25-Jun-2011 Our Fishing Trip at Buxton Trout and Salmon Farm (VIC, Australia)

25^th June 2011. We went fishing with our family friends.  My mum didn’t go so it was up to me to do this blog.  Me and my dad went to Tito Dennis’ house.  There was a misunderstanding, as Tito Dennis was already at Tito Lorenz’s house – waiting.  We drove to Tito Lorenz and Tita Jac’s house. There were also some other people who went fishing with us, Tito Larry with Trina and Sabel, Denise, and Uncle Stewart, Tito Lorenz’s colleague.  We did a little bit of chatting while waiting for all the people who will go fishing with us. Then, we were finally off!

The fishing pond was in a quiet place called Buxton Trout and Salmon, close to Marysville . It took us about two and a half hours to get there.

We finally arrived! When we reached the counter, we had to choose a fishing rod from a shelf. The counter lady gave us bait for the fish and told us that if we catch a fish we have to go to the counter so the lady could clean the fish up, weigh and pay for it.

There were only two types of yummy fish to eat. They were rainbow trout and salmon. 

After we chose our rods, we saw each pond had a sign of saying what fish there were. We all spread out into different ponds. Me and my dad went fishing in an awfully quiet pond with no fish. Later on,  me and my dad joined Tito Lorenz and Stewart in another fishing pond.

 

My Dad caught the first fish. Then Tito Lorenz and Stewart after. I was now really desperate to catch a fish. I then managed to catch a fish after my dad put his fish in the bucket. Once I lifted the fish out of the water, it was wiggling a lot trying to escape. I caught a small rainbow trout.

There was a part which I really hated to do and that was taking out the hook. I just wanted to pull the hook out of its mouth but my dad didn’t let me. I had to touch the squirming fish full of blood while my dad just took the hook out of its mouth for me. When I touched the scales of the fish, it was all sticky with fish oil.  

All of us managed to catch at least two fishes each except Tita Jac as she was cooking the fishes for our lunch. We did have to wait quite a while till the fish was cooked. She put onion, lemon and she also stuffed the fish with tomato. She wrapped the fish in foil and put them on a grill.

Once she finished cooking, we got the table ready and sat down to get ready for the food. The trout looked so yummy when Tita Jac put it in the table. The meat looked kind of like salmon meat because it was orange just like salmon. The trout was so yummy. We also had chicken from Nandos Restaurant and rice to go with it.

To make everything fair, we let Tita Jac catch a fish. This time, she caught one from a salmon pond. It was so heavy. The counter lady said the salmon was just over 1kg. One of our family friends wanted to catch another two fish for themselves. They caught a salmon as well and a rainbow trout. The disgusting part was that it was pregnant and once they put it in the bucket, fish eggs (roe) came leaking out of the fish.

It was nearly 5:00pm, so that meant the ponds were nearly closed and it was time for us to leave. While Tita Jac and one of our family friends were paying, I saw what damage the Victoria Black Saturday bushfires did in 2009.  They had to carry out 40 tonnes of dead rotten fish and buried it.

It was time to leave.  Everyone decided to go to our house for dinner. Tita Joy, Tita Bheng and her mum, Lola Thelma joined us.  We played different Nintendo Wii games like racing and Just Dance.

For dinner we had teriyaki trout and salmon caught from the pond cooked by my mum. I had enough of fish for the day so I just had pasta with home cooked tuna white sauce,  also cooked by my mum.

After that, we watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie.

It was already past midnight when the gathering ended.   It was a good experience… my first fishing adventure.

JR

(Photos : http://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/media/set/?set=a.1845771306566.2096128.1309143858)

12-Jun-2011 Mt Gambier, South Australia and Nearby Attractions

Saturday, 11th of June:

It's long weekend, hence we took the opportunity to take a break.  As usual, Justin's swimming lesson at 10:30 a.m... washed the laundry til 12 noon while making a jello for the party at Grace's house later, then packed the clothes and toiletries for a night getaway. 

We're supposed to pick up Jac and Lorenz at 11:00-11:30 am but arrived at their place at 1:00 p.m.  "Malamang dilat na ang mga mata non!", we thought.

We went to Grace and Dennis Mansion at Pakenham for the celebration of Hennie, LJ, Gwen and Beia's birthday and left there at 3:30 p.m... (Apologies to Egay/Kat, hindi na namin kayo naantay.  Sayang, na-miss namin ang masarap na luto ni Egay!)

Set the GPS to Federal Hotel, Mt Gambier.  It was roughly 6-hr drive from Pakenham.   We stopped at McDonalds around 8p.m. at Warrnambool... dinner solved.  Then drove again... Along the way, we almost ran over a small fox crossing the road or could be possum.. not quite sure.  

From Lorenz's 'school' and 'chikababes' adventures ... to Justin's 'name that tune' and 'guess the movie'... the 6-hour drive went so fast.  We didn't realize the time.  For the first time, Mon was awake throughout the journey.  I didn't have to slap and pinch him to stay awake :-)

South Australia is 30 minutes behind Victoria.  We arrived at Federal Hotel around 9:15 p.m.

Sunday, 12th of June:
We checked out at quarter to 8 in the morning  and started touring.

Mount Gambier, the Limestone Coast of South Australia 

Old Town Hall and Gardiner Fountain.

The old town hall was constructed out of the local dolomite and limestone and was completed in 1882.  Beside the building was the Gardiner Fountain, donated to the city by Captain Robert Gardiner in 1884. It is claimed to be the first marble fountain made in South Australia.

Cave Gardens

Located at the heart of the city centre, next to the Old Town Hall.  It features a sinkhole.  Visitors can walk down onto the suspended viewing platform for  the view of the cave. 

The Extinct Volcano Crater Lakes within Kanawinka Geopark:
Browne's Lake - We kept on driving around the park where it is located and ended up concluding that the lake was now dry as we couldn't find any sign of water from where the map was pointing us.

Leg of Mutton Lake - It's a dry lake bed in a volcanic crater,  now bushy with grass and trees.



Valley Lake - a scenic lake surrounded by hills with playgrounds, bbq and picnic grounds and shelters.




Adam Lindsay Gordon Obelisk
near the Blue Lake



The Blue Lake in winter.

  Blue Lake - The most famous of all  the lakes in Mount Gambier.  It is the source of the city's drinking water.  Each year at the start of summer, the lake starts its colour change from greyish/steel blue to brilliant turquoise blue.  Throughout the years, there had been a number of theories said on why the blue lake changes colours. It's winter time, so we didn't get a chance to see the lake in its most beautiful colour/scenery.

The Rook Wall and Lookout
facing the Blue Lake

We ate lunch at KFC then went to Engelbrecht Cave.  We had to wait for 45 minutes for the next tour and the man at the counter told us that there was really no stalactites/stalagmites there.  It's a dry cave, so was not really eager to wait.  We left and decided to go the next destination---

Umpherston Sinkhole (The Sunken Garden) - similar but bigger and better than the Cave Gardens.  It was once a cave with sinkhole created when the top of the chamber collapsed downwards. The soil on the ground of the cave had been landscaped with terraced gardens and is floodlit at night. It is an impressive garden with  plants hanging over the edges of the sinkhole.  It was originally beautified by James Umpherston where the garden got its name. 

Seeing the 2 honeycombs on the wall of the cave  and a possum that scared Lorenz away were considered a bonus during our visit.   Had fun photo taking on the log truck on display at the park before going back to the car.

Leaving Mount Gambier...

Princess Margaret Rose Cave - the Underground Wonderland. It is located at the Lower Glenelg National Park via Nelson Victoria.   It features stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, columns and pillars with formation of a wedding cake, bacon and egg, shawls, blankets etc.   Been to a number of caves before but our first time to hear the term  helictites. Unlike the stalactites and stalagmites, helictites formed in different directions.. not simply upward or downward.  The jewels underground were amazing as expected.

After the cave tour, we went southeast, heading to Cape Bridgewater, southwest of Portland Victoria.  It was truly a place for paragliders/hang gliders.   'Wish we could take a ride (maybe not for Mon though.)

Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm -  It's part of the Portland Wind Enegry project.  Stopped the car at the side of the road to take a photo... with Jac, making up faces everytime a car came from both directions... only to realize later that there's a dedicated bay ahead for cars wanting to give way or stop.

Cape Bridgewater Blowholes - the force of the ocean was not as spectacular as I had expected.  It was a calm day.  The sunrays over the ocean were beautiful ... it's like stairway to heaven...

Cape Bridgewater Petrified Forest - It's a short trail  from near the blowholes with view of rock formation that resembles a number of broken pipes/tubes.  I found from surfing the net that petrified forest was formed when the forest of Moonah trees was smothered by a large sand dune. Water seeping through the sand formed a crust of sandstone on the outside of the trunks, decaying the organic matter, leaving behind petrified trunks.

Time to go home.  It was already half past 4.  The time flew on the road without us knowing while me, Jac, Lorenz and Mon exchanged stories of our childhood, teenage years, marriage proposals, about our ex-es, siblings, our differences and similarities,  embarassing experiences and many more.    Felt hungry and so we decided to stop at a Chinese Resto at Colac and had our dinner there...  It's a continuation of the past until we got movin and back to the road... 

Had a cup of hot choco at Jac & Lorenz' house while they're chatting with Peter before ending the night.

I don't know if there would be more things to talk about after this trip...  It was a good trip...  all in one fine day.

More Photos:
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