A short break in Inverloch
Got back yesterday from a few days in Inverloch. We rented a house near the beach with my sister and her family.
Sunday
Drove down as sorry, but even V/Line’s new improved services only provide 3-4 services a day. Anyway we had lots of stuff to carry. Stopped at Korumburra for lunch at the Kelly bakery (not sure what Ned Kelly’s link to Korumburra is), and checked out the tourist railway but didn’t ride on it.
Then onward to Inverloch. Drove around the town looking for the supermarket, which we found eventually. Very crowded with fellow holidaymakers. We stocked up on stuff and then headed for the house.
Quite nice and comfortable, if a little basic. One toilet was a stretch for so many people. Isaac ended up on a mattress on the floor, but seemed to get used to it. No actual dinner table — just an island kitchen bench with not enough stools, so the adults got used to having meals standing. And a TV which was tiny and had no proper antenna, and was therefore unwatchable. I was glad I’d brought a radio to be able to listen to the news and the cricket.
But these minor issues were forgotten when we found the slot car set in the cupboard.
After settling-in we strolled down to the beach (about 10 minutes walk). It was a little cold, but very nice. The kids kept themselves entertained by wading in the water and scrawling pictures and words into the sand.
Strolled back and Adrian (genuine Italian) cooked us all pasta. Yum. Then we had a go of RoboRally, which took some study of the manual. I won, perhaps reflecting that I was the only participant who had played previously, as veteran rallier Marita decided she wanted to just watch.
Spotted a huge huntsman spider in the bathroom just before going to bed, but happily didn’t see it again all week.
Monday
Went for a nice long triangular walk down to the beach, along the coast into the town then back to the house. Seemed to be plenty of people about, and (for whatever reason) I snapped a few moderately entertaining signs with unfortunate pictogram men falling off cliffs and being carried away by strong currents.
After some lunch we did the slightly amusingly named Screw Creek scenic walk up to Townsend bluff, taking a few wrong turns along the way. It’s one of those scenic walks where it turns out the best view isn’t at the proper End Of The Walk, but about 200 metres back down the hill. But oh well, there was some interesting stuff to see along the way.
Adrian fired-up the wood-fired barbecue in the evening and we feasted like kings yet again, before a game of Cluedo.
Tuesday
Into the car (we must have made an amusing little convoy, my sister’s Golf and my Astra, carrying four people each and both with matching orange “More trains = Less traffic” PTUA stickers on the back), we went for a spin down the Cape Paterson Road. Lots of glorious views of the sea, and after a stop at some place called Eagle’s Nest (great view of the cliffs) we took a look around the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi.
Some really interesting stuff around the mine — it’s free entry to the surface exhibits. Time and the presence small children prevented us doing the hour-long mine tour (for which there is a charge); maybe another time — if it’s half as good as the one in Bendigo, it’d be well worth while.
The lady behind the counter recommended lunch at the Caledonian hotel in Wonthaggi, and sure enough their BLT burger went down a treat. Then we headed back to the house for a rest before hitting the beach.
The promised beach weather never quite eventuated, but it was nice enough for some paddling, sand-castle building and beach cricket, before home made pizzas for dinner. Yum. Followed by another game of Cluedo, and a quick go of the telescope the kids got for Christmas, though not many stars were out.
Wednesday
Time to head home, but beforehand a ride on the South Gippsland Tourist Railway, from Korumburra to Nyora and back in a 1950s diesel railcar (apparently once used on the Adelaide suburban system). It’s a bumpy old track, but some great scenery along the way, and my nephew Leo was thrilled to be able to watch out the front window to see the track ahead.
After lunch, back to the car and the drive home to the big smoke. A nice little relaxing break.
Tags: beaches, Cape Paterson, holidays, Inverloch, Korumburra, Ned Kelly, South Gippsland Tourist Railway, spiders, V/Line, Wonthaggi
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Who are these clowns whose Twitter posts get into the paper?
From last Saturday’s Herald Sun Weekend section:
It was sent when we were passing through Kangaroo Flat on the way to Bendigo the other week.
(Thanks for spotting it, onegirlinmelb)
Tags: Bendigo, Herald Sun, Kangaroo Flat, Twitter
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Trams, pies, and getting in touch with my roots
(Posted 5th October. Backdated to the day it happened.)
While waiting for breakfast to arrive, we flicked around the TV, noting that Channel 9’s Today Show kept showing bits of the previous night’s Hey Hey special. After breakfast (eggs on toast x 3) we gathered up all our bags and checked out and strolled across the street to the bus stop.
A bus showed up which wasn’t one of those listed on the bus stop sign (which, by the way, was identical in design to those now in Melbourne). “Do you go to the station?” “We all go to the station.”
My Myki money was running out, so I put some more dosh on it. We weren’t actually heading home just yet, but decided to chuck the bags into a locker at the station ($2.70) and then continue exploring.
We strolled back via the shops, and noted the first of a large number of Army Landrovers drive past with “Driver Under Instruction” plates on it. In the following few hours we must have seen a dozen or more of these drive past, sometimes alone, sometimes in convoy.
The Hargreaves Mall in central Bendigo is being redeveloped, including some big screens which judging from a letter in the morning’s Bendigo Advertiser, are seen by some as a waste of money.
Back to the tram stop. The first tram was headed down to the mine, so we caught that. On arriving there, the driver changed ends and the tram conductor urged us to cheer him as he reboarded the tram, so we and a couple of other passengers did so. Then we set off back through the centre of town and arrived a little while later at the tram museum.
This time we wanted to take a proper look. The staff there offer a half-hour tour around the place for anybody interested. We and a couple of older couples took it, and we learnt about how Bendigo’s tramways got started (the first incarnation was battery-powered; they didn’t last long as they kept running out of juice on the hills, and passengers would have to push them back to the depot) and how the system was shut down and the vintage tram tour put in place.
The kids wanted to do a bit of filming with the video camera in the cab of the Z1 tram, as well as at the controls of a “simulator” (which looks like it was a driver console ripped out of a tram and placed against a wall) for editing together later with other footage. I pottered about the souvenir shop and looked at the various other trams.
Then we walked back the way we came, more or less, to the Chinese museum, noting more Army Landrovers passing.
My dad’s parents came to Australia in the late-1800s; not to the Goldfields, but to Far North Queensland, settling on Thursday Island. (If they were anything like me, they might have planned to go to the Goldfields but decided they couldn’t be bothered going all that way.) So the museum’s history of the Chinese in Bendigo isn’t my personal family history, but it was really interesting nonetheless.
The dragon, at 100 metres long, is impressive enough when dormant, but must truly be a sight to behold when it’s out and about at Easter. And we took a look at the neighbouring gardens and the temple, both of which were most impressive, and very calming once inside. In the gardens you can feed the fish. We didn’t, but obviously plenty of people do, as some of them were looking pretty chubby.
Then we headed over the bridge, through the gate, stopped briefly for a snapshot with one of the statues, and headed along the road to the Tourist Information Centre.
Arguably we should have gone there when we’d first arrived, but in fact I’d researched stuff to look at online. In the basement they had an exhibit about telegraphs, as well as the development of Bendigo. One section had a video from about 2001 describing how the local council was advocating for the rail link to Melbourne to be upgraded, and also for the Calder Freeway to be duplicated. Well, the rail line upgrade was finished in 2006 (though it’s been left with mostly single track beyond Kyneton), and the Calder Freeway duplication finished this year, so maybe that video needs upgrading.
Lunch was next on the agenda, and we couldn’t go past Gillies pie shop. Apparently they’ve been in business since the 1950s, and it’s not hard to see why — totally delicious, and the pastry was a joy to behold. Then we strolled around looking for dessert, which we eventually found at an ice-cream shop back on the highway, serving Norgen Vaaz, which was expensive, but tasty.
By this point it was about 1pm and we were thinking about calling it a day and heading for home. A walk back to the station via a postbox and a newsagent (to buy a paper to read on the way), and soon we were boarding the 13:38 to Melbourne. It was only a two-carriage set, and already filling up. We found ourselves sitting in with a snooty lady who was steadfastly concentrating on her iPod playing The Seekers, and seemed determined not to make eye-contact. Maybe she was wishing she hadn’t tried to nab four seats to herself.
At one stage the conductor went past and was heard to say to some people “Where do you live? I’d like to come around and put my feet on your couch”, which gave me warm fuzzy feelings inside.
The train left on time, and filled up steadily at each stop. By the time we reached Woodend, the automated sign was still saying Kangaroo Flat, and all the seats were taken. By Sunbury the sign had been turned off, and a number of people were standing, one bloke gripping the sign to hold himself up.
See, sometimes V/Line is just like Connex.
The sign-gripper was chatting to his mates about things — apparently he was a Sunbury local and a regular train traveller; the others weren’t. One asked what he thought of the electrification project — a number of Sunbury people oppose it. He seemed to have an open mind; noted that some had said the suburban trains will be slower, some faster, but he’d be welcoming the fact that there’d be more trains, and they’d run later. Good for him.
We were back in Melbourne by about 3:30, and home by about 4:30. A short trip, but an enjoyable one.
Tags: Bendigo, Bendigo trams, Chinese culture, Myki, V/Line
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Sending my kids down the mine
(Posted 2nd October. Backdated to the day it happened.)
Originally the plan had been to go to Canberra for 4-5 days, possibly driving up via Lakes Entrance and perhaps back via Kelly country. One of the reasons for wanting to go to Canberra was that I’d been keen to see a display at Old Parliament House: the Living Democracy: Power of the People exhibition, because part of it highlights community organisations, and one of those featured is the one I’m involved with.
However, Kerryn was up in Canberra a few weeks ago, and it turns out that this is nowhere near as interesting as it sounds: merely a logo and blurb on a piece of cardboard in a display case. Oh well.
In any case, school holiday schedule considerations meant the break would have to be cut back, and I ended up with a completely revised plan: Bendigo for just two days. Short and hopefully sweet.
So on Wednesday morning we set out for the station, V/Line tickets to Bendigo in hand. They have a Family Traveller deal which gets you tickets for two kids free with each adult, as long as you travel outside peak hour. And it includes metropolitan travel, which frankly makes it a bargain at $15.80 each way.
According to the V/Line web site, single tickets (of which we had two; they issue separate tickets unless you’re returning on the same day) are meant to be time-stamped by station staff, but both on the way and on the way back nobody seemed to think this was necessary. *shrug* Maybe they’ve realised that allowing only an hour of travel either side of your train trip isn’t very practical, especially when they advise you to allow at least 30 minutes interchange time at Southern Cross to ensure you make your connection.
We got to Southern Cross in plenty of time for the 9:15 to Bendigo, and spent the time observing four promotional people dressed as the Village People, singing YMCA, with a placard nearby dubiously linking this to Hallmark Cards.
The train zoomed out of Melbourne. Given it was a V/Locity train I wondered if we’d reach the full 160 km/h, but it turns out that of the two tracks that go most of the way to Bendigo, only one has been upgraded to 160, and the other only to 130, and the faster line is used for peak direction. So we had to satisfy ourselves with 130 km/h, which still seemed pretty fast from where I was sitting.
In-flight entertainment was courtesy of a family sitting opposite: a lady with her three-year-old girl (”Brooke Livinia! Get back here now!”) and a ten-year-old son (who spent the first part of the trip in a long and presumably smelly session in the toilet, then the rest of the trip trying to teach his sister what seemed to be an impenetrably complicated card game).
I thought they were going all bogan on me when the mum started ranting to the boy about how his father shouldn’t have “borrowed” ten dollars off him. But we got chatting later; they were doing a similar thing to us — a 2-day break in Castlemaine, sans motor vehicle, and they’d be riding the Maldon stream train.
We got into Bendigo a bit after 11am and went and found the hotel. I’d booked one on View Street, which looked to be reasonably central to things, and had a room available with three beds. Despite the theoretical check-in time being 1pm, they were happy to let us into the room early, and we dropped the bags and things before heading out again.
Rosalind Park is closeby, so we went and climbed the old mining tower thingy there that now serves as a lookout. Back onto View Street for some lunch, then we walked along MacKenzie Street past the awe-inspiringly huge Sacred Heart Cathedral, noting the gargoyles looking down at us. We snuck a peek inside, though a sign warned there was a service going on.
A little further along the highway we got to the Central Deborah mine, where I’d booked us in for a 2pm tour. We were a bit early, so got to look around the museum and so on beforehand.
The “Mine Experience” tour was fabulous. After donning hard hats with torches, we went down in a cage to 60 metres down (the equivalent of 20 storeys) and got shown around one of the levels of the mine. Having to wear the hats and tramp about in the dark just added to the experience, making it all terrifically atmospheric, and Bob our guide was excellent, and knew how to keep the group entertained as well as informed. I can’t recommend this tour enough; the kids loved it and so did I; it was great.
Back on the surface we got onto the vintage tram (it stops outside and they do combined tickets which include the mine tour and two days of riding the tram — perfect for us — $73 all up for the three of us). As in days of yore, the model we caught had no doors in the middle section, and we sat there enjoying the fresh air. The tram took us back through the city centre, with an automated voice recording describing the sights along the way. There was a short stop at the tram depot/museum, and we planned to visit it properly the next day.
We took the tram to the end of the line, then back a little way to Lake Weeroona. (For some reason at some places the tram only stops in one direction.) I’d read there was an Adventure Playground there, though it was a little underwhelming.
The tram conductor had warned us we had been on the last tram, but we had a plan. Bendigo’s bus network is reasonably fathomable (unlike, say, Geelong’s used to be, and partly still is), and thanks to the miracle of technology, it’s very easy to check bus times on the Metlink Mobile site — well at least it was as soon as I worked out that Bendigo is in their “Lodden – Mallee” category. Hmm. Still, simply noting the route number (8) on a nearby bus stop, and checking the times, we were able to know that there was a bus back to the centre of town every half-hour, and when it left.
The bus was dead on time, and I dug out my Myki ticket from Geelong which still had $3.20 on it, which worked like a charm (though the scanners were a tad slow), and got two 2-hour short-term tickets costing $1 each for the kids. Easy.
Back in central Bendigo, we went and found some pizza for dinner, and while we munched I tried to determine where the nearest supermarket was. Being the age of technology, rather than just ask one of the waiters, I tried White Pages online on my phone, and found there was a Coles just a couple of minutes walk away, where we picked up some bananas to eat later.
Back to the hotel, we put our feet up. I tuned into the Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion, which I might blog about separately later. Eventually it was bed time, and we dozed off, a good day’s exploring behind us.
Going to Bendigo
Going with the kids to Bendigo on Wednesday, staying just overnight.
Accommodation worked out, and the trams and gold mine are on the list, but any other recommendations welcome: stuff to see, places to eat etc.
Tags: Bendigo
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Lake Mountain snow
Yesterday we headed up for our semi-annual (?) trip to the snow. With Mt Donna Buang (the closest) looking a little lean in the snow department this weekend, we opted for Lake Mountain: myself, Isaac, Jeremy, my nephew Leo and his dad Adrian (driving).
As we headed up the Maroondah Highway, we could see the effect of February’s fires only too clearly. Large numbers of trees burnt; some in their entirety, some only up as high as the first 5-10 metres, as if the fire was too busy rushing through to bother to completely devour it.
We reached Marysville, and stopped to hire some toboggans. It’s quite erie — so many buildings are gone. On several blocks, all that’s left is the Hills Hoist.
We got to Lake Mountain by 10am, and set about putting on the extra layers of clothing, then headed to the first toboggan run, right next to the main building. There was plenty of snow around, and in fact some more was falling. All around the resort were hundreds and hundreds of charred trees.
The toboggan run was pretty busy, but good fun, and we had a few goes there before looking for the second run. That, sadly was quite muddy in parts, and we decided instead to find the third run.
The third run is shorter, but much faster than the first, and there were fewer people around. Initially Isaac and Jeremy declined to go on it, but they relented later. Adrian (and Leo) and I seemed to enjoy it most, though the bumps on the way down left me with a sore bum later. After a few goes on it, we went to find the snow play area, and built a snowman.
After some sandwiches in the shelter, we did the two good toboggan runs again. They were much more busy this time, and by the time we got back to the faster run, a lone resort worker was trying to keep things running in an orderly manner and without too many accidents occurring.
It showed how silly some people can be — despite his repeated pleas, people kept hanging around at the bottom of the run, like sitting ducks to be hit by anybody sliding down — and given the speed at which you flew down, there was little in the way of steering possible. Other idiots were climbing up the middle of the slope rather than using the sides — again, inviting collisions.
Anyway, after a few more slides, young Leo was overdue for a nap, and we headed back to the car, stopping again in Marysville to drop off the toboggans and pick up some hot chips, and then driving back to the big city. All in all, it was a good day out.
Back to the burbs
After checking out of the hotel and temporarily leaving the bags in their care, we headed to the shops to buy a newspaper and one last postcard. Then there was time for a little more flying foxing in the playground (and some filming for a video production the kids had devised) before picking up the bags and walking back down to the station.
Ugh. Gastro alert.
Sending an SMS to somebody I discovered that my phone’s predictive text can’t spell Warrnambool, but can spell Waspman. What use Waspman is in messages, I don’t know.
Back in car B on the 11:45am train back to Melbourne, this time there were no double bookings. Lunch from the on-board snack bar (I’m not sure it’s quite worthy of the term buffet) was quite a decent ham, cheese and salad sandwich for me, and sausage rolls for the kids, as we watched the countryside pass by. I’m quite intrigued by the stone walls around (I think) Camperdown, I assume are same type of dry stone walls found in England, some of which are hundreds of years old. (Intriguing link: Dry Stone Walls Association of Australia.)
By the time we got into Geelong, the train was getting pretty full. I noted as we passed through Little River that my phone was reporting the location as “Little Rivr“. I guess if the founding members had been inspired by the name on a mobile phone instead of on a road sign, they’d have been the Little Rivr Band. Sounds very Web 2.0.
The burbs of Melbourne started to appear — as did various groups of gunzels, huddled with their copious cameras by the tracks at various spots along the way from about Laverton onwards. I don’t know what they were waiting for, but it probably wasn’t our train from Warrnambool.
This year we didn’t get to watch the Melbourne Cup en route, but we were back in town as scheduled at 3pm, and home by 4pm, our short but relaxing break over.
…
As has become tradition, I tracked the costs for the weekend (at least roughly).
- V/Line tickets $49.40 — suburban travel included… but I’ve subsequently spotted in the small print it’s only meant to be an hour either side of your trip. Better than nothing, but not very practical especially given they recommend at least 30 minutes to make a connection.
- Hotel 3 nights $474 — managed to avoid the mini-bar and the phone… it was very comfy, but not cheap (though not ridiculously expensive either)
- Car hire $77 plus about $10 of petrol
- Groceries and snacks, about $15+$8+$14+$10+$15
- Flagstaff Hill dinner and show $98
- Lunches and dinners, Nandos $35, Train $8, Cheeseworld $27, Bojangles $43, Cafe at beach $36, Taco Bill’s $65, Train $15
- Postcards, newspapers and stamps $7
- Souvenir t-shirt $25
So a total of (roughly) $1031. Yikes. Not exactly bargain-basement (it adds up quicker than you’d think, especially with accommodation and attractions, and now the kids are bigger and eat full-sized meals), but all in all cheaper than previous jaunts, due in no small part to not having to buy air fares. More short local(ish) breaks like this would be good, I reckon.
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A day at the park
(Backdated to the day it happened.)
Does it drive country people batty to have such restricted access to weather forecasts? Maybe it’s just capital city people like me who are used to being able to get an up-to-date weather forecast on-demand (without having to get online): on the TV news bulletins morning, noon and night, by PocketNews SMS.
But these tell you nothing about regional areas. I was only able to find out about the local weather if I managed to catch one of the evening TV bulletins — not exactly easy when you’re on holiday. And not having access to the morning paper at the start of each day meant I was mostly flying blind, with no idea what was going to happen weather-wise.
All I had to start with was the web forecast from Saturday morning, before we got on the train. At that point it was expected that the Sunday would be rainy, so that’s the day I had the car hire organised. But it turned out that was wrong: Sunday was sunny and warm. The rain hit on Monday instead.
Monday, as it happens, was the day we had flagged to spend exploring the adventure playground and the foreshore area, which is where we headed after returning the car (cue the alarm going off again and more “No worries”), stopped in Target to buy more hankies (very sniffly noses required it), got a copy of the Standard and checked out the view from Cannon Hill. The cannons point out over Lake Pertobe, still ready to defend the town from invading Russians, should they ever show up.
The weather didn’t make the playground impossible, but it was a bit trying, with rain showers on and off for most of the day. We’d periodically have to stop the flying foxing (?) and take cover in one of the playground shelters.
Lunch was in a cafe close by, and afterwards we explored the beach, which despite the cold wind and drizzle, was nice to see. The kids wrote stuff in the sand, including a curiously enthusiastic expression of the liking of tacos.
Trish had recommended the breakwater, but it just looked a little too far away, so we returned for some more time in the playground, which was a lot of fun, and certainly good exercise. We also took a look in the Tourist Information Centre, and tried out their telescope, which is certainly a quick way to use up a $2 coin.
After some time back in the hotel, we went and ate — perhaps inspired by the earlier writing in the sand — dinner at Mexican restaurant Taco Bill’s nearby, which was rather delicious.
Mmmm… Tacos…
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