. We walked up to the obelisk – Cape Dombey Obelisk – built in 1852 and used to navigate the entrance into the bay and to store rocket life saving equipment – the rockets were fired with survival baskets to distressed ships offshore and bring back survivors ashore and hence saving lots of lives. As the Obelisk was built on the edge of a limestone cliff that is crumbling away with erosion, it won’t be long before this building crashes down into the sea! Anyway when we looked over the cliff side at the other end , we spotted sea lions playing around in the sea. It was great to watch! But the phots are not that good as the sea lions kept doing somersaults under water.
Another point of interest close to the cliff edge was the old gaol house – or rather the ruins of the goal house built in 1860 but quite a few prisoners made their way out from here as the walls were not reinforced – later strengthened with old boiler plates. However, this gaol house stopped functioning by 1881 and fell into disrepair until it was restored to its current state in 1995.
After all our sightseeing, it was time to get back to Mount Gambier where we were staying as we had made reservations at the Barn to have dinner there. We now drove back long the highway but still it took us 1.5hrs to get back. So it was a quick shower and then to the restaurant – filled with loads of corporate people who were in town for a conference – have really wiped out this past memory of my working life……… Anyway besides waiting too long for our meal – Gerry had rump steak and I had salmon, the food was not that great………. Well tomorrow is another day……. Travelling to our next stay – a bed and breakfast, Merton Manor in Warrnambool on the Great Ocean Road.
