For the first time ever, we left a caravan park at 10am – Hooray for us! The Great Ocean Road was a busy time and lots of driving and walking. It was also the coldest place we stayed next to Carwoola NSW. Most days in Victoria ranged between 10 -19 degrees. I did the driving the last two days, so Mr C drove today out from Forrest. By now we were used to the winding and steep roads and thankfully there were not too many on our way to Colac. As you can see by the map below we have nearly completed our loop.

We are planning our way home now – and have set the date for two weeks to get home from here (Coonawarra) all things being good.

Colac was a bigger town than we thought but didn’t offer much of an interest for us however, we did stop at the information centre just to see if we were missing anything. I have noted throughout NSW, ACT, Vic and SA, Agapanthus (flowers) were in full blossom everywhere – strange as I didn’t think its a native Australian plant. I saw them sometimes in the wildest bush country and can only put its migration to birds dropping the seeds – they do look spectacular in full bloom. The Tourist information Centre had a beautiful display of Agapanthus outside the entrance. I do so love looking at the old buildings most are from the late 1800’s.

We continued driving along the Hamilton Hwy through Camperdown, Hexham, Penshurst, Tarrington and stopped at Hamilton for lunch. It was all farming country; some Pine Tree forests and Wind Farms in the distance that were not working (Mr C’s pet hate is the waste of money wind farms cost and he feels they are ineffective) – so every time we see they are not working I get the story about what a waste of money they are.

The most interesting town was Tarrington, it has a strong German heritage – they still had their Christmas decorations out on display – all the properties are decorated with Hay Bales my favourite one was the horse and cart. The town has the smallest Post Office I have ever seen. The tradition of decorating with Hay Bales is remanet from the Lutheran Church (German) history from the 1800’s. We enjoyed a nice pub lunch in Hamilton, which means cuppa soup and Xmas cake for dinner tonight.

Next stop for afternoon tea was Casterton – the home of the Australian Kelpie – the Tourist information centre tells you that the Kelpie was founded in the town of Casterton. It was bread with a Scottish Collie dog – others say the Kelpie was cross bread with a Dingo – I do rather like the story about the Scottish Collie and the Irishman who swapped a horse for a pup of the Collie to create the Kelpie.

Penola was a lovely old town, with some beautifully renovated old buildings – it is great to see these old buildings being looked after and heritage listed such as the Post Office, the National Bank and the original old School. Penola is also the home to Saint Mary MacKillop. It really is a quaint town and worth a visit.

I followed the Mary MacKillop journey (Australia’s first Saint), I did not know much about her until I read her story here in Penola and what a story. In a nutshell Mary MacKillop is widely referred to as a ‘Saint for all Australians” – she had a love for teaching and wanted all poor children to be educated, she also found God’s calling – and so founded the order of the Josephites. If you want to know more click the link Mary MacKillop Story. The most surprising part of her story I read was when Bishop Sheil’s cruel and invalid action in 1871 excommunicated the sisters because Mary would not kneel before him – he declared that because of her ‘disobedience and rebellion‘ the sisters would be excommunicated – Mary and 47 sisters were left destitute – it was not until the bishop was on his death bed, he “sorrowfully acknowledged the injustice of his conduct” and the sentence of excommunication was removed. I could say a whole lot more but will refrain – Mary had a dedication to teaching and led a life of service.

Coonawarra – we are staying at the Coonawarra Bush Holiday Park – it’s pretty rustic and it has portable toilets and showers, thank goodness we are only staying 2 nights – the upside, its right next door to a winery. There are many fabulous wineries in this area, it was hard for Mr C to decide which ones we would visit. I was skipper so he could enjoy the wine tasting without worrying about having to drive.

We visited three wineries – the first Balnaves, Di Giorgio Family Winery, Redman (didn’t taste) and finally Brand’s Laira; A good time was had by both of us, the weather was delightful this afternoon, the sun was out, it was lovely. There is nothing better than having a selection of cheeses, crusty bread, prosciutto, dried fruits, nuts and wine / or bubbly water / coffee with no time limitations – sheer bliss.

Mr C enjoyed the first two wineries the best – Balnaves for me had the best rose garden I have seen in a very long time – they were just magnificent and in full bloom. The winery philosophy, if people enjoy their work environment they love to go to work – it looks a great place to work.

As we left Coonawarra, I thought it’s a beautiful part of Australia, the drive through the vineyards was amazing – Coonawarra is regarded as one of Australia’s most renowned wine regions. This time we only made three of the 31 wineries, still plenty for another visit and we would stay longer.

We are hoping for warmer weather as it has been a bit cold for us warm blooded West Australians. It’s time now to head to Murray Bridge – see the next blog for what we find along the way.

Keep well and happy.