A 10-day adventure by Chris
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  • Day 1

    Downtown Daylesford

    February 7, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Fourth stop on a road trip around Victoria.

    We overnighted in Queanbeyan before meeting our friends the Claytons and driving down to Metung - a most picturesque little village on the Gippsland Lakes, via lunch in Mallacoota. Metung, surrounded on three sides by the Gippsland Lakes and with a great waterfront pub, was a perfect start to the trip.

    From Metung we explored the Lakes area, taking in the brewery at Bruthen and some scraggly koalas on Raymond Island.

    Then we left the coast and did the spectacular drive through Omeo up over the range through Dinner Plain and Mount Hotham and back down the roller coaster to Bright - leafy, pleasant and beautifully situated on the Ovens River.

    A single night in Bright and an easy day on the road finally brought us to Daylesford, where we have based ourselves for two days.

    We have explored the very pleasant township, positively flayed ourselves with bric a brac markets, taken in the gardens and the lake and had a great pizza for dinner with live piano music setting the atmosphere.

    Next stop will be Port Fairy, and some jazz.
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  • Day 10

    Sunny (and windy, and rainy) Sorrento

    February 16, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    From Daylesford we popped down to Port Fairy for four nights, for the Port Fairy Jazz Festival as well as a nice town with some great coastal scenery.

    Playing and listening to the Jazz was enjoyable as always and our accommodation was terrific and close to town to boot.

    We left Port Fairy on Monday (11th Feb) and took a leisurely drive through Camperdown, Colac and Geelong to Queenscliff and the ferry across Port Phillip Bay to Sorrento. Typical of so many towns in country Victoria all these had their share of history, scenery and interesting and stylish architecture.

    Sorrento, once we had recovered from the bill shock, was great too, and we explored quite a bit of the peninsula.

    Portsea Pub was great to visit for a morning lemonade (no, really) and an evening meal, with possibly the best outlook of any hotel Australia.

    We spent a warm, calm and sunny evening on the beach at Mount Martha, in front of our friend Graham’s boatshed eating fish and chips and alternatively watching an incredible sunset and a bush rat that befriended us.

    We were nearly blown away by winds at the Cape Schank Lighthouse on a wet and cold afternoon, then the following day had a great drive up the coast to Mornington (with a seemingly endless shopping strip and every eatery and boutique on the planet) before going to the Peninsula Jazz Club’s Friday night concert.

    The Royal Garden Jazz Band were, as always, brilliant, the average audience member, as always, a bit decrepit.

    So we’re now heading home, via a side trip to Healesville and a night in Albury. This has been a great holiday, with fantastic company, fascinating places to visit and far too many pizzas, cakes, Pub dinners and cafe breakfasts.

    Now back to reality.
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