Back to "The Big Island"

Woke Saturday morning to a very damp campsite, not many roos in sight. Drove westwards through eucalyptus forest and scrub, stopping at Rustic Blue Gallery and cafe for breakfast as the weather steadily improved, admiring the local (and owners') artwork, buying a few souvenirs, looking at pics of the devastating bush fires here in December 2007 (the other side of paradise!). Then in full sun, but cool wind, walked the boardwalk in Seal Cove, the magnificent sealions basking on the beach and frolicing in the surf rolling in from the Southern Ocean, both of us also taken up by the spectacular beachrock in the cliffs! On to Kingscote, the "capital village", with all of 1400 inhabitants, where we watched the daily ritual at 5 pm of feeding the pelicans - and as the picture shows, the gulls were also in on the game! For once a clear sunset........

Woke Sunday to a lovely sunup, ate our bacon and egg butties at the local cafe, then on to Emu Bay, famous for its spectacular Cambrian fossils, but also a gorgeous unspoiled beach, with even more pelicans to photo. Then on to the ferry back to "The Big Island" (aka Australia) after what we agreed had been a lovely relaxing but also instructive 3 days out on "The Little Island".

Then drove up and across the Fleurieu Peninsula's rolling hills and pastoral landscapes to the next geological locality - boulders and scoured pavements giving the evidence for the ice-age that gripped the southern continents about 280 million years ago - A little disappointing (but then we're used to much more convincing evidence of the last ice age back home!), as was the "Thai" meal at Victor Harbour before a so-called "ice cream" which had never been near a cow! Decided to make it a 1-night stand in VH - a nice enough (touristy) place, but not worth a full day's stay just to take a horse tram out to Granite Island and not particularly wanting to see the whaling museum (a depressing bit of history of hunting to near extermination!). Monday another lovely day, pushing 30 degrees and clear blue sky. After wandering around Victor Harbour we started on the Great Ocean Road back to Melbourne, 330 km past Goolwa (aboriginal for "elbow") just behind the Murray Mouth, then over the Murray River itself by ro-ro cable ferry.

Then south behind the almost 150 km long barrier bar and lagoonal system of the Coorong National Park (meaning either "long neck" or "sand dune", either would fit! Strange how the early Australlians seemed determined to exterminate the aborigines, but adopted their placenames!). Stopped to see pelican rookeries out in the lagoon, lovely unspoiled nature: a real outback feeling, then to see the site of the first exploratory oil well in Australia, drilled in 1866, with a replica of the original well..... David remembering careers advice in 1964 when he first graduated - "No future for geologists in Australia!" What a laugh, just 2 years on the first major gas discovery was made in 1966, then the big iron and other new metal ore discoveries, then oil in the 70s and on we go, now there's an insatiable need for geologists...... Ah well, too late now!

Finally to Robe, a pleasant little seaside town and fishing port, with a lovely spot for the camper looking down on yet another gorgeous unspoiled beach.... Robe's historic in Ozz terms, established as a port in 1847 and during the Gold Rush around Ballarat 10 years later, over 16,000 Chinese people landed at Robe to walk over 300 km overland to the goldfields, as Victoria introduced a landing tax of £10 per person (more than the cost of their voyage) to reduce the number of Chinese immigrants.......