2007 12/02 Merry Christmas

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas Everyone. We've only seen one live Christmas tree lot while we've been here. We just had to stop in for a quick visit - Joe must have been going through a bit of tree lot withdrawal.

2007 12/02 Villa Donati, Melbourne, AUS

The last leg of our Great Ocean drive was too, too long - and were ever ready to get out of that car! We were pleasantly surprised at our B&B accommodation in Melbourne. The place was extremely comfortable and the food was even better - free Broadband too! What a Deal!

We were hoping to stroll the streets of Melbourne and take in all its history - the weather, on the other hand, had different plans for us. We took the opportunity to work on our pictures, phone home and check on mom, the girls and our little grandsons, and we both managed to get haircuts while we were here.

Here is a shot of our sitting room.

2007 12/02 The Great Coastal Highway

We've spent the past 3 days driving The Great Coastal Highway of Southern Australia. We traveled from Adelaide to Melbourne and have enjoyed seeing fantastic coastline and spectacular rock formations.

2007 12/01 Lighthouse at Port Fairy

The ocean is easily accessible at Port Fairy and so is the Lighthouse. While they are very common to see around the coast, we're still drawn to them.

2007 12/01 Port Fairy, AUS

We enjoyed a nice drive from Mt. Gambier to Port Fairy, a small fishing village with over 50 buildings on the Australian Historic Register. The Merrijig Inn was established in 1842 and was also one of those buildings.

2007 12/01 Boat Building at Port Fairy

This little number will set you back a cool $6 Grand!

We were walking the wharf that runs along the river from the ocean and noticed that the door to this boat building business was open just wide enough for us to catch a glimpse of the larger boat pictured inside the building. Hard to say what the larger vessel would set you back.

We couldn't help ourselves and asked the fella if we could snap a few photos of the boat. He was a practical fella and wasn't that amused by our curiosity - he just wanted to continue his work. Clearly he though we were a bit of a nuisance.

2007 12/01 Crater Lakes of Mt. Gambier

Mt. Gambier is home to a series of wonderful lakes created by volcanic activity of long ago. One lake in particular is Blue Lake. It is quite spectacular - it turns blue in early November each year and remains this color for 6 months or so. The water then reverts back to a grayish shade, typical to other lakes in the region. Researchers are unsure of the reason for this phenomenon - but the water is extremely pure and contains very few minerals or other particulate matter.

Other lakes in the area are also very nice, typical of other lakes you've seen. However, Blue Lake is a very special thing to see. The only other lake this color we've ever seen is Lake Louise in Banff, Alberta Canada. The town is quaint and offers several campgrounds for Caravans1