Saturday 20th October - Eden

Whale at Eden

Woke early, when Bill got up.  He went fishing, but was back within a few minutes - there were whales in the bay.  I dressed quickly and we went back.  Saw a number of them - visible, (just) withiiut binoculars, but binoculars made then easy to see.  Too far out to take good photos though, but Bill got a couple of reasonable shots.  There seemed to be quite a large group in different parts of the bay.  We watched them for over an hour.
We came back to the van - I went back to bed and didn't get up again until about 12:00!  Bill went fishing again, but didn't catch anything.

Sitting outside the van knitting, Bill saw a Blue Tongued Lizard.  We watched him for ages.  Bill threw out some bread.  The lizard must have been abke to smell it because he walked straight over to it and carried it off.  Over the road he did battle with an entire slice!
We went for a drive down the street.  Had coffee and fish cakes / chips (Bill) and lime spider and lemon tart (me).
We went up the hill to the lookout and saw a few whales, but just in front of the whale museum we saw some tell-tale splashes.  Went to look fir a vantage point and ended up opposite the museum.  We'd been watching numerous whales flipping and flapping for a good half hour before the whale siren went off.  We watched them for an hour all up.  Bill took a few photos.  Went back to the lookout, and Bill took another couple of photos.
Back to the van, where I had a rest.
We had tea in the van tonight as I didn't feel like going out.
All in all we spent a good two hours watching whales today.
Home tomorrow - via Lakes Entrance to pick up the furred and feathered ones.

Sunday 28th August

Went for a drive to Wentworth.  Saw the Old Wentworth Gaol, which was quite interesting, but very amateurishly displayed.  Seems the shire has made a bit of effort with some signage, but many signs are hand written and look like they’ve been there for years.  Many of the artifacts are sadly deteriorating and will be gone before too long.  

Saw the Lock 10 and Weir at Wentworth. 

Had lunch at a little café.  We had thought of having a look at the Wentworth Show, but decided against it.

Perry Sandhills

Perry Sandhills

Also went for a drive out to the Perry Sandhills. These amazing sandhills just sort of appear out of nowhere - the surrounding countryside is dead flat.  

Paddy Melons and Widflowers

We saw lots of Paddy Melons and wildflowers, including wild hops, growing here.  There seems to be some contention as to whether they are paddy melons or Afghan Melons.  Some people seem to think the Paddy Melons, or Prickly Paddy Melons, are small and spiky fruit.  Others show images of the ones we saw and call them variously Paddy Melons, Afghan Melons, Camel Melons, Jam Melons etc.  

Also made friends with a stumpy-tailed lizard.

 Heading back to the caravan park we decided we hadn’t had a coffee then I saw a sign at an Olive farm (Varapodio Estate) so we went in for afternoon tea.  Yummy!  Nice coffee, lovely cake (I had chocolate and olive oil, Bill had rhubarb).  Bill bought me two brooches – a peacock and a lizard.  We also bought some rhubarb and strawberry jam.  The man who owned the café and olive farm was really nice to talk to.