Central Deborah Gold Mine

Thursday, April 25, 2013

We got kitted out in our mining gear.

Don't they look enthralled?

Dagan running the drill.

Sydney running the drill.

I got to run the drill, too.

We started the drive home today. We went 2+ hours to Bendigo to go on an adventure gold mine tour. Our guide was great. We learned lots about the mine and gold mining in the 1880's. It closed down mining in the 1950's. Now visitors get to go down into it to see what the life of a miner was like. We went down an elevator to the 2nd level. We wandered around the tunnels. He showed us the quartz laminate which is where the gold is found. You can't find gold in the grey rock only the white quartz in this area. We went down 6 ladders to get to level 3. We ended up 210 feet below ground.  The guide had a great time with our accents especially Sydney when we were on the ladders.  You had to say clear when you were off, so the next person would know when to go.  We must say it differently because everytime Sydney said clear he would say it really funny.  It made us laugh.  At the end of the tour, we were served a Cornish teddy oggie or pasty.  Half of it was filled with meat and potatoes and the other half was filled with apple pie.  It had sugar on the outside of one half, so you knew which one was sweet. It was delicious. Adam thinks I should learn how to make these.

a picture of the moon

After our tour, we headed down the road. We tried stopping in Albury where Sydney's volleyball tournament was held to get the great Mexican, but it was closed, so we continued onto Wagga Wagga. The moon was starting to come out at this point.  It was huge.  The kids said I had to get a picture. 





We ended up driving over 7 hours today. We got some dinner, headed to our hotel, and watched a movie before going to bed. 

Grampians

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

In the Grand Canyon

Another view of the trail

We had to walk under the boulders.

Dagan taking a moment on the "turtle rock".

A view of some of the stairs.

Yes, this is part of the path.

I'm headed up the crevice.

Adam coming up the stairs.

They are headed out to the edge.

We are at the Pinnacle.

We went bush walking today. Our first was the hardest. We hiked to the Pinnacle. It took 1 1/2 hours for us to get to it. We walked through the Grand Canyon. Sydney thought the path was great because it seemed like we were going off roading. You walked along the large rocks. You looked for the painted arrows to show which way to go. They have added hand rails and steps in some places. After the Grand Canyon, we kept going uphill through the woods and up a path with lots of steps. Once we got to the top of the gorge, we followed the path around it. This started a steep climb over more rocks to the top. At one point, we walked through a crevice in the rocks before ascending the last part to the Pinnacle. The view was amazing. They have built a fence around the edge of the rocks sticking out over the edge, so you can get a 360 degree view.   It took an hour to walk back down.  Adam and I decided that it was harder going down because you really had to watch your footing. The steps were steep and sometime slippery from the sand.

View from the Pinnacle

The pinnacle is on this ridge.

"The Balconies"

After our hike, we went to town for lunch. We went to the bakery. Then we headed back up the mountain. We stopped at Boroka Lookout. At this one, we were able to see the ridge where we hiked to the Pinnacle. Then we went to Reed's Lookout and the Balconies. Our last stop was Mackenzie's Falls. We went to the lookout instead of climbing down to the bottom.  None of us were up to climbing the steps on the way up.

Dagan next to a flowering kangaroo tail

Dagan thought I should carry him.  HA!

Can you tell they are related?

We returned to our cabin and relaxed a bit before heading out for dinner. At dinner, we decided to order the kangaroo rump.  It was surprisingly good. That was a first for all of us. When we got got to the cabin, it was cold enough that Adam started a fire. It actually is in the low 40's at night.

Tomorrow we start the trip back to Wollongong. It is around 11 hours. We are breaking the trip up and making one more stop on the way home.

Great Ocean Road/Shipwrecked Show

This is a view of the terrain leading up to the cliffs.

Monday, April 23, 2013

View of the coast

12 Apostles

Gibson's Steps

These signs were at every stop.

Can you tell we stopped too many times?

Dagan likes being the photographer.

We headed out fairly early. We had to drive a good hour inland on the Great Ocean Road before getting back to the ocean. We drove through the Otway National Park.  It was a pretty drive and very curvy.  Once we got out of this park, we entered Port Campbell National Park. The land was very interesting. It was fairly flat, and then dropped off to the ocean. This is where the sandstone cliffs are located.   Erosion has created a very dramatic effect.  It really was spectacular. We stopped at all the stops. The kids were making fun of me for wanting to stop, but I am glad we did. We saw the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Gibson Steps, the Grotto, London Bridge, and the Arch. We got some lunch during part of this in Port Campbell. After we left Port Campbell National Park, we made a few stops in the Bay of Islands Coastal Park. At this point, the kids decided they didn't want to get out of the car anymore.

The London Bridge is in the background.

Dagan found a rock to climb.

Sydney under the overhang.

We made it to Warnambool. We checked into our hotel and relaxed for a while. Then we headed to dinner. We were going to dinner and the Shipwreck Show at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village.   It was a sound and light show about the Loch Arch wreck. We had been to the place where it had occurred earlier in the day. It was an interesting show and very informative. The ship crashed 1 day short of reaching Melbourne after being at sea for 90+ days. There were only two survivors. The man saved the young woman who had lost her entire family. The man received many honors for what he did. Plus, we learned that this was his second wreck, and was eventually in a third wreck.  Crazy! The young woman got back on a ship a few months after the wreck to return to Ireland.  She never returned to Australia. The other important thing that survived was a ceramic peacock. It was supposed to be shown in Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, but didn't make its official appearance until 1988 at the Brisbane World Exposition. It is now on display at Flagstaff hill Maritime Village and is worth 4 million dollars.

Loch Ard Gorge where the shipped crashed.

Arch

Part of the London Bridge - half fell into the ocean 10 years ago.

Adam and I headed down to the arch.

A bull ant - the kids learned their bite really hurts.

It was a fun evening.

Tower Reserve/Grampains

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The rocky part is part of the rim of the volcano.

Emus in the field

A couple of wallabies

The koala we saw.

We decided to go to the Tower Reserve outside of Warnambool. I had read that we could see koalas in the wild. That appealed to us. The other interesting thing is the reserve was a volcano 30,000 years ago. We entered on the rim and went down into the crater. As we entered, we saw emus roaming in the fields. We stopped at the first car park and walked to the peak. We saw some kangaroos and wallabies as we were going up and back down. It was a good view. We could really see the rim of the volcano. We headed to the visitor center next. We still hadn't seen any koalas, so we took another path out into the old volcano. We wandered around for a while with no luck. As we were coming back to the car park, we saw people looking up at the trees. There was a koala. The kids were complaining that we walked for 45 minutes for no reason. That's the way it goes.

There are kangaroos and emus in the tall grass.

A kangaroo

emu

You can see how close you can get to a wild kangaroo.

Our next stop on our road trip is Grampians National Park. We are staying in Halls Gap for two nights. We stopped at the information/cultural center as we came into town. It was interesting to learn about the Aboriginal People from the area, and we received information on what sections of the park we should visit tomorrow. The ranger also recommended a short walk that started at the information center. As we walked up a hill and entered a field, we could see emus and kangaroos. There were quite a few of them. As we continued on the path, we came across even more. It just seems strange to see so many and that they don't run away.  You can really tell that there are no predators down here.

This is a plastic dinner plate.

Sydney checking the moth out.

As we went to our hotel, we saw quite a few kangaroos in a field. This was just the tip of the iceberg. When we went for dinner at dusk, every field we passed had 30+ kangaroo, and they were all over the town.  It was crazy! We also some red deer.  We are having fun spotting all the wildlife.  When we got back to our cabin, there was a huge month by our door.  Dagan wanted no part of it, but Sydney couldn't wait to pick it up.

 We have a big bushing walking day planned for tomorrow, so after a game of cards we headed to bed.

Werribee Zoo/Ocean Road/Surfworld Museum

Sunday, April 21, 2013

We checked out of our hotel and went to the Makers' Market near the Arts Center. It wasn't very big which surprised us, so we headed down the road.

This is one of the open buses.

The gazelle wanting some attention.

We liked how the giraffes had to spread their front legs to eat.

We liked the signs at the zoo.

Dagan just had to play.

We went to Werribee Open Range Zoo. I thought the kids would enjoy seeing the animals roaming freely. We went to the open bus right away. We gave the kids the window seats. We saw camels, American buffaloes, giraffes, rhinos, ostriches, water bucks, hippos, and some other unique gazelle. A couple of funny things we saw/learned on the bus tour. One, the male camel builds up saliva in his mouth, flings it all over, and shows his lips to attract the ladies. Two, the male gazelle rubs his legs against the female trying to get her attention.  He only had one horn which didn't make a difference to her. Third, for a different group of gazelles if the male loses his horns, he loses all the girls, too. Finally, a giraffe can pick his nose and clean his eyeball with his tongue.  After our ride, we walked around the rest of the zoo. We saw African wild dogs, cheetahs, lions, monkeys, gorillas and some more animals in the wetlands.  It was fun to be in a different type of zoo.  It reminded me of the wild animal park I went to in San Diego.

Adam and I always wonder what they are discussing.

Sydney coming through a ropes course.

The lions reminded us of how Topaz sometimes sleeps.

Dagan is slowly catching Sydney.

We motored along the Great Ocean Road. At first, we were not near the ocean, but wound our way that direction. Dagan saw a sign for the Surfworld Museum, so we decided to stop. I think every shop in the area was selling surf gear. The museum was interesting. The part we liked the best was the movie that showed two Australians surfing in all 50 American states. In the states without large bodies of water, they surfed on land, in corn fields, on potatoes, in rivers, behind boats, etc.  It made us laugh. This is where Bells Beach is located. This is a famous beach where surf competitions are held in Australia.

We continued on the Ocean Road.  Now, it was curving right next to the ocean with a national park on the other side. It was pretty, but not spectacular yet.  We have seen lots of beautiful coastline since we have been here. The best part of the drive is that the road was very close to the coastline.

 We had a quiet evening. We will be off again tomorrow.