Phillip Island, Victoria

The NSW school holidays have come around and we thought it was time we all needed to get away for a family holiday.  We set off first with the kids and J&J followed 2 days later.  

Phillip Island is just south of Melbourne and 5 hours south of Finley.  It is famous for it’s Little  Penguin colony which come ashore each evening and for the Grand Prix race track. Many of the islands towns are named after the Isle of Wight in England.

First couple of days: Chocolatier and Icecreamery,  Spew Hill sand dunes, Churchill Island Heritage Farm, Pelican Feeding, a Playground crawl and 6 geocaches to find - a busy couple of days.

We are staying in an Air BnB at Cowes which sleeps 11. Well equipped and very comfy. Short walk to the beach.

Spew Hill...one of Phillip Is best kept secrets.  We had it all to ourselves.

I had the final go.  We went back a couple of days later for another go, with the tide in.

Churchill Island Heritage Farm.  Once privately owned, now a conservation park run by the Phillip Island Nature Park 

Goodbye to MaDric

Friday 13th April. The day finally came around that we had to say goodbye to MaDric as he left for his new home in Hervey Bay back up in Qld.  I was quite sad, and sentimental, but knew it was time.  We’ve had some fabulous camping trips between Cairns and Melbourne.... he won’t be forgotton.

Friday was also Derek’s first anniversary of his retirement.  It has gone really fast and he is feeling on top of the world.  Lots more places to visit and friends to catch up with.  We are adjusting to life in Finley in our down time, the grand children keep us very busy. They are at a great age and lots of fun.  Sleepovers, bike riding (now all 4 can ride we all go off on our bikes) sports, adventures, and general baby sitting.

Hiking adventure with the grand kids on The Horn on top of Mt Buffalo, Vic.

Seriously? #9

Aboriginal legend says the Platypus is a cross between a duck and a rat

Wangarrata - Ovens River walk (on our bike ride)

Seriously? #8

Wangarrata - Ovens River walk

Bush Camping

We wanted to get to know MaDiE better, so no better place than a few days in National Parks and the head waters of the Murray River in the Cooryong region of Victoria.

All went well, except the 2 house batteries couldn’t sustain  the solar power during the evening that we generated during the day, and our ensuite toilet had a small leak from the flush water.   2 new batteries later, we were back in business, and Derek has fixed the leak we hope.  

A bit of hiking and walks made for a top week.

Burrowa and Pine Mountain National Park - Bluff Creek, Bluff Falls (trickle) and Campbells Lookout (lots of rock scrambling to get above the falls to the lookout)

Beautiful Gadds Bend near Jinjilic, on the Murray River - will certainly be heading back here

Taking a moment on the Great Victorian Rail Trail near Mansfield

Seriously? #7

Half way up Mt Buller, a Gnome Home.

Mansfield, Mt Buller, Craig’s Hut

Mansfield was a great town to base ourselves so we could explore the Victorian Alpine district close to Melbourne. Mt Buller was accessed by a bitumen road which offered a very scenic 40 min drive up a not too windy road. The town of Mt Buller is right on the top of the mountain and the summit was easily reached via a 6km nature walk (which we did) or a gravel road to the base and the last couple of hundred metres was straight up! 

Its hard to imagine the beautiful scenery covered in snow.

Mt Buller is 1805m above sea level. It was very interesting to be walking under all of the chair lifts, and difficult to imagine it all covered in snow.  I wanted to check out the resorts accessibilty for a day trip of skiing....just in case we get the chance this year. The view was 360deg of awesome, another great spot to have our lunch, although a little hazy due to bush fires in the distance.  Had a nice chat with the guy in the fire station on the summit. We explored the town for a short while then visited a few of the beaten track camping grounds for future reference.

Next day we did some off road driving along the Mt Stirling Circuit Rd..70 km of dirt which winded up and down fern lined ash tree mountains behind Mt Buller. We visited one of the many Alpine huts.... Craig’s Hut via the 4WD access track which was perched on Mt Stirling.  The hut is the most famous and most photographed hut in Australia as it was built in 1982 as part of the set for the movie Man From Snowy River.  We’ll have to watch it now. However it did burn down in bush fires in 2006, totally rebuilt and reopened in 2008.

We stayed for over an hour, had lunch, and again were the only one’s there for most of it, and it was open to walk in side.  It is so amazing how pioneers coped on only horseback, moved cattle and sheep around the mountains and survived freezing conditions.  There is free camping nearby, but as it was brisk enough there at the moment, I imagine January would be a better time to camp.

The next day we packed up MaDiE (she is so cutie) and parked her up at the Visitor Information Centre, took our bikes out of the back of the Landcruiser and set off along part of the Victorian Great Rail Trail to Mainsdample....28km return.  Whilst it was a fairly flat trail, we still had a great work out and enjoyed the countryside.

Glad they built a new bridge!

Retirement....where bikes can just sit and watch others ride by,

Maiden Voyage

We are sad to be parting with our campervan MaDric as it has been sold and will be getting transported up to Hervey Bay in Qld shortly. Such mixed feelings, but before it went I wanted to have our first trip away in MaDiE (Michelle and Derek in Eden). Yes, Eden is the brand, but we are hoping it will prove to be our little slice of Paradise!

We thought we would  just do a small trip just 2 hours away at the foot of the Victorian Alpine district, Mansfield. It was fun packing and getting the caravan sorted out, new linen etc, and still tons of room and storage.

Not bad parking for first go, pretty straight and close to the slab.  Got everything to work except hot water system.

We are giving it the thumbs up, it was comfy, roomy and great to have a descent 4WD to go offroad....and hopefully we will not miss MaDric too much.

Packing Cubes - why wasn’t I told?

I have purchased 2 sets of packing cubes from Zoomlite online.  They are fabulous for keeping our clothes organised, and you can fit heaps in them if you roll your clothes.  We have had to relook at how we travel/pack, with only 7 kg hand luggage allowance on domestic flights.  My hand luggage case weighs 3.5kg empty, so that will be getting swapped out for my new backpack which weighs in at just under 1kg.  

Packing them, t shirts in one, shorts and long pants in another, jumpers another, undies another.

Fit neatly in my draw in our Caravan