Kangaroo Island via SeaLink

There is no bridge to get to Kangaroo Island which is just off the mainland of South Australia, so you need to fly or go via ferry!

The easiest is of course the ferry ... so you need to book via SeaLink which departs from Cape Jervis for Penneshaw every day.  There are up to 12 ferry services each day, but do check the timetable especially during busy holiday periods.

SeaLink’s two modern, air-conditioned car and passenger ferries, Sealion 2000 and Spirit of Kangaroo Island take just 45 minutes to cross Backstairs Passage between Cape Jervis and Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island.

on board the Sealion 2000

Both ferries are twin-hulled catamaran ferries complete with air-conditioned lounges, comfortable lounge or café style seating, a licensed café serving great cappuccinos and fresh snacks, outdoor viewing decks, wheelchair access, disabled toilets and baby change facilities.

 

The ferry terminal at Cape Jervis is open from 8:00am thru till 7:00pm between September and April and from May to August it is open from 8.00am till 6.00pm

There is a cafe serving coffee and snacks, free WiFi, restrooms, tourist information and booking services.

Boarding the Ferry:

When you arrive at the Ferry Terminal with your vehicle you must wait in the designated area. Decide who is going to be the driver before obtaining the boarding pass.  If you are towing a caravan, trailer, camper etc you will need to reverse the vehicle onto the ferry so it can be driven straight off at the other end.

a car with a trailer & kayak is reversing onto the ferry

On arrival at the terminal, the passenger will need to go to the Check-in Counter in the terminal with the booking number to obtain the BOARDING PASS.  Do this as soon as you arrive as it will be busy if there are coachloads of passengers arriving in from Adelaide!

foot passengers boarding the ferry

The passenger will need to walk on to the ferry, the driver of the vehicle is the only one permitted to be in the vehicle when boarding.

getting ready to depart

SeaLink also advise you to take out insurance for the crossing. The Ferry can be cancelled at a moments notice due to bad weather etc and it would be an expensive journey if you did not have insurance to cover you for accommodation and or another Ferry Ticket!

Our ticket cost us $428.00 return. That included two adults, one small car and our insurance.
We found it to be a pleasant 45 min journey both ways.

arriving at Penneshaw

the vehicles, trailers etc start to disembark

Useful URL's...

SeaLink Website

SeaLink Timetable

Boarding the Ferry

What is available on board

Help for those that suffer from Motion Sickness



previous blog posts on this particular vacation are:

staying at Cape Jervis Station

crossing the Mighty Murray by Punt

Beachport Jetty

stopping over in Mt Gambier

planning the journey to Kangaroo Island

our thoughts on staying at Cape Borda!

stay tuned for the blog posts on staying at Cape Borda, visiting the many bays, the roads of Kangaroo Island and much more!

.

LAL LAL FALLS

The weather was one of those perfect days you get every now and then, so on Saturday we decided to visit the Lal Lal Falls. The falls are located 20 klms SE of Ballarat or 70 klms NW of Geelong. Very easy to get to from either direction. 

The Lal Lal Falls were first discovered in early 1837.

The above map shows the roads we traveled on from Ballan to the falls. Most of the roads were bitumen, but became gravel once we turned off onto Harris Road. As seen in the following images:

 
The following image shows the falls as they were many years ago.  The top right image is a Hand coloured tinted lithograph by Charles Troedel - circa 1864.  The lower right is a group of women at the the base of the Lal Lal Falls,  circa 1905. The main image on the left is of a group at the base.  30 Sep 1896.  All three images (in the one below) are courtesy of Museum Victoria.

Lal Lal is home to the spectacular Lal Lal Falls - a name meaning ‘dashing of waters', as determined by the original Wuthaurung community inhabitants. The Falls are also significant as the spiritual resting place of the Kulin Peoples.

The township of Lal Lal was originally part of an extensive sheep run established in 1845 but later formed around the discovery and mining of iron ore, lignite, kaolin (clay) and to a lesser degree, gold. The opening of the Lal Lal railway in 1862 cemented the township as an important mining location and site for transportation of minerals.

The town grew with people mostly associated with the local mining industries and with it came development, hotels and a favourite pastime of the era, horseracing.

Lal Lal became a popular tourist destination because of the Falls and its country racing program. The New Year's Day Race Meeting drew crowds from far and wide with over visitors flocking to the event by steam train. A special train line was built to link the railway station with the race course.

image above is at the carpark and picnic area of the falls. There is a small playground, toilets, two BBQ's and under cover seating.  Plenty of grassed area for the children too!  The following images will show you how beautiful the Lal Lal Falls are and certainly worth a visit if you are in the area:

The image showing the seat, is a lovely spot to sit and meditate, there is no noise of traffic or people, just the gentle sound of the waterfall and the birds chirping!



Photos by Leone Fabre

Information on the Lal Lal area from "Growing Moorabool" website.





.

Lunch at The Glenlyon General Store ....

On the drive around the Central Highlands area just NE of Daylesford, we were so engrossed in looking at all the scenery we nearly forgot it was time for lunch!

A friend and myself had gone out for a "Monday Meander" and the scenery was just beautiful, it helped that we had good weather and the new spring grass was in abundance in the paddocks, so everything looked fresh and welcoming.
But it was soon time for lunch so we headed off towards the popular Glenlyon General Store, which is situated on the Daylesford-Malmsbury Road (C316). 
 

Glenlyon is just 11 klms NE of Daylesford or about 15 mins drive time. But if traveling along the Calder Hwy (M79) then Glenlyon is 22 klms SW of Kyneton or about 25 mins drive time.

Being a Monday there were not a lot of people there when we first arrived, but it didn't take long before the customers started coming in!

It was a cosy environment for lunch with a fire burning in the fire grate, a fairly good range of foods on the menu and the coffee that came immediately was hot!

My friend ordered the Corn and Ricotta Fritters with mushrooms & spinach, though the plate came minus the spinach! I had the Vegetable Burger - which was a large corn and ricotta  fritter - on Turkish bread.  I would have liked to have seen a small dish of relish or chutney on the side, but instead it had pesto pasted on the 'toasted' bread. But it was nice nevertheless.

Overall it is a small country 'general store' that is very popular with people on weekend drives from the city. It serves light meals / coffee etc and sells a few unusual items that would make ideal Christmas or birthday gifts!

I would certainly make a return visit for perhaps a Friday night meal and music or just calling in for coffee to see what goodies they may have on the shelves.

Glenlyon General Store has a Facebook Page, so click LIKE to keep up to date on all events too:

FACEBOOK - GLENLYON

The Glenlyon General Store has a website, check it out here:

GLENLYON GENERAL STORE

Mostly excellent reports on tripadvisor:

TRIPADVISOR - GLENLYON

There are good reports coming thru on urbanspoon too, check here:

URBAN SPOON - GLENLYON


Blog post HERE on the drive from Daylesford to Glenlyon.


.............................................................................................................................................................
please note the above blog post was not for any social media event, this was my own personal choice to have a meal here!!

But we are available for Social Media work at anytime. Be it bakeries, restaurants, festivals, wineries, galleries, cafes, coffee shops, markets or anything that needs to have some focus and would be of interest to others!!

                                                            Leone & John Fabre
...........................................................................................................................................






>

Daylesford Spa Country Railway - restoration works

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In one of the local newspaper's for this week - The Advocate 5th September - I noticed an article stating that the Daylesford Spa Country Railway was advising that works have commenced to restore train services between Musk and Bullarto.

Please take note of this when traveling in this area over the next few weeks.

Particular care should be taken at any of the rail crossings and please approach each with caution, in particular at the Dolphins Road and South Bullarto Road crossings.

The Daylesford Spa Country Railway (which is operated by the Central Highlands Tourist Railway) is a volunteer-operated 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of the formerly disused and dismantled Daylesford line.

It presently operates between Daylesford and the hamlet of Bullarto, although the section between Musk and Bullarto is currently closed due to bushfire damage sustained in early 2009 it is now in the process of being restored.

Website for the Daylesford Spa Country Railway is HERE complete with all the information you may need when visiting the area.



                                                              stay alert and drive safe

+++++++++++++++++


.....

Road Trip (Mt Egerton to Yendon)

...... continuing on with yesterdays 'road trip' from Ballan to Mt Buninyong, this post being on the section between Mt Egerton and Yendon as seen below:

Fabulous scenery in this area including an historical bluestone bridge that crosses over the Moorabool River on the Yendon-Egerton Road, as seen below:

the following black and white image of that same bridge was taken from the State Library of Victoria's website, here you can see the area underneath....

It is worth making the journey along this section of the road as the scenery is quite diverse with the historical towns of Mt Egerton and Yendon, the many farms, rivers, old buildings, fencing etc along the way ....

when driving on this road, do be cautious as there are some areas where it is quite narrow and steep, in particular if cycling along this section ...

This section of the Yendon-Egerton Road is only 12 klms, so it's not long before you enter the small village of Yendon ...

next blog post will be on the drive around Mt Buninyong!

URL's of interest:

Road Trip (Ballan to Mt Egerton)

Visit Moorabool - Mt Egerton 

 .

Road Trip (Ballan to Mt Egerton)

Last week we explored the area south of Ballan along Glenmore Road, towards Bacchus Marsh. Today we decided to have a look at the area south-west of Ballan and so headed towards the Ballan-Mt Egerton Road.

After leaving Ballan and turning left onto the Geelong-Ballan Road, it was not long before we needed to turn right, onto the Ballan-Egerton Road - as seen above.

This really is another delightful area to explore, to get off the main freeway and see what this regional road has to offer the tourist.

From Ballan it is only 14.5 klms, or 20 minutes drive time. Though it will take longer than that if you want to stop and admire the views along the way!

Today we are actually on our way to Buninyong via Mount Egerton which is an historic gold mining town in Victoria, Australia. The town was named after settler George Egerton.

In 1838 he held approximately 35,000 acres of stock farming land which to outsiders was known simply as "Egerton's Run".  Gold was discovered in this area in 1853.

The town's main street is Main Road and consists of an historic gold mine and battery, general store and hall. While nearby are the local primary school and recreational reserve.

The following images were taken along the Ballan-Egerton Road on the way to Mt Egerton .....

we stopped often to admire the scenery and of course, to take many photos along the way, but there was a cold wind blowing and didn't want to stay out too long. We are looking forward to exploring this area in the springtime now!

It was not long before we came to the intersection at Mt Egerton, it was here that we turned left (see image below) and followed the Yendon-Egerton Road - crossing the Moorabool River - towards Yendon, which is only a 12 klm journey.

The next blog post is on that section of our journey, to read about it click here.