This
Weeks Feature Destinations
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Camperdown (population
4000)
The Manifold
family left their English estate is the mid 1820's, taking
along with them a large number of their workers and staff
and moved to Tasmania (then Van Diemans Land) then a few years
later, in 1839 they moved across Bass strait to the then,
newly discovered volcanic plains of Camperdown where they
established a farming dynasty on the shores of Lake Purrumbeete.
The Manifold family were great philanthropists and were instrumental
in establishing the town of Camperdown and its facilities
and infrastructure. Today the town of Camperdown still has
many of the hallmarks of a small English town including an
avenue of Elm trees in the main street. Although there have
been many attempts to attract tourists the city, Camperdown
hasn't had sufficient scenic firepower or tourist attractions
to compete with the coastal towns such as Port Campbell or
Peterborough, but that should deter you from stopping and
taking a quick look at this vibrant little town. Camperdown
has a fairly diverse range of accommodation and is comparatively
inexpensive compared to the adjoining coastal towns and because
of its central position between the Great Ocean Road, the
Grampians and Ballarat goldfields it is an ideal base for
centered touring.
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Halls Gap
For anyone
with kids or grandkids, a visit to the Halls Gap Wildlife
Park is a great way to fill in a day ( or half a day) The
park is a few k's outside Halls Gap on the Ararat road and
a very family friendly operation. The park has a good collection
of native animals with lots of "hands on" things
for the kids ( and big kids) to do. Prices are very reasonable
and one place I can recommended without hesitation
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Cobden
The Cobden Miniature Railway Park is a great family day out.
Built and operated by the local Rotary and model engineers
clubs, the park has a over a dozen model trains running on
both 7 inch and 5 inch tracks as well as a 18 hole mini golf
course plus a family barbecue area. Neat, clean, well run
plus extremely well priced and in fact you can spend an entire
afternoon with the family for not much more that $20. For
families this is one of my recommend spots to visit - The
only drawback is that it is only open on Sundays ( during
school holidays )
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Timboon
The berry farm at Timboon is another favorite spot for many
locals and one of those out of the way places that doesn't
seem to get a lot of publicity -possibly the locals don't
want the tourists eating all those delicious strawberries.
The berry farm is located opposite the golf course in Timboon
and you can either bring your own container or they can provide
one for you. A very decadent way so spend an hour or so.
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Port Fairy
For the David Attenborough's amongst us, a visit to the mutton
bird ( short tailed Shearwater) colony in Port Fairy is a very
interesting late afternoon adventure. Even if you are not that
fussed about nature this is one of those wildlife activities
that you can do in relative comfort. The colony is located on
Griffiths island which is about 300 metres from the carpark
at the mouth of the Moyne river.( just follow the causeway-
picture below) Arrange to be there before dusk and you will
be treated to the sight of thousands of birds that seem to come
from nowhere and circle the colony until the instant the sun
sets and then under the cover of darkness they land and find
their way into their own burrows to feed their waiting chicks.
All you need to bring is warm clothes and a flashlight
This ritual will continue until early April when the parent
will depart for their annual migration to Alaska - and amazingly
the chicks leave about two weeks later ( and follow the adult
birds - and you thought GPS was clever !!! ) For more information
on the Mutton bird colony click
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The following are a few suggestions on Sightseeing and
Touring within this region
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Warrnambool
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Information
Centres
the local Visitor Information Centre is located next
to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and open 7 days a week
Sightseeing you can easily spend a day just sightseeing
around the city but to get overview of the city start with
a drive down the main street (Liebig St) to Artillery Cresent
(Cannon Hill ). The bottom end of Liebig st has some attractive,
century old buildings and the view from Cannon Hill is one
of the cities best.
Next a drive along the beach road to the breakwater for a
better view of the beach and ocean also a walk across the
Merri river footbridge to Pickering point to see a more rugged
section of coastline.
To complete the tour, a short drive to the Hopkins River and
Logans beach (whale lookout) should fill in an afternoon nicely
Visit Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village is the cities
premier tourist attraction and you can fill in a day there,
also a picnic lunch at Tower Hill natural history centre is
a good way to see some local flora and fauna
Tours Southern Right Charters operates ocean charters
and some land based tours and Hopkins river cruise has two
hour cruises up the Hopkins river
Driving Tours - Warrnambool is also ideally suited
to centred touring with a good choice of reasonably priced
accommodation and positioned centrally between Port Campbell,
the Grampians and Portland. A two or three day stay with tours
to the 12 Apostles, the Grampians, Port Fairy and Portland
can fill in at least three days.
There is also public transport ( via V-Line) that runs day
trips to each these destinations
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Port Fairy
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Information
Centres
the Port Fairy visitor information centre is located in Moyne
river end of Bank st and is open 7 days a week
Sightseeing the
town of Port Fairy has quite a lot of history which for the
most part can be seen on foot. A walk from Sackville St to
the wharf, including a visit to the History centre is a good
way to see many of the towns historic buildings and the picturesque
Moyne river, possibly fish and chips on the wharf to
finish it off.
Tours
Boat trips around the bay are
available from the Moyne wharf area plus there is a self guided
walking tour available from the information centre which covers
most of the historic sites and takes about an hour to complete.
Driving tours
a
day trip to Tower Hill, Koroit and Warrnambool or to the Grampians
are popular options or visit "The Crags" which is
a spectacular section of coastline close to the small town
of Yambuk, also there is quite a large windfarm close by and
a local tour operator runs tours around the windfarm
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Grampians
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Information
Centres
the local Visitor Information Centre is located
close to the Mobil service station in Halls Gap
Sightseeing there is not much to see in either Halls
Gap or Dunkeld as the
main attraction in this region is the scenery and geography.
Visit -
Brambuk ( the local aboriginal cultural centre) is an interesting
place to visit and has a lot of information on local aboriginal
arts, culture etc.
The local Halls Gap wildlife park is a great way to fill in
an afternoon with the family and the Four
Sisters winery
which is located close to the wildlife park is one of the
regions most recognised wineries.
Driving tours
popular
locations include
Boroka lookout, McKensies Falls, The Balconies and Zumsteins,
although Zumsteins which was once an artist colony, is now
a very sad looking spot and most of the buildings are now
derelict.
The Grampians is also good bush walking country and abounds
with wildlife, also has some fairly significant aboriginal
rock art. Visits to local wineries, day trips to Stawell and
Ararat and ballooning tours are also popular.
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Apollo
Bay
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Information
Centres the local Visitor Information Centre is located
on the beachfront at the Eastern end of the Apollo Bay main
street, there is also a small museum come gift shop at the
golf course end of the shopping strip
Sightseeing for most people, a drive up to Mariners
lookout is a good introduction to the town
Visit -
the Cable Station historical museum records the towns link
with Australias first submarine cable which linked Victoria
with Tasmania in the 1850's
Driving
tours
for
anyone who enjoys geting off the beaten track then the Otways
will be heaven. It is a maze of twisting winding logging roads
that cut through some of the best rain forest in Australia
( and that includes the Daintree) Triplet falls which situated
just out of Beech Forest is a set in a striking section of
rain forest but nearly an hours drive from Apollo Bay, If
that is a bit too far then Maits Rest which is about 10kms
to the west of Apollo Bay is a small but very accessible section
of rain forest. The Cape Otway light station is located about
20kms to the west and depending on how much you enjoy looking
at lighthouses will dictate whether you find the cost
of admission excessive .
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Port
Campbell - Peterborough
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Information
Centres The shipwreck museum opposite the pub and the National
Parks information centre (also close to the pub) have visitor
information services plus are a good way to fill in an hour
or so,but don't expect the Melbourne museum as this is only
a small town
Sightseeing there is not much to see in either Port Campbell
or Peterborought but the spectacular coastal scenery is why
the majority of people visit this area. From The 12 Apostles
to The Bay of Islands ( abour 25kms apart ) there are about
a dozen places you can visit, the most popular are 12 Apostles
- Loch Ard Gorge - London Bridge - Bay of Islands which will
take about 2 hours by the time you stop and take photos etc.
By Air - this section of the coast looks even better
from the air. - There are two Air Charter flight operators -
a helicopter service based at the 12 Apostles and a fixed wing
service that operates from an airstrip close to Peterborough
Visit - Glenample Homestead (opposite Gisbon's Steps)
has a very tenious link to the Loch Ard shipwreck and not worth
the cost of admission. Other local attractions are Timboon Farmhouse
Cheese, the Timboon Berry farm and Heytesbury Ridge Winery these
are all free entry but are commercial ventures that sell local
produce
Driving Tours an afternoon drive to visit the farming
towns of Timboon, Cobden and Simpson will reveal another side
to this region.
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Robe
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Information
Centres the local visitor informaton
centre is located next to the Post Office in the centre of
Robe it also has quite a lot of information on the towns fascinating
history
Sightseeing Robe is quite spread out so plan on a short
drive around the town to see some of the highlights.
A drive out to Long beach (a
17km strip of white sand) and nearby
is the old gaol, then out to Cape Dombey
and a visit to the Obelisk and Doorway
Rock and the Robe's unusual lighthouse should take about an
hour then a walk around the town and fishing marina will help
you get your bearings.
The historic Customs house and Karratta House ( the governors
residence ) are both open to the public and have good displays
Tours
Robe is best known for its fishing and there are
a number of charter operators who run fishing tours from the
marina
Driving
Tours the Cape Jaffa and Mt Benson
wineries are the regions best known and are quite close to
Robe - also a drive along the coast to Beachport is a good
way to see some of the local scenery.
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