August 5, 2021. Melbourne to Warrnambool.
This trip was yet another attempt to escape the city and do a bit of travelling.
Just prior to the last lockdown, number five, we had planned, and booked to go to South Australia. It was called off at the last moment, leaving us with paid-for accommodation in Adelaide.
This was going to be an opportunity to try and redeem that expense.
Rain started on the way from Melbourne. Well we were driving, so it didn’t matter that much
Rumours of another lockdown started coming through Thea’s grapevine.
We met Jenny and Neil, Steph’s parents, in Inverleigh for a coffee. They had the same idea; to escape for a few days.
After checking into our motel, Eight Spence, we went for a walk around Warrnambool. It was still wet but we managed to dodge the heavier showers.
We found what looked like a good pub for dinner and decided to book a table. Unfortunately they were full. I then went back in again to try and book for the next night and discovered that there was to be another lockdown, number six for the state.
It was starting at 8pm that night, which meant we needed to organise an early dinner quickly.
We desperately searched for a new venue and found The Whaler, another of Warrnambool’s iconic pubs. After making a booking we hurriedly returned to our room so Thea could quickly charge her phone.
It was then back to the pub.
I think the the last time I had dinner at 5.30pm, I was still living at home with my parents.
By now the pub was filling up and we noticed that one of the other tables was occupied by a couple we had seen at our motel.
Word about the new lockdown had spread quickly.
After dinner, which ended at 7.45, we popped into the local supermarket to get supplies for breakfast.
The motel room was going to be our home and restaurant for the next few days.
August 6, 2021. Warrnambool.
It rained overnight and there was more rain in the morning.
We had been told that the coffee was good at the Foreshore Pavilion, so after breakfast we headed there.
I met, what turned out to be the owner of the cafe, on the way to get our coffees. John showed me where to go and ordered our coffees from his barista.
I think John appreciated that we had brought our reusable ‘ThinkCups’ and he was also glad to see tourists back in town.
It was then back to the car to drink our brews, which weren’t too bad. The front seats of the Subaru was to be our new morning coffee spot for the foreseeable future.
At least we could move around in the car and the front console does have good cup holders.
Unfortunately the rain was blowing in and the view from the ‘cafe’ wasn’t much.
The walk along the breakwater looked good, but it was far too wet to attempt it today.
It would have to wait.
We wanted to get a feeling for Warrnambool, so went for a drive around town. It’s not a big place and we discovered that we were very close to the centre of any action – not that there was any now.
It was then a drive to the Logan’s Beach Whale Nursery, sadly no whales but lots of orange foam. We were told that this was caused by storm water flowing from the mouth of the Hopkins River, which is very sandy and close by.
In the afternoon we had a strange walk around Lake Pertobe.
The area was once part of the sea and then became a swamp. Ever since Warrnambool was first settled in 1847, there have been plans to turn it into something useful.
In 1974 a project was started by the City Engineer, Edward ‘Johnny’ Johnson to preserve the bird-life and turn the area it into recreational lake and parkland.
It was largely completed by 1980.
However, with all the rain that had fallen over the last few days we found it hard to negotiate some of the grassy paths around the lake and we had to turn back.
It had reverted to the swamp.
Takeaway food isn’t something we are used to buying, so we were on a steep learning curve. Especially considering that this was how things were going to be over the next few days.
Images Restaurant, was another place we had been told about, apparently their takeaway was good.
We figured that a pasta meal would be the easiest to reheat and consume, especially with the limited equipment and utensils we had in the room. Fortunately we did have some extra bowls, cutlery and condiments in the car.
Outside it was still raining.
August 7,, 2021. Warrnambool.
We were back to the Pavilion Cafe to get our morning coffee. The weather was a bit clearer, so we could actually see the breakwater from the car. Then afterwards we walked along it, desperately trying to avoid the waves crashing over the sea wall.
Adjacent to the pavilion, is the Merri Marine Sanctuary, with Merri and Middle Island.
Warrnambool has been made famous by the Middle Island Maremma Project. The operation was started in 2006 when foxes invaded the island during the breeding season, and decimated the Little Penguin population.
Allan ‘Swampy’ Marsh, a local chicken farmer, suggested that Maremma guardian dogs be used to protect the penguins. Swampy had successfully used the dogs to protect his chickens. This was a world first and became known as ‘The Warrnambool Method’.
Maremma is an Italian breed of livestock guardian dogs, indigenous to the central part of Italy.
In the afternoon we went for a walk along Granny’s Grave Track. Granny was actually Agnes Ruttleton, the first European woman buried in the area in 1848.
There was some confusion over her name, as she was originally thought to be Mrs James Raddlestone, the wife of a local crayfish farmer. In 2014 the Warrnambool City Council corrected the mistake.
That evening we had a dusk walk around the Warrnambool Botanical Gardens, which were only about a ten minute stroll from the motel.
The gardens were designed in 1877 by William Guilfoyle, who was at the time the Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens.
The gardens are set on a gently sloping area of land, encircled by pathways. Visitors to the park were far outnumbered by the birds and bats in the surrounding trees.
This is certainly the upmarket area of Warrnambool, as the streets around the gardens are lined with well maintained Victorian and Edwardian mansions.
It was then time to organise another takeaway dinner.
We had planned to have Thai from Cattleya, but ended up getting Mexican from Cactus Jam. This was just next door, and also on Timor Street, which was very easy to get to and park when we picked up or meal.
The reason we didn’t have Thai was that when we phoned to order our meal we were told the wait would be an hour and a half – well it was a Saturday night in lockdown.
After dinner and before we settled in to watching TV from the comfort of our king size bed, we went for a walk around town.
The hoons in Warrnambool are a lot more upmarket than in many Victorian country towns. Here they drive hotted up BMWs, as well as the customary Commodores and Ford or Holden Utes.
There was yet more rain overnight, which did add to the gloominess of our forced retreat.
August 8, 2021. Warrnambool.
We were told that the weather was going to improve, so we decided to stay an extra night, putting off the inevitability of returning home.
And sure enough, in the morning, the rain had finally cleared.
Our first adventure for the day, after breakfast in the room that is, was to get a coffee.
Today it was coffee from The Beach Kiosk Cafe, near Lake Pertobe, and then a short drive to drink it overlooking Thunder Point.
The clientele at Beach Kiosk were very different to the those at the Pavilion Cafe. It was a younger group with lots of teenagers, children and dogs.
However the coffee wasn’t as good.
The sun was shining, so after coffee in the car we did the walk from Thunder Point to Breakwater Point. This was another wonderful walk, mainly on a raised boardwalk. We ended up at the Merri River, overlooking Merri and Middle Islands.
Later on Thea got some lunch and I an espresso from 2 Tarts Baking. Again we were sitting in the car.
‘2 Tarts Baking’ are they two local ladies with dubious morals, or just country humour?
We then returned to Logan’s Beach Whale Nursery, still no sightings.
Before dinner we went for a brief walk around James Swan Reserve, which was just over the road from the motel.
The reserve is a dedicated native garden that was established in 1970. Unfortunately it’s a picnicking spot for the locals, who clearly don’t understand the concept of a rubbish bin.
There were at least two huge piles of rubbish, from the nearby Maccas and KFC.
We did do our civic duty and cleaned up.
Dinner was in the room again, this time we had the Thai we were going to get the previous night.
Then another evening in front of the box – at least the Olympics have given us something interesting to watch.
August 9, 2021. Warrnambool to Sorrento, oh no, Ballarat now.
Time to return back to Melbourne, well we were planning on going back to Sorrento and had booked the ferry from Queenscliff.
First we drove to Cobden for coffee and then on to Lorne for lunch. In Lorne we found out that regional Victoria would be coming out of lockdown at midnight.
We figured that as we were in regional Victoria already and had been since before the Melbourne lockdown started, we could continue to travel in the country.
We briefly considered staying put in Lorne, but it was so quiet and half the places were shut, so we decided to move on.
The most lively part of the town was the cockatoos squawking on the beach.
So another change of plan and we were now off to Ballarat for two nights.
There were a number of restaurants that looked promising for our evening ‘takeaway’ However the best looking ones were shut, so we had to settle for Nandos. The other choice was Maccas and that really wasn’t an option.
On our after dinner walk, we discovered that the Ballarat hoons were out. They were not nearly as well off as the ones from Warrnambool, as they were driving the more common hotted up Commodores and Utes
The nightly Ballarat news was asking the local shop and cafe owners to check everyone’s ID, especially if they didn’t recognise them. This was to make sure that there were no people sneaking in from locked-down Melbourne.
This was cause for concern.
August 10, 2021. Ballarat to Melbourne.
Yet another change of plan.
That morning, after careful consideration, we decided to do the right thing and return to Melbourne. An added incentive for us to return home, was that if we were breaking the law we could incur a $5,000 fine – each.
However, before we left, we did have an excellent breakfast from Yellow Espresso, on Sturt Street.
We actually got to sit down and our Avocado on Toast and a great coffee was served on proper crockery and cutlery – the simple joys travelling.
Interestingly no one in the cafe asked where we were from, they were just happy that people were out again and spending.
Then it was into the car and back to Melbourne.
Over the last few months we have had so many plans to escape, that the alphabet isn’t long enough to label them.
I am now going designate our plans numerically, as it is infinite.
