Author Archives: allthegobro
Piraeus
Piraeus is the port that services Athens. It is a pretty big port, one of the largest in Europe and serves as a distribution point for inwards trade into central Europe. Because of this it has some strategic importance. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis a few years back the EU put the screws on Greece and made them sell a few things to raise some Euros. They didn’t sell Santorini or Mykonos, they sold 51% of the Port of Piraeus to Chinese interests. Us Aussies were a bit more subtle and only leased the Port of Darwin to the same chaps for 99 years. Enough of this though. The Viking Star is in Piraeus for an overnight port stop before we are to disembark the following day.
Many onboard are off into central Athens for tours around the main sites of the city. Some years ago we were in Athens for a few days and had seen the famous landmarks of the Parthenon, the museums etc and this time decided to head off to the south and the Pelopennese. This involves crossing the Corinth Canal and travelling down the eastern coastline. Olympia which we had visited a few days before is on then western side of this knob on the bottom of Greece.
Corinth Canal
The Lion Gate
The lion relief above the gate. Their heads are gone!
Ramp into the palace
Like on the road to Olympia we passed by acres and acres of olive trees and grapes. Our objective was the ruins of Mycenae. Now this place has a special role in the legends (or are they true, embellished facts perhaps) of Greece. It is the home town of Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae when the Trojan wars were thought to have occurred in the late 12th century BC or thereabouts. If you would like a retelling of this Homer tale from the Iliad the best place to go is to that movie from a few years back with Brad Pitt as Achilles, Peter O’Toole as Priam and Eric Bana as Hector. The book is a bit hard going! It was an interesting place, not a lot remains of the old city but there are certainly some great views from its walls over the surrounding landscape. The arch above the Lion Gate into the palace is adorned with a relief of two lions. It is thought to be the oldest monumental relief in Europe dating back to around 1240 BC. The ramp behind the gate is the actual surface from around the same time period. Walking on stones that have been there for 3500 years!
Walking on old pavers!
Greek school kids running riot over the ruins
After some time in the ruins and also at the nearby beehive shaped Tomb of Agamemnon we headed back to the ship and our final night aboard.
Entrance to the Tomb of Agamemnon
The bee hive structure inside under the hill, showing the interlocking layers of domed stone blocks.
Viking Star’s infinity pool, looking out over Piraeus. It had been tempting to get in, but our trip had been a little chilly!
As with all Allthego’s blogs we are a few days behind the live action. We are now in London and have been holed up in our self catering accommodation at Nell Gwynn House in Chelsea. Modest comfortable digs but the circuit breaker trips if the toaster and kettle are on at the same time. A bit of care is required dear readers!
Now in London and having finished the first leg of the Grand Tour, Allthego is reminded of the words of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth who said some time in the late 1800s; “The destinations are only desirable because of the journey between them….”.
A bit of culture to conclude with!
Santorini
Our journey on the Viking Star is drawing to a close. The last stop before Athens and docking in Piraeus is the island of Santorini, It is a member of the Cyclades group of islands, in the southern Aegean Sea roughly midway between Greece and Turkey. The Crete and the Mediterranean Sea lie to the south.
Santorini is famous for its white buildings, and blue domed churches and streetscapes. All the postcards have that great shot of the buildings perched on the cliff lines with a vibrant blue sky. Today though it was to be a vibrant grey skyline! With just the odd patch of blue. In some ways though the grey gives a different perspective to the scene. The light is not as harsh and the scenes are more subdued, other colours are seen amongst the white and blue.
The Viking Star at anchor
The main Greek Orthodox Church in Oia
On board the tender, there is a bus or two in the top left corner having traversed the zig zag road to the top.
Our guide tells there is to be 4 ships in port today, something of the order of 10,000 people as one of them is a big Norwegian Cruise Line ship that has around 3500 passengers aboard. The Viking star has 930. At the height of the season there can be up to 8 ships in port. 18,000 people live on the island and there are many other tourists that come by means other than cruise liners. So there are a few people wandering around the narrow streets.
1 Euro for a photo
Café in a back street
Some art works
Our ship anchors out in the bay which is actually the inundated caldera of the ancient volcano that exploded around 1500 BC. It is considered that the eruption is possibly the largest eruption in recorded history and a resultant gigantic tsunami destroyed the Minoan civilisation on Crete. The eruption may also have been the source of the legend of Atlantis, or so the historian on board considered. We go ashore in a tender boat and bus it 1000ft or so feet up the cliff line to the top. You can also catch a cable car, walk it or ride a donkey. The donkeys go the same way as the walk so it can get a bit sticky underfoot along the way. The guide also tells us that if you ride the donkey you will end up smelling like a donkey.
In the village of Oia
Cliff line in Oia
Some blue doors
It is the sort of place that would be nice to have 3 or 4 days on so that you could get around and see all the sights, not just having a quick Greek lunch and battling the other tourists for a photo or two of the buildings clinging to the edge. After lunch one of the boats left and there was a noticeable thinning of the masses. Notwithstanding the shortness of our stay it was a great stop and a place we have been privileged to experience, including the cable car ride back down to the port.
Pork and chicken Souvlaki for mains.
The route of our cable car back down to the port. Six people to a car, Homealone sat in the middle looking backwards. Whilst steep it was not far above the ground and her hands didn’t get too clammy.
Entre of deep fried zucchini along with tomato keftedes (these are minced up tomato, onion and herbs)
It is now off overnight to Piraeus, Athens’ port, for our final day of the cruise.
Olympia
The reason for stopping at Katakolon is really only to make the trip to Olympia, the birth place of the modern day Olympic Games. We are in the area known as the Peloponnese, the knob at the bottom of Greece. It is separated from the rest of Greece by the late 19th century man made Corinth Canal. The region is heavily focussed on agriculture. There are just acres and acres of olive groves, vineyards and orchards, mostly oranges and apricots. Also watermelons and strawberries on the ground. It is a very pretty drive to Olympia.
The gymnasium building. This length of columns disappears into the distance and under the hill. It is the same length as the track in the stadium, allowed indoor practise.
The altar where the Olympic torch is lit today.
Hera’s Temple
The first ‘games’ began in 776 BC, although it seems there were more simpler versions occurring here going back to the 1100s BC. The games were essentially a religious event, competing to please the gods in the first instance. There was only a winner no seconds or thirds. Various running events, spear and discus throwing, wrestling and related sorts of pastimes took place. Horse and chariot races took place in the Hippodrome. Women did not participate and competitors were naked. Winners made sacrifices to the gods, there are enormous temples to Zeus and his wife Hera. Much of the building activity took place around the mid 400s BC. It is outside the entrance to Hera’s temple that the altar is located where the torch is lit at the start of the torch relay for the modern Olympics.
Homealone at right entering the stadium, under an arch. The Romans new how to build arches, the Greeks before them didn’t (I think?)
Allthego on the starting line. This is the original line, athletes put there toes in the slots from which to push off. The track is 212 m long and 28.5 m wide.
The stadium, at it’s zenith held 40-45,000 people, apparently it didn’t have seating.
The Games were stopped by the Christian Roman emperors at the end of the 4th century AD, and Olympia ceased functioning as a pagan religious sanctuary. The area today is really a mix of ruins, with some restorations to highlight the great scale of the place. Olympia was devastated by earthquakes around 520 AD which together with the effects of continual river flooding buried and swept away sections of the monuments and artifacts.
The entrance to Zeus’ temple. The white column at the rear was restored for the Athens 2004 Olympics.
Zeus’ temple showing one of the a collapsed columns from the earthquake.
This stone records the event, the winner’s name and other details, including that of his sacrifice to Zeus.
Sporadically through the 1800s the site was explored by French and German archaeologists, with most work happening between 1875 and WW11. What we found fascinating was the great detail that is known about the site. Where the buildings are located. Their intricate design, contents and purpose. The source of all this is the ancient written historical Greek records of the times.
Remarkable place.
Corfu
We arrived in Corfu to a cloudy day with a few flashes of sunshine, but an ever present threat of rain a little later in the day.
The day before we were in Kotor, the port for the small country of Montenegro. It only has 600,000 people in a very mountainous landscape. Kotor is at the end of a flooded old river valley nestled at the bottom of some precipitous mountains and surrounded by an old city wall. The wall is partly in ruin, particularly the sections that run high up along the ridge lines behind the town. There is a steady stream of people walking along the functional sections. We didn’t have the time in port to do the walls here. Instead, we were in a bus going up to the top of the highest peak overlooking the town. An amazing journey up a narrow road with numerous hair pin bends, in many places virtually one way. In one section oncoming cars had to back up so that we could pass. Homealone enjoyed the experience immensely! Great views looking down to the ship below, almost antlike. Near the top we stopped for a mid morning snack. We are beginning to easily pick what these snacks are going to be ….. prosciutto, sheep/goats cheese and bread washed down with local wine. We were not disappointed.
This is the peak to the top of which we went.
Another snack, a shared plate
Looking down on Kotor, we drove up here.
The other highlight here was visiting the royal palace of King Nikola 1. He was Montenegro’s one and only King and lost the crown after WW1, when Montenegro was absorbed into Serbia. He was fairly astute and succeeded in marrying off a number of his 9 or so daughters (he had 3 sons as well) to various sons of European royalty. The most important being the last king of Italy. The rather modest looking palace was full of Nikola memorabilia, family portraits, uniforms, guns and swords. There was a painting of him in almost every room, the guide said this was to indicate who was the boss.
King Nikola’s palace
The lion is the symbol of the Venetians. There is always a book in the lions paw; open is peace, closed is war.
Street stall outside the palace
We descended back to Kotor by a different route in time for a short walk around the old town before having to board the Viking Star for the cruise back down the fiord like channel to the open sea and then onwards to Corfu. Corfu is a Greek island lying at the ‘cross roads’ between the Adriatic sea to the north and the Ionian sea to the south. Kotor was our last stop along the Adriatic coastline.
Kotor’s St Tryphon Cathedral and its mismatched towers
Along the channel into Kotor.
Old Town Kotor
Corfu has a very colourful background and was and still is for that matter a bit of a hot spot for the well to do from Europe. The Romans were here, the Venetians came and went, Ottomans, Napoleon and then the British before the Greeks ‘reclaimed’ the place. Prince Phillip was born here in the 1920s. We had a pleasant wander around the Old Town with a stop off to have tea, coffee and some very moist and nutty baklava at a local café. Corfu though is looking a little tired, lots of ‘tourist’ shops flogging masses of ‘local produce and artifacts’, as well as cafes and fast food windows with arrays of Greek pastries to munch on.
Corfu street
Café, a bit empty, ours had a few in it enjoying baklava and coffee.
The baklava
The Greeks call Corfu ‘Kerkyra’. But, it has a very English tradition. It is the only place in Greece were cricket is played. As one of a our fellow travellers said “Ah, that shows they are civilised”! The one and only field lies in the parkland between the Old Town and the waterfront. The pitch is concrete with a rather well worn mat surface. At either end are fearful torn patches on a good length! The outfield needs some serious attention. Nevertheless, an annual tournament takes place, with international players including Australians taking part.
The cricket pitch
In the terminal one could get to Albania by going through this door, a bit Alice in Wonderlandish!
We headed back to the ship for a rather late lunch as some scattered showers hit town. After lunch there was a performance for us by some local Greek folk dancers. They put on a good show, particularly the ‘guitarist’. He really gave the strings a work out. Before dinner there was a ‘chocolate night’. A vast array of nibbles are first put on display and then its open slather, there was a bit of a crush to get at the feast. Yours truly and Homealone just took pictures of our American fellow passengers getting into it!
Trad folk dancers, did a great Zorba.
It was chocolate night onboard
This guy could play, what ever the instrument is called, this fast and furious.
Next stop is to be Katakolon. There are a lot of stops on this cruise starting with a ‘K’. Katakolon is the gateway to the legendary city of Olympia, the classical birthplace of the Olympic Games.
Dubrovnik
We arrived in Dubrovnik to much improved weather. We had a basically warm, sunny day here. Very busy, people everywhere. In the midst of summer it gets very hot and the tourists flock here. It has been good to come earlier in the season.
Dubrovnik is a major filming location for the Game of Thrones (GoT) and there is GoT memorobilia at almost every turn. It is the setting for Kings Landing, the capital of the seven kingdoms. Some of the cafes and restaurants have GoT menues to consider. Khaleesi’s delight (capon liver pate caramelized with dragons breath), Ayra’s needle (honeyed chicken with cold potato salad) and Cersei’s salad (gorgonzola, grapes ,greens and pecans). If you are wondering what ‘capon’ is see later in this epistle. The town’s great attraction is its city walls, red topped roofs and narrow alleys. The footpaths are all paved with stone, no dirt or grass anywhere, except in ‘back yards’ of some of the housing. You gaze down into these from the walls.
The Viking Star berthed at the newish port terminal and we then boarded a small local vessel to cruise around the walls of the city and enter the old port, surrounded by walls and a small flotilla of boats. Just the way to do it. Reminded me a bit of the Battle of Blackwater in a scene from GoT.
Approaching the old port and walls
The old port
The Pile Gate into the town
Following the boat trip we were off on the now usual town tour with the local guide. There are the old churches and architectural oddities from history. A few locals wander around in traditional dress. There is little talk though about Croatia’s independence war in the early 1990s. Dubrovnik was heavily shelled by Serbian forces and many properties were damaged, particularly the roofing. This is why Dubrovnik’s roofscape has so many red roofs. They are the new ones rebuilt after the war, the older roofs are that grey and greeny brown colour.
One of the alley ways
Dubrovnik’s main street
Traditional dress
One of the things that Allthego had checked out prior to the tour was the location of another one of the restaurants mentioned in Rick Stein’s cook book. Kopun specialises in traditional Croatian food and is in an out of the way location up some steps in a little square away from the main drag of cafes and bars. In particular they cook a capon dish. Now capon is castrated rooster that is especially bred for its meat. It is very traditional and the Kopun promotes its dish as being based on a 16 th century recipe. Allthego and Homealone couldn’t resist trying it, there were two variations. Homealone settled for the ‘Dubrovnik Capon’ which consisted of stewed meat, with figs, peaches, raisins, sour orange marmalade, honey, white wine, vegetables and barley. Allthego took on the ‘Capon in porcini mushroom sauce’, stewed meat with dried plums, forrest berries, mushrooms, red wine, vegetables and barley. Hmmmmm it was pretty good. Allthego is tempted to try it on some unsuspecting guests back in Brisbane. Got to track down some castrated roosters first. Maybe a bush turkey would substitute?
Dubrovnik Capon
Capon and porcini mushroom sauce
Kopun restaurant
After lunch we strolled off to do the ‘walls’. Doing the walls is 200 Kuna each. The Croats use Kuna not Euros, it is about $A40 each to wander around the city walls. It is not a short walk. Allthego thought the top of the walls had quite wide walk ways, after all the base of the walls were metres thick. But this is not the case, the walls do get quite narrow and the rails are not always as high as one might appreciate. Great views though out over the town, harbour and the people labouring up and down the steps to get around. Homealone got a bit edgy up here and didn’t really appreciate the ambience of the situation. She graciously allowed Allthego to continue the stroll after about half way and she descended back down to ground level. All up it took about 2 hours to get around the circuit. Great experience.
From the walls
More walls
Looking over Dubrovnik
Although the ship didn’t leave Dubrovnik till 11.30 pm we headed back around 5 o’clock to recuperate and ready ourselves for the next day in Kotor, Montenegro.
Zada
No this isn’t the name of one of the Dothraki in the Game of Thrones, but the major port of Croatia. We arrived here overnight from Koper. It is was not the greatest of days weather wise. Overcast, windy and cold. We headed off on a drive down the coast to the Vrana Lake Nature Park. This is the largest lake in Croatia and home to many bird species, we hoped to see some. The lake is unusual in that it is not very deep (about 4 metres), the top of the water is above sea level and the bottom is below sea level. There is a small man made channel between the sea and the lake, built in the late 1800s (?) to drain the wet lands behind the lake for agriculture, wouldn’t be done today. When the water level in the lake drops sea water enters through the channel, the environment is continually subject to the ebbs and flows of sea water. It was spitting rain when we were at the lake to see the birds. The birds also recognised it was spitting rain and very windy so they went into hiding and we didn’t see many birds. Just a couple of hardy soles hiding in the reeds. A little disappointing but still an interesting spot to visit.
The bird walk at Vrana Lake
I white bird looking cold
A heron in flight
We got back on the bus fairly quickly and travelled to Kamenjak, on a ridge line over looking the lake, for a snack of traditional Croatian fare. Now after our visit to the market at the Koper stop in Slovakia, we thought this was going to be different. And it was. A plate of prosciutto, fresh semi hard cheese (probably goat or sheep) and some bread. It was quite tasty. We do like prosciutto…
View over Vrana Lake
The snack
Kamenjak sits on top of a karst limestone landscape; underground drainage lines, sink holes and caves abound. It is quite rocky and rugged. There is a little chapel up here and inside it is a roped off area protecting one from falling down a slot in the ground surface, it drops down a long way. Bones have been found in the bottom of the hole, in past times of unrest bodies had been thrown down the hole. The chapel was built over them to honour the lives lost. It was a sobering experience looking down the hole.
The chapel
The hole inside the chapel
Later we made our way back to Zada for a wander in the old town, more cobbled streets and old churches, before departing for Dubrovnik. Near where our ship was tied up there is a large circular solar panel array depicting the sun and the planets stretching away in scale along the waterfront. At night it throws light along the shore line and is apparently quite spectacular to see. Also here there are acoustic tubes embedded under the large marble steps that ‘sing’ with the lashing waves and wind bursts along the waterfront.
Cathedral of St Anastasia
The ‘sun’ on the waterfront, Mercury is the small circle along towards the right edge
Zadar as we leave the port.
As we head off the sun and blue sky appear and we are told it will be a fine sunny day in Kings Landing, I mean Dubrovnik!
Koper in Slovenia not Copa in Cabana
But it is pronounced the same……………..
We moved on down the coastline to Koper in Slovenia. Slovenia has a very short coastline of about 27 miles wedged between Italy and Croatia to the south. It is our first stop on the way south along the coastline of the former Yugoslavia, broken up in the 1990s into various small countries based on their ethnic backgrounds. We went off on a bus trip down the length of Slovenia’s coastline and when reaching the Croatian border headed inland to a small village on a high ridge line looking out over the green valleys.
Unfortunately, the weather going down the coast was not great. It was very overcast with the seascape coated in a light mist. In bright sunny weather the views out over the islands would have been spectacular. We stopped in at the seaside village of Piran for a walk around the Venetian inspired streets and waterfront. This is a tourist hideout in the summer. The town is slowly depopulating and being let out to tourists for the season, which runs from mid April through to mid October. Real estate has gone through the roof. Tourism is the country’s biggest industry. The weather improved a bit while we were here with some blue sky and sun.
Piran waterfront
For sale
Piran thoroughfare
Up at the village of Padna we were welcomed by a solo musician playing some traditional instruments. He had a big grin and was looking for tips, just like a busker on the streets of Brisbane or Sydney, or even Queanbeyan for that matter.
Our one man band
Truffle pasta in the pan
Asparagus lasagne
The main game in the village was to taste some local foods and wine. It was a small place and 3 centres of tastings had been arranged in various parts of the town. There were also some local handicrafts and produce for sale. It was a hive of activity and the townsfolk had obviously done this before a few times. Ah, those tourists, they are good for a Euro or two! Part of our deal was that we were each ‘given’ 5 tasting vouchers. As it turned out these were worth 5 Euros. Not a bad deal for what was available at the stalls. We had some pieces of asparagus lasagne, a secret family recipe, along with some rather nice truffle pasta. Some apple struddles (? don’t have the dictionary with me), baked sweetened pastry pieces and strawberry tarts followed. All washed down with some rather very local red and white wines. You could go back for the food but the wines were not to our overall liking, not being picky of course.
A local young lady in trad dress with her own works
Tito Square
Cathedral at Koper
After our eating and drinking it was back to the bus and Koper for a short wander around the old town and the waterfront. Tito Square, named after the friendly old communist dictator, is the main square in the town. A Venetian palace along with the Cathedral dominates the square.
Beachside at Koper
Piran boat harbour
Back at the waterfront we strolled the somewhat deserted beach. The beaches seem to all have a sand less shoreline, mostly pebbles and there always seems to be a pier of sorts that allows people to wander out to deeper water for a plunge. Watched over by lifeguards of course!
Back on board the Viking Star we set off for Croatia.
The Grand Tour
Well here we are in Venice.
Allthego and Homealone are off on a ‘grand tour’. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the British went off on ‘grand tours’, as did those Europeans on the other side of the Channel. In the harsh European winters the British and others went off to the Mediteranian, or to the East; perhaps Singapore or Hong Kong. Some even went to New York! It was the thing to do. You went off to have new experiences in far away places. However, some of the young ladies were sent off to have the fruits of their experiences delivered in parts far away! So we are off to the other side of the world for 11 weeks to have new experiences too!
Venice is our first stop after leaving Brisbane. Took 23 hours all up, via Singapore and Frankfurt. Flights were without dramas, fellow passengers were civil. The food on the Singapore Airlines flight was ok, but the Lufthansa legs were lets say…average. Movies were good.
Been to Venice before, about ten years ago. Not much seems to have changed, might have sunk a little we are told. We are staying the night at the Santa Chiara Hotel beside the Grand Canal, not far from the cruise ship terminal. We get to our hotel around 11 am and have the late morning and afternoon to check out a bucket list visit to the fish markets near the Rialto bridge. This is about 4 stops down the canal from the hotel and they close around 1pm. Problem is it is Monday and they don’t operate on Monday, so we do a thorough examination of the fruit and vegetable markets before heading back to the hotel on the ferry.
Santa Chiara Hotel on the Grand Canal
Rialto Bridge
Fruit and Veg
After finalising check in and occupying the room we have a break for a while. The desire for sleep is strong but Allthego has booked a table for 7.30 pm at what is referred to in a Rick Stein cooking book as an authentic Venetian eating establishment, Antiche Carampane. So it is back onto the ferry and down the Grand Canal to the Rialto bridge were we get off. We have allowed just on an hour to find this place in the back street alleys of Venice as the sun is slowly setting. Homealone has deduced the route on our Venice alley map. So away we go, up an alley, down an alley, over a canal bridge around a couple of corners, back over what seemed like the same canal bridge. Had to ask a local were it was, she kindly showed us the way…….it was just around a corner. Walked in the door just on 7.30pm. Timing is everything!
One of those alleys
Red peppers
Fruit and Vegs
Very small dining room, but very local people despite the table of noisy South Australians sitting behind us and a couple of Bostonians next to us who had also read about the place. The others seemed to be locals. Probably no more than about 30 or so all up. It is known for it’s seafood. Proudly says: “No Pizza, No Lasagna and No Touristico Menues!” After a plate of Mediteranean bits and pieces to share, Homealone had a crab pasta dish and Allthego a piece of Sea Bass. All very tasty. It was then back to the Canal through the darkened alleys to catch the ferry. Easy!
Something about not cooking Pizza here!
Crab pasta
Sea Bass
The next day we were due to book onto our cruise ship. But we still had some time on our ferry tickets, they expired at 11am. So, as it was now Tuesday off we went to see those fish markets near the Rialto bridge. What a sight! Some of the stall holders here have held their spots through several generations of fish mongers. Fish from all over the Mediteranean, North Atlantic and prawns from Argentina. A few eels and octopus etc as well.
What is this, sword fish!
Tasty Octopus
Eels
Next stop was to be an unusual book shop, seemingly to Allthego not far from the fish markets, across the other side of the Grand Canal and down a few back alleys. Well off we went, too and fro. The map doesn’t seem to match the alley ways. But we made it. Thousands of books, postcards, photos, maps etc and other stuff, including a staircase made of them. All crammed into a little shop front and side rooms. A stocktake would be a nightmare…….….
The book shop
The staircase
So it was back to the ferry, Homealone had determined the route. We made it just before the 11 am ticket expiry, Saved 15 Euros!
Back at the hotel we picked up our luggage and checked in at the cruise terminal, boarded the Viking Star, had lunch, put our feet up. Later in the evening after dinner, we stood on deck as we cruised down the Venetian Lagoon out into the Adriatic. Headed for Koper in Slovenia.
The long and winding road……………..
We are home in Brisbane. Homealone can now do all the washing.
The last stretch of the Newell Hwy has taken us up through Dubbo and Moree to Goondiwindi. From there it was along the Cunningham Hwy through Warwick to Brisbane. After leaving Hay and the Silo Art Trail we ran into another painted Silo at a small town called Weethalle. The last train came through Weethalle in 1999. There is not a lot at Weethalle. We had a chat with a lady in the craft shop in the old railway station next to the Silo. Her family are barley farmers, not too impressed with the drought. Crop was only 1000 tonnes this year, 10% of what a ‘good’ year was. A slight saviour was the price they got, about 3-4 times a ‘good’ year’s price, because of the short supply. Very chatty about life in Weethalle, where she had lived most of her life.
Silo at Weethalle
Old railway station at Weethalle
Moving along we stopped for the night beside a small river at Terramungamine Reserve a free camp about 10 km outside of Dubbo, down a side road on the north side of the city. Excellent spot here. Some of the company though was a little marginal, not offensive in a violent way. Quite friendly really, just a little light on vocabulary. Particularly adjectives. Not loud, just persistent. The dad’s shorts seem to have lost their waist band elastic. Homealone wasn’t keen on a picture for the blog. Family of 6 fitting the bill for the ‘ugly Australian’ award. The other attraction here were the prolific grinding marks in rocks above the river bank made by aboriginal people. No one is certain of their age, could be about 5000 years old and maybe be up to 25,000.
River at Terramungamine Reserve
Rock grinding marks
Further along we spent the night in the Showground camping spot in Narrabri. Another good stopover point, plenty of room. These free camp places make for a quick getaway in the mornings as you can stay hitched up, really just got to lock the door of the van and jump in the truck. We spent our last night on the road at Inglewood about 240 k west of Brisbane. This was where the trip all began just on 6 weeks ago. The only thing different was the grass had been cut and storm clouds were gathering as the sun went down.
Narrabri Showground
Storm clouds gathering at Inglewood. These 2 trucks haven’t collided, just on the back of another truck.
The van has been parked, unpacked and it is now tempting to get the maps out and do a little forward planning…………..
The Silo Art Trail
Leaving the Victorian coast we are heading home to Brisbane through the Wimmera Mallee district of western Victoria. Our trail takes us from Nelson north-east to Horsham and then to the small town of Rupanyup. Rupanyup is the starting point of the Silo Art Trail, which heads basically north for 200 km to Patchewollock. Along the way we passed through a number of small towns in the grain belt of Victoria. The fields of wheat and barley just stretch as far as the eye can see. The radio told us that it is not a great season for the farmers, greatly diminished crop sizes.
Fields of barley as far as one can see!
Giving thanks for rain.
A hay bale becomes a Christmas decoration and competition.
Back in the 1930s and 1940s these towns were thriving centres of agriculture and each town had its own silo storage facilities linked by railway lines to the coast for export and domestic processing. A number of these facilities in recent years have been decommissioned and lie idle. So an enterprising group set about having artists paint them, as well as some operating silos, with images representative of the districts. In the main these works are of people who have lived and worked in the areas over many years. They are really good! The stories behind the works are very interesting and can be found at http://www.siloarttrail.com on the internet. This painting of silos is a bit of a trend as there are a good number of others scattered around the country where the same thing has been done.
I am just putting the photos in the blog! The names below each are the small towns where they can be found.
Rupanyup
Brim
Sheep Hills
Rosebery
Patchewollock
Lascelles
We have now reached Hay and are in a free camp at Sandy Point beside the Murrumbidgee River just on the outskirts of town for the night, it is good spot to stay.
Under the trees at Sandy Point.
The beach at Sandy Point on the Murrumbidgee River.
We will continue the journey home in the morning.
Nelson
Nelson is our last stop in our journey across the Victorian southern coastline. We are only a few kilometres from the SA border set up in a van park, overlooking the estuary of the Glenelg River. Very small camp ground, only about 20 sites but they are well positioned to catch the westerly winds whipping along the coast! Nelson is only a small town with a petrol station, kiosk, boat shed, information centre and of course the old hotel from the 1800s.
Campsite by the Glenelg River
An old pine plantation , not having long been replanted.
Boatshed from which we hired our small boat.
We suspect the population of a few hundred is mixed up in the timber industry or is retired. Not much else to do here, except go fishing. Which Allthego did, not even a little bite in the promising river. Wildflowers were much easier to catch but hard to identify without the necessary book to guide one.
This is a Chocolate Lilly.
This is a yellow flower
This is another flower
The main attraction here is the Glenelg River and the National Park that lines either side of its banks. The river cuts through a limestone watercourse, with dramatic cliffs lining its banks. Also along the banks are numerous shacks with their associated boat house, generally underneath the shack. These appear to be weekend retreats for those who like to hang out by the river. Fairly basic and subject to inundation during flood times but probably great fun. We hired a small boat and went for a cruise up the river for several kilometres, an hour and half up and the same back. It was mostly cloudy but we did get some sun to illuminate the limestone walls of the river banks. Homealone took the wheel for a while to allow Allthego to take the odd photo or two of the passing scenery.
Homealone at the wheel
Limestone cliffs along river
Some of the riverside shacks and boat sheds
Also visited the Princess Margaret Rose Cave in the Park. This is a limestone cave discovered in the 1930s but only named after Princess Margaret in the 1960s, she never came here. The cave is a little unusual in that it is actually an eroded fault in the limestone host rock, quite narrow but is home to numerous cave features of stalagmites, stalactites and pillars etc. Quite impressive, as were the 68 steps we had to descend to enter the cave and later ascend to return to the surface. It seems that we were about 25-30 metres below the surface. Tree roots had also penetrated down into the cave. The roots of one tree have been traced to the actual tree above ground by inserting dye into the root and then testing trees above ground for the dye. It has a ribbon tied around it and is well visited.
The roots coming down this pillar were traced to the tree above ground
An intricate pillar and stalactites beside it.
There is a ‘half face, centre photo behind the stalactites; eye, nose, mouth and beard.
After our 3 nights here in Nelson we are now turning for home and will work our way up through western Victoria and into central NSW.
Portland
Portland claims it’s place as the birth place of Victoria with some pride. There are signs everywhere about it. The town was founded by whalers a year or so before Melbourne. The whalers had been coming across from the now Tasmania hunting seals and later whales. Today the town scape is dominated by its working harbour. The Portland Aluminium Smelter requires imports of its raw materials into the manufacturing complex and then exports the completed Aluminium ingots. It is a big operation, as is the pine log and wood chip export terminal. Allthego has never seen so many pine logs lined up for loading into ships and wood chips being stored beside the wharf. The big trucks bring these to the port. The trucks are then raised on ramps to almost 60 dg and the chips slide out the back onto the stockpile. This goes on all day, there seem to be 3 ramps operating at once. One wonders where all the timber comes from and when it will run out. The answer to that question came to us a few days later when we saw the vast pine plantations on the way further west to Nelson. There is plenty of wood out there! Added to this activity is the recent development of the town as a cruise port terminal. The town has about 12,000 residents and when a boat comes in with its 2,000 or so tourists a fair bit of activity is generated.
Portland Harbour
Pine log stockpile
Wood chip terminal, truck on ramp at left.
The town’s touristy highlight is the Portland Tram which rumbles along the waterfront 5 times a day, operating like a ‘hop on hop off’ bus. We enjoyed our ride around the town seeing the highlights. The Botanical Gardens were a particularly impressive stop with the rose displays and old restored gardener’s cottage.
Portland Tram
Botanic Gardens
Botanic Gardens
One of the area’s Lighthouses is on ‘Whaler’s Bluff’ directly behind us in the caravan park, the other is at Cape Nelson ,a few kilometres away. Both still operate.
Whaler’s Bluff Lighthouse
Cape Nelson Lighthouse
Cape Nelson Light Keepers houses.
We were lucky to be able to go out to the Gannet colony, on a point near the Aluminium smelter complex, and get inside the protective fence with our guide. This is the only mainland colony of these birds in Australia, the guide estimated there would be about a thousand birds here. There is an island out from this point that is swarming with the birds. They are so overcrowded there that a number ‘migrated’ to the mainland to start the new colony. They are quite big birds and have a wing span of about 175 cm. Amazing sight.
Gannets
Gannets
Gannet
Still further out of town is Cape Bridgewater, claimed to have one of the best beaches in Australia. The arc of white sand stretches for miles and is in fact the rim of an ancient volcano’s caldera. We had lunch here overlooking the bay. Dominating the farm land along the coastline is a large wind farm. These wind turbines certainly look big out in the paddocks, but when you see the individual blades close up their size is appreciated. At 82 m long and weighing 40 tonnes they make an impressive sight on the back of the truck coming towards you.
Cape Bridgewater Beach
Wind turbine blade
A blade coming round the bend!
We have had a few days here in Portland and it is now time to move on to Nelson, 70 km west and almost in South Australia.
Port Fairy
We have now moved a little further west from Warrnambool to Port Fairy. Our travel plans had not involved stopping here but such was the exhausting 30 km drive down from Warrnambool that we felt we had to stop under the gigantic Norfolk Pines beside the Moyne River for a couple of nights. Port Fairy is a very pleasant town, retaining a village atmosphere and streetscapes from the 1800s. The fishing boat port is picturesque with the buildings along it residential rather than representative of an 1800s commercial port. It’s also very chilly here and the weather has turned a bit on us. Rain at night and cloudy, windy mornings. Generally though the sun has come out as the afternoon progresses.
Camp beside the Moyne River.
House beside the port.
Fishing wharf on the Moyne River
Griffiths Island masks the entrance to the Moyne River and is a haven for the Mutton Bird, the island is covered by nesting Mutton Birds, Shearwaters to the purist. It is a real maze of places where one can not walk because of these birds and their nesting habits in burrows beneath the vegetation! A walking track does go around the island and reveals some beautiful coastal scenery. The Port Fairy Lighthouse is a highlight of a visit to this town, standing near the entrance to the river.
Griffiths Island walk
Allthego stumbled over a fur seal cub, unfortunately it did not look too well. we later learned that it may have been recently weaned and may have survived.
Port Fairy Lighthouse on Griffith Island.
Numerous 1800s buildings remain. Unlike Warrnambool, the whole town has that ‘sea change’ appearance. The new seeming to seep into the old rather than having to overcome the resistance of the past. A recent tele movie “The Broken Shore ‘ was made around Port Fairy and it is described as a ‘atmospheric, character driven piece, quite dark and mysterious’. A crime plot but mixed with near town rivalries and ‘fractured lives coming together’. The house that features in the movie is on the outskirts of the town, near the links style golf course. It is like one of those manors on the Scottish coast cloaked in the weather of the moment and would add an eerie atmosphere to the movie. Must track down a dvd of this movie!
The ‘Broken Shore’ farm house.
The Caledonian Inn est 1844, claimed to be the oldest licensed hotel in Victoria.
Streetscape, 1800s homes
We next head further west to Portland, the founding town of Victoria. The weather appears to be on the improve, with the savage westerly abating!
Warnnambool
We have had a few interesting days in Warnnambool. It is the biggest place we have seen for over 3 weeks; 32,000 people live here. It is the technical end point of the Great Ocean Road and is the last stop on the railway line from Melbourne. It is a telling point that back in the early 1930s ‘we’ hacked a road out of the wilderness along the coast to here, built a railway further west to Port Fairy and then in the 1980s (?) closed it down! I think some people live here in Warrnambool and commute to the big smoke to work. It seems a very 1960/70 ish town, many of the houses have that look. Those 3 bedroom brick, red tile roof houses with the step back from the front lounge room, then there is the porch and a little further back is the third bedroom……there is a lot of these in town. I’m sure there are more ‘modern ‘ areas around but we didn’t see any, except for up at the Hopkins River mouth and the area near the whale sighting platform over looking the Bay.
Warrnambool port
Logan’s Beach, viewpoint for whale watching.
Middle Island, the pink blotches are native flower patches.
Some nice old buildings have been preserved around the town, no longer hosting their original purpose but retaining their facades; if not ‘defaced’ by today’s marketing ‘graffiti’. We enjoyed the movie ‘Ladies in Black’ at the old revamped Capitol Cinema. The old 1800s bakery was a highlight, we later saw an old historic bread cart at Flagstaff Hill. The old Boathouse on the river is now a restaurant and function centre.
H.H.Smith Bakery of 1885
The local school
Capitol Cinema
Warnnambool’s history story is actually quite tightly controlled within the confines of the Flagstaff Hill complex. All that needs to be known seems to be here. The Ship Wreck Coast gets a good run, but underlying that are also the stories of the early settlement days, particularly whaling. Flagstaff Hill is a ‘model’ early/mid 1800s village seaport. It is very well done, with much of the infrastructure and displays consisting of original items from the era. Indeed some of it is constructed from ship wreck materials, including slate roofing tiles from England. We also enjoyed the Light Show depicting the seafaring and whaling history, along with the Loch Ard ship wreck saga. The story of the ‘survival’ and subsequent display of the china peacock is amazing.
Flagstaff Hill comolex
Local blacksmith demonstrating old skills on 1860s bellows.
Allthego demonstrating the use of pulleys.
H H Smith baker cart
Paul Jennings had an exhibition at the Art gallery, took over most of the space. Entertaining stop.
Along with two humans this china peacock survived the Loch Ard shipweck
Another landmark for the town is the Fletcher Jones manufacturing complex, long closed. Some of my readers may remember Fletcher Jones, they specialised in men’s trousers. They started out in the late 1940s, manufacturing trousers in Warrnambool and then retailing them off around Australia in company owned stores. Every one in those days wanted a pair of Fletcher Jones. Allthego in his younger days remembers the Fletcher Jones store in Parramatta and in more recent years there was one in Indooroopilly, using the brand name but made o’seas in you know where. Today most of the complex is in mothballs, except for an area occupied by ‘antique’ sellers. Well manicured gardens surround the entrance to the complex. Some of the ‘antiques’ could perhaps be labelled otherwise, but it is an enormous collection of stuff, you could spend hours wandering through the place. Allthego could see little gems of memorabilia everywhere, Homealone was not that impressed with the opportunities. Nothing was acquired!
The gardens at the Fletcher Jones complex.
Homealone is pretty certain she has this album at home.
Bit of everything here
We are now heading off further west to Port Fairy for a couple of nights. It’s a long drive of about 35 km. The wind has really got up and Warrnambool is living up to its name as a windy place.
A day out eating
Having seen plenty of rocks we decided to head inland for a day along the Twelve Apostles Gourmet Food Trail. Allthego thinks the word ‘gourmet’ gets a bit overdone these days, with all sorts of characters claiming there ‘artisan’ produce is ‘gourmet’ and deserving of a big price tag. Any way a number of local ‘artisan’ people have got together and linked their establishments on a trail through the Port Campbell hinterland. It’s a pleasant drive through rolling green pastures and hills covered in dairy cows. These cows give up most of their milk for the benefit of the large Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co Ltd and their competitor Bega.
These cows seem to be growing in the grass!
GORGE chocolates
A milk tanker charged past us.
As we know the farmers are complaining about the price they get. So a few of them have set about value adding by getting into small-scale cheese making and milk bottling under their own labels. We visited two of these establishments and the cheeses were quite nice, although a bit on the ‘mild’ side. We couldn’t resist a small tub each of gelato at the Apostle Whey cheesery made from their own milk. The chocolates at GORGE chocolates were excellent, as were the freshly picked strawberries at Berry World.
Apostle Whey Cheese
Apostle Whey’s blue vein, some readers may recall Victoria’s premier of the mid late 60s.
Apostle Whey’s new take on the Loch Ness’s creature.
Down at the Timboon Whisky Distillery we had lunch and a taste of their two single malt whiskeys. One was a bit on the light side and the other of more substance, meaning Allthego thought it was superior. As was the price! Allthego learnt something today. The Scots spell ‘whisky’ without an ‘e’ whereas the Irish spell ‘whiskey’ with an ‘e’. The Americans, with their Irish heritage spell it with an ‘e’. Australians on the other hand don’t care and just drink both.
The still at Timboon
The garden at Timboon Cheesery, apple tree in full bloom.
We had guiding arrows
Only a couple of minor disappointments on this trail. The olive place wasn’t open, the owner had gone off somewhere we were told for 3 months and would be back soon. The owner of the Sow and Piglets Brewery outlet in Port Campbell (Allthego had tried a pale ale here) was on the Trail committee and he told Allthego that the olive owner, Aldo, was a good guy but was a bit loose in commitment to the Trail. He also said the Berry World lady, also on the committee, was really nice but a bit eccentric, because she walked around all the time with a white cockatoo on her shoulder. This sounds like a committee Allthego would like to be on!
The other disappointment was that the Sow and Piglets production brewery was also closed, but would be opening for ‘the season’ the next day. So much for the advertised German sausages on the BBQ and a splash of Kölsch! We thought about coming back for the opening, but didn’t. Just as an aside, the Twelve Apostles and Mutton Bird Island (the Loch Ard ran aground against it) which is just nearby were named the ‘Sow and Piglets’ by an early navigator. They only became the Twelve Apostles in the 1930s.
Sow & Piglets outlet window in Port Campbell
But the BIG DISAPPOINTMENT was that Simpson Snails, the snail farm, had closed down! We had driven up and down a road for half an hour trying to find it, before being told at one of the cheese places of its demise. Great disappointment. It had been sold and the new owner had closed it down, she was the Simpson (a small village) publican. The cheese lady thought it was all a bit sus and something was a foot, maybe even a conspiracy of some sort. But, the snails have not gone into their shells and not come out, they have just moved on……slowly. As it turns out one of the ladies at Berry World told us that it was to reopen, but based at the Simpson pub. This very same lady was going to be there the next day at the opening helping serve plates of snails done 4 ways, with a glass of bubbles. Another reason to come back the next day! Another time perhaps.
After a great day out in the country we headed back to Port Campbell with some supplies for the road ahead and to share at Christmas (maybe!) upon our return to Brisbane. The produce was all good and reasonable prices too, that whiskey though….. Allthego will have to hide it! We needed to pack up, as we were heading off to Warrnambool the next day.
Allthegobro 