Phillip Island March 3-9 2010

 On the Island we stayed at the Boomerang C/park at Cowes.. We had an area of the park to ourselves for the first few days but when we went to Wonthaggi to get supplies etc we came back to find the area filling fast as other campers arrived for the long weekend.
 We had come to Cowes firstly to see the sights but also as a meeting place to catch up with my sister from Tassie. Her and her husband, came over on the Ferry and stayed in a cabin in the park next door as that was about all we could get. As the ferry was late they didn't get to Cowes till after 11pm.

 Our first day of sightseeing took us to The Nobbies where we wandered along the boardwalks and viewed the scenery and found a few Fairy Penguins tucked in their burrows and under the boardwalk.

The Nobbies

 coastline near  the blowhole at The Nobbies

 Fairy Penguin

 We initially thought the penguin above  was on his own but he was joined by his brother later on.

  My sister particulalry wanted to visit the historical farm at Churchill Island, so we packed a picnic lunch and headed back to the Island as the turn off isn't far from Newhaven which is at the other end of Phillip Island from Cowes.  Again it was an over cast and inclined to showers type of day but once again as the day went on the weather improved.

Myself. Andrea and Ron.

 After our lunch  we wandered around the Farm where there were demonstrations of milking a cow, blacksmithing, sheep shearing  and  a working dog . The old farm building which was actually only a holiday home originally had been beautifully restored . The gardens were also in prime condition and a joy to wander around.  We ere able to pass several pleasant hours just wandering around.

  The dinning room at Churchill Farmhouse

  The kitchen

The Cannon at the end of the Avenue

Cape Barren Geese

 These geese were seen all over both Churchill Island and Phillip Island.

 Highland Cattle.

 These cattle were very much in keeping with the theme of the Old Farm but could be seen in several places on  Phillip Island and in the surrounding countryside of Gippsland.

 On another day we went for a trip to see the Phillip Island Race Circuit, where the bike and car races are held. However we could only get a distant glimpse of the track without paying to get closer access. From the track we continued on to Pyramid Rock. To view the rock there was a short walk out on a board  which was very fortunate as we saw our first snake here. It was a copperhead and being a cool day was moving fairly slowly. Being on the boardwalk we could safely watch it for quite a while as it meandered  through the scrub.

  Near Pyramid Rock

 I Pyramid Rock

While we were at Cowes, Mike and Kerry (Bizwizards）joined us for an overnight stop. It was great to catch up with them and hear their news from when we had last had contact with them. Unfortunately the game of cards we had promised ourselves didn't eventuate due to the weather.

  As they were only staying the night and wanted a big site and pad to dry out various items we ended up putting them across the front of our van. This didn't worry us as we weren't leaving for another few days. Despite the cool weather we managed to have a BBQ  outside , using their van as a windbreak. The van setup at Cowes

 The next day we had planned to go to Wilson's Prom with Andrea and Ron  but the weather wasn't very cooperative at all with rain and low cloud . By the time we got to Wonthaggi the decision was made that we would go to Loch instead. We went via Korumburra where it was still raining but by the time we got to Loch it was easing and then stopped to fine up to a nice day but still very cool.

 At Loch we did some cheese tasting and bought lovely hot soup  to warm us up as we only had a picnic lunch. After lunch we visited the  Suspension Bridge at Loch. Suspension Bridge at Loch