Byaduk Road Trip

I just got back from a little four day getaway to the far western regions of Victoria.

We were based in the tiny town of Byaduk, which we used as a base to explore the volcanic region surrounding it. We also paid a couple of visits to Warrnambool, as it is currently whale migration season down there - and I got to see whales in real life for the first time in my life!

The volcanic attractions of the Byaduk area are actually pretty cool. There are some very easily accessible lava caves, as well as many little dormant or extinct volcanoes that you can easily climb and explore. Mount Napier was the main one that we climbed up on. It is much more interesting than it sounds in all the basic online reading you can easily do on it! The crater is actually very well defined (it's just hard to photograph well when you're right up on it), and clambering along its rim is a pretty cool experience.

All in all, it was a pretty fun little trip!

Lava cave at Budj Bim

Inside the lava cave

Wallaby

Typical forest surrounds at Budj Bim

Another lava cave...

Looking up from inside a lava cave

Main crater lake at Budj Bim

Mount Napier

Climbing up Mount Napier

Wallaby at Mount Napier summit

View of Mount Rouse from Mount Napier summit

Edge of the crater at Mount Napier summit

View of Geriwerd/Grampians from Mount Napier summit

Whale tail

Whale calf breaching

Morning dew

Whale and surfer

Coastline near Warrnambool

Tower Hill

Nature walk at Tower Hill

Emu at Tower Hill

Koala at Tower Hill

Hopkins Falls

Mount Erica and Walhalla

I just got back from a little overnight road trip to Mount Erica and Walhalla.

Although it was technically only an overnighter, it felt more like a full two days. We left early on Monday and made quite a day of it, and then on Tuesday we got up early and made quite a day of it again.

The climb up Mount Erica is pretty easy in the scheme of things - just 4km one way and not particularly steep. But because of the snow and mud at this time of year it felt reasonably epic really.

Climbing Mount Erica

Climbing Mount Erica II

Climbing Mount Erica III

"Mushroom Rocks"

Snow Gum on Mount Erica

Climbing Mount Erica IV

Mount Erica Summit

Snow Gums on Mount Erica II

Thomson Dam

Historic Walhalla Cemetery

Kookaburra

Walhalla Township I

Walhalla Township II

Gold Mine Entrance

Walhalla Fire Station

Rosellas

King Parrot

Rosella on Bin

Solo Ballarat Trip, June 2017

I just got back from a couple of days away in Ballarat.

It'd been ages since I'd gone away on a little solo trip like this, and it was very refreshing to get away from the daily grind and spend a couple of days somewhere else.

Ballarat is a pretty cool little provincial city to hang out in. It has virtually all the amenities of a big city, while being small enough to not have too many "big city problems" and crowds. It is also a few hundred metres above sea level, so it's generally colder than Melbourne by around 4-5 degrees Celsius, year round. That makes it especially cozy and attractive for this winter person in winter! It's cold enough here that frosts are more common than not on winter nights, and getting a flurry of snow is not unusual with any decent cold snap pretty much every winter. Alas, I wasn't that lucky. But at least I had nice weather to hang out in.

I didn't really do anything in particular over there. Just hung around town and took a couple of big walks out to Lake Wendouree. On the second day, I also paid a brief visit to nearby Buninyong, mostly just because it is close and easy to get to by local bus so why not....

Pre-sunset at Lake Wendouree

Sunset at Lake Wendouree

Sunset Light at Lake Wendouree

Blue Hour on Sturt Street I

Blue Hour on Sturt Street II

Boat House on Lake Wendouree

Swans

Shiny Car and Swan

Foreshore Gardens

Swamp Hens

Coots near Ballarat Botanical Gardens

Ballarat Town Hall

Classical Architecture

Trades Hall

Buninyong

De Soza Park, Buninyong