Why are we so far behind in the blog???

Sorry all for being so slow getting things up to date! :( We are indeed about a week behind but trying to catch up!

In a nutshell, we spent Sunday to Thursday at Inverleigh, near Geelong where we had a beautiful relaxing few days. Thursday morning, that would be the 27th, we left Inverleigh and drove to a campsite near Ballarat, and spent all Friday and Saturday at Sovereign Hill.

We hope to catch up in the next couple of days!

-- Greg

Day 28-29 - Sovereign Hill, Ballarat

Well what a blast this was! We have wanted to come to Sovereign Hill for a number of years but things never really worked out. Our original plan coming into Victoria was to go to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road, then head down to Tasmania for a couple of weeks up to mid March or so, which would give us enough time to get up to Stanthorpe for the Easter Bible School. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a ferry ticket for the times we wanted, so we decided to spend the extra time in Victoria. This has been a blessing really because the last several days have had some great relaxing experiences which we may not have had if we’d been rushing to get to Melbourne.

One of these experiences, of course, was Sovereign Hill! We used our RAA discount to get 5% off the entry cost, not a lot but better than nothing. It was also a 2 day pass which we had heard was necessary, and having been through one day I would completely agree! We have a lot still to get through! We had a quick breakfast and headed off about 9am, and after stopping at the supermarket for some lunch supplies we arrived about 9:30. The gates don’t open until 10 so we had a look through the gift shop until then. Quite a range of interesting things, including some of the raspberry drops the Smith’s had recommended.
We entered Sovereign Hill just after 10, and straight away we were wowed! It’s like a pioneer village, but a with live actors dressed up in period costume, and the shops are all open and trading! A Cobb & Co coach rolled past just after we walked in, pulled by four shire horses. Just to our right we could hear the blacksmith hammering away at his work, and ladies in bonnets and gentlemen in top hats appeared and crossed the streets every so often. It all looked so authentic!


Aaaanyway... so when we came to write it up, I found we'd taken so many photos and so many videos we figured a video montage was the best way to capture it all. So here's the highlights, and some of the key photos and all the info's after the break!

Day 27 - Inverleigh to Enfield National Park and Ballarat

Thursday 27 February

Today we headed off for Enfield State Forest where there looked to be a reasonable free camp. Some reviews suggested it was a bit hard to find but others said it was a lovely spot.

So we made our way from Inverleigh down to Winchelsea again first up to start with to refill the van's water tanks. Stopped here for some morning tea in a nice looking bakery, although the young girl serving us seemed very grumpy and so did some of the customers. Maybe we got unlucky, or maybe it's just the town? It looked a lovely spot apart from that, but Greg tried to blend in with the locals anyway... :)

We're happy to be, in Winchelsea

Day 23 - 26 - Inverleigh

Sunday 23 February

Inverleigh. What a lovely spot! Inverleigh is a town about 30 minutes west of Geelong, and the campsite we were based in is a series of clearings along a dirt track which runs along the Leigh River. It was really the perfect spot! We had decent weather, capacity for a fire, and a perennial stream nearby that was deep enough to jump into from rope swings or overhanging tree branches, or paddle along with a canoe.

Day 22 - Lorne to Inverleigh

We made an early departure from our unofficial camp ground - we got up at 6am and were on our way by 6:40 without a hitch. We headed down to the beach for breakfast and got there just on sunrise. It might have been an unusually early start for us, but the sunrise made it worth it!

Day 21 - Apollo Bay to Lorne

Today after breakfast we explored a little around Apollo Bay. As the name suggests, the town of Apollo Bay is right on the coastline overlooking the bay, which is a beautiful semi-circular / wineglass bay.

We first spotted an Op-shop so Mim simply HAD to have a quick poke around but didn’t find any treasures this time (probably couldn’t fit any more in the caravan at this stage anyway!) Then onto the information centre to find out what to do in the area if anything was of interest and then back to the supermarket and have some lunch in the nearby park.

Day 20 – Timboon to Apollo Bay

As the last couple of days had been quite overcast and we hadn’t travelled with the caravan, our van batteries we getting quite low so we decided it was time to move on and charge everything up so that we could get some work done. At least when you're driving the van batteries partly charge off the alternator. We also needed to get some washing done, have showers and generally were in need of a caravan park. So we booked ahead for a site in Apollo Bay which was our destination for tonight.

Day 17 -19 - Timboon

Monday 17 February

Well last night was interesting! We got the bed at a reasonable hour and got some sleep before being disturbed by some other camping neighbours who decided it was a fun idea to start music and sing loudly at 1.15am until close to 4am. During this time we had quietly phoned police to ask them to come and talk to them as we just couldn't get to sleep and other campers were getting disturbed also. We didn't quite think they would be the type to quietly mind their own business! Timboon police station was closed so a patrol made its way over from Warrnambool, arriving a bit after 3. came about 20-30 minutes after the call and chatted with them after which all was quiet. Ahhh we could finally get some sleep.

I felt pretty awful in the morning so we had a quiet morning while I rested. It just so happened that there was a cricket match on the oval so Greg and the boys watched that for a while Bek read and did some drawing.

Day 16 - Panmure to Timboon via Warrnambool

We had another nice sleep-in as we'd had a few nights of disturbance with noisy neighbours or rain etc. Today seemed a much nicer day so we decided it was probably a good day to move on.

First we stopped in Warrnambool again to swap the van's fluids again, and then we finally got to spend some time at Lake Pertobe adventure playground!

Day 14 - 15 - Cobboboonee National Park to Panmure via Warrnambool

Friday 14 February - Cobboboonee to Warrnambool and Panmure

We got up just before 7 to start the packup from Cobboboonee National Park as we needed to be in Warrnambool by about 10:30. The washing from the night before hadn't quite dried, but we hoped (unsuccessfully it turned out) to dry it later that day.

Day 13 - Cobboboonee

Our campsite at Surrey Downs, Cobboboonee National Park, Vic

Well after such a night we weren't surprised to find ourselves half-surfacing about 10am, even the kids! It ended up a pretty nice and quiet day. We'd had a couple of neighbours over the past couple of days, which wasn't a problem particularly as it's a large area so there was no question of being in each others' pockets; but today we had the whole place to ourselves which was lovely!

Day 12 - To Adelaide and back!

Well this was a bit unexpected!

Day 11 - Cobboboonee National Park

 Well last night it lightly rained off and on so it was a bit of a disturbed night again but for natural reasons not big trucks going past this time. Nuts and rain drops falling on the roof, birds making noises, a wallaby munching on some grass close by, you name it I heard it.

This morning there was still a mist of rain so we enjoyed a cuppa inside & breakfast. Then we discovered if we wanted to stay here a few days we needed to make more room in our en suite amenities so needed to go into a nearby town. So we unhooked and headed for a nearby town called Heywood.

Day 10 - Mt Gambier to Cobboboonee National Park

Good sleep? Not quite! :( We spent half the night listening to various trucks going past (sometimes it sounded as if they were coming straight for us but sailed past. Phew. I guess that's one down side to canvas walls in the van), but towards the morning we managed to sleep in a bit.

Once we'd had a coffee and the kids had a bit of an explore we had breakfast packed up and headed back into Mt Gambier to do some food shopping and hardware bits and pieces.
After we had finished our shopping we found a nice picnic spot and had some lunch.

Day 9 - Farm to Mt Gambier

Matt and I went for a quick run this morning before we got on shifting things out of the farmhouse and back into the van. We left the farm about 10:30am which meant we were going to be late for Penola meeting.

Day 6-8 - Thursday to Saturday - at the Farm

Thursday Feb 6

We headed back to Naracoorte to get the maps printed and laminated to close off that project. On the way we went past a giant chicken farm, which reminded us all of Jane at Adelaide Uni who runs a chicken retirement farm!

Chooks everywhere!

Day 3 - 5 - Monday - Wednesday - At the Farm

Well for the last couple of days we have just laid pretty low and rested as Greg and I felt quite tired and worn out from having quite a few late nights and early mornings trying to get everything done before departing.

Monday Feb 3

On Monday morning we had the privilege of sleeping in and being delivered breakfast in bed. Ahhhh!  The kids had taken the time to make us pancakes with all the trimmings and a coffee. It was rather yummy. Good cooks. 👍

 

Day 2 - Sunday - Farm, Penola

The ecclesia in Penola (a few left before lunch)

Busy day today! Slept until about 8:30 and had to scoot through breakfast to leave in time for the Sunday meeting in Penola. Greg did the exhort at Penola. Had a lovely ecclesial lunch together afterwards and a very interesting chat with Bro Terry on the atonement.

Day 1 - Adelaide to the farm (near Padthaway)

Well after what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it away today! We never imagined it would take so long to pack everything and finish off so many last minute things in the house! Our tenants very kindly gave us plenty of time to move out which was greatly appreciated (thanks Ras' all!)