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.