Sunday, October 16, 2016

Great Southern Rail Trail

 
Llama farm.
 Diary farm country and Wilson's Promotory in the distance.
 Agnes Falls.

Check out the mailboxes...
People obviously have too much time on their hands here.
 Port Franklin jettys.

 But how long do the adults grow to?

Sunday, October 16th.
I was happy to see the sun shining this morning when I woke up. They had been calling for rain. So I got up and out to make the best of the day. I drove from the town of Foster to Toora looking for a wetland that I had read about. I passed numerous dairy farms and another one with about ten llamas. I finally found Corner Inlet Marine Park. It was a marshy area with a large area of mangroves. I was hoping to see birds, but was disappointed.

Then I drove up the hills behind the town to a lookout. From here I could see the windmill farm on top of the hill, that provides the energy for the local towns, and a good view of the coastal plain, the ocean and in the distance Wilson's Promotory, where I had hiked earlier in the year. From there I continued up the hill past the windmill farm and inland to see Agnes Falls, which were at the end of a water dam that provides the drinking water for the small towns in the area. They were very pretty.

As I was driving around this beautiful rolling hill area, I thought about how idyllic and quiet the life would be. Then I noticed that a lot of people decorate their roadside mailboxes. I saw a milk can made into a pig with boots, a tin man, a lighthouse, beer kegs and a couple of microwaves! Obviously it is so quiet here that people have to resort to strange hobbies to fill in their time!

At Port Franklin, I found some more of the marine park with some jettys that harbour local boats, but alas no water birds. I then began to drive back towards Melbourne and came across a go cart course that I saw yesterday driving here. I thought I might take a spin around the track, but to my surprise there was a full fledged race going on. So I stopped and watched that for a while. There were a number of races for young kids right up to adults. I watched the adults and marveled at the speed they were going around the track.

When I got to Koonwarra I decided to ride the bike to Stoney Creek. Again it was a nice path through dairy farms and small woods. I rode about twenty kilometres return. At Stoney Creek I came across a hotel where a band was playing live oldies music in an garage and they were bbqing hamburgers, but I left me wallet in the car. Oh well, I shouldn't drink and drive anyway.

I put the bike back in the car and drove back home. It stopped at a tourist attraction called Coal Creek. This is a replication of an old coal mining town. It was late and getting ready to close, so I just had a look around the information centre. I saw a display about the 'Giant Gippsland Earthworm', which are 10-18 centimetres when they hatch! But the information doesn't say how large they grow.

After I left, and started driving hoe it started to rain hard. I arrived home about nine. 

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