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.





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Porcupine Ridge Road .......

Early this week we did a Photo Drive north east of the Daylesford area in Victoria, Australia.  The following map shows - in black - the section I have documented in this post which is Porcupine Ridge Road and Leslies Lane.

If you would also like to do a similar drive, then after leaving Daylesford heading NE on the A300 (Midland Highway) turn right once you reach the C316 (Daylesford-Malmsbury Road) and soon after make an immediate left turn into Porcupine Ridge Road. 

We travelled along the Porcupine Ridge Road (centre of map) and veered left onto Leslies Lane as seen above.

Along the Ridge Road you will be able to see this amazing countryside, fresh spring grass with quite a few cattle and sheep farms along the way.

As we drove along Porcupine Ridge Road we often saw bush tracks and gravel roads leading off into the countryside, obviously to farms and other residential homes, some with a row of letterboxes like this one at Scotts Lane.

The red cross marks the area where the letter boxes are located and the image on the far right is direct off Google Maps so you can see the actual intersection.

After passing Scotts Lane, we came to the intersection of Leslies Lane and Porcupine Ridge Road, it was at this section we turned left into Leslies Lane - see images below - and followed the gravel road towards Mt Franklin.

On our drive we noticed many large farms and smaller homes set back off the road or high up on the hills and on checking the Internet noted there are a few for sale, one of them - in part - reads as follows:

There are two dams and a spring fed creek, one of the dams could be more aptly described as a lake and has its own little jetty from which you could throw a line in and catch a trout or red fin for dinner. The lake is set off beautifully with a large willow tree on the island.

and another:

It comes fully furnished and decorated and is a “no fuss” investment that could also be enjoyed by an owner occupier. With 180° views of Mt Franklin the home features 2 bedrooms (master with spa), 2 bathrooms, open plan living with cosy wood fire, and large decked outdoor entertaining area.

I can imagine there would be many people that would enjoy this style of country living, not to mention sitting on the "large decked outdoor entertaining area" just watching all the magnificent scenery!

After we had chatted about 'the dreams' we were back in the car heading south and onto Glenlyon to enjoy lunch!!


other blog posts from this day are:

• the drive to Glenlyon is HERE
• the wildflowers we saw are HERE
• lunch at The Glenlyon Store is HERE
• Glenlyon General Cemetery is HERE

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from Daylesford to Glenlyon ....

a pleasant drive to Glenlyon for lunch!

From Daylesford head NE for a short distance along the A300 or Midland Highway, turning right further along at the intersection of C316 & A300 along the Daylesford-Malmsbury Road towards Glenlyon.

From this intersection to Glenlyon it is just a little over 9 klms and will take about 10 minutes drive time and as you can see in the Google image below, the road is bitumen all the way with nice views...

If you have your camera on board, allow time to stop as there are many items of interest that you may like to capture.

The following old homestead is along this road on the right hand side heading east. Well worth stopping for a few photos!

 
You will pass through two very small rural villages - Coomoora & Wheatsheaf - before arriving into Glenlyon.

Just past Wheatsheaf you will see this very old, uninhabitable home on the left.  The tree is also on the property.

The image of the roadway is from "google maps" and you can see the house on the left before reaching Glenlyon.

Five minutes later you will arrive at Glenlyon where - no doubt - you will be stopping by at the Glenlyon General Store for a coffee or maybe lunch!

other blog posts from this day are:

• our lunch at Glenlyon HERE
• The Glenlyon Cemetery HERE
• Porcupine Ridge Road is HERE
• A bunch of Wildflowers is HERE

stay tuned for further updates on our "photo drives" ....




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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.


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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
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Daylesford Spa Country Railway - restoration works

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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

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Road Trip (Gordon to Wallace)

We are lucky to live in such a lovely part of Victoria and have the opportunity to view the surrounding countryside.

Last week we drove from Ballan to Ballarat for some shopping and visiting friends. But instead of driving on the M8 we took the back way.

The previous blog post was on the drive from Ballan to Gordon as seen HERE. This posting is the continuation of that post and is from the township of Gordon to Wallace as seen on the following map.

 

 

After we drove through Gordon along The Old Melbourne Road till we reached the intersection of Careys Road where St Patrick's Church is located. 

On 23rd March 1872 Dr Goold laid the foundation stone of St. Patrick’s Church, Gordon. So there is quite a lot of history here, I think next time we drive through Gordon we will stop and explore the area, in particular St Patrick's Church!

We turned right onto Careys Road and followed it till it turned into Chapmans Road, passing some lovely scenery along the way. I think this will be a beautiful drive come springtime!

Once we reached the intersection of Butter Factory Road, we turned left and continued on until we reached the township of Wallace.

Wallace is a small regional town in Victoria with a population of 343 in the 2006 Census.  The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool  99 kilometres (62 mi) north west of the city of Melbourne.

The township was established in the 1880s, the Post Office opening on 22 February 1885. Wallace was the birthplace of Edmond Hogan, twice Victorian Premier in the 1920s.

We had dinner at the Wallace pub last month and highly recommend it. You can read the blog post HERE on our visit to this lovely little pub that is seen in the image below:

Will upload further blog posts on our "road trips" as we begin to explore the Central Highlands and Goldfield area's of Victoria.

driving through Castlemaine ......

Last weekend we had an overnight stay in Bendigo (Central Victoria) and on the way home to Ballan we drove through the township of Castlemaine.

Castlemaine is the main town, officially a city with a population of 8000, of The Shire of Mount Alexander, in Central Victoria, a 120 km driving distance from Melbourne as you can see by the map here:

It truly was a lovely drive through the Australian countryside, something we had missed in the 5+ years we had lived in Singapore. It is now Autumn, but the leaves have not fully changed as yet ..... the change has started, but will take another week or more before we see those beautiful gold and reds of the autumn.

 

The historical town of Castlemaine began as the centre of the Mount Alexander gold fields in 1851. It was briefly larger than Melbourne, as that city's population moved to Castlemaine to seek it's fortune.

Castlemaine exists on the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, also known as the Jaara people. In September 1851, three shepherds and a bullock driver discovered gold in Specimen Gully, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the north-east. Within a month the alluvial bed of Forrest Creek was being worked with 8,000 miners on the field by the end of the year and 25,000 by March 1852.

The following images were taken as we entered Castlemaine from the north and of the town itself before we headed south to Ballan:

 

Below are a few URL's that relate to Castlemaine that may be of help when next you visit:

Castlemaine ONE

Castlemaine TWO

Castlemaine THREE

Castlemaine FOUR

Castlemaine FIVE

stay tuned for further blog posts on Castlemaine.

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