Day 21 & 22. We booked into Bendigo Showgrounds for two nights so on the Saturday we decided to do the touristy things. It was a cloudy & very cool morning so we thought our first stop should be Bendigo Pottery, hoping that the sun would be out later for the rest of the touristy things that need to be done in Bendigo. Bendigo Pottery is Australia’s oldest pottery, founded in 1858, and probably Australia’s best known pottery too. It has a very distinctive style and it’s products are sold Australia wide. The large bottle kilns were interesting with all the inside being salt glazed from the numerous firings and the display of their wares was impressive, we tried not to spend to much.
Next to the Central Deborah gold mine where we went on an hour long underground tour of the second level of this 17 level mine. It was a most interesting hour with our miner’s helmets and miners battery pack and lamp on. We were shown quartz veins carrying the gold and how the miners used to work compared to how they work now. The weather hadn’t improved when we surfaced, in fact the wind had even more bite to it. A trip around Bendigo on the “talking” tram was enjoyable even if we alighted somewhat frozen. We hen went for a wander around town and checked out the gardens and the beautiful sandstone buildings in the town. Bendigo was a very rich town with 22 million ounces of gold being mined here since it was first discovered in 1851. The buildings that were built here reflect those riches and make it a very interesting town to visit.
A very cold night but we had the heater on and turned it off after we climbed into bed. Woke up early and saw the sun rise into a clear blue sky but that didn’t make it any warmer. As we were camped at the show grounds we also woke up in the middle (well just on the edge) of the Sunday Markets, so before we left we spent a pleasant hour or so strolling around and cheking out the local wares. As we left we had our final drive down Bendigo’s main street with the sun shining.
We filled with diesel and left for Ballarat. We drove down to Castlemain and had morning tea in the Botanic gardens then on through grazing & grain country to Carrisbrook to Maryborough. We wanted to see these places as this is the area where my friend, John Dowling, was brought up and my sister in-law’s family is from this area dating from the gold rush days. Had lunch & watched a game of Australian Rules in Maryborough, wandered though the railway station, which they claim is the longest in Australia and dates from 1860. We then drove on through Talbot, Clunes and finally Creswick. These three towns were important gold mining areas in the 1850’s. Talbot had 56 hotels & a population of 33,000 but is now just a small village consisting of a few houses, a pub and a restaurant. Clunes was the site of the first worthwhile Victorian gold field and rich alluvial gold was found at Creswick making it an important town in the early days of the gold rush. We are now camped for the night in the forestry at Slatey Creek Camp Ground outside of Creswick where we have had a couple from Ballarat doing an inspection of the van.
Today we traveled 185.8 klms odometer reading 45025.8.
Kilometres between fuel stops 279.2, litres purchased 46.92, cost $53.44, klms/ltr 5.9506.
Day 23. Well we might have guessed that the sunny days couldn’t last and when we woke this morning it had all clouded up again. We drove on to Ballarat and arrived at 10am just in time for the opening of the gates at Sovereign Hill. We found it very impressive and a great day out. It has all been built to reflect the town of Ballarat in the late 1800’s with miner’s camps, a Chinese camp and a recreation of the buildings that were in the main street of Ballarat at that time. There are Cobb & Co coaches going around and people in period costume in each of the stores and displays. Alice bought herself a gold nugget just to get in to the spirit of things. But was it cold!! We then toured the Gold Museum which was also very good. We are now camped at the Eureka Stockade Caravan Park right next door to where the Eureka Uprising took place, we are looking forward to a tour of the place tomorrow morning before we head off for Melbourne with just one little detour.
Today we traveled 45.0 klms, odometer reading 45070.8
Day 24. Another cool & cloudy morning as we left for Melbourne. We drove down the motorway as far as Melton then over the Melton Highway and up to the Organ Pipes National Park on the Caulder Highway.
This is a small National Park whose main features are its rock formations in the creek bed that runs through it. After leaving the park we headed for Melbourne but I left the Motorway at the wrong turn & ended up at Dame Edna Everidges home town of Moonie Ponds, a place I have always wanted to see. After asking how we were going to find our way to Coburg from the proprietor of a mirror store we eventually arrived at our caravan park, our base for the next four days.
Today we traveled 132.1 klms, odometer reading 45202.9.
Kilometres between fuel stops 327.2, litres purchased 50.73, cost $56.77, klms/ltr 6.4498.
Days 25 & 26. We have a bus right at the front gate of the caravan park that runs to the trams at North Coburg. It’s a great service with a bus every half hour. On Wednesday we went into Melbourne and just drifted around the stores. Melbourne has some of the largest stores and best shopping in Australia. We got lost in the Myers store and eventually had to be escorted to the door as we just couldn’t find an exit. We went into a few book stores then into a huge Harvey Norman store. By this time Alice was looking for a place to rest and eventually found the home theatre section with comfortable leather chairs and a good movie on. I went off & bought myself a digital camera, we were both happy. On the tram home we worried if we would find the right tram stop to get off at but had no problems.
Thursday and we were back on the trams again and into town. Today we got off at Flinders Street and went down to Federation Square. The design of this place is both irregular and complex, It has a huge plaza as it’s core and not a square corner anywhere. It is a jumble of odd angles, jagged edges, doors that appear to be windows, the whole lot is covered with glass, sandstone and metal panels. It is the home to the Art Gallery of Victoria, Ian Potter Centre, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. We wandered the Moving Image Gallery first and found it very interesting with some quite amazing displays. The Art gallery of Victoria was excellent. There is quite a good collection of Australian art on display here and it was a thrill to see the originals of Tom Roberts’ “Shearing the Rams” as was Frederick McCubbin’s “The Pioneer” done on three panels, both these are very famous Australian paintings. Arthur Streeton, Hans Heyson, Rupert Bunny, Sidney Nolan William Dobell and many other well known Australian artists are well represented in the gallery and it is well worth a visit. A visit across the road to the famous Young & Jacksons Hotel 
for a look at the famous “Chloe” painting in the refurbished “Chloe Bar” then it was off to the Crown Casino for the afternoon. Alice found herself a stool in front of a machine & I wandered around watched the roulette, blackjack and was quite amazed at the number of Asian people who were gambling there. Then I had to find Alice among about 3,000 poker machines, if you knew Alice’s diversionary tactics when she is on the poker machines you would understand my dilemma. After finding her & convincing her it was time to go, it was back to the tram and back to the van park, we’ll do it again tomorrow.
Day 27. Went down to catch the tram this morning but after waiting for about 20 minutes we realized something must be wrong. A bus came along and told us the trams on the North Coburg line had had a breakdown so it was a very slow bus ride into the city. It was interesting though because people talk and one argued and being a lot slower we had a chance to look around. In the city we jumped on a No. 72 tram but when we reached Victoria Markets discovered we were going the wrong way so we jumped off again and caught a No.72 in the opposite direction. We alighted in Chapel Street, Perahn, this is a street with both sides lined with shops and boutiques for about 5 kilometres on both sides of the road. According to my guide book it is the place where the beautiful people of Melbourne hang out, so Alice and I wanted to be seen. We wandered around for a few hours then headed for the Queen Victoria Markets to kill the rest of the day. We eventually arrived home with our purchases for the day, two packets of roofing bolts, to fix my mud flaps, two porterhouse steaks, for tea tonight and two lamb chops for Alice. I forgot to mention that it was a beautiful sunny day, all day.
Day 28 & 29. We had just a quiet day today. We took a bus trip into North Coburg to do a bit of shopping and not much else.
Filled up with water and got everything ready to hit the road again. Our first stop was just down the road from the van park as I wanted to take a photo of 
the gates of Pentridge Gaol. This was the jail where the last man was hanged in Australia his name was Ryan. The place is no longer used as a jail but is being redeveloped as a housing state with units & homes all being built behind the walls, yes all the walls still remain as do the watch towers and some of the original buildings. We then headed for Geelong and stopped for morning tea, the skies had all grayed up again and a cool wind was blowing. The waterfront around Geelong is really nice with walkways, picnic areas and sculptures all around the beaches but we had to get on our way because the next part of the trip is one of the highlights, The Great Ocean Road, we have been looking forward to this part of the trip for quite a while. The Great Ocean Road has been described as one of the great coastal drives of the world, especially from Anglesea to Apollo Bay. The roads hugs the sea side as you pass great surfing beaches then climb the hills to drive along the cliff tops. There are some fabulous lookouts along the way. Anglesea is an attractive town with some fabulous beaches and heaps of surf shops. We went to the Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet, there are some lovely coastal views from here. We stopped at Lorne for lunch; this is a nice tidy looking town with a great looking hotel, The Grand Pacific, right at the top of the town. We have stopped for the night at Apollo Bay, the only problem being that it is cold but this is as far south as we go now, everywhere from here is north.
Today we traveled 218.0 klms, odometer reading is 45420.9
Day 30. We were up with the sun this morning, problem is the sun doesn’t come up down here until after 7.30am. We went into town to do a bit of shopping and upload to my blog site then we were back on the road, the that is. When you leave Apollo Bay the road starts climbing again and leaves the coast for the Otway National Park. It is a drive through some beautiful countryside, temperate rainforest with glimpses of cleared dairy grazing country on the hilltops. We left the GOR
and headed for Cape Otway Lighthouse. Built in 1848 this is the oldest lighthouse on the Australian mainland and together with Cape Wickham Lighthouse on King Island marks the entrance to Bass Strait. We wandered around the grounds and climbed to the top which gives great views of the rugged coastland around this area. Back on the GOR and we climbed higher still into the Otway Ranges until we reached the small village of Lavers Hill. From here it was down into the very pretty Aire Valley and a run through dairy country to Princeton and back to the coast. This area is known as the shipwreck coast because it has been the most hazardous to shipping with its sheer limestone cliffs and massive eroded stacks. We stopped at Gibsons Steps and walked down to Gibsons Beach far below, huge rollers were breaking onto the beach and also smashing against the first two visible of the Twelve Apostles. 
Next stop was the Twelve Apostles Centre, from here you walk along a path, under the road and out along the cliff tops to view the really stupendous sight of the Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles are a series of gigantic limestone pillars, some rising 65 metres out of the ocean, which retreat in rows as stark reminders of a wasting coastline (the cliff faces erode at a rate of 2 cm per year). As might be guessed the place was crowded, with coaches arriving and departing the whole time we were there. Just a little further down the road and we came to the Loch Ard Gorge. This is named after the iron hulled, square rigged Loch Ard which hit the cliffs and sank here while transporting immigrants from England to Melbourne in 1878. Of the fifty three on board, only two survived. The rock formations around here are just fantastic. We then drove on to Port Campbell where we have stopped for the night in the caravan park. Tomorrow we are going to go back for another look around Loch Ard Gorge. Today we traveled 125.7 klms, odometer reading is 45546.6. After 30 days we have now travelled 4417.4 klms.
