Milawa and Beechworth
Today we visited Milawa and Beechworth.
I wrote about the Milawa Cheese Factory and Milawa Mustards in February 2005.
Not much has changed. They are still wonderful places to visit.
This time we also went to Walkabout Apiaries, where they offer honey tasting and sales.
Unfortunately we followed a bus load of elderly tourists into the cheese factory and mustard store, so it was nice to find ourselves alone at the honey farm.
The owner gave us a description and tasting of about six different honey varieties. (more…)
Struan House
Struan House near Naracoorte was built between 1873-75 for Henry Smith and Thomas Agar.
Designed by WT Coke it is a fine example of a Victorian mansion (most of the rooms have beautiful marble mantelpieces) and is now part of the Regional Veterinary Laboratory for the South Australian Department of Primary Industries.
I called in there today on the way home from Adelaide to take these pictures.
Interestingly, I struggled to find anything on the web about its history as the Struan Farm School orphanage, where there were reports of abuse against children that were revealed in the Mulligan inquiry.
History has a way of obliterating bad news. (more…)
Qantas frequent flyer
I took out an American Express card earlier this year, which came with a bonus 25,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
Thanks to that, a Mastercard I’ve had for two years and some holiday spending, I have accrued 85,000 points. It’s a significant amount, and I now have some attractive flight options.
For instance, I could book a return flight to India, Japan or South Africa.
I could book two return tickets to Auckland, Christchurch, Cairns, Darwin or Perth. (more…)
Passports
I’m applying for a new passport and it’s a far more stringent process than it was last time. I need a guarantor, someone who has known me for at least 12 months.
Having moved to Mount Gambier eight months ago there is only one person here who has known me that long, my boss.
My first passport was issued in December 1989.
It has the Australian coat of arms on the front. (more…)
Southend and swimming lake
Southend is a small fishing village about 75km from Mount Gambier. We went there today for a swim at the beach.
It was the hottest day of the summer so far (38 degrees) and only the second day over 30.
Unfortunately, it was also very windy.
The beach at Southend has clean, firm white sand. Cars are allowed to drive on the beach. (more…)
Lake Bolac, Victoria
Lake Bolac is exactly half way between Mount Gambier and Melbourne, 200km from both. For that reason it’s a good stopping place for a toilet break and to stretch the legs.
On the way to visit Mum last week I detoured off the highway to look at the lake.
Sadly it’s nearly dry. The distance from the foreshore to the water looked over 500 metres. (more…)
Wannon Falls
We drove 550km from Mount Gambier to Moe today to spend the weekend before Christmas with my mother.
We stopped just over an hour from Mount Gambier between Coleraine and Hamilton in Western Victoria to see the Wannon Falls.
According to the Southern Grampians Shire, the falls were created by lava flows that surged upstream to the Wannon River.
They feature a 100-foot vertical precipice of hardened basalt lava over which water cascades into a deep plunge pool below. (more…)
