...and so our vacation begins!

We have arrived!

Yes, after our journey across The Backstairs Passage via SeaLink we have arrived on Kangaroo Island.  We started planning the journey in January and at long last we are here!

We departed the ferry without any problem and headed straight around to Kingscote to have some lunch overlooking the sea before driving to Emu Bay.

at this point we were surprised at how mild the weather was. We were sitting here by 11.00am on Monday 21st April and even though it was a little cloudy the temperature was 23deg.

Even though we had filled up with fuel near Victor Harbour the previous day we decided to top before driving to Cape Borda. We paid $1.68 for fuel at Victor Habour and here it was $1.72.5.  We were later to come across fuel at $1.88 per liter, so were lucky we topped up in Kingscote before proceeding inland.

We did a drive around to Emu Bay and by this time the clouds had cleared and it was just one of those magical autumn days .....

All the main roads on Kangaroo Island are in excellent condition, but it is wise to keep the speed well down as we came across a few cyclists as well as wildlife.  There are a few 'hills' but overall the main roads were well maintained.

The island is 155 klms long and 47 klms wide with 509 klms of coastline, so it takes - on average - 2.5 hours to drive from Penneshaw to Cape Borda, mainly because the final 30 klms driving into the cape is on gravel road with much corrugation!

But every klm is well worth the journey ....

Kangaroo Island has tough quarantine laws. When you are packing, leave any honey and all bee-handling equipment at home.

Pets are not allowed in national and conservation parks.

Potatoes, yes potatoes, must be in new, unopened packaging. Destroy any peels or unused potatoes. Please don’t bring vine cuttings or grapevine soil here. Ensure your vehicle, boats, camping gear and hiking boots are free of mud and seeds.

Kangaroo Island, it’s truly something special.


NEXT ..... getting to Cape Borda!


Useful URL's...

Tour Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island (South Australian Tourism Website)

SeaLink Website

SeaLink Timetable

Boarding the Ferry

What is available on board

Help for those that suffer from Motion Sickness



my previous blog posts on this particular vacation are:

Crossing via SeaLink

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!




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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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Ballan to Corryong for the holidays!

It's been a long time, in fact a very long time, since we have been camping and when friends recently asked if we would like to go camping over the Christmas / New Year holiday period we said YES!

But of course we had forgotten how crowded many places are at this time of year, never mind, we set off on Boxing Day (for those that do not celebrate this day, its the day after Christmas Day (26th December)) and drove to Corryong (NE Victoria) which takes - on average - about 5 hours.

Ballan is 69.2km west of Melbourne and Corryong is 317.5km north-east of Melbourne as seen in the following map:

We left Ballan - which is situated halfway between Ballarat and Bacchus Marsh - by 8:00am, traveling along the M8 and turning off at Melton, driving towards the Western Ring Road before turning onto the Hume Freeway ....

 

naturally at this time of year there are many others on the road with the same idea of going camping!

Once we had turned off the freeway and traveling along the Murray Valley Highway the traffic eased off considerably.

The following two images are of the Huon Reserve Rest Area which is 11km south east of Bonegilla or 17km north west of Tallangatta on the Murray Valley Highway. Right beside Lake Hume.

This stop provides a pleasant rest area with some shade and a boat ramp.

We continue on our journey towards Corryong, following the shores of Lake Hume.

and now we cross the Mitta Mitta River.  The upper reaches of the Mitta Mitta River, including its tributaries, drain from the High Plains through deeply dissected forests. The Mitta Mitta River then flows for 70 km through forest, Lake Dartmouth and then a wide valley down into Lake Hume.

Lake Hume is an artificial lake in Australia formed by the Hume Weir east of Albury-Wodonga on the Murray River just downstream of its junction with the Mitta River. The small towns of Tallangatta, Bonegilla and Bellbridge are located on the shores of Lake Hume. It is often referred to as the Hume Weir, only named Lake Hume in the mid 1980s.

After we cross the Mitta Mitta River we come to the lookout point for Old Tallangatta as seen in this image below:

above: map of the old township shows what it was like prior to the drowning!


Tallangatta, located 39 kilometres east of Wodonga (338 km north of Melbourne) and 230 metres above sea level, describes itself as 'The Town That Moved' and that is its central claim to fame.

Tallangatta was physically removed from the Murray River valley when the Hume Weir was built in the 1950s. There is now a plaque on the side of the Murray Valley Highway (the road from Corryong to Albury) which reads 'The township of Tallangatta was originally situated in the valley immediately below this point on land subject to inundation by waters of the Hume Reservoir. The transfer of the township by the State Rivers and Waters Supply Commission to the new site five miles to the west was completed on 29 June 1956.'

The drive along the Murray Valley Highway is truly beautiful and the scenery is superb.

 The following image is the intersection of B400 and C545, just prior to the town of Corryong.

and so we arrived at the Colac Colac Caravan Park just west of Corryong by 4:00pm:

More posts to follow on our visit to the Colac Colac Caravan Park, our trips to Khancoban, Tintaldra and Walwa.

In the meantime, I appreciate the helpful advice that I found on the following websites:


Old Tallangatta

Colac Colac Caravan Park

Tallangatta (Sydney Morning Herald)

The Mitta Mitta River (DPI)

Lake Hume (Wikipedia)

Huon Reserve Rest Area (Caravan.com)


the following image was taken beside Lake Hume near the Old Tallangatta Lookout:

Road Trip (Geelong to Queenscliff)

(above image is just after Geelong on the Bellarine Highway - B110)

The previous blog post is about the drive from Ballan to Geelong (Victoria, Australia) which we did earlier this week.

Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia. 

The urban area runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with the bay to the east and hills to the west, an area with an estimated population of 160,991 people.It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality which covers the urban and surrounding areas and is home to over 191,000 people.

After driving through Geelong we continued towards Queenscliff on the B110 to visit friends and that drive was just as pretty once we got out of the city center area of Geelong.

The distance from Ballan to Geelong on the C141 is 72.5 klms and between Geelong and Queenscliff on the B110 is 31.2 klm.

In total, from Ballan to Queenscliff it is 103.7 klms.

Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. At the 2006 census, Queenscliff had a population of 1,416.

Queenscliff is a former 1880s seaside resort now known for its Victorian era heritage and tourist industry and as one of the endpoints of the Searoad ferry to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula.

once again we came across a small amount of fog, but it soon cleared ....

just 30 mins after leaving Geelong we were in the Queenscliff area and it was not long before we were sitting down to coffee with our friends......

We have been to this area often as there is much to see at anytime of the year. It is certainly a great area for cycling.

On the Bicycle Network website you will find a few interesting bike trails, one being the Bellarine Rail Trail which is a 32km trail for walking and cycling built on the old railway line between Geelong and Queenscliff. 

This trail is a great day or weekend destination close to Melbourne and Geelong.

Drive or catch the train to South Geelong Station to start your ride, then coast along the best of the Bellarine Peninsula on your way to Queenscliff. Make sure to look out for the Bellarine Peninsula Railway and take a ride if you get tired.

We had a superb day and soon it was time to head back home to Ballan....

Other road trips:

Ballan to Gordon

Ballan to Daylesford

Ballan to Mt Egerton

Ballan to Bacchus Marsh (via Glenmore Road)

Gordon to Wallace

Mt Egerton to Yendon

Ballan to Geelong

Bike Ride:

along Glenmore Road



Train Journey:

Ballan to Melbourne

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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 

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