After another visit to beautiful Port Fairy, we headed off to Warrnambool and then onto Geelong. 

We spent a week at Geelong catching up on some retail therapy!!  They have some amazing old crap shops there!!!  They call them vintage/retro, but in reality, old crap.  They were huge, one took us all day!!  We also found an amazing shop that the boys would just go nuts over.  Any TV series or movie imaginable, they have figurines, books, memorabilia.  Some of the figurines are life size and worth an unbelievable amount of money. 

We made the trek from Geelong to the other side of Melbourne.  It was so exhausting - all that traffic!!!  We managed to find a great free camp on the water at a little town called Tooradin.  It was a great place to rest after the stressful day.

We are now on Phillip Island and we have visited the race track, a chocolate factory and all the beach stops in between.  Yesterday we went to Churchill Island were they have the most amazing historical farm.  The old farm house is still there and in great condition.  It is kept in such great condition you would swear the old farmers left for work that morning.  We got to see milking, shearing, whip cracking and a dog rounding up the sheep.  We got to have a chat with the current manager/caretaker who even offered us a job, so long as we didn't mind shearing sheep three times a day.  We passed.....
It really is a lovely place.  Phillip Island is a lot bigger than I thought it would be.  Lots more to explore yet.

One of the many old buildings in Port Fairy

One of the many fishing spots

Geelong

Famous Bells Beach

Just hanging with a few mates

Got a spare $10000?

Amazing!!!!

Sunset at Tooradin free camp

one of the many beautiful spots on Phillip Island

Another one....

Churchill Island Farm

Inside the farm house

nup, not going to be a shearer.....

The old farm house

Farm with a million dollar view

We spent a few days at the Northern Grampiens and had a few days exploring and bush walking.  What a beautiful place.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best, but we still got to see just how amazing it all is.  We even had lunch at an olive plantation, and managed to get a few goodies as well.  Beautiful olive oils, cheeses, olives etc.

The little towns in the area are very welcoming and most have a free or cheap campsite in their towns.  Green Hill Lake at Ararat was lovely.  I think we are getting used to the cold fronts that seem to be continually hitting the area!!!!

We are now back on the coast at Portland.  It really is a pretty town.  Beautiful old buildings, historical sites, and of course the whales.  We finally say some whales at Yellow Rock.  Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed as I expected them to be leaping out of the water a frolicking around, but no, they just swam past.....  Still, pretty amazing to watch.

We went to the port and watched the big double trucks being emptied, what a sight!!!!!!   It takes about 5min for the trucks to drive up, be lifted in the air, emptied, let back down and off they go!!

Looking at farmland from the top of Mt Araples

More from Mt Arapales

Brief bit of sun on the Grampiens

Old quarry huts, Grampiens

And, the weather closes in......

The bad weather does make it a bit spooky....

Halls Gap from up in the clouds

Little bit of water flowing

The view from the caravan park

Ever wonder how they empty the big doubles........  Well.......

Just a few sticks

Yep, there is a whale in this picture.....

One of the lovely flowers at the Portland Botanical Gardens

Winter is here.....