Perfect Port Fairy

Since returning to Port Fairy (after a few windy days on Fitzroy River, just down the road) we have utterly exploited our time; day and night.  Bob and Leanne returned home early and generously offered their site to us, which we accepted with unabashed glee.

We spend a day at Port Fairy’s beach and I relish in playing seal-like in the rolling surf.  The waves beautiful today – perhaps because the wind is coming in from the ocean – and I can bob and duck into and around large smooth waves as Jase body-surfs his way back to shore again and again and again.  We sip cold beer and watch children build sandcastles which are inevitably demolished by a high incoming tide.

Jase has been working nights, washing dishes in the local Italian restaurant.  It’s quite posh – check out their menu...

We take a trip to Warrnambool and enjoy Yum Cha for lunch, which includes the most delectable glutinous rice treats, and custard tarts taken straight from the oven and still piping hot. 

We also take pleasure in a long long stroll along the boardwalk, from the wharf up through to viewing platforms where you can gaze at Middle Island and other ancient rock structures, as well as take in awesome views back across the wharf and its beautiful beaches.  Children somersault into the water from the jetty whilst optimistic men drop a line in and hope to catch their supper (of fish, not children!).   The afternoon air warms up nicely and we are treated to a bright blue sky.  If only I chose to wear shorts today and not a dress, which risks flying up to my ears in rough winds!

Back home, the winds have been abrupt and violent, and nearby campers are forced to batten down hatches, pull down awnings, and hide in their camp.  Another Harry Potter movie and a cup of brewed coffee perhaps?

A couple of days later, Jase announces that he has planned a nice afternoon and evening in Port Fairy.   We pack a few provisions into 2 backpacks and walk into town where we purchase some sliced ham, goats cheese and a loaf of crusty bread.  Jase then leads me to the chocolate shop where he orders “Two rounds of the chocolate tasting plate please”.  Luscious morsels of chocolate are placed artistically on tow plates, surrounding a small cup of traditional hot chocolate.  The flavours are delightful: rich, soft, smooth, sweet, bitter.  All my faves.

We then walk to, and around, Griffith Island, where we decide to stop and eat our dinner of cold meats, cheeses, quince jam, pate and pickles, and Jase opens one of the bottles of French wine that he was given as a ‘thank you’ for working at the local Italian restaurant, L’Edera, for a couple of weeks.   

We are not alone; little black eyes are watching us.... (can you 'spot the aussie' in the next 5 photos?)

Then it’s off to view the muttonbirds returning home for the evening, before we too, return home, via the wharf and mariner, while the whole town of Port Fairy sleeps.

Shearwater colony

Griffith Island is home to a large colony of shearwaters (otherwise known as muttonbirds), which migrate here each year to breed and raise their young.  During daylight the parents take off to sea to catch the day’s food and at night, when it’s almost completely dark, they return to the colony in their thousands, to feed their chicks, which reside in nests within burrows along the ground. 

This is a real spectacle – just as it gets dark, you start to wonder if these birds will ever arrive, then you spot a couple in the distance.  Before you have a chance to get excited, flocks of muttonbirds swarm the skies – they number in their thousands – and in silence, circle the air a few times before swooping into their burrows.

MOVIE:

Speedway!Speedway!Speedway!

The roar of engines, the putrid smell of smoke and carbon monoxide, and the echoes of the caller's voice will abuse your ears and nose.

As you stuff yourself with hot dogs and hot chips, you will be pelted with globules of clay, as each vehicle makes a turn around the track, but you will laugh and smile with delight.

Men will risk their bodies as they entrust their skills and abilities to a race in which at least one injury is possible, or even probable.

The colours and lights will dazzle you and the decibel rate will leave you wide eyed and exhilirated.

Welcome to the Warnnambool SPEEDWAY.


There are little cars and big cars.  Here are the little cars......

And here is the result of a little bingle....  They use cranes to move the vehicles, or to prise them apart.  We saw this many times during the evening.

Happy New Year!

Fireworks, a town parade, and a carnival, is what draws us to Port Fairy, year after year.

This year, of course Tam & Paul have joined us, to help us celebrate the closing of 2011.  Tony, Rebecca, Theabella, Christopher and Rebecca’s parents also join us on the streets to enjoy the festivities.  The street parade is themed "Carnival", and floats and exhibitions are vibrant, as paraders don wigs, wild make up and exuberant costumes. 

A quick game or two of pool soon follows at the local pub The Star, in which Team Jase-Tam kicks Team Paul-Eve’s bum until the final match (for “The Champions of the Wooorrrrrld!!!”), in which Paul turns the game around and wins in a nailbiting shot.

We wander through the carnival to gawk at the usual stuff: stale fairy floss and soggy hot chips, carnies taking money from unsuspecting children and grandmothers, aloof teenagers impressing each other, and squeals of delight from the various rides on offer.

On the banks of the Moyne River, families gather and count down to midnight in an unsynchronised fashion until interrupted by the crack and whistle of the annual fireworks display.

This is a brilliant way to conclude a year and a brilliant way to welcome the new.
Happy New Year to everybody!

The year that was 2011

31st December 2011

Gosh, this day sees the closing of 2011.  Surreal!

2011 was a mindblowing, incredible, awesome year, with too many highlights to rank in any order.  But, here is a brief summary of the year....


January

• Camping at Port Fairy with Rebecca, Tony, Bob, Leanne, Paul, Kirsten and all the kids
• Our first free stop at Jackass
• A safari drive and power-walk at Tower Hill, including watching a lazy koala and curious emus
• 3 days camping at Pritchards; fishing from the Zodiac and playing guitar by campfire, and watching flitting Fairy Wrens go about their business
• Frighteningly heavy rains at Nelson, and going to the pub for a schnitzel while water dripped down the kitchen walls
• Meeting Drew, Amanda and Clinton, and going skin-diving/spear fishing to find abalone and lobster
• Staying overnight between rows of pine trees at a plantation in "the middle of nowhere"
• Bicycle wine tour at Penola
• Seafood basket and fishing at Kingston
• Camping in quiet isolation at the Coorong
• Comorants herding fish at the Coorong
• Collecting cockles at Goolwa
• Historic buildings and the best-ever fish'n'chips at Port Elliott
• Riding the Horse Tram at Victor Harbour
• A fishing frenzy on the beach at Newland Head

 

The rains at Nelson

 

Bicycling at the Penola wineries

 

Collecting Goolwa cockles

 

The Victor Harbour Horse Tram

 February

• Wineries at Mclarenvale
• Snorkelling at Aldinga with new friends The Dutch
• Buying the Weeeeber
• Big Day Out & Soundwave festival at Adelaide
• Linke's butchers
• Maggie Beer's kitchen!
• Wineries at the Barossa
• Free stops at charming Swan Reach and Mannum, and views of the very swollen Murray River 
• Taking a 18km walk around/through/over Mt Remarkable
• Wild weather and dolphins at Arno Bay
• Farmers market at Port Lincoln
• Meeting Pete the Larrakin
• Feeding wild kangaroos at Surfleet
• Watching a millionaires yacht regatta, near Port Lincoln



The new Weeber and a visit to Linke's



Fun at local wineries

 

Maggie Beers' garden


March

• Buying dive gear and harvesting sea urchins and razor fish at Burners Beach
• Dolphins and Siberians at Burners Beach
• Ethel Shipwreck
• Innes historical town
• Dressing up "ye Olde" at Burra
• Clare Rodeo
• The Riesling Trail and Clare wineries
• Bushwalking at Redbanks
• Spectacular views at Hancocks Lookout



Innes Historic Town



Clare Rodeo

Having fun in costume at Burra

April

• Spud's
• Exploring the X-Files strangeness of Woomera
• Tour in the opal tunnels, church and homes at Coober Pedy
• The Breakaways - spectacular views of the red (ummmm.... green) centre
• 11km base walk around Uluru
• Hike across Kings Canyon
• A crazy, rattly, frightening 180km drive across the Meneenie Loop, fishtailing across bull dust and scotting across river crossings
• Swimming in the cold waters of Ormiston Gorge and wlaking along Redbanks Gorge
• Jase securing work at Glen Helen Outback Resort

  

Seeing Uluru for the first time



Rim walk of Kings Canyon



The Meneenie Loop


May

• Taking a 4WD trek through Roman Gorge
• Ochre Pits
• Walking around Gosse Bluff
• Taking a helicopter ride over Glen Helen
• Staying at the Devils Marbles with a million other free-campers
• Lying on a lilo on the Roper River, just south of crocodile territory
• Walking up and around Edith Falls and swimming in the Mataranka Thermal Pools
• Staying at Mt Bundy Station, a working farm
• Spending a few days at Litchfield National Park, near Kakadu, and walking, swimming and exploring the region, including a large swamp teeming with wildlife, and an old tin mine
• Trekking through the bush with tents, doona, guitars and beer to spend the night in the bush at Litchfield



Jase working at the bar at Glen Helen



Helicopter ride



Camping at Litchfield

 June

• Markets, beach and outdoor cinema at Darwin
• Fishing from the jetty at Darwin
• Enduring squillions of ravenous mosquitoes at Beatrice Hill
• Termite mounds and blackened ground at Sullivans Creek and surrounding regions
• A few wild days at El Questro, an adventure playground for grown-ups with 4WDs
• Hiring a boat and fishing for Barramundi
• Fishing right off the shore outside our campsite, with the threat of crocs looming
• Getting bogged in a muddy riverbed and using the winch for the first time
• Emma Gorge & Zebedee Springs
• Humungous boabs in the Kimberley
• The Rum Distillery at Kununurra
• 4WD driving along Saddleback Ridge
• Full 2 hour drive along a dirt rock-track to the Bungle Bungles and then setting up the 2-man tent for camping there overnight (the van was left on the side of the road with a bunch of other vans)
• Hiking along the Bungle Bungles, complete with snakes, birds-of-prey, water moniters and termite mounds
• Spending a few quiet and glorious days at isolated Caroline Springs
• Visiting the questionable and dodgy Old Halls Creek township
• Flocks of eagles sitting along the power lines wating for scraps, like seagulls
• Working at the IGA at Fitzroy Crossing



Fishing for barramundi



Getting bogged in a riverbank



The Bungle Bungles

July

• Fitzroy Crossing Rodeo
• Beautiful Fitzroy River
• A few quiet days in Broome
• Getting the caravan bogged on the sand at Quondong Point
• Helping other 4WDers out of the sand at Quandong
• Flocks of quail at Quondong
• Holding a baby crocdile at Malcolm Douglas's wildlife park
• Waking up on my 40th birthday at De Grey River and having a group of grey nomads sing me Happy Birthday
• Birthday dinner at "The Mess" in Port Hedland with the local mining community
• Catching catfish at the Balla Balla
• Being given GT (trevally) at the Balla by a friendly couple who caught more than they could eat
• A Manta Ray leaps out of the water like a bird in a spectacular display of agility and strength
• Karaoke at Onslow with grey nomads and miners
• Wandering through the Old Onslow township
• Watching families of budgerigars for days at peaceful Five Mile Creek

FX Rodeo ("rough as guts")

Our camping spot at Quandong Point

Holding a baby croc!

Observing the daily life of a group of budgerigars at Five Mile Creek

August

• Snorkelling and fishing for a couple of weeks at Ningaloo Reef, near Exmouth
• Snorkelling at Turquoise Bay (better than Great Barrier Reef I reckon)
• Seeing my first shark whilst underwater
• Swimming with the turtles at Turquoise Bay
• A school of sharks circling our Zodiac as we gut fish offshore at Ningaloo
• Being given a large bluefin tuna fillet by some friendly guys camping near us
• Wildflowers galore at Murchison River and Coalseam
• Watching pods of humpback whales at Exmouth and Kilbarri
• Spectacular coastline walk along Kilbarri
• Walking through the historic (and crumbling) Lynton Hiring Station
• Farmers Market, honey farms, the Leaning Tree, and old churches at Geraldton
• Solar panels installed on the caravan in Geraldton
• Greenough Historical Settlement

September

• A few lazy days at Cliff Head
• Fishing at Jurien Bay
• An 8km walk up the mountain at Lesueuer National Park
• The marvellous and amazing Pinnacles
• Wineries and breweries of the Swan Valley
• Delectable German fare
• Bloody big trucks hauling bigger truck parts go zooming by all over the place
• Visiting historic Guildford and enjoying its antique stores and bakery
• Visiting Uncle Ivar and Aunty Shirley in Fremantle
• Native orchids and other flowers everywhere
• Guided tour through Freo Prison
• Perth, and importantly, Perth's Chinatown
• Our first overnight hike: Section 1 of the Bibbulmun Track



The Pinnacles



Section 1 of the Bibbulmun Track



Fremantle Prison

October

• Two more lengths of the Bibbulmun Track (ond very very very sore feet)
• Free camping outside the Visitors Centre at Pinjarra
• Historic buildings and art galleries
• Charming and delightful Margaret River (food, wine, wine, wine and wool, and wine)
• Ben Merito chills us out at the pub at Margaret River
• Vintage cars, great coffee and chocolate, buskers and bakeries adorn Margaret River
• Stay at a working farm and be woken by sheep shearers
• Visitng Patricia Negus' home
• Walk into the depths of Lake Cave
• Baby kangaroos in the Visitors Centre at Pemberton
• Tram ride from Hell
• Glousester Tree climb
• First look at the Red Tingle trees at the Valley of the Giants
• Tree top walk at the Valley of the Giants
• Whaleworld - good family fun for everyone!

Good family fun at Whaleworld

Lake Cave

Treetop walk at the Valley of the Giants

November

• Fishing at Normans Beach
• Expensive souvenirs at Ballaondia, the western end of the Nullabor
• Crossing the Nullabor
• TrooperTrek 2011 - a Storm Trooper walking the desert in full costume
• Spending a glorious week at Haslam, a small oyster settlement near Streaky Bay
• Oysters oysters oysters
• Catching squid form the jetty at Haslam
• Back at Clare for fine food and wine
• Home to Nearly Creek

View of the coast from the Nullabor

Buying oysters right off the boat at Haslam

Trooper Trek

December

• James turns 21
• Dad comes down from Qld for a couple of days
• Christmas
• Endless parties and catching up!



Home: Nearly Creek



James on his 21st



Christmas Day: Nana (Kate), Rielle, Mum (Trudy) and me