Wood's Point Day Trip

Joey & Sam on an old style timber bridge that would have been common in the pioneering days of Wood's Point...

Joey & Sam standing amongst some logs cut down when fire breaks were established. In earlier times there was a milling and timber industry in the Wood's Point area...

Here's Tom just outside the entrance to an old Gold mine diggings common to the whole Wood's Point area. In days gone by there were many miners working the hills to hopefully 'strike it rich' - most didn't...

This is supposedly one of the oldest surviving service stations in Australia!! Closed twelve months earlier due to the operators coming so close to danger in the recent bushfires!!

Joey, Sam, & Cheryl standing at a vantage point on the way to Wood's Point. Here you can see the evidence of the tragic Victorian bushfires that ravaged the region a couple of years ago. Such was the heat that the bark of trees was completely stripped and the trees subsequently died...

Here's a sample of the beautiful Victorian High country that visitors will see on the way to Wood's Point, an old Gold mining area...

Brad's Pad - Kevington VIC

A couple of the locals at Brad's, a King Parrot and a Rosella. Beautiful coloured birds who frequented the shack for a free feed...

Joey & Sam - 'tubing without moving' on the Goulburn River...

Another wee chore the boys assisted with was the 'bark collecting'. Part of a general tidy up of the property. Again the boys pictured here with Brad's nephew Danny, thoroughly enjoyed themselves...

Here's Joey, Brad, & Sam getting some experience on the quad bike....the boys loved it!!

Sam is 'pulling his weight' (well the bins..) helping out with the chores....it all helps!!

On of the many features of this picturesque area is the Goulburn River which runs straight past Brad's Pad!! Add a couple of tractor tyres and it awesome fun riding the 'rapids' as Joey and Tom found out...

We arrived at Brad & Cheryl's shack near Kevington in Victoria's Central Highlands to catch up with our good friends...

Sovereign Hill - Ballarat VIC and 'THE INCIDENT'

What happens when the L/Hand side wheel of the camper decides to head off in another direction to that of the towing vehicle? - The camper wobbles ferociously and needs to be brought to a standstill as soon as possible!!

Here's our home getting loaded onto the tow truck for repairs. Thankfully, no drama's to the occupants!! An unexpected overnight stay at Bacchus Marsh...

An aerial view of the buildings at Sovereign Hill. Re-construction typical of the style of the day...

Part of the Sovereign Hill experience is viewing the play 'Mask of Deceit'. Joey is seen here with the plays main characters. Very good show - the good guy wins in the end!!

Here's a view of the Gold Rush fever that was evident the day we visited Sovereign Hill. Almost as chaotic as the original mad scramble that occurred in the 1850's!!

The princess is really earning her keep now!! Lee was the only one to pan successfully for some Gold flakes. Must be at least .50 cents worth!!

A fine example of the transport of the past....this horse drawn carriage was lapping the area of Sovereign Hill and visitors could get on board...for a price of course...

Joey tried his luck at Gold prospecting!! No luck this time - maybe some other time??

Here's Joey & Sam in front of a typical 1850's home in Sovereign Hill - Ballarat. The beautiful gardens are actually a playground for a peacock and his mates!!

Halls Gap & Grampians National Park VIC

Here is the Princess, Sam, & Joey @ the Pinnacle Lookout platform. Quite high and juts out so the viewer gets a panoramic view of the area below...

This is the awesome view from Pinnacle Lookout. Looking back towards Halls Gap and surrounding countryside. It's not hard to see why this place is one of the most popular in the Grampians...

This shot is of Granite Peak, one of the many tree lined peaks in the Grampians. The area was burnt out by bushfires in 2005. It's amazing to see how well and quickly the bush has recovered...

This is Lake Bellfield Dam which supplies the water for Halls Gap and surrounds. Completed in 1966...

A couple of nippers hiding in the bush near the base of the waterfall...still smiling which we are grateful for!!

Tom & the boys at the base of a very unusual waterfall. It's name is Silverband, apparently because of the colours it displays. The unusual feature is that it 'disappears' underground at the base, and reappears at the surface downstream.

We left Warrnambool and headed inland towards Halls Gap in the centre of the Grampians National Park. This shot shows Mt Surprise in the foreground and Mt Abrupt in the background.

Crossing into Victoria - Portland & Warrnambool

Check out the Princess "flying high" on this cable ride. The park areas in Warrnambool were excellent. We even bumped into another couple we had met previously, Ingrid & Manfred from Sydney...

The boys showing off at this cannon! It and a few more were erected in 1911 because at that time they thought, 'The Russians were coming'.....they still might be....who knows the hour or the day?....but we know the season....Matt. 24

Apologies in advance, but I couldn't resist!! The poor teachers of 1872!! These are the rules of the time. Not sure about rule 6 or 8. Both might cause anarchy today?

Flagstaff Hill is a historic area within Warrnambool that has reminders of the rugged past of this area. A seafaring background due to the many ships that were wrecked off the South West Victorian coast. Here we have Lee, Sam & Joey at the Examiner Newspaper store!!!

We stayed at 'Surfside' a council caravan park with about 3 million of Melbourne's 3.8 million people on their annual holidays!! This shot shows the Warrnambool beach with breakwater in the background.

On the way to Warrnambool we stopped for lunch at Portland. This town has a quiet feel and is very pretty along the coast where we found this park that Lee is sitting at...

Leaving Mt Gambier we headed east and 30km later crossed the Victorian border...closer to Tom's old stamping ground at Frankston on the Mornington Peninsula...quite a way to go yet though!!

Murray River Crossing, Kingston Lobster, & Blue Lake

The details of the blue lake...Mt Gambier has about 23,000 people and industry includes timber, paper pulp factory, and a huge wind generation farm that the visitor can drive around to view...quite a nice town.

Here is a shot of Mt Gambier's most famous landmark - the Blue Lake. It is a ex volcano that houses this large body of water and during summer months turns into this vivid blue colour that you can see here - quite unique...

On our way to Mt Gambier in the far south east of SA we passed through Kingston where this lobster resides. All along this coast fish and lobsters are caught (by others - not me!)

After slowly (very) packing up and saying goodbyes we left Carrickalinga on New Years Day at 4.00pm!! A couple of hours down the road and we were in Wellington for the night and the next morning packed up and crossed a swollen Murray River by ferry a short distance from the caravan park! The ferry could accommodate about 10 vehicles each trip...

Carrickalinga SA Christmas Camp

Here's Joey on a borrowed pushbike - the big guy had a great time meeting youngsters his own age at the camp. We all had an uplifting and encouraging time with the Adelaide folk....

Our camper is approximately in the centre of this shot. The campgrounds are huge with a big meeting hall and lots of great company all around us!

The traditional Durnin Christmas lunch - salad! No big efforts for this day! Every day is Christmas for the Christian anyhow! It's still nice to see the kids light up when they get a present or two....

Well it finally came - Christmas Day! The boys were happy to be at Carrickalinga Camp because we are now 2.5 hours ahead of WA time, which equals an early Christmas! A bit too early for Tom...