AUSTRALIA – VICTORIA (Melbourne)
Day 42 Tue Oct 31
BUDJ BIM CULTURAL LANDSCAPE WHS
An ancient aquaculture system developed by the Gunditjmara Aboriginal people. They manipulated the water flow through volcanic rock and trapped fish there (especially kooyang). The associated practices are still part of the Gunditjmara living cultural tradition. It has three components.
Get there. No public transportation. To see the Tyrendarra area from Mt Eccles it is necessary to go around (via Bessiebelle to the East or using Ettrick-Condah Road to the West).
Budj Bim (northern) component. Mt Eccles National Park. Lake Surprise is a crater lake with visibe past volcanic activity. There are 2 hiking paths around the lake – one a one hour loop near the lake and the second that goes on the crater rim (2 hours). The area is quite spectacular although there is not much to see in terms of ancient human activity. Also visit lava blisters and natural volcanic caves. Park near Lake Surprise with a camping area with a small visitors centre. Natural Bridge 45 min from the visitors center has a direct hiking path.
Kurtonitj (central) component
Tyrendarra (southern) component.
Mount Eccles (Budj Bim or “High Head”) started erupting 27-30,000 years ago ending about 7000 years ago. The lava flow extends for 50 km to the southwest with about 15 km presently under water. A tongue of the lava flow blocked the natural drainage locking water across 100 square kilometres into lakes, ponds, and swamps. Archaeology shows that the first inhabitants date from about 6,600 years ago. The Fitzroy River and Darlot Creek were blocked to create ponds in the huge wetland. Darlot creak never goes dry as it is fed from a spring from Lake Carnah.
The people built wiers and dams to control the water as it varied with the season to form aquaculture networks using every pond, lake, and swamp. Barrier weirs and excavated channels directed water to V-shaped fish traps constructed of stones to which were anchored woven baskets catching fish and eels. When the water was deeper or wider, traps of wood poles used more than one basket. This provided a steady supply of high-protein food and a settled lifestyle. They had aquatic plants (water ribbon for salads and tubers for roasting), material for baskets, nets, sting and eel traps. The ponds attracted wildlife – eels, turtles, and hundreds of birds with their eggs. There were kangaroos and other marsupials. Food was placed in grass-lined baskets covered in underground oven pits and heated with stones. The meat was chargrilled on fires.
There are hundreds of stone circles, the foundations for bee-hive dome-shaped houses. The houses had a stone foundation, a structure of tree limbs covered with mud and then covered with grass. They faced the door to the north and northeast away from the cold winter winds. The largest is 5 m in diameter, large enough for 3 families. Houses were interconnected for extended families. The houses were clustered to form permanent villages on the higher ground beside each aquaculture system at Lake Gorrrie, Allambee, Kurtonetz Lake Conday, and Tyrendarra. They had a stable year-round food supply. This demolishes the myth that all Aboriginal people were nomadic hunter-gatherers. Complex kinship arrangements, a trading economy, and hereditary chiefs resulted.
In the 1830s and 1840s, during the long Eumeralla War, the villages were destroyed and the people exiled onto a single tiny reserve. Few traces remain. The area was drained starting in 1887.
Get there. I visited the small visitors center in Heywood and got instructions about the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area, the location of this component of the WHS – 21 km from Heywood or about 2 km from the tiny hamlet of Tyrendarra (basically a church and a few houses).
My experience. Cross the bridge to several storyboards of the site’s history and value for the Gunditjmara people. The area is somewhat hard to understand and needs imagination to learn how they transformed the area into a fish farm in ancient times as it is covered with reeds. Pass a closed building (with a lovely painted floor and some boomerangs, clubs, digging tools, and a ladle on a table). Walk on a metal walkway that circles around a village site. Stone circles are obvious. There is a loop that goes to the left out to a sign about Budj Bim and its eruption. This is where I ended up after my 4 km traipse through the grass. Pass some stone channels.
A man said that he had walked a loop. A 2-metre-wide rough trail (basically mowed grass) took off to the right so I took it. I thought it would never end and I ended up walking about 4 km through areas of tufted grass. I saw many kangaroos in a large group. It eventually turned left and returned to the center. It passed many round piles of rocks that I thought were village sites but were in fact tumuli – circular mounds of rock up to 10 m high and 20 m around that are “lava blisters” formed by surface lava cooling quickly and the pressure of the lava below rises and the mass solidifies.
On leaving, there was a koala in the tree beside the parking lot.
Free
Port Fairy. Town
ON Wayside in Warrnambool. Enclosed with nice tables. Lovely, my best stay in the whole trip.
Mileage: 143 km
Day 43 Wed Nov 1
WARRNAMBOOL
Warrnambool Botanic Gardens. Opened in 1866, this is lovely garden with wide open lawns, great flower and bush beds, and some very big trees – palms, figs, a Dutch Elm (the “money tree” as so much has been spent on keeping it living), a Norfolk Pine, and the Lone Pine (planted in 1934 from an acorn rescued at Gallipoli in 1915. A well from 1882 is 18 m deep and lit). Instruction signs on watering and soil were nice. Free
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. A recreated maritime village from the 1960s with several moved buildings and constructed buildings – confectionary, dressmaker, cooperage, inn, houses, cafe, school, pub, boat building (building a surf boat), clock repair, wagons, anchors, and an interesting theatre where the screen is a curtain of water pr0duced from a high-powered fountain. Learn the history of the many local shipwrecks. $19.50, reduced $15.50.
GREAT OCEAN ROAD. A 240-kilometre (150 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia, between the Victorian towns of Torquay and Allansford near Warrnambool. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world’s largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast, and providing access to several prominent landmarks, The road is an important tourist attraction, possibly the state’s top tourist experience. Except for a forest section between the 12 Apostles and Apollo Bay, much of the road hugs the coastline along what is known, east of the Otway Ranges, as the Surf Coast, and, west of Cape Otway, as the Shipwreck Coast. It provides extensive views over Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The cliffs are composed of limestone and sandstone, which are susceptible to erosion.[8][9] The road travels via Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, and Port Campbell, the latter being notable for its natural limestone and sandstone rock formations, including Loch Ard Gorge, The Grotto, London Arch (formerly London Bridge), and The Twelve Apostles. The stretch of the Great Ocean Road nearer to Torquay closely follows the coast, with some sheer cliffs.
In its original state, the road was considered a formidable drive, fitting only a single vehicle comfortably at a time.
Bay of Islands Coastal Park. 33 km long. 6000 years ago, the shore was 300 m further out.
Bay of Islands viewpoint. Several great stacks and a few islands. The best scene along the GOR. In storms, the waves are up to 30 m high.
Bay of Martyrs viewpoint.
Peterborough town. Very small
Halladale Walk. 4 km return along cliff, coastal lookouts. Starts at the Peterborough Golf Course
Port Campbell National Park. Extends along the ocean from Peterborough to Princetown.
The Grotto viewpoint.
London Bridge viewpoint. An island with a great arch in the centre.
The Arch viewpoint.
Point Campbell town. Very small
Port Campbell Discovery Walk. 4.4 km return along the cliff. Starts at Port Campbell Beach or the Town Scenic Viewpoint.
Loch Ard Gorge viewpoint. Two large sea stacks. The razorback is a ridge of eroded limestone with an arch formed by sea spray. Has the Living on the Edge Walk, The Wreck of the Loch Ard Walk, and the Geology Walk.
Twelve Apostles viewpoint. Easiest the busiest spot on the entire road, there were thousands here – surprisingly 90% were Chinese, 5% Indian and 5% Caucasian. The Apostles are sea stacks but only about five are visible. Not as impressive as the reputation portrays.
Great Ocean Walk. A 104 km trail between the 12 Apostles and Apollo Bay opened in 2004 that normally takes about 8 days. Has 7 campsites that are booked online. High tides at one river and two beaches and heavy rains at three rivers are the only hazards.
Great Otway National Park. Extends from Princetown to Torquay. Pass through an extensive forest and then hundreds of skeletons of white trees that would be a great photographic site in good light.
Cape Otway Light House. This 1848 LH is the oldest on the Australian mainland. It sits 100 m above where the Bass Strait and Southern Ocean collide. It is part of a precinct with an 1850s lighthouse keeper house, and a WWII bunker and radar station. 12 km off the highway. Open from 9:30 with the last entry at 4:30. $10, $8.50 reduced
ON Cape Otway LH parking lot. Very dark. Poor data connection.
Mileage: 166 km
Day 44 Thur Nov 2
Apollo Bay. (town) The Great Ocean Road rejoins the ocean here and hugs it all the way to Anglesea, before its end in Torquay. There are always great views of the surf pounding on rocks and sand. The seaside housing is very high-end.
Lorne. An attractive, tourist town with a big beach backed by a lovely park with a sculpture walk. There are several wayside parking areas with tables on the beach.
Australia National Surfing Museum. Torquay. See many boards from vintage to competition surfboards, memorabilia, the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame, surfing films, clothes and icons of surfing. $12, reduced $8.
Carter/Tucker House, Breamlea. In the NM Architectural Delights series, this was hard to find as it is not on Google Maps. I asked for directions – it is known as the “architect’s house”. It is on Breamlea Road, the main street of Breamlee facing north about 3/4s of the way along from the Breamlea Caravan Park (there are only houses on the south side of the street as there is marsh across the road). Once there, it is still hard to see what the house looks like as it is fronted with a lot of trees. I opened the gate and walked up the gravel path. It is a three-story rectangular box with the top an open deck. The north and west sides are covered in narrow horizontal wood slats with large sections over the windows that lift up. The landscaping is also very nice. It looks well cared for and I didn’t knock on the door to see if I could go inside.
12m x 6m box was embedded into the side of a sand dune. The house has three rooms. The lower ground floor is for guests and the single space can be divided by a sliding wall into two rooms if so required. Similarly, the single space on the middle level can also be divided to separate the owner’s bedroom from a small sitting area. The top floor is for living and eating and takes advantage of views across a rural landscape. The top floor is also a daylight photographic studio.
QUEENSCLIFF
Fort Queenscliff Museum. An army museum, it can only be seen by tours on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 3. $20, reduced $15 I didn’t go.
Queenscliff Maritime Museum. I get tired of maritime museums but was quite excited to see three very famous kayaks here. The first was from the 1969 first circumnavigation of Tasmania. The next two were from the two circumnavigations of Australia – both started and ended in Queenscliff. In 1981-82, Paul Caffyn took 12 months in a Nordkapp fitted with a jury-rigged rudder. From Jan 18, 2009 to Dec 15, 2009, Freya Hoffmeister paddled an Epic (has a rudder) and with radio communication and GPS. Then I had a subscription to Sea Kayak Magazine and Freya posted monthly updates of her trip so I knew it well. Two of the biggest hurdles were the 3-day paddle across the Gulf of Carpenthia (to avoid saltwater crocodiles, she slept in her boat) and the 200 km stretch of cliffs along the West Coast of Australia where she couldn’t land. All three kayaks had been donated to the Queenscliff Kayak Club and when it disbanded, the kayaks were given to the maritime museum. Freya’s boat had everything – water bladder and bottle, paddles, under-deck bags, and PFD.
I have had many arguments about rudder versus skeg. Rudders have the disadvantage of having the stern out of the water on large swells but deal with weathercocking so much better, they are a clear favourite over skegs.
There were also exhibits and models of several boats (including some of the 120 shipwrecks trying to navigate the harbour rip), how ships in a bottle are made (outside the bottle with hinging masts that are folded and the intact ship is placed inside), a large one showing the hydrology of the narrow rip that sits over a canyon produced when Australia was connected to Tasmania, $13, reduced $10
Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Charlemont:
GEELONG
Geelong Gaol Museum. In the NM The Dark Side series, this was the third prison built in Victoria. It held only non-convicts used to build infrastructure during the 1850s gold rush (there was nothing here and there were thousands of miners). It also served as the state prison hospital and morgue. Some of the more interesting exhibits were on Ned Kelly (and his fascinating armour), prison uniforms dating from the convict era. There were 6 hangings here – the last in 1865 was the most famous when the subject was decapitated and his wife put the head and body in her shop window decrying how bad the prison was (this was the only burial on the prison grounds). $20, reduced $15
Botanic Gardens. Huge areas of grass and big trees mark this garden. It is not so interesting. Free
National Wool Museum. History of the Australian wool industry, a carpet-making machine, odd fashion pieces, and an art quilt exhibit. $15, $10 reduced
Geelong Waterfront. In the NM Urban Legends series, this is a two-block long section of waterfront with a nice malecon on the water. The Cunningham Pier has a restaurant/nightclub that I didn’t walk to the end to see. A nice park, floating metal Xmas tree, sculpture, Visitors Information Center, and a marina complete the area. I ate at a fish&chips place at the far north end.
Geelong Gallery. In a lovely columned stone building with a massive new crescent structure at the back, there is a large skylight over the main gallery. It has a lot of 19th and 20th-century art, and decorative arts (porcelain, art pottery, and nice modern art). Free
ON Wayside halfway to Ballarat. Victoria doesn’t have the frequent nice waysides with covered picnic tables that the rest of the states have.
Mileage: 227 km
Day 45 Fri Nov 3
The area north of Melbourne is all Goldfields – all the communities started with the 1850 gold rush and show a lot of prosperity – many large stone buildings and great architecture from the 1860s.
BALLARAT
83 km north of Geelong
Sovereign Hill. A recreated gold rush town from 1850-60 with many interactive displays (blacksmithing, panning for gold, printing, gold pour), a complete town, a gold mine tour, and a museum. Suggest at least 4 hours to see it all. $49, reduced 45. I didn’t go because of the expense, and time and I wasn’t interested in spending enough time to get my value from the high entrance fee.
Art Gallery of Ballarat. Dating from 1890 in a purpose-built lovely building, much of the art was donated by wealthy gold people. Australian art from the 1890s plus a lot of European art from the same era. Free
Ballarat Tramway Museum. Initially horse-drawn from the 1860s, it became electric in 1905 and 1935 and closed in 1971. Three trams outside and eight inside with many storyboards – accidents, conductors, etc. $10, reduced $8.
Ballarat Botanical Gardens. An average garden with some big trees and flowers at the entrance. Many statues, the conservatory closed, and Italian sculptures in a gazebo. Free
Ballarat Aviation Museum. Open only on Sundays.
There was a sign on the way to Bendigo that said Ancient volcanic field. There were two cone-shaped large hills.
Wombat Hill Botanical Garden. Daylesford. Sitting on the summit of an extinct volcano, climb the Pioneer Tower for great views of Daylesford. Free
Buda Historic Home, Castelmaine. On three acres, it is the original homestead of the family who donated the house. Original simple furniture. Great large gardens. $12, reduced $10.
BENDIGO
The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. The Buddhist Meditation Centre of Tibetan Buddhism, it was finished in 2002 for $20 million and was visited by the Dalai Lama in 2007. The huge 50 m square by 50 m high white stupa has 8 exterior levels and one large prayer hall. Inside is the Jade Buddha, the largest jade Buddha cut from gemstone quality jade (from Canada) in the world (it would have been better if the head was also jade). Also a Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet in the 8th century) statue – 4 m high made from brass covered with 24 K gold leaf. 1000 arm Chenrezig 7 m high and 5 m wide made from poly marble. Brass prayer wheels. About 12 km north of Bendigo. Entrance by donation.
Bendigo Art Gallery. In another lovely gallery dating from 1887 with two big rooms lit by big skylights, there was a huge assortment of art from abstract, aboriginal, photography, and Australian art dating from the early 1900s. Free
Sacred Heart Cathedral. A monstrous stone church with two bell towers and a large spire over the cross.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens. Six km east, it dates from 1857 and is an average garden with a lot of grass, some big gum trees, English oak, and a rose garden. The aviary was closed. Enter through a big Arch of Triumph dating from 1919. Free
ECHUCA
Another 100 km past Bendigo, I decided to not go here because of the distance, the Beer shed wasn’t open and I had no interest in seeing another Holden museum. Shepparton is on the way back to Melbourne.
The Great Aussie Beer Shed & Heritage Farm Museum. Open only on weekends
National Holden Motor Museum
SHEPPARTON-MOOROONA
Kialla: Shepparton Motor Museum
I returned from Bendigo to return to the Melbourne area.
ON Wayside on the way.
Day 46 Sat Nov 4
I drove into Melbourne (Google Maps was crazier than ever and took me on two impossible roads including one dirt 47 km out – but she was so persistent, I finally believed her. I later found that I had marked in my GM Settings to avoid freeways!!). (I found a free parking spot about 1 km from the Webb Bridge.
MELBOURNE (pop 5 million) is the second-most populous city in Australia, after Sydney. Greater Melbourne is an urban agglomeration of 31 local municipalities. The City of Melbourne is based around its central business area. It occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay and spreads into the Mornington Peninsula, as well as the hinterlands towards the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong Ranges, and the Macedon Ranges. Most people reside on the east side of the city centre.
The area of Melbourne has been home to Aboriginal Victorians for over 40,000 years and serves as an important meeting place for local Kulin nation clans. A short-lived penal settlement was built at Port Phillip in 1803, but it was not until 1835, with the arrival of free settlers from Van Diemen’s Land (modern-day Tasmania), that Melbourne was founded. During the 1850s Victorian gold rush, the city entered a lengthy boom period that, by the late 1880s, had transformed it into one of the world’s largest and wealthiest metropolises. Today, it is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks 32nd globally in the March 2022 Global Financial Centres Index.
The city gave rise to Australian rules football, Australian impressionism and Australian cinema, and a global centre for street art, live music and theatre. It hosts the Australian Open and also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics. Melbourne consistently ranked as the world’s most liveable city for much of the 2010s.
The Port of Melbourne is the nation’s busiest seaport. Its main metropolitan rail terminus is Flinders Street station and its main regional rail and road coach terminus is Southern Cross station. It also has Australia’s most extensive freeway network and the largest urban tram network in the world.
Greenhill Windmill is a traditional 4-story masonry tower windmill, built in 1856 at Greenhill Farm 1203 Kyneton-Metcalfe Road, Kyneton, Bluestone quarried on their property was used. It has 4 vanes and looks functional. It’s a lovely stone mill but could not be entered.
Footscray is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, 5 km west of Melbourne’s Central Business District, with a population of 17,131. Footscray is a very diverse, multicultural central shopping area, which reflects the successive waves of immigration experienced by Melbourne, and by Footscray in particular. Once a centre for Greek, Italian and former Yugoslavian migrants, it later became a hub for Vietnamese and East African immigrants. Its rapid development and gentrification, it was rated 13th in its ’50 Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World’ for 2019, reflecting its diverse international cuisine, bars and nightlife, In 2006, 41.1% were born in Australia – the main countries are Vietnam, China, India, United Kingdom and Italy. There are over 130 restaurants in Footscray, including; 30 Vietnamese, 20 Indian, 17 Chinese, and also Ethiopian, Australian, Indonesian, Italian, Thai, Turkish and Japanese cuisines. The Footscray Market has 33 food stalls. Footscray Park is one of the largest and most intact Edwardian parks in Australia.
Bolte Bridge is a large twin cantilever road bridge with eight lanes of traffic. Officially only 490 metres in length, the actual structure is a 5 kilometre elevated roadway between Flemington Road and the West Gate Freeway. It spans the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD. It was built between 1996 to 1999. It is the largest balanced cantilever cast in situ box girder bridge in Australia. The superstructure is built as two independent bridges of variable depth, prestressed concrete box girders, separated by a 1.15 m clear gap between the structures.
The bridge features two 140-metre-high silver (grey concrete) towers, situated on either side of the roadway at the midpoint of the bridge’s span. These two towers are an aesthetic addition by the architects and are not joined to the main body of the bridge.
I parked about one km from the Webb Bridge in a free place and walked along the waterfront of the Yarra River. Helicopters take off on one side for sightseeing.
Yarra River. The lower stretches of the Yarra are where Victoria’s state capital Melbourne was established in 1835. From its source in the Yarra Ranges, it flows 242 kilometres (150 mi) west through the Yarra Valley which opens out into plains as it winds its way through Greater Melbourne before emptying into Hobsons Bay in northernmost Port Phillip Bay.
Today, the Yarra mouth including Swanson and Appleton docks are used for container shipping by the Port of Melbourne, which is the busiest on the continent.
Webb Bridge. A pedestrian Bridge across the Yarra River. It appears round with rounded panels on the bottom and round metal hoops at the south end.
Fox Classic Car Collection. Don’t miss this incredible car collection. In a lovely 2-story brick building, the cars were collected by Lindsay Fox, a trucking magnate. The 50 cars are all high-performance cars – 6 Ferraris and many Mercedes Benzs and Porsches. There are few car museums where I read the entire information but did here. $13, reduced $9.50.
Seafarers Bridge. Another pedestrian bridge across the Yarra River – cable-stayed with three round arches on piers.
Polly Woodside is a Belfast-built, three-masted, small iron-hulled barque, forming the central feature of the South Wharf precinct. Launched in 1885. Polly Woodside was built in the last days of sail, intended for deep water trade around the world.
It operated as a cargo vessel carrying coal, nitrate, and wheat between British ports and the ports of South America in sixteen voyages, a number around Cape Horn.
Sold in 1904, it operated on the New Zealand–Australian run, carrying timber, salt, cement, grain, and coal between New Zealand ports and San Francisco, carrying case oil and copra. From 1921 the ship was a coal hulk in Australia and spent the next 40 years quite unremarkably, bunkering coal-burning ships in the Port of Melbourne.
After 1962, an estimated 60,000 hours of painstaking voluntary labour saw the ship refurbished close to its original state and is now landlocked by a nearby road bridge.
Immigration Museum. $15, reduced $10
Alkira House. Built-in 1937 of precast concrete for the Cohen family as an investment, it is a 6-story narrow building with central glass blocks and glazed black tile.
Flinders Street Station. An imposing three-story stone building most gives access to the ten platforms. The corner has three copper domes and has a small lobby area. The main train station in Melbourne.
ACA (Australasian Catholic Assurance) Building. 11 floors of businesses. Pink sandstone with decorative designs over the lower windows. A central tower is the 12th floor? Black marble lobby.
Deva House. A 1926 art deco 10-story commercial building. It uses a steel frame for the basement and first two floors, with reinforced concrete for the eight upper floors. Its height is 130 feet (40 m). The modernisation of Deva House has left little more than the shell of its original design. The interior of Deva House from the second floor up has been entirely gutted and rebuilt as a hotel, while both the ground floor facade and interior have been stripped out in their entirety and rebuilt in the contemporary high-street style and now house shops.
The Block Arcade. Not in NM, it is a gorgeous arcade with shops.
Manchester Unity Building. Built-in 1932 by the Independent Order of Oddfellow. 12 floors. The arcade in the bottom is lovely – mosaic floors, brass elevator doors and marketry wood inside, an escalator, stone bas reliefs
Majorca Building. A modern, rather uninteresting 14-story building. Made of precast concrete, it has aluminum windows and no lobby that can be entered.
St Paul’s Cathedral. A magnificent church of stone. Inside are alternating black/cream stone and wood ceilings. Nice stained glass and dark tiled floor. It was a wedding day.
Ian Potter Centre; NGV Australia is an art gallery that houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). There are over 20,000 Australian artworks, including paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, fashion and textiles
Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). What a great museum with tons of hands-on examples or early moving image projectors, tiny dioramas of TV living rooms, all kinds of projectors, visual effects, costumes, storyboards, animation – everything about making movies and TV shows. Free
Eureka Tower is a 297.3 m (975 ft) skyscraper located in the Southbank built between 2002 – 2006. It was the world’s tallest residential tower when measured to its highest floor until surpassed by Ocean Heights and the HHHR Tower in Dubai. From 2006 to 2020, it was the tallest building in Melbourne, until the topping out of Australia 108. It is currently the third tallest building in Australia, behind the Q1 in Queensland and Australia 108, as well as the second tallest to the roof (excluding the spire) behind the latter skyscraper. As of 2016, it was the 15th tallest residential building in the world.
The blue glass cladding that covers most of the building represents the blue background of the stockade’s flag and the white lines also represent the Eureka Stockade flag. The white horizontal stripes also represent markings on a surveyor’s measuring staff.
It has 556 apartments and 13 lifts travelling up to 9 m/s (30 ft/s0). Floors 82 to 87, contain only one apartment per floor, each with an original price of A$7 million. The highest floors are an observation deck (level 88), restaurant (level 89), communication rooms and balcony (90), and water tanks (90 and 91). A system of pumps constantly moves water between the two 300,000-litre tanks to counteract wind-induced oscillations. It is the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere at 285 m (935 ft). Skydeck 88 features The Edge – a glass cube that projects 3 m (9.8 ft) out from the building. Since 2012 the Eureka Climb event has been held annually. Participants climb 1642 steps to the observation deck. The current record is 7 minutes to climb up 88 floors.
National Gallery of Victoria. Mainly a decorative arts museum displays are divided between Asia (a large Japanese section) and European – furniture, porcelain, glass (a lot of Venetian glass), and paintings, Free
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. OMG, this is unusual with only one gallery and no permanent exhibition. The one exhibition was hundreds of white dress shirts hanging in pairs. Find the grey one. Free
King’s Domain is an urban park surrounding the Government House Reserve, the home of the governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine of Remembrance. Established in 1854, it has 36 hectares of lawns and pathways set among non-native and native Australian mature trees. The Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden has a sunken garden area, with a blue-tiled grotto.
Shrine of Remembrance. A WWII memorial with a large tower with the locations of the campaigns and a large stone structure with a comprehensive museum (a display on tattoos was interesting). At the south end of the park next to the botanical garden. Free
Royal Botanical Gardens. Possibly the best tourist attraction in Melbourn, these gardens have it all. Free
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. It appears to have been a protestant church purchased in 1966 and renovated twice. Many frescoes on the walls, nice stained glass, and metallic icons on the altar. There was a wedding going on so I couldn’t see the altar area.
South Melbourne market. Has delis, a food court, meat, cheese, and a big selection of produce. The outside facing the street are many restaurants of many ethnicities. I ate at on of the Greek ones. Note closes as 4.
Starward Distillery. Founded in 2007 in a warehouse in Port Melbourne, It produces single-malt whisky. it offers tours ($60), masterclasses and tastings. They use red wine barrels to mature the whisky. The bar is open 12-9, Thur to Sunday.
In a warehouse district, there is lots of parking. This is the last place I went to on my walk-about tour of Melbourne.
West Gate Bridge is a steel, box girder, cable-stayed bridge spanning the Yarra River just north of its mouth into Port Phillip. It carries the West Gate Freeway connecting Melbourne to its western suburbs and with the city of Geelong 80 km to the southwest. It allows large cargo ships to access the docks in the Yarra River.
The main river span is 336 m long, and 58 m above the water. The total length of the bridge is 2,582.6 m. It is a 10-lane dual-carriageway freeway bridge, with five lanes in each direction. The bridge is windswept causing issues for motorbikes, trucks, and other high-sided vehicles. Cyclists are prohibited from using the bridge. It was completed in 1978 at a cost of $202 million. The bridge was built to carry 40,000 vehicles a day but volumes have grown to four times the original number.
Ferry to Tasmania. Spirit of Tasmania. Departs from Geelong @23:30, 11 hours, arrives Devonport at 09:30. Adult $211, vehicle $302 = $513. Reclining seat free. All the staterooms were booked and very expensive. It didn’t recline very much and I eventually put out my sleeping mat and bag (actually not allowed to sleep on the floor). No public showers on board. There are very limited outside viewing areas (only on cecks 9 and 10) none looking forward.
ON Spirit of Tasmania.
GO TO TASMANIA
RETURN FROM TASMANIA
Ferry Devonport to Geelong. Spirit of Tasmania – at 21:30 – 07:30. Passenger $168 + vehicle $272 = $440 ($80 less than coming over to Tasmania. Reclining chair free. I slept on deck 9 in a lounge putting out my air mattress and having a great sleep.
Day 53 Sat Nov 11
HMAS Castlemaine. A minesweeper/corvette used in WWII primarily in New Guinea 1942-44 and Darwin 1942-43, it was a typical ship with guns, crew’s quarters and a mess with separate officer’s quarters. Not very interesting. $10 no reduction.
Islamic Museum of Australia. A great museum that covered it all – principles of faith, pillars, halal, science, art (3 surfboards were interesting), Islamic Australian artists, and migration (first in the 1700s from Sulawasi, Malaysian, Albania, Balkans, Turkish and Lebanese with an interactive map. $12, reduced $10.
Islamic Museum of Australia, Thornbury. Only one of three Islamic museums in the world, this is well done with great descriptions of core beliefs, halal, jihad, the Koran, calligraphy, art, many mosques (I had been to them all), contemporary art, and a great map showing all the migration routes from all over the world to Australia (1700s Sulawesi, Malaysia, Albania, Balkans, Turkey and in the 60s Italian, Greek and Lebanese. $12, reduced $10.
Heide Museum of Modern Art. Five galleries, the main one was on the surrealist photographer Lee Miller from the 1920s and 30s. I should have known better as I don’t enjoy most modern art, it was a long drive and expensive. $25, no reduction
Lyon House Museum. Owned by the architect Corbet Lyon, this is his personal art collection, a real mix of contemporary art – photos of aboriginals, one of Queen Elizabeth, and an odd mix for the rest. Most of his 150-piece collection is in his house next door which was presently not open as it was being renovated (he has moved to another location). As it was his personal home, exhibitions were only twice per month. $12, reduced $10.
Springthrope Memorial. In the huge Boroondara Cemetary, this is the most prominent grave of many OTT graves (many obelisks, almost all with massive granite and marble bases, most from the late 1800s). Twelve black marble columns support stone pediments. In the center is a marble coffin with a woman lying on top and two angels. Plaques on the ground extoll her as a woman and mother. Inscriptions on the stone gables represent 19th-century social and cultural attitudes towards death. “Behind All Shadows Standeth God”, “I Iff Evermore”, “Peace Evermore”, and “Glory in Excelsis Et In Terra Rex”.
From Wikipedia: The memorial was built between 1897-1901 by Melbourne doctor John Springthorpe, in honour of his wife, Annie Springthorpe, who died in 1897 at the age of 30 while giving birth to their fourth child. The centrepiece is a figure of the deceased lying on a sarcophagus while an angel, standing beside her, places a wreath (now missing) by her head. A sorrowful, draped female figure sits beside the sarcophagus, clutching a lyre.
The structure is a derivative of a Greek temple – dark marble columns, granite pediments and a stained glass domed roof made of hundreds of ruby-coloured glass pieces supported by radiating ironwork. On a fine day sunlight, streaming through the roof, imparts a reddish glow on the sculpture below. The base of the memorial, surrounded by an iron picket balustrade, is paved with red tiles that have various verses inscribed on them in gold lettering. There are also inscriptions on each pediment and entablature of the temple structure, in both English and Greek. Nowhere on the memorial is there any mention of the deceased’s name, the most specific reference being the following inscription: My own true love, Pattern daughter perfect mother and ideal wife, Born on the 26th day of January 1867, Married on the 26th day of January 1887, Buried on the 26th day of January 1897. “Pattern Daughter, Perfect Mother, and Ideal Wife”.
Circling the memorial from the eastern side, looking up at the four gables one reads the words, “Peace Evermore”, “Life Evermore”, “Light Evermore” and “Love Evermore”
Fitzroy (pop 10,431) is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne 3 km north-east of downtown. Planned as Melbourne’s first suburb in 1839, it is Melbourne’s smallest and most densely populated area. Fitzroy is known as a cultural hub, live music scene and street art. Brunswick Street is one of Melbourne’s major retail, culinary, and nightlife strips. Long associated with the working class, Fitzroy has undergone waves of urban renewal and gentrification since the 1980s. Some fine Victorian-era architecture and rows of tiny homes with no space between.
Centre for Contemporary Photography. Only one exhibition, the photographs of James Tylor, black and white landscapes with black circles and squares in parts of the photo, painted geometrics on others. None of the photos are great and I don’t get the purpose of the alterations. Free
Bali Memorial. On Oct 12, 2002, 202 people were killed in a nightclub in Bali – 91 Australians, 22 from Victoria. It is flat with two pools – 202 lights over the water, 91 water jets, and a metal band with the names of the 22 from Vic. All the names of the Australians are listed on a storyboard.
Burke and Wills Memorial. In a very large cemetery, this occupies a triangular treed section. Sitting on a three-piece pediment is a giant quarried granite block. Inscriptions on the four sides of the plinth are: “The First to Cross Australia Burke Willis Gray King (survivor)”, “Robert O’Hara Burke William John Wills”, “Victoria Exploring Expedition Died at Coopers Creek June 1861”, “Comrades in an Adventure, Companions in Death, Associates in Design”.
The cemetery in itself is interesting – I entered at a gate where there was a large holocaust memorial 1933-1945 with many Jewish graves and the road was lined with OTT Italian graves. Behind these were much older graves dating from the 1880s through to the 1940s, many in a bad state of repair.
Grainger Museum. Built in the 1930s by Melbourne-born composer Percy Grainger to house his extensive autobiographical collection. Part of the University of Melbourne, it is only open on the first Monday of each month from 2-3 pm. I was at the door, a function was being held, and I was allowed a very brief cruise through the house – music manuscripts and published scores, 250 rare and experimental musical instruments, experimental sound technology, ethnography, art, design, furniture, and library. Free
Queen Victoria Market. A huge market under several long metal buildings – meat, fruit and vegetables, knick-knacks, electronics, clothes, food court.
Hellenic Museum. Shows Greek culture and Roman influence – statues, pottery, war (a great explanation of the Greek navy), Greek Orthodox icons, Olympic torches (interesting styles), and a nice gold myrtle wreath. In the old Australian Mint. $12, reduced $7.
Southern Cross railway station. Next to the Docklands Stadium sports arena, it is the terminus of the state’s regional railway network and trains to Adelaide and Sydney. There is also a coach terminal underneath the Spencer Outlet shopping complex and a bus service to Melbourne Airport.
Opened in 1859, it has had multiple additions and renovations. Has a 36.6-m by 7.32 m History of Transport mural, a wave-shaped roof, and Water Tower Clock are the architectural highlights.
Mitchell Building. Sitting on a corner of downtown, this 5-story reinforced concrete art deco building has businesses on all floors. Besides the round corner and central “tower”, the only authentic part is the small elevator “lobby” with an inlaid floor and green casings.
Emporium. A big mall in the center of downtown with a basement and five floors. It has it all. Very busy on a Saturday afternoon. I had a disappointing, overpriced hamburger.
St. Francis Church. The bland yellow concrete block church from the outside belies the very nice interior – wood confessionals, an ornate Gothic Lady’s Chapel, wood coffered ceilings, a large stained glass window at the back, and the largest Ways of the Cross I have ever seen (large oil paintings in elaborate wood frames).
Sinking Building. Outside the State Library jutting out from the sidewalk, this is one corner pediment of the library with the gold lettering LIBRA and RY.
Old Melbourne Gaol. Constructed in 1839, and a prison between 1845 and 1924, it held and executed some of Australia’s most notorious criminals, including bushranger Ned Kelly and serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming. In total, 133 people were executed by hanging. It is now incorporated into the RMIT University, and the rest becoming a museum.
The three-story museum displays information and memorabilia of the prisoners and staff, including the death masks of the executed criminals. At one time the museum displayed what was believed at the time to be Ned Kelly’s skull before it was stolen in 1978; as well as the pencil used by wrongly convicted Colin Campbell Ross to protest his innocence in writing, before being executed. $35 (I didn’t go here due to the cost and it would have been about the 5th gaol in Australia).
ON parking area next to the park with the Bali Memorial.
Mileage:
Day 54 Sun Nov 12
I had a great walkabout and then drove to Mornington.
Melbourne Museum. The science section has dinosaurs and a huge mineral collection. The center is a real forest. The third section is about Melbourne, Phar Lap (the great Australian racehorse), Aborigines, and a great section of miniatures.
ROYAL EXHIBITION and CARLTON GARDENS WHS
Designed for the great international exhibitions of 1880 and 1888 in Melbourne, the building is constructed of brick, timber, steel, and slate. It combines elements from the Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic, and Italian Renaissance styles. The property is typical of the international exhibition movement which saw over 50 exhibitions staged between 1851 and 1915 in venues including Paris, New York, Vienna, Calcutta, Kingston (Jamaica) and Santiago (Chile). All shared a common theme and aim: to chart material and moral progress through displays of industry from all nations.
The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens are a surviving manifestation of the international exhibition movement that blossomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These were the largest events staged in colonial Australia and helped to introduce the world to Australian industry and technology.
There are three parts: The Great Hall was the exhibition building, a permanent building initially intended to house the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880 and the subsequent 1888 Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition. It is cruciform and incorporates a dome, great portal entries, viewing platforms, towers, and fanlight windows. The formal Carlton Gardens has tree-lined pathways, fountains, and lakes.
The Royal Exhibition Building is seen only by tour organized through the Melbourne Museum $29 (museum included in this fee). Often closed as it holds exams for two of the largest universities in Melbourne. The Carleton Gardens have two nice fountains at the entrance but otherwise are just grass and big trees.
Fire Services Museum of Victoria. The history of fire fighting in Melbourne (the first was in 1839 (horses). Has a lot of helmets, uniforms, medals, photos, and some old wagons. Black Friday in 1939, Black Saturday in 2009 with huge forest fires, and the 1897 Great Melbourne fire. $10, reduced $8
St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Dark stone with two bell towers and a large central tower over the cross, both with high spires. Inside has a lovely wood ceiling, big stained glass windows with a yellow geometric pattern, 8 chapels behind the altar, and large Ways of the Cross with coloured basreliefs.
The Old Treasury Building. The temporary exhibit was “Lost Jobs” or jobs that don’t exist anymore – hangman, factory jobs, domestic labour, maritime, hawkers, street urchins, trains, farming, miners, gambling, prostitution, transport, printing, leeches). Permanent exhibits were on the building (1862), the gold rush, Yamma River, aboriginal appropriation of land, women’s rights, and a replica of the 71 kg Welcome Stranger gold nugget. Free
Hotel Windsor. Hospitality Legends. Built in 1883, this hotel has retained its original look. Cricketer Bar and a big ballroom with several glass skylights.
Chinese Museum. In Chinatown, gives the history of Chinese Australians – costumes, tools, utensils, arts and crafts, furniture, and household; documents (newspaper clippings, diaries, letters, books, journals); photographs, art, and oral history recordings. $12, reduced $10.50
The Johnston Collection, Fairhall. (William Robert Johnston 1911-1986). An exhibition space seen only by tour (3 times a day) organized on their website – johnstonecollection.org (arrive at the Pullman Melbourne on the Park, 192 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne by public transport. All visitors must arrive via The Johnston Collection courtesy bus.
In an unmarked, unsigned house. Google Maps had the incorrect location and it took me a while to find it. $25 (I didn’t see this).
From their website: 1500 objects – ceramics, furniture, glass, horology (clocks and watches), metalwork (including silver), paintings (including miniatures and engravings), textiles, and objets d’art predominantly of English 18th-century origin, as well as items from Europe, India, China, and Japan.
Australian Sport Museum. At the Melbourne Cricket Club (no thongs, collared shirt), it was closed for renovation until Nov 16. Many great statues of athletes (woman sprinter, cricket bowler).
Justin Art House Museum, Prahran. Seen by tour organized from their website jahm.com.au. Charles and Leah Justin, are passionate collectors of contemporary art – art, architecture, design, and food. They have been collecting contemporary art for over 40 years, and have over 300 works of painting, sculpture, works on and from paper, and photography. There is a strong emphasis on digital and video work. Each visit includes a tour of the exhibition conducted by Charles and Leah, after which visitors are invited to their apartment for refreshments, and to enjoy a conversation about the exhibition, art collecting, or whatever is of interest!!! 25 people per visit. $28 (I didn’t go here)
Chadstone Shopping Centre. A two-story mall that is very high-end – all the top brand names are on the first floor with a curved glass ceiling. A “guard” is at each door to control the number of people in the store. The lower-quality stores are on the basement level. A huge 6-story parking garage.
George Pentland Botanic Gardens, Frankston. A long narrow park with mostly grass and big trees but also beds of bushes and non-blooming flowers. Has several gates and many picnic tables.
Mornington Regional Gallery, Mornington Peninsula. Has the Archibald Prize awarded for portraiture by the Museum of New South Wales. Many local artists. Free
I then went for a beer at the Tar Brewery with Kieran Burrows (and his father Brian) whom I had met in Kigali Rwanda about 10 months ago. Kieran and I travel completely differently – he cycles and went through most of East Africa, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
ON Burrows family home – a great bed and company.
Day 55 Mon Nov 13
Arthurs Seat Cable Car (The Eagle). Goes to the top of Arthurs Seat, the highest hill around at 314 m. On top is a state park with walks. $31 round trip, reduced $28. I didn’t go.
Cape Schanck Lighthouse. A LH that can’t be accessed but see from 100 m away, so the museum also can’t be seen. It is a tapering white stone with a red cap built-in 1839. Views down to the ocean show a boiling mess around the point as two currents collide. There are several nice walks. It is in the Mornington Peninsula NP.
HMAS Otama, Hastings. Maritime/Ship Museums. A submarine, closed on Monday.
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria – Cranbourne Gardens. The only garden here is the Australian Garden, quite unusual and well done. Immediately upon entering, one is confronted with the fantastic red sand garden, a large, round, deep red area with banks and islands of desert plants. Dry river garden, Arrid garden, Lake and river tract, Wierd and Wonderful garden, 13 display gardens, water saving garden and a wonderful diversity garden with narrow, one-metre wide strips of garden from all over Australia. 85% of Australian flora exists nowhere else. Eucalypts are 75% of the species with 600 species. There is a good storyboard on eucalyptus oil – only 20 of the species are good for oil production, only the leaves are used, and most produced commercially are from the one-metre tall Blue Mallei eucalyptus bush. Free
Philips Island. The Penguin Parade. This is a huge tourist draw with thousands coming every night to see the Little Penguin come ashore to their burrow every night at dusk. At one kg in weight and 35 cm in height, they are the smallest and only blue (a deep mid-blue) and white penguin of the 18 species of penguin. They fish for krill, jellyfish, anchovies and sardines diving every few minutes. 32,000 use the south shore of Philips Island to breed with 200-1300 coming to shore each night all year long to enter burrows in the ground for the night. In the winter, they spend up to 4 weeks in the ocean but in breeding season in the spring, only about 2 days. They are sexually promiscuous with a divorce rate of 18-50%. They form communal rafts in the water and cross the beach together around 20:30 once it is nearly dark.
Get there. After crossing the bridge to Philips Island, it is about 20 km to Noosie and the Penguin Parade, the route is well-signed.
Cost: General viewing $30. Penguins Plus $75, Underground $85, Guided Ranger $95, Ultimate $105 (all these last four were sold out but it seemed to me to be a complete waste of money as one can read all about them in the museum (I never saw one person reading the storyboards in the museum except me, there was great info on all 18 species of penguin, most of them not venturing past the Antarctic and nearby islands) and when you walk from the visitors center to the viewing area on the boardwalk, you see many penguins up very close.
My experience. I ate in the parking lot which ended up being packed and left for the visitors center at 19:45 with lots of time to get to the beach. I was almost the last to leave the parking area and couldn’t believe how early people arrived only to wait. The beach is lit up and the boardwalk has lights so you see many marching to their burrows as you leave the beach. There is a good introduction over speakers and I stood next to one of the guides in the stands and got more info yet). Up to 2500 tickets are sold (there were about 1500 on my night). There are several stands with lots of seating area although I stood and moved along the back to see the first group at the far east end. One can see the dark areas in the water as they form rafts to cross the beach in groups. They are very tentative and approach the beach several times before getting the courage to come at the safest time. It was so dark that without the lights and as they are so small, you would almost see nothing. Most of the ones you see along the boardwalk very close are about 8 weeks old and indistinguishable from the adults (except for the higher-pitched “squeak”). I then drove for a long time in the dark to Wilson’s Promontory.
ON Lance Moon Park. A beautiful wayside with covered picnic tables and nice bathrooms. I didn’t see the sign that camping was not allowed.
Mileage: 8018
Day 56 Tue Nov 14
I spent a long time in the morning working on my South Pacific trip.
Wilson’s Promontory Area (DARE)
Wilson Promontory NP. Day use is free. Initially one passes through deep bush but then the road climbs over a pass in low mountains. There are several viewpoints down to the ocean. Many were climbing Mt Bishop. Tidal River has a huge campground and Norman Beach with a lot of surfers (who appeared to be beginners as no one was catching any waves).
Wilsons Promontory Light station. The road past Tidal Creek to Mt Oberon was closed so I could not go to the light station.
Ninety Mile Beach faces the Bass Strait and backs the Gippsland Lakes. The beach is just over 151 kilometres (94 mi) in length, running northeastward from a spit near Port Albert to the man-made channel at Lakes Entrance. Behind the beach are long sandy dunes that separate the Gippsland Lakes from Bass Strait. The beach is an uninterrupted stretch of untamed coastline; it does not have any rocky headlands or platforms, and offshore there are only a few ribbons of reef which are periodically covered by sand.
In the northern section, the beach runs along a sandbar on what amounts to a series of tidal islands. Behind this are several large lakes and numerous shallow littoral lagoons. The three main lakes are Lake King, Lake Victoria, and Lake Wellington, partially contained within The Lakes National Park.
It offers a wide variety of activities such as camping, picnicking, whale watching, and beach and water-based activities. The beach has golden sand, with crashing waves and a natural bush environment. It is part of the Ninety Mile Beach Marine National Park, which covers 2,750 hectares and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of coastline, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Sale. There are basic camping facilities within the park at Emu Bight, as well as accommodation at Seaspray and Lakes Entrance.
Rotamah Island, which is part of the Lakes National Park, has a large bird observatory and can be visited by boat from Paynesville, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away.
Coastal towns of Woodside, Loch Sport, Seaspray, Golden Beach, and Lakes Entrance are popular tourist towns. Woodside, Seaspray and Lakes Entrance have life-saving beach patrols during the summer season. Surf fishing is a key drawcard for the area, with main varieties of fish including snapper, flathead, and gummy sharks. Port Albert, McLoughlins Beach, Lochsport, and Lakes Entrance have jetties and temporary berthing facilities.
The beach’s length ensures that the waves break too close to the beach for good surfing, and there are strong rip currents and cross-currents that make conditions rather hazardous. The local authorities recommend that anyone who wishes to swim should do so at Woodside, Seaspray, and Lakes Entrance, which have life-saving beach patrols during the summer season.
The beach is believed to be the fourth longest uninterrupted beach in the world, behind Praia do Cassino on the Brazilian southern coast, Padre Island on the US Gulf Coast, and Eighty Mile Beach in Western Australia, which is actually 140 miles (230 km) long.
I saw the beach at the Seaspray Beach. Beach could be seen endlessly in both directions. Driving along it, there were many camps and easy beach access.
Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes, marshes, and lagoons covering over 600 square kilometres. The Lakes are separated from the ocean by coastal dunes known as Ninety Mile Beach. Birds, dolphins, and pelicans frequent many locations.
Beginning at Sale on the Thomson River, there are three main lakes: Lake King, Lake Victoria, and Lake Wellington and they are all joined and fed by rivers that originate in the high country, including the Mitchell, Nicholson, Tambo, and Avon rivers. The lakes include many small islands, which are reached easily by ferry or water taxi.
The Mitchell River silt jetties is the largest in the world jutting into Lake King with the Mitchell River on one side and the lake on the other. See best from the lookout at Eagle Point Bluff. Two national parks abut the lakes, the Lakes National Park and the Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park, both of which offer great camping and walking tracks.
Wildlife havens include Rotamah Island (only reached by boat, which has birds, kangaroos, and wallabies) and Raymond Island has a koala colony that can be visited from the shore.
ON Stratford (on Avon) at a park in the town. Very nice.
Mileage: 287 km
Day 57 Wed Nov 15
I started the 350 km drive to Albury NSW late. I got Google Mapped as it took a very direct route, first on a winding road, the Bairnsdale-Dargo Road C601, and after Dargo a narrow paved road that climbed up slowly with a lot of construction. I groaned when I hit gravel through Alpine National Park, basically on the top of the world here – the Dargo High Plains road. Of variable quality, it lasted 48 km, changed to paved, and finally joined the Great Alpine Highway which now looked like a freeway. It descended on a very winding road for many km until Harrietville and finally leveled out at Bright, a gorgeous town with big trees lining the highway.
GO TO NEW SOUTH WALES – Central and Western (Wagga Wagga)