Link to the previous page southaustralia-e 
We ended up in an „organic place“ today on Easter Sunday. Vegetables, fruit, cosmetics, bakery and it had a sign outside saying „raw cake“. It was also so popular that we couldn’t have coffee there. But it just so happened that I had also made a raw Easter lemon cheesecake. But then we had coffee in a beautiful old railway carriage with leather seats.
Then we drove on, in strong winds and past huge wine-growing areas – towards the coast. -G.)
Port Harbor
Now it should work out. Today we travelled from Goolwa to Victor Harbor and back on an old nostalgic train on Easter Tuesday. Runs twice a day during the Easter holidays, otherwise only at weekends. So we were very lucky and really enjoyed it – unfortunately with a steam locomotive only on certain days.
Interesting though, the line runs along the coast to Port Harbour. The train (opened as early as 1887) was called the Cockle train because the first settlers used the line with a horse-drawn railway to transport the mussels from the sandy beaches of the Murray River to Goolwa.
But what we were most looking forward to was the horse-drawn railway that crosses a bridge in Port Harbour to a nearby island.
Apparently, however, the horse was „unwell“ or unwilling – the Horsetram didn’t run, with the flimsy explanation that urgent work had to be done on the railway track. So we went on foot. We ate the carrot we had brought for the horse ourselves. And there is only one picture of the poster as it should have been. 
We ignored the offer of a short walk along the beach
with camels.
However, the trip to the small island was worth it for the beautiful circular route around the island and the views. In the late afternoon we returned by train and the next day we travelled on towards the Great Ocean Road. -G.)
The herds of sheep and goats are now being replaced by herds of cattle and you can’t help but wonder at the sheer number of cattle and the fact that you can’t see anything else.
After driving differently than the sat nav wanted us to, we had the pleasure of taking the ferry across, after the initial shock it was no problem, even large lorries managed the ferry. Free of charge!
Now we’re heading back to a wheat field area. And this is what it looks like here in the evening
This place is quite beautiful
We can park the car here
and the wife is about to fry something (nothing rhymed with cooking)
and the man can hardly wait.
Once the meal is over
the torment begins (not true, it’s just because of the rhyme)
because then the blog is written
because we love our friends.
But often it’s already late
and writing is no longer possible
or often we are already tired
and then we lack the right drive. -PTB
So that you know why it sometimes takes a little longer, apart from access to the internet.
The landscape slowly becomes completely different, difficult to describe. We reach the coast, which is wild, very rugged and very stormy. We wanted to spend the night high up on the cliffs, but we turned round because we didn’t want to be blown off the cliffs. By then it was dark and the next morning we were surprised at what a beautiful spot we were standing in.
Have now learnt that this part of the coast is always very windy. Sometimes it brings back memories of the island Sylt.
So on we go. Today we were going to see the seals. At the start of the path we saw a sign 600 metres ….. to the seals. Well, we did it quickly, once again with nothing to drink or eat. But we had overlooked the fact that it meant another 600 metres from the last mountain. The only thing it didn’t say was that it went uphill and downhill a few times to the summit. But in the end, we were rewarded with a colony of seals that we couldn’t part with for far too long.
When I turned round and was horrified to see the steep mountain: „No Gerhard, we don’t have to go over there, do we? I won’t make it.“ „Yes, of course, we came that way too.“ Well, from the other side it was all wooded and you could only ever see part of it, but from this side, with the whole bare mountain in front of you, it looked different. Well, I had to. Halfway back, we came across a group of young hikers, who looked like they’d had enough. In all confidence, most of them had a rucksack with them, but nevertheless……Back in the RV I just fell onto the sofa lengthways (well, SOFA, after all we have a HOME van).
Mt. Gambier
We have now landed in Mt Gambier. This is where the volcanic area begins, which stretches 350 kilometres along the coast.
The first volcano (Mt. Schanz), which has the same name as the town or vice versa, had to be climbed of course – 1036 steps (shallow, but still…) and if we start something then it has to be finished, we went half way round the volcano after we had decided not to do it, but curiosity won out. We would have liked to go down into the cone, but luckily (? ) it was too late.
The indentation through which the magma flowed into the plain is clearly visible.
At the entrance to Mt Gambier, we were greeted by 2 volcanic lakes. One was a musty green, the other a beautiful deep blue, although the sky was grey and overcast. It was quite fascinating and they say they don’t know how this comes about.
The next day we watched the award-winning documentary film „Vulcano“ and visited a very interesting exhibition about volcanoes and the formation of the various terrain formations. We also visited a painting exhibition – after all, you have to do something with culture here too!
And have extended the day. We descended into a cave today and were lucky enough to catch the last guided tour. So there’s one thing we won’t be trying and that’s cave diving, which is very popular here due to the many caves.
The hole in the ceiling in the last picture was used to dispose of rubbish from a factory for decades until the importance of the cave was discovered. -G.)
Schoolchildren have worked long hours to remove the rubbish from the cave. There are many initiatives like this here. People who do voluntary work for the beauty and cleanliness of their city, everything there is and which many people here would not even do for money.
Then we visited 2 sinkholes, which are depressions in the ground in underground cavities. An opossum family had settled in one of them, which was of course doubly interesting and because of the darkness in the caves they were already active in the afternoon, as they are actually nocturnal animals.
On towards the Ocean Highway. We stopped every few minutes to admire the spectacular coastline, although we always had to walk a bit to get there. Fortunately, the viewpoints were usually signposted.
After our departure there must have been another volcanic eruption 😉
Our first stop on the way is Port Elliot. There’s not much to describe, we’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The wild, rugged coastline simply overwhelmed us (once again). -G.)
Today we realised that one of the reasons we left our house was to slowly prepare for old age and possibly not being able to climb stairs anymore, but in our whole life we have not climbed as many hills and stairs as we have in the 10 months we have been in Australia. Judging by that, old age is still a long way off!!!
I bought a hat today after all. Not only helps against the cold but is also very helpful on a „bad hair day“. We still have to stay in the cold south for a while, so hopefully when Gerhard gets back from Berlin we’ll be heading into the warmth.
Further on the way to the spectacular Ocean Road, there were also some interesting places. This cut in the rock was built in 3 years by 2 men to drain the surrounding meadows and make them fertile. -G.)
The coastal path
Now it opened up to the Great Ocean Route as you would imagine. The oohs and aahs were unrivalled.
Even if the pictures can only faintly depict this incredible landscape:
Then we approached Melbourne. Before that we made a detour to a lighthouse and were lucky enough to be able to listen to a local bushtracker. A neighbouring piece of land belonged to the Aborigines (some of the land was given back to them when it was carved up), who cherished it with their ancient plants and used it to teach foreigners about their culture. I was particularly impressed by one plant that contains all the B vitamins. We also have other plants with which we can cure diseases naturally, just think of oregano oil, which contains more antibiotics than the dung from India. The last manufacturer of clean antibiotics in Germany had to close down last year because the pharmaceutical industry naturally bought the cheap stuff from India, which is not subject to safe manufacturing criteria and causes massive damage to the environment. Just think of the unfiltered waste water.
At the end of this trip – just before Melbourne – we took the opportunity to scramble around in the forest again – and then enjoy coffee and cake with a little bird. -G.)
