Our explorations yesterday took us to the west of Inverloch and over to the area of Waratah Bay.
This took us through some rich grazing land although we did find a few interesting places along the coast. At one point, we drove through the middle of the Bald Hills wind farm where fifty two giant turbines were spinning in a stiff breeze
Each turbine has a generating capacity of around 2 megawatts and the total output of the wind farm is around 106 mw. The site covers approximately 1,750ha of largely cleared cattle and sheep grazing farmland. This output sounds impressive, but when you consider that the coal fired power station at LoyYang generates 1200 mw, it seems that we need many more wind turbines (and a lo more land) to supply adequate base line power for the state.
Our first planned destination was the Cape Liptrap lighthouse. Like most lighthouses, it sits on a bleak and remote cliff top. There is something special about this lighthouse.
The first lighthouse at the Cape was established in 1913. It was a 2.1 metre steel tower with an acetylene light. As a keeper was never stationed at Cape Liptrap, it is really the first automatic Commonwealth funded light to be put into service. The current lighthouse was built in 1951 in cast concrete, and is octagonal in shape. It was converted to mains power in 1970.
The Rocky shore below the light shows just how treacherous this coast could be for shipping.
This area of Gippsland provides some excellent views.
Pottering around, we dropped into to both the’ Walkervilles’. The tiny villages of North and South Walkervilles are nothing more than a collection of houses on Waratah Bay each with a caravan park. At North Walkerville, we found a kiosk where we bought a sandwich for lunch. The entrepreneurial owner had set up little signs a good number of kilometres away advertising their business. Apart from snacks, the kiosk had quite an eclectic collection of goods on sale. As I waited for our sandwiches to be made, I calculated that if I was relying on their products for dinner, I wold have been eating baked beans on pancakes.
Some parts of Victoria are very damp. We found this ferny glade in the hills behind the beach. There was obviously a micro climate here that carried more rainfall than other areas and this little valley was rich in lush ferns and damp climate plants.
Onwards to Fish Creek where the Main Street was being upgraded. The original streetscape exists with little old shops looking to be well maintained.
On the other side of the road was the town park and part of a rail trail that is more a bike path although it was once a rural railway line. A signboard tells the story of the ‘Better Farming’ train that once travelled the state educating farmers on modern farming techniques. It visited Fish Creek in 1926. The park has a war memorial with a replica of the Long Tan Cross from Vietnam.
By the time we reached Meeniyan (where you turn off to go to Wilson’s Promontory), it was well past afternoon coffee time so we stopped at the thriving little bakery there. Even at mid afternoon, it was doing a roasting trade in pies and pastries. We can recommend it as a place to stop.
Our final destination for the day was Kongwak. It is a small dairy town, first established in the 1890s. Today, nothing happens there except for a Sunday market. The old butter factory is derelict and it is many years since the service station sold any petrol.
It was only a short drive from there back to Inverloch from where we will return home to rejoin the crowds and bustle preparing for Christmas.
