On the road to .. Lakes Entrance

Friday 1st May 2015
We packed up the van and left our cosy spot at Rawson and headed on to Traralgon and then Rosedale where we stopped for a coffee and to refuel.  We headed off again and stopped at Stratford for lunch, and then on to our destination of Lakes Entrance and Lake Tyers which is about 10 km out of Lakes Entrance.

lunch at Stratford

Totems in Stratford Park

Elephant in Stratford park

 

   We booked in to the Lake Tyers Caravan Park and found our sites. 

Our site at Lake Tyers

 My first impression was not the best as our site was right next to the Chapel (this was a caravan park run by the Uniting Church) and backed on to the scrub and seemed very dark, but once we got set up we sat outside with our friends under their awning.  For dinner we had a bbq and although it was cold, the men added a side to the awning and we were able to enjoy sitting outside without the wind blowing on us.  There were signs up saying that alcohol could not be used in the public areas but we thought it would be ok to have our usual happy hour behind our closed in awning.  Apparently there was an AA conference on at the park so we were very discreet with our happy hour.



Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance



Saturday 2nd May 2015

We drove into Lakes Entrance and looked around the town, walked across the bridge and then continued out of the town and headed to the small little village of Metung.  We  had lunch at the hotel with lovely views of the marina and some great boats.  There were some beautiful apartments right on the foreshore and we thought these would be great for a family holiday some other time.   

 

Nice boats at Metung

Metung

 

Parrots at Metung

 Jeannie and I had a quick look through some of the shops and then we all met up again for another coffee, then it was time to head off back to our campsite at Lake Tyers.



Lakes Entrance from lookout





Lakes Entrance



On the road to .... Walhalla

Wednesday 29 April 2015

 

After a lazy start to the morning, we headed off to Walhalla for the Goldfields  train trip.  The weather was lovely, sunny but chilly and no fog or rain - just perfect for a train trip.  The train left the Walhalla Station at 11 am and we settled in to one of the carriages, and got our cameras out to capture the beautiful scenery along the track.   

 

The very pretty village of Walhalla



Walhalla rotunda



Walhalla



About to board the train



Scenic train trip



The Thomson station

 

The Walhalla railway line was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway located in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The line ran from Moe to the former gold-mining town and popular tourist destination of Walhalla. Construction began in 1904. The line closed in sections from 1944 to 1954.

 

Jeannie & I on the Goldfields Train

 

The boneyard trackside



Thomson River at Thomson Station

After our lovely train trip we headed to the local hotel "the Wally" for lunch.  The meal was huge and we all enjoyed it and afterwards went for a walk around the town as we needed the exercise after such a good lunch.

Walhalla bank vault

Spetts Cottage



Walhalla Cricket Ground



Ruby the Goldfields Railway dog

Interesting art work at Walhalla

Jeannie walking down the track at Thompson Station

On the road to ....Rawson

Monday 27th April
We had a good sleep with the gentle pitter patter of rain drops but by the time we got outside the rain had stopped and we got the van unhooked and the awning up and chairs out ready for when our friends arrived.  The park has very tall trees and the sun was blocked out so under foot was quite damp with quite a lot of leaves.

Anzac Day tribute in Erica

We walked around the park and then decided to go to the little town of Erica and Walhalla where we had some lunch.

The Museum at Erica

Beautiful countryside near Erica

Nothing much was open in Walhalla or Erica as the train leaves from Walhalla every Wednesday so we only had a quick look around as we will come back with Jeannie & David on Wednesday and go on the train ride and have a better look around the town when things will be open.

Our campsite at Rawson

Beautiful autumn colours as we came into the little village of Rawson

Jeannie & David arrived later in the afternoon so when they had set up we lit the camp fire in the camp kitchen area and caught up with them there.  The camp kitchen isn't really a kitchen, its only a shed with dirt floor and nothing to really call it a kitchen, a few empty cupboards and a sink with no water.  Anyway, we had it all to ourselves, but the huge gas bottle conversion fire left us a bit cold so we will have to get more wood if we want to get warm.

Tuesday 28th April

We packed a picnic lunch and drove out to the Thomson Dam.  It was a beautiful drive along a very winding road with lots of tree ferns on the road side. 



Thomson Dam

 

Picnic at Thomson Dam

We stopped for our picnic lunch at the picnic area at Thomson Dam and then drove to Mt Baw Baw.

Picnic at Thomson Dam

 The ski resort was closed so we had a quick look around and found the only shop that was open and although they weren't really open to the public they did open for us and we got a lovely pot of tea and they kindly gave us a plate of biscuits - what great people they were.

Afternoon tea at Kelly's, Mt Baw Baw

  We then drove back down  and stopped to do a short walk at Beech Gully walking trail and again we were amazed at the lovely tree ferns.  We drove around the Mt Baw Baw Ski Resort but as it was late afternoon the fog rolled in and we weren't able to get any good views.



Beech Gully Nature Trail

Beech Gully Nature Trail

Beech Gully Nature Trail

On the road to ..Sea Lake, Castlemaine and Mt Tarangower

Saturday 25th April 2015

Anzac Day 2015

 

We left our first overnight stop at Lake Tyrrell after a chilly night, although very cosy in our van.  We were surprised that we didn't need any heating in the van, as we have considered getting a diesel heater installed, but thought we would see how we go on this trip before we make the decision to spend the money.  We want to make sure that we really need the heating to make our trips more comfortable.  As most of our winter trips will be in the north, we will only need the heating occasionally so we are still undecided, I guess we will make our minds up on this trip.
After leaving Sea Lake we drove through the towns of Berriwillock, Culgoa and several others before coming to Charlton, which we remembered from a previous trip, and were pleased to find the Big Fish is still there as a tourist attraction.

Charlton

We arrived at Castlemaine and headed for the Restorer's Barn, Ron's favourite shop, as he always manages to find something there that he can't get anywhere else.  After looking around this interesting shop, he did find a few old tools for his blacksmith shed, but the prices for the old lamps accessories were a bit high compared to Adelaide shops so we didn't get as many things as we thought we would, but we enjoyed looking around as there are so many interesting bits and pieces.  We then walked around the town, most shops were closed because it was Anzac Day, but we had coffee in a little shop and then got fuel and amazingly with driveway attendant, that makes it a real service station.
We then drove on to Maldon where we stayed the night at Mt Tarangower.

Mt Tarangower camping area

The maggies visited our campsite

Campsite at Mt Tarangower

A couple of visitors at Mt Tarangower