wilson's prom (24 n 25/11)

this post is really late in making its way into the blog.

i am already back from fiji after 5 days of escapade to tropical weather and it is now back to windy and chilly melbourne.the wind is blowing very strong outside but the sun is out. so that is something to be glad about as well.
i have till sunday to be here in melbourne...so there are still some days for me to enjoy the breeze here. some activities are planned but no more big trips.

anyway, let me post this first before i proceed with my fiji post.
this one will be on the weekend trip to wilson's promontory and a few other national parks in victoria along the way.

so there were 4 of us in the trip, my sister, brother and an ex-student, yeelyn.
the trip started early in the morning before seven, from point cook, where my sister lives.
we had an early breakfast at her house before packing all stuff into her little car ;)

this here is her car...it is mitsubishi's colt. not sure if we have this model in malaysia.

oh, i had something special for breakfast too...macarons. yummy ones....which means they are not too sweet. they were ffrom yeelyn, bought from the city. they are better than the ones i had in paris. the two flavours we had were dark chocolate and lemon. lemon's had crustier coat. love them.

this box was bought from labelle miette. woohoo....they have a cart in chadstone mall....and i am going there later. haha....ok....one box for me please!

ok...let's go back to wilson's prom now. the drive from point cook to the prom was about 3 hours and a half....but it was a pleasant drive along the country side. we followed the gps....so you couldn't really go wrong, could you? haha.....well, sometimes you take the wrong turns too...but the correction will come almost immediately, so there is nothing to worry about.

we reached the national park on a clear clear hot hot day. waaa....a perfect day for some trekking and hiking.

this is the information centre at tidal river. we parked our car here and choose a route to trek. there are many routes for you to choose from, depending on the level of difficulty and length of time you want to spend.

we chose to go to norman beach and little oberon bay which would take us about 3 hours, to and fro. and the level of difficulty is from easy to moderate.

part of the trail we were on. it was not all this shady.

there were also exposed trails like this here and that was when an umbrella would be really useful hahha....for me. well, i did bring one but i did not really use it. just used my cap. the locals would stare at me no doubt with my umbrella.

we reached norman beach in less than one hour's time. it was an easy walk. the wide sandy beach really took our breath away. really beautiful but the water was really cold. brr.....
did not go for a dip.

see the lines on the sand?

a seagull feeding on a tiny fish....or a crab?

this is norman beach viewed from the hill slope on our way to little oberon bay.

there is a mount oberon in wilson's prom national park. unfortunately, it was closed for visit and there was no way we could go all the way up to view the whole national park. i heard the view from the top was beyond description especially of sunset. anyway, it got quite cloudy near late afternoon, hence, a sunset from anywhere would be impossible anyway.

the trek to little oberon bay was slightly more tedious due to all the slopes.  it was a really good workout for those legs. luckily my feet did not cause me any problem despite the long trek.
the view was totally worth all the sweat and hard work we put in.

crystal clear turqoise blue water and a mesmerising view. you really can't ask for more.

this here is little oberon bay. 20 mins walk further down should be oberon bay behind the hill but we din go. this was enough. after a short break, it was back to tidal river.

this here is tidal river. love the reflection of the sky on the calm river. you could just stay there and stare at the river for hours without doing anything.

well, we don't have that much time to do that.....there was more exploration to do in the big national park.

next stop- lilly pilly gully boardwalk.
the walk here was through shady forest and it was really a quiet walk. no sound of the waves here. just sounds of leaves rustling and insects here and there.

this walk was not that interesting to us because the vegetation was quite similar to what we have in malaysia. you reached the end and you will reach this boardwalk. we were quite disappointed.

the creek that was near the boardwalk.

we ended our trip at wilson's prom around 4pm i think. all together, we had clocked in about 5 hours of trek. a brilliant workout. woohoo!!

we did not see many animals or birds along the way unfortunately. if you include dead animals in the list of wildlives to see, then we saw dead kangaroo, hare and wombat along the road.

i have forgotten the name of this bird, but we saw a few of these in the park. according to a  local in the nearby town we spoke to, animals and birds were quite scarce since they had enough food inland so they did not have to venture out for food from humans.

our accomodation for the night was at venus bay. it was more than 1 hour's drive from wilson's prom. it was also near the beach.

this here is our cosy little cabin. we paid $160 for the night. it was reasonable.

this here is the inside.

entrance to venus bay caravan park.

dinner was at lower tarwine hotel about 5 mins drive from venus bay. the food was really great.

we had lamb and beef and the portion was big too. so it was a great dinner. i guessed whatever we lost during the trek was 'replenished' at dinner time. back to square one. we were the only asians in the restaurant and of course, we got some patrons secretly glancing at us. the staff was friendly though.

the next morning, sunday, we checked out from venus bay and made our way back to melbourne.....slowly....coasting along the scenic drive route.
breakfast was instant noodles we bought and instant coffee.

venus bay beach. really windy. those ppl must have tough skin to swim in the icy cold water.

our drive brought us to inverloch. the information centre was not open since it was a sunday....so we just walked wherever the road signs showed us.

a small war memorial in front of the information centre.

the esplanade.

locals and visitors to the area took the opportunity to enjoy water sports acitivities in the sunny weather.

a small community market.

a memorable thing we did in inverloch was  a visit to the local fire station. hahaa....every child's dream.

it was their open day and they had guided tours around the station. well, the activities were targetted mostly for kids....but hey, for one who had never been to the inside of a fire engine or a fire station, this was not an opportunity to be missed right?

the fire engine.

our local fireman guide, trevor had worked in malaysian hall before, so he was familiar with malaysia. we spent a good half hour there snooping.

lunch was at tomo, a well-reviewed japanese restaurant. we found it on the net when checking for things to do in inverloch.

the dishes we ordered to share- seaweed salad, gyoza, prawn dumpling, soft-shell crab roll, tofu and chicken in hot-plate. the roll was only so-so, but the rest was really good especially their tofu. so soft and white and fine. slurp!!! i have never tasted any better tofu than this.
the sesame oil dressing they used for the salad was fragrant too.really apetising and the service was good. definitely a must visit when you go to inverloch!!! order all chef's recommendations in the menu, and you won't go wrong.

after lunch, we continued our drive along the scenic route. it brought us to eagles nest, a sandstone sea stack that sits on a rock platform. it was really beautiful there and awesome to be surrounded by these rock formations from dinosaur age.

dreaming dinosaur- a volunteer organisation that has their annual digging trip here to look for hidden treasures which are yet to be found. dino bones??

another angle of eagles nest. can you see the map of australia in this photo? unreal eh?

we spent around 30 mins walking on the rock platforms and taking in the sights of all different rock formations. it was really a great walk.  kinda sad to leave.

ok....let's drive on towards melbourne.

saw a sign board leading to the state's coal mine in wonthaggi and we made that turn. we were just driving aimlessly at that time.

say 'hello' to the locals in the farm next to the old coal mine.

the state coal mine....open to all free of charge. we missed their underground guided tours time. haiz....what a waste. it would have been great to be able to go underground to see how coal was mined in the past.

these were taken in the museum. shower room of the workers.

more exhibits in the museum.

the train that used to ferry all coals found here from inverloch to melbourne.

our last stop before  reaching the city was bourne creek in kilcunda.

beautiful eh? the creek on the right and the sea on the left.

it was the sight of this bridge that made us do the u-turn and it made our day.

we made it right on time back in the city to join my sister for dinner at malaymas.
haha.....malaysian food. well, i did not choose the restaurant ok. but the food was good, as good as those we can get back home. there was nothing to complain about when you get good food.

chicken wings, hokkien noodles, char kuey teow, lor mee, wat tan yin yeong, curry laksa and fried rice. filling!!! oh, i forgot that picture of roti canai too.
so you know where to satisfy that craving of yours if you are in melbourne now.

that will be the end of this post.