Eight intrepid members, ably supported by two wonderful drivers completed the 55 kilometre Surf Coast walk from Point Impossible, near Torquay to Fairhaven over four days. The group based themselves in Torquay for two nights and Anglesea for three nights.

After a BBQ on Sunday evening we started out bright and early from Point Impossible on Monday walking to Bells Beach - it took about 15 minutes for the plaintive cry of “are we there yet” to be first heard. All our planning was based on concerns of whether it would be too hot to walk comfortably, however the temperature never exceeded the low ‘20s and it rained for large parts of Monday and Tuesday.  Whilst most members opted for traditional hiking wet weather gear, one of the group carried an umbrella and wore green (it was St Patrick’s Day)  pickleball shoes on a track that resembled pictures of the Kokoda Track at the height of the wet season! There was a lot of slipping and sliding, but miraculously no one fell over!

After a long, wet, very muddy Tuesday finishing at Anglesea via Point Addis and other picturesque spots, most walkers thought that their level of fitness what not quite where they wanted it to be, but an enjoyable pub meal (T-bone steak daily special $27!) soon fixed that.

Up again and off again, this time along the beach and through the bush to the Aireys inlet Lighthouse. Another BBQ that evening followed by an enthusiastic game of cards for a few who were able to stay awake after 9 p.m. (strangely, there was no wild partying on any of the evenings!).

The final day was a little easier with a walk into Fairhaven and then a drive to Moggs Creek picnic ground to do the Ocean View loop walk. The Ocean View walk, was looking like it should have been names the Ocean glimpses walk, but then we found a magnificent viewing platform to see the ocean and the coast for many kilometres in both directions. That evening was another very enjoyable pub meal (Siverside daily special $27!) and lots of conversation about making the walk a regular annual activity.

All in all, it was a memorable and challenging experience with many outstanding views of the coast, interesting countryside, great companionship and plenty of fun!

Are we there yet????

Thanks to the organisers Judy S and Pam G and also our generous drivers, Colleen H and Kerry F (also Jan S) for making such an adventure possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A short drive from Mornington Golf Club and less than a kilometre behind the Mornington High School lies Beleura, an extensive and historical garden and elaborate heritage house museum in similar style to the home at Ripponlea.

 Built in 1863 and closely associated with its second owner, Sir George Tallis, once chairman of international theatre company, J.C. Williamson Ltd, the house contains a bedroom for Dame Nellie Melba and, as its online publicity confirms, “The house is exceptional for its collection and includes the original furnishings of its last owner, the musician/composer John Tallis.”.

Originally built on 2000 acres reaching to the southern coast of the peninsula and taking in most of what is modern-day Mornington, its remaining five-and-a-half hectares contains gardens within gardens tended by devoted volunteers. Our guide for the fascinating garden tour was a former horticulturist while our guide through the house had grown up and worked in Beleura for John Tallis himself.

Members sharing the excursion were provided with a very tasty morning tea and a light lunch between very walkable tours as they enjoyed learning yet another interesting fragment of Victoria’s eclectic, even eccentric history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers give thousands of hours to maintain Victoria's 140 years of railway heritage and the fruits of their labour are on public display every two years. We entered the Newport Railway Yards to the memory-evoking sounds of steam whistles, clouds of steam and the rumble of large engines. They crossed the multitude of wide and narrow gauge rail lines, climbed aboard first and second class carriages, blew the whistles and stoked the boilers of an age long passed.

From the red rattlers that many of us rode to school to the majestic Spirit of Progress, from the almost tiny early steam engines to the gigantic Heavy Harry (largest steam train engine ever built in Australia), members recalled events and travels long passed and shared memories evoked by the sounds and smells of the steam age.

We saw the last steam weighbridge, watched the turntable in action as a huge engine was moved onto it and rotated 180 degrees at the hands of four volunteers. 

Visiting historic aviation cockpits, model railways and the restored clocktower, we then moved from the yard to the Railways museum on the period shuttle bus, still green and yellow and still labelled with the logo of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Railways Board.

Having seen or boarded 29 steam locomotives and a few more recent but already superseded electric carriages, members left the smoke and noise of another memorable and fun filled day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although we tend to forget that the first major settlement of Melbourne began where the ships anchored offshore at Williamstown, the early wharves have been repeatedly renovated, operated as the centre for Victorian shipbuilding and, until more recently, acted as the mooring site for the iconic ocean protection ship, Sea Shepherd.

 When our group took the train journey to visit the Maritime Museum, a short walk from the railway station, few expected to meet in such a huge open building – big enough to build ocean-going ships inside, surprise? 

 Perhaps less surprisingly in retrospect, as the launching point into the gold rush, the area was the site for the first Melbourne morgue, recently expensively restored and open for sight-seeing.

 Equally fascinating were the numerous ship parts, from compasses and windlasses to winches and even a model of the time-ball tower for setting ship’s chronometers

 Members were struck by the cramped conditions of the full-size models of the prison cells aboard the prison hulks that were anchored off Point Gellibrand before Pentridge was built. They certainly suggested that men were a lot shorter in the 1800s.

 The Museum as an historical site provided an engrossing experience which was highlighted by our incredibly knowledgeable and articulate guide, Michael who left us all hungry for a very tasty lunch over the road at the Customs House Hotel.

The mahjong group now meets at The Wharf Hotel fortnightly and, happily, we are growing in numbers. 

Welcome to the group Jules Tand Rose M.

We are in our second year of playing now and more experienced members are now feeling pretty comfortable with complicated hands such as Five Odd Honours, Windy Chows and Wriggly Snake, all the time having a good catch up and connecting with friends. 

We welcome beginners into the group so please contact Sue H if you are interested in joining.