11-Jul-2011 Gateway to Outback New South Wales

Getting around Wentworth, the gateway to the Outback New South Wales and nearby towns... 

Orange World at Buronga NSW. 

We took a 10:30 am train tour around a big orchard with different varieties of citrus fruits and avocados.  We were greeted by a friendly host, Mario who gave us a complimentary orange juice and mandarins.  And just before the start of the tour, we were welcomed by a beautiful country music rendered by Bryan, the train driver.   

Saw 2 types of cumquats, a citrus fruit called Buddha’s hand (they’re like chilly but actually citrus fruit, tastes bitter according to Brian), valencia oranges, pomelos, tangelos, limes and many others.  According to them, there were around 30 varieties... couldn't remember all of them.

At Wentworth, NSW - 

Two Rivers Ski Reserve.  In here was a bridge to the small island where you can stand at the confluence of the Darling and Murray River.  We walked a bit but came back immediately to the car,  the place was very bushy, scared to encounter a snake along the way.

<- Murray River

                      Darling River ->

Junction Park.   Where the rivers meet.... The confluence of the 2 mighty rivers can be best viewed from the observation tower located at the park.  Darling River is Australia's longest river.   It starts in Queensland SE and NSW, flows 2740km and ends/joins the Murray River at Wentworth.  Murray River, the great dividing range, acts as a natural border between Victoria and New South Wales and flows around 2530 km.  

Lock 10 and Weir.   Completed in 1929 to regulate the level of water of Murray River for irrigation

Perry Sandhills.  A natural wonder of Wentworth, good for toboganning up and down the sand dunes. 

Justin enjoyed this place the most.  It reminded us of our Desert Safari tour at Dubai. 

It's winter so no need to worry about the burning sun.  Another thing that caught our attention were the wild plants around the area bearing small water melons. 

Woodsies Gem Shop at Mildura.  The place provides a demo for cutting, grinding and polishing of gemstones.  We're late and missed this part when we got there.  It has an outstanding display of gemstones -- jewellery and giftware in different colours.  While Justin was out enjoying the Garden Crazy Maze, we looked around and managed to buy a pair of green-brownish heavy bookends and a small vase made from solid stones, to replace the decors  broken late last year in our bathroom downstairs when Justin's friends had a gathering in the house. 

It was 5pm and time to head home.  We arrived just before 11pm at Melbourne where we had an order of Cantonese rice stick noodle and Spicy Chicken Chop to take home. 

More photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2134931887187.123473.1062778089

09-10 Jul 2011 Outback New South Wales

Term 2 school break... I worked from home for a week and took 2 days off to have some 'us'  time with Mon & Justin.

Checked the availability of hotels/motels somewhere at Mildura / Wentworth.  It's not so bad going without pre-booked accommodations.

09-Jul.  We packed our bags, took a quick shower, filled up the petrol and off we go - drove along Calder Highway.   Since we passed Charlton, noticed that we had been driving for a few hours without a sight of even Maccas or KFC or any other fast foods.  Haven't had lunch yet, lucky we had biscuits and grapes in the car.  

Redcliffs. 

After long hours of driving, we stopped over at Redcliffs to fill up the patrol again.  Then dropped by to take a photo of Big Lizzie, an old, enormous machinery used to clear vast expanses of land at the Redcliffs Soldier Settlement.  It was purchased by a Big Lizzie Commitee, restored and now becomes a monument at Redcliffs Barclay Square along Calder Highway.

We took our chances that there might be a place open to get some food to eat around the area... it was already nearly 4pm and we didn't have a decent meal yet.   Alas! Found a BBQ chicken  and Fish n Chips take-away.   Not very satisfying but good enough to fill our hungry stomachs.

Just a few minutes drive after Redcliffs,  Justin felt disappointed seeing Maccas at Mildura.  Drove further and checked-in at a motel somewhere at Wentworth.   Our trip was supposed to be just a night getaway but later decided to extend it.  Thinking of staying on the same motel but changed our mind the moment we took a shower.   Mon said.. "Mas malakas pa ang ihi ko sa shower na'to."  LOL.



Abbotford Bridge



10-Jul.  Left Wentworth, drove to Abbortsford Bridge over the Murray River, then to Calder Highway going to Mildura. 

Along the way, we stopped by a "Honesty" fruit shop to see what they got in there.  It was a good price, $5 for a 10kg-pack of oranges.  But thought that it might not be a good idea to buy then as it would be hard having the fruits in and out of Sunraysia Region if we are travelling.  Thought of buying one before we got home.



We stopped over again and parked opposite the Top of the State Merbein Entrance sign.   Merbein is the northermost part of Victoria.

Reached Mildura and had breakfast at Centro foodcourt... then drove to the outback of New South Wales.

Lake Mungo National Park.

Felt a bit scared being alone on the road along the Fletcher's Lake Road on  the way to MungoNP.   Phone - no service.  Alone on the road and we couldn't see anything but 360deg-view of a flat empty land... not even a single tree in sight.   

We were relieved to see a company on the road along Wentworth-Pooncarie Road and seeing trees and vineyards once in a while.  Scared of being lost :-).

We reached the Top Hut Road intersection from Wentworth -Pooncarie Road, where we had to drive more than 60 kilometers on unsealed road to the Mungo NP's Visitors Centre.

  

At the end of Top Hut Rd is the entrance to Mungo National Park. 










On the way to the Walls,
we saw more emus... really cool!  

  

We stopped to take a photo...  and were amazed when we saw two roaming wild emus.  It's not as if we haven't seen emus before... but seeing emus outside the zoo, in the wild was simply awesome.    Mon kept on telling us to get in the car for one of the emus, headin' to our direction, might run after us.  Cool!

We stopped at Zanci Buildings site then went to the Visitors Centre.  The self guided tour was closed but the Walls of China was open.

Mungo - Walls of China.


Overlooking Mungo Walls of China

Ahead was an exellent view of the lunette Walls of China.  We were on the bed of Lake Mungo, dried up thousands of years ago.  From the brochures, they named the different layers in the erroded pinnacles of the Walls:

• Gol Gol Unit - pink soils at the base of the lunette 
• Upper and Lower Mungo Units - brownish cream and white sands formed when the lakes were full.
• Arumpo/Zanci Units - grey clays which cap the residual pinnacles.

  

 

 

We walked a bit and took a few photos then left.  Driving back to Mildura was quite OK... Not too bad as we already knew what to expect.  We even stopped and took a shot of Fletchers Lake along the way.  

Mildura Wharf

At Mildura, we went to buy a take-away meal at KFC then drove to Mildura Wharf.

It was a quick meal before headin' to Sacred Heart Parish along 11th Street to attend a 5pm-Sunday mass. 

It was not peak season and we didn't have a hard time finding a place to stay for a night. The day trip ended with a meal at a Chinese Retaurant close to the motel.

More Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2134768403100.123468.1062778089

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:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2013916580469.115787.1020438581

8-May-2011 Hot Air Ballooning Over the Beautiful Yarra Valley

A Birthday or a Mother's Day Treat?   The voucher was my gift to Mon's Birthday last year (March 2010).   Supposed to expire within a year...  but due to popular demand, I was able to get a booking only on the 8th of May this year.  In time for Mother's Day celebration :-).

The forecast was cloudy and rain.  We rang Balloon Sunrise to reconfirm the flight a night before.  It's our first time so a bit excited.  Meeting place was at Belgownie Estate, Yarra Glen at 6:00 a.m. , so we left the house around 5 a.m. 

The pilot was on the phone trying to reconfirm the weather... We're not very confident, current forecast was saying that this trip could be cancelled.  But the pilot announced after a few minutes of waiting that we're going ahead.  He briefed us of what was expected from us. Teamwork.

We left Belgownie Estate and drove uphill to test the wind.   It was foggy and quite cold.  We decided to stay inside the van with 2 good looking men busy taking pictures of themselves.    Meantime, the guys outside released small balloons  twice or thrice...  to check the wind (I guess).   Then, we saw them talking seriously.  'Oh no! Are they going to come back and tell us that today is not a good day to fly?" 

The other passengers and the driver came back... The flight was still on but we needed to find another place.

Later, we saw 2 hot air balloons already flying from afar.  "This is it!", I thought.  They were able so it means we could.

We continued our journey away from the other hot air ballooners... Then stopped.  They let us walked to a grassy vacant land.  Setting up the hot air balloon was done with both the staff and passengers' helping hands.   It's a bit pricey but I think it's a good team building exercise.

We loved it.. being on top.  I'd anticipated that it would be cold up there but it's not.  The Yarra Valley was beautiful.  I'm sure, Mon who is scared of heights, would love to fly again (given another voucher hehe).  The flight was so smooth... great sights..  overlooking the farms, hills, isolated houses.   We saw a big shadow of our balloon surrounded by rainbow over the clouds... an art in which God was the artist. 

We landed after an hour and a half trip.  

Taking the air off the balloon, putting the giant balloon inside the big bag, getting along with other passengers... all these activities made this trip a memorable one. 

The trip ended with a sumptuous Champagne Breakfast inside a reserved dining room at Belgownie estate overlooking the vineyard, along with the pilot and the other passengers.

Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2004092374870.115274.1020438581