January 2021 Wilsons Promontory
9th of January 2021
As Peter had been Waiting for two days for his Covid test results, going crazy stuck at home as emergency work was coming in he could not do. He received a text from peninsula health to say the result was negative, at 6:45am Saturday morning. So I woke at 7am to Peter planning our random drive down Gippsland way, in the new car! A quick shower and threw a few things in a bag just in case we stayed a night somewhere and off we went.
Our first stop in one of our favourite little places Loch, for a morning coffee and a Danish. Then back on the road I had remembered a boat trip that left from Port Welshpool to sight seeing Wilson’s Promontory, called Wildlifecoast Cruises that sounded really interesting. As online there was no spots left, I phoned the girl at the office said she would call the captain to see if they could squeeze us on, and call me back.
Lucky for us we were in for Sunday on the boat, so then a quick call for accomodation nearby, in Toora. Again we got lucky as they had a cancellation! This was going really well as the weather looked to be good for Sunday!
A stop off on an old favourite town Fish Creek for a stroll around the shops and my special little book shop of Alison Lesters work, and bought two new baby books. As we headed off pretty unprepared bought a hat from the hardware store and some picnic supplies from a lovely store.
We then went down to Waratah Bay beach for a really nice picnic and shell collecting along the beach afternoon.
We found our way to Toora, clocked into the motel. Then headed off down to Port Welshpool to see where the boat left from in the morning. Then ordered fish n chips and had them by the beach, very nice too!
Back at Toora we headed up to check out the wind farm and the views from above the town. Called Sam from a wind turbine as he is very interested in new technology! Not a lot to do in Toora so an early night looking forward to our adventure tour in the morning.
Up nice and early to find a breakfast spot, to no luck as nothing from Toora to Port Welshpool open. As we spotted the very long curved Port Welshpool pier the day before, we walked that instead of breakfast.
We boarded the boat at 9:15am for a fabulous day ahead with Wildlife Coast Cruise’s, Brianna Lee. The Captain John went out of his way to make the day really special, by going the extra mile. Picking up floating rubbish to protect the wildlife, taking the boat into nooks and crannies to see wildlife or help Peter actually touch Skull rock, chase pods of dolphins and find seal colonies. We spent two hours in Refuge cove, Peter stand up paddle boarding, swimming and then a hike up the hill and beyond for a magnificent view back to the bay. Pretty lucky to have got on the boat on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny Sunday with perfect sea conditions.
The boat came back in to Port Welshpool around 6:30pm, big day but really special! Said our goodbyes to the crew and fellow travellers, our friend for the day Maria.
As the boat trip was going to be so long, we booked another night at the Toora lodge Motel. We had to change rooms as the motel was fairly booked up and came back to this note on the motel reception door-
We had dinner at the Port Welshpool pub, our one mistake for the weekend! Found pub food is really not our thing, and won’t be running back to one anytime soon, unless it’s something pretty special! Should have gone back to the fish n chip shop, but there is not to many options in Port Welshpool!
On a positive the boat trip so Good 😊
Up early Monday morning and found a cafe in Toora called Windmills, and had a really nice breakfast. We then had a stroll down the street and took lots of photos of the old buildings with the wind farm in the distance, and bumped into an old friend of Suzies days at Tyabb packing house, Cheryl and her partner. Cheryl has bought a shop with attached house in the Main Street of Toora called Toora Fancy goods and old relics a bit of a chat and off touring we went.
My prediction 2021 by end of Toora will be one of those little south Gippsland towns you want to spend time in, it will be trendy! Should of towns! Shoulda bought a place there!
First stop Monday morning was the Agnes Waterfall walk
Next in search of the Tarra Bulga national park, suspension Bridge through beautiful valleys of tree ferns and riverside scenery.
We found the track to the suspension bridge, by now it’s like 36deg but as it was high up in the forest it felt a lot cooler. Lovely walk, as usual the instagramers found the bridge before us, so we couldn’t enjoy it as much. Note to self go early next time. Back at the Carpark we had a little picnic with our new friends, before heading home.
Absolutely fantastic weekend away unplanned with a few more bucket list items ticked off!
For me seeing Wilson’s Prom lighthouse from the sea, as my grandfather was once the lighthouse keeper, which looked like it would of been a very tough life with brutal weather conditions as well as accessibility issues!
Then seeing Skull Rock up close, Refuge Bay on a spectacular sunshiny day. Dolphins, seals amazing rock formations.
