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Mornington Peninsular Victoria

November 6, 2014 by David Herd

Karina Vineyard

 Mornington Peninsular Victoria, I stayed with old friends Helen & Jack on their beautiful 20 acre property in Dromana  & sampled many great home grown wines. The property next door is Stillwater where you can arrange a luxury wedding or birthday celebration.

Here is where it all starts.

mornington-peninsular-victoria
Mornington peninsula is a popular holiday destination, famous for its beaches,  wineries & outdoor activities.

Man at work

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Here is Jack hard at work.

Here is where we drink a lot of wine.

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What a beautiful setting, life is very good here.

Just to prove, here I am with Jack. 🙂

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Here we are sampling the product.

I’m with the resident horse

Mornington Peninsular Victoria
What a fabulous sculpture, of course Helen is an absolute horse fanatic.

From my bedroom window.

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Quite a different outlook for a city boy like myself.

Lets do lunch

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An Aussie BBQ is hard to beat. 🙂

Old friend from the 70s

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Here is Jan Graves an old girlfriend of mine from 1974, that’s right 1974, I had not seen her for 40 years.

Jan Graves & Helen Burke

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Helen who along with Jack owns this lovely property was my girlfriend in 1982, It has been around 20 years since I last saw her. It was terrific to catch up with these great ladies from so many years ago.

Here are the girls as they used to be

Mornington Peninsular Victoria
Jan in 1974  in Melbourne.

Helen in 1982

Mornington Peninsular Victoria
Relaxing in Hawaii.   

T’Gallant winery.

Helen & I had lunch & a glass of wine here at this delightful winery.

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T”Gallant Wine tasting

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There was quite a crowd tasting the product.

A butcher who also sells wine.

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Red Hill Gourmet Meats & Country Smokehouse

Mount Martha in the background

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  Mornington Peninsular Victoria is a fabulous part of Australia.

Mount Martha beach

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The Mornington Peninsular Victoria is primarily a local tourist region, with popular natural attractions such as the variety of beaches both sheltered and open-sea and many scenic sights and views. Other popular attractions include the various wineries, mazes and the diverse array of water sports made available by the diversity of beaches and calm waters of Port Phillip and Western Port. Most visitors to the peninsula are residents of Melbourne who camp, rent villas and share houses or stay in private beach houses. It is known simply as “The Peninsula” to locals and Melburnians alike, giving rise to the expression “going down the peninsula”.

The iron horse

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What a great garden ornament, Helen loves her horses.

Wonderful catching up with old friends

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It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years since I last saw Jan.

Helen & Jack were great hosts.

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Thanks for visiting my  photo blog.

Dean Martin Original Release LITTLE OLD WINE DRINKER ME
                

 

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Great Ocean Road Australia

November 3, 2014 by David Herd

Twelve Apostles 

Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Great Ocean Road Australia on the south coast of Victoria offers some of the most breathtaking spectacular scenery in the world. Look at the following photos to see what I mean.

Breathtaking scenery

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

I drove from Adelaide to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road Australia in October 2014, I had driven this road once before in  1988.

Twelve Apostles in 1988

 Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

One of Australia’s best road trips.

In 2009, gone baby gone.

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Now there are only 8 Apostles left. 🙂

Great Ocean Road Australia in 1998

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Of course there were more Apostles back then. 🙂

The Twelve Apostles Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

The Great Ocean Road officially starts at Torquay and travels 243 kilometres westward to finish at Allansford near Warrnambool, the largest city along the road. The road is two lane (one in each direction), and is covered by a speed limit changing between 80 kilometres per hour and 100 kilometres per hour Great Ocean Road as viewed from Teddy’s Lookout, south of Lorne The road is considered a tourist attraction in the area, in which much of the road hugs coastline affectionately known as the Surf Coast between Torquay and Cape Otway and the Shipwreck Coast further west of Cape Otway, providing visibility of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The road traverses rainforests, as well as beaches and cliffs composed of limestone and sandstone, which is susceptible to erosion. 

The road travels via Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, and Port Campbell, the latter being notable for its natural limestone and sandstone rock formations including Loch Ard Gorge, The Grotto, London Arch and The Twelve Apostles.  At the stretch of the Great Ocean Road nearer to Geelong, the road meanders along the coast, with tall, almost-vertical cliffs on the other side of it. Road signs put up along the road warn motorists of possible rockfalls, which have occurred before.  

Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

The whole coast here is quite breathtaking.

Looking east from Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

If you ever visit Australia put the Great Ocean Road on your bucket list.

Nice view on the Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

    Certainly one of the best views I saw today. 🙂

A stunning view

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

It really does take your breath away. 🙂

Great Ocean Road Australia featuring The Arch

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Another famous landmark.

London Bridge

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

  When I last drove this road in 1988 London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road was one piece, some years later the middle collapsed as you can clearly see.

London Bridge 1988

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

I consider myself very lucky to have seen the bridge intact.

London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Now you see it, now you don’t.

Here is one of my favourite travel stories, I’m guessing the conversation went something like this, “gee Dave do you think it’s safe to go out there?” “Of course it is, what could possibly go wrong Kelli? This has been standing here for millions of years. It was the 15th of January 1990 & just as they got to the end of the bridge it collapsed behind them, they were later rescued by police helicopter.

 Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Australia has many wonderful landscapes, none better than this.

Great Ocean Road Australia near London Bridge

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

I imaging this coastline looked the same hundreds of years ago.

Bay of Martyrs

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Small islands weathered by millions of years of erosion. 

Great Ocean Road Australia Bay of Martyrs

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

I bumped into only a hand full of tourists on my road trip.

Bay of Islands

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

  Travelling from Adelaide on the Great Ocean Road the Bay of Islands is the first of the spectacular vistas.

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia Bay of Islands

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Of course the other famous Bay of islands is on the north island of NZ.

Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Here is a photo I found online. 

Bay of Islands

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Magnificent colours.

Bay of Islands Great Ocean Road Australia

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

Too many rock formations are never enough. 🙂       

There is a hole in my cliff.

Great Ocean Road Southern Australia

 Many thanks for visiting my Great Ocean Road Australia photo blog.

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That’s all folks

1g Duck

Click here to see my post on the Outback.

 

After the Great Ocean Road I flew to the Gold Coast.

 

Next time you visit Bangkok take a canal cruise

 

  

Australian adventures

 


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