Thursday 19th February 2015 – back on the road again.

Thursday 19th February 2015

Up at the usual time now, just before 8am and we had our Weetbix breakfast with coffee and got sorted – it is a lovely sunny morning and promises to be a hot one. We were on the road for ten and heading towards Portland, past Tower Hill in fairly busy but reasonably fast traffic. Once we left the conurbation, the traffic thinned considerably and we enjoyed the scenery as we stayed on the A1 all the way to Portland. We even heard Leo Sayer on local radio, played to celebrate and plug his upcoming concert appearance. Local radio here really is local!

At Portland we parked up at the Tourist info place which is in the harbour and it part of a Maritime Discovery Centre across from the busy docks where a big boat of sand was loading up. Sue had a another long chat with the volunteer there and came out armed with maps and tips. First stop was a photo op in the quaint town centre on Bentinck Street then we drove down the main shopping street and turned left onto Bridgewater Road.

Our destination is Cape Bridgewater, where there is a really interesting and positively spooky petrified forest. Again great free parking and a well marked path. We had a good walk to the forest and took loads of photos then walked to the Blow Holes which are rock formations of basalt and scoria rocks which create spectacular spouts of sea spray. There is also a big viewing platform to watch the Blue Whales that feed close to shore in this area – unfortunately none were in evidence this morning.

Our next stop was the Tarragal Cave and Bridgwater Lake – both of which gave good photo ops and chance to walk in the sun. The cave was a bit of a climb from the road but the rocks and the views made it worthwhile. On the way back to the Main Road, I saw a big brown snake slithering at the side of the road, we spun round but it was gone – seeing a dead one in the road a mile or two further on wasn’t quite the same.

Carrying on our next destination was Mount Gambier, further along the A1. On the way we passed over the State Line from Victoria to South Australia and as well as dire warnings about bringing fruit into the state, we also had to set our watches back half an hour, something we have never had to do before.

At Mount Gambier we parked up in some really good under cover (free) parking and had a walk in search of a late lunch We found a cafe and bakery called Metro and I had a bacon and cheese pie whilst Sue had a chicken sandwich and we both had a lovely coffee – it is really hot now, but we managed a walk round yet another very nice town centre. The main attraction in Mount Gambier is a blue lake which is just that – a remarkably coloured lake in the town with the now expected parking and viewing facilities laid on -we passed a very pleasant half hour or more climbing and walking and taking loads of snaps.

The radio news as we have been traveling has been about two cyclones (Hurricanes in the northern hemisphere) that are going to hit Australia tonight and tomorrow – one is going to hit the Northern Territories and one is going to hit Queensland – not good when we fly up there in a couple of days time.

Pressing on we headed for Robe, where we had booked a night in the Robetown Motel for the night. Sue took over the driving after a bit and took us all the way into Robe – we arrived before 5pm which was good going. The motel was easy to find and we checked into a very nice clean and airy unit number 9 without a problem. The lady checking us in, who I assume was the owner gave me a map and marked up all the good local restaurants and places on interest.

After unpacking and catching up on wi-fi we decided to have a walk onto the beach – we changed into flip flops and I put my trunks on and we walked past some lovely houses and a very busy caravan site to Hooper’s beach and then to the Town Beach – the sea is lovely and clear, the beach has really soft sand, but the water is COLD! We both had a bit of a paddle but didn’t bother with a swim!

Making our way up to the tourist info centre, which was closed, we took photos of another impressive war memorial then waled down the main shopping street – Victoria Street back towards the motel – nearly of the shops were closed even though it wasn’t six yet – a lot closed at 4pm.

The local supermarket was open so we got milk, and ice cream each and a cake for sweet tonight, then went back to the unit to freshen up and change. Once we were sorted we had a drive out in search of food – we also drove to the harbour where all of the lobster boats land their catch and up to The Obelisk at the top of the town overlooking Cape Dombey – where we saw a wonderful sunset and took some arty photos.

After a bit of a debate about food we finished up at the Robe Hotel, which is a huge place doubling up as a pub, a hotel, a bottle store and a bit of a casino. It was really busy, and we couldn’t get a table in the restaurant immediately but lovely staff suggested we ate in the bar. After we had decided Sue went to order and they had sorted us a table in the restaurant – a nice touch.

Sue had a fish called flathead with mashed potato and spinach – I had fajitas which were both chicken and beef and were a LOT of food – there was also a salad bar included in the very reasonable price of the meal – fortunately they took Visa, as we are running low on cash and didn’t fancy coppering up in the bar!

Back to the motel to sort and get sorted. We also booked what looks like a very nice hotel in Port Douglas near Cairns for three nights using an offer from Amex Platinum Travel.

Trip – 967 KM – 401 today.