Healesville

For my last day in Australia, we took a trip up the Yarra Valley - an area known the world over for its wines. When the European settlers first arrived in the area, they asked the local Aboriginal people what the river was called. Not quite grasping the meaning of the question, the answer was "Yarra", which, in fact, means "River". You can only imagine how stupid the Aborigines must have thought the Europeans, especially as the river now bears the name of, effectively, "River River".

After lunch, we headed to the Healesville Animal Sanctuary which is attached to the Melbourne Zoo and which offers the chance to see many examples of indigenous wildlife in something approaching their natural habitat.

Nearest the gate are dingoes – the native dogs of Australia. The species has acquired a rather negative reputation but they’re actually quite striking animals (when viewed at a safe distance, of course):

From there, we made our way to an outdoor arena where there was a display of the aerial skills of some of Australia’s native birds. The birds flew over and sometimes between audience members. Not, perhaps, terribly natural behaviour but it helped hammer home the point that many of the native species are severely endangered.

For example, a barking owl:

 The most impressive bird was the enormous wedge-tailed eagle:

Elsewhere, there were numerous members of the parrot family, mostly quite tame:

 

 

Further round we came to the Tasmanian Devils:

who never quite stayed still long enough to have a proper photograph taken! As their name suggests, the Devils come from Tasmania. They’re not especially unpleasant – they get their name from their unearthly scream. In the wild, the population is being decimated by a contagious form of cancer which affects the devils’ faces. It is 100% fatal and, despite research, there is, as yet, no cure. The Sanctuary have a colony of healthy devils which are being bred in captivity to help to keep the species as a whole alive. So far, over 100 babies have been born.

We were in a hurry to get back to the city so there was just time for a couple of shots of some wallabies:

before we had to leave. We had tickets for a concert in Melbourne for the evening in which Brock was performing, and he had to be on stage for a rehearsal at 4:45. The concert was, it has to be said, quite splendid, with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Great Ocean Road

The southern coast of Victoria is composed mainly of soft limestone. This means that it weathers into spectacular formations and cliffs. The section running west from the town of Torquay is especially impressive and has earned itself the name "The Great Ocean Road". It's an awfully long way to drive in a single day, and I didn't really want to take two days, so I set off on the 07:30 train from Macedon to begin a journey of something over 700km.

At Southern Cross Station in Melbourne, I caught the train to Geelong where I boarded the bus to Apollo Bay. This section of the coast is, to my mind the most spectacular and I was very glad that someone else was driving as the road winds tightly round headlines, clinging to the side of the cliffs.

From Apollo Bay, I caught another bus, this one a cross between a service bus and a tour bus to Warrnambool. This one stopped at the Twelve Apostles:

A series of stacks left behind by the erosion. You can't see all twelve from any one place, so this is just some of them. A sign at the lookout pointed out that, as the sea is still pounding away at the limestone, new apostles are constantly being formed. There's a sermon in there somewhere, I'm sure.

A little further round is what used to be called London Bridge (and is still signposted thus) but is properly called London Arch now:

Until 1991, the outer arch was connected by another arch to the mainland which led to the name of the feature. Apparently the collapse was entirely unexpected and two tourists were stranded on what had been the headland. Luckily nobody was injured.

The limestone is very weak and fractured. Inland, rainwater is seeping into the cracks and eroding away sinkholes and, at the coast, the sea is hammering away.

 

 

Finally we reached Warrnambool, in time to catch the 17:16 train back to Melbourne. Unlike the other V-Line trains I've been on, this one was a proper train - with an engine and carriages and, most welcome, a buffet counter!

This train didn't quite connect to a train back to Melbourne so I had a longish wait in the city before catching the 21:22 back to Macedon, arriving at 22:15, 15 hours after I left there that morning.

Hanging Rock

When I was last here, I visited the famous Hanging Rock. The weather then was what you might call "atmospheric" so, when I found myself at a loose end one sunny morning, I thought I'd take myself back for a little exercise.

In some ways, the rock is actually more impressive in the fog. When all's said and done, it's just a geological feature (a mamelon, since you didn't ask) formed in the vent of an extinct volcano. What lends it the mystique is the book and later the film set there. It was much easier to imagine spooky goings-on in the fog.

Still, having got there, here are a few photos:

As you can see, it is surrounded by eucalyptus trees, but there was nary a koala to be seen.

Looking south towards Mount Macedon, where I'm staying:

And, finally, here is the actual Hanging Rock from above and below:

North Queensland

A few more pics from our trip to the tropical north of Queensland.

This was the view from my bedroom balcony:

If you walked along this path:

Past the coconut palms:

You got to this beach - looking north towards Port Douglas itself which is built around the headland:

Of course, this is Australia and all is not as placid as it seems. The beach has regular warning signs:

If you've ever seen Billy Connolly's routine about stingers, you'll be happy to know that that is, in fact, a bottle of vinegar in the tube under the sign.

We ate in some pretty fancy places. This was the view from the table on the first night:

As you can see, although we were there in the dry season, it was actually quite cloudy some of the time. Our last night, we went to a hotel in the middle of the forest. This was the table view there:

There are no walls on the restaurant at all. I suppose there's just never any need for them. Whilst we were eating, the heavens opened, creating waterfalls from the roof above us onto the forest floor and into the river:

The day we went out to the Reef, we ate at a place in Port Douglas called Zinc, who have the best backdrop to any toilet I've ever seen:

Though it was a little tame having spent the day swimming on the real thing.

I've heard of restaurants having signature dishes, but this place really did do a signature dessert:

Finally, and sorry to end on a low note, but there's obviously a problem in Queensland with people misunderstanding toilets as, on two separate occasions, I came across these instructions:

Just shows you that what seems obvious to one culture might not be to another.

Kuranda

Kuranda, about 30km north-west of Cairns, sells itself as the Village in the Rainforest, a statement that is undeniably true. Beyond that, there isn’t much to say about the place – it’s full of crafty, arty shops reflecting its main industry of tourism.

To get there, we took the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The railway is part of the normal Queensland Railway network and was originally built to provide access to the goldfields on the high table land above Cairns. Nowadays, its main traffic is the twice-daily return trip for tourists.

The contract for the most difficult section of the line was awarded to John Robb in 1887, and the line opened in 1891 - a remarkable feat considering the obstacles that had to be overcome.

The journey, for us, started at Freshwater Station near Cairns.

Once aboard, we settled into comfy arm chairs ready for departure

Quickly, the line begins to rise and wind its way up the mountains - often doubling back on itself

Perhaps the most impressive part of the line is where it crosses Stoney Creek

Just on the other side of the train, the creek forms spectacular waterfalls as it runs down the cliff face

The bridge itself is not the original, which proved not to be up to the local conditions. It's probably the most photographed railway bridge in Australia, though.

The view down the gorge to the sea is also amazing.

The only stop between Freshwater and Kurana is at Baron Falls

Which, as the name suggests, overlooks a waterfall on the River Baron

The falls used to be much more spectacular before a dam was built just upstream to provide hydro-electric power and irrigation water.

From the station, we caught our first glimpse of our homeward transport about half way along the horizon:

Soon we were on our way again and, after an hour and a half or so, we arrived in the beautifully kept station at Kuranda.

After a visit to the (still working) signal box:

We popped across the road to the Kuranda Hotel for a cup of coffee, where we noticed this, not to be missed, offer:

As well as the touristy shops, Kuranda also boasts the Koala Gardens. Now, it's well known that koalas are almost as cute as cats, so this was a must-do stop on the itinerary. As well as koalas, they have other cute creatures, such as wombats:

and wallabies and kangaroos

Of course, this being Australia, there are less cute creatures such as freshwater crocodiles. They're smaller than their saltwater cousins, but still unpleasant

But it was the koalas we'd come to see

As well as just looking at the koalas, there is the opportunity to get up close and personal with one. This is Hogan:

(Hogan is on the right)

After a bite to eat, we made our way back towards the station where it was time to board our return journey - the Kuranda SkyRail:

SkyRail is a 7.5km long gondola ride that takes you through the tree tops of the rainforest, sweeping across rivers and gorges.

On the way, we passed the Baron Falls again - in time to see the train on its way back down to Cairns.

Looking down into the gorge:

Skyrail also have a station in the area and, from there, we could see the dam - near the top of this picture:

At the next stop on the gondola, we joined a ranger-guided walk. It's always more interesting when someone who knows what they're talking about points things out to you. We learned, for example, of the Strangler Fig:

So named because it wraps itself around its host, eventually killing the host tree. If that happens too quickly, it's likely that the fig itself will also die as it won't be strong enough to support itself.

We also saw some Kauri Pine - a great wood for building with which almost led to the extinction of the species. Even now, there are very few mature specimens anywhere in the forest. This one:

was about 1 metre across, but a really good example could be double that. Notice that there aren't any creepers or even any moss growing on the Kauri. It manages this by having flaky bark that peels off if anything tries to stick to it.

Then it was back onto the gondola for the final segment back down to Cairns.