Fairy What?

Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia
Wednesday, December 18, 2013

An unusual name for a town, particularly in Australia! In truth, it is now more of a large village than a port or town, but it owes its name to a Captain Wishart who sheltered his cutter 'Fairy', for the night in a storm and on daybreak found himself anchored at the mouth of an excellent river. He named the site Port Fairy in honour of his tiny ship. At its peak in the 1850s Port Fairy was one of the busiest in Australia, exporting wool, gold and wheat back to England on the great sailing ships that docked here. It is of course a shadow of its former bustling self, but is full of old world charm, with many of the original buildings in tact and carefully restored. We are staying in a beautiful boutique hotel called Oscars Waterfront, whose veranda is on the river. At first glance the building would appear to be a tiny English Manor House, until we heard that it was built only 30 years ago as a holiday home for a wealthy Melbourne family, only to be sold some 15 years later and converted into a hotel. The family have apparently built something bigger on the beach. My, how the other half lives!
It was a long journey up from Robe, with several stops along the way. Mt Gambier was particularly interesting, being constructed around the crater lakes of three extinct volcanoes, one of which is a startling electric blue. There are many caves and sinkholes in the vicinity due to the underlying limestone bedrock.
It is a coastal drive and the further we progressed along the coast, the greener the landscape became and ultimately the more attractive. The sea is vividly blue and a great deal of the countryside is now a National Park. It was scaldingly hot today, around 35 degrees, and should be hotter tomorrow. Phew!! We called into a small cafe at Nelson for a drink and break and witnessed the following exchange between two local 'mates'. " what d'ya reckon to the new landlord then." Long pause. " Likes his fishing.......pretty friendly..... talks the leg off a chair". What a great turn of phrase, I look forward to more, but I'm still waiting for the 'Gidday' and all I keep getting is 'No worries!' It's epidemic.Read more