Warrnambool on Feb 3rd

Another lighthouse!! This time on Griffiths Island at Port Fairy

We left Portland on Wed, Feb 3rd to drive to Warrnambool. This involved a brief stop at Port Fairy and a walk/ride around Griffiths Island, home of the Mutton Bird colony. The only evidence of them, late morning, was footprints, burrows, poop & smell, and a couple of squashed babies on the walking track! However, this colony is an amazing example of a birds lifecycle and migratory habits.



Hopkins Falls, near Warrnambool

 Hopkins Falls, a few kms out of Warrnambool was a different, amazing kind of waterfall. As we approached we were all looking for the hills usually associated with a water fall - but instead we arrived at the Hopkins River Bridge where the river, currently flowing very fast and a very murky brown, has gouged out quite a wide, shallow gorge. According to the sign, the Hopkins Falls are the widest (91meters across) in Australia.
every now and then the wind would swirl and a great cloud of "foam bubbles" would rise up and swirl around us.
(For interest sake, if you want to see what the falls looked like 2 weeks before we saw it check out the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_640788&v=WGAtxglhJeE



Of course you can't visit Warrnambool, with children, without going to the Adventure Playground, along the Foreshore area. The Flying Fox and Maze were Jed & Lily's favourites. And Jon had his arm pulled off dragging the fox line in for the next person!

Jed showing his style on the Flying Fox

Flying Fox at Warrnambool's adventure playground

The bikes are coming in handy, if a pain in the neck as they have to be taken off their rack prior to being able to put the van up! Warrnambool has a great cycling/walking track along their beach front for a few kilometres. We clocked up a few k's riding from C Park to Pier, along the sea front and up a big hill towards Logan's Beach (where whale watching occurs in the winter). The ride down the hill was fantastic! A large amount of 'free-wheeling' (that's what I like, Bron & Corey, free-wheeling!!).
There weren't any whales at Logan's Beach, although it has been feeling cold enough! There were only Kite -surfers, waiting for competition in the Australian National titles! However, the only action we saw were a  few practicing, much to Jed's disgust. He would probably be sitting there still given the chance!