Curious, fun Victoria
The Australian state offers a multitude of off-the-beaten track experiences and memorable adventures.
I FELT like I was transported into Christmas in a holiday movie, what with the chilly air and warm clothes I was bundled in, Father Christmas giving out sweets to rosy-cheeked children on the street, trees decked out in Christmas lights and snow falling from the sky.
Never mind that it was July, this was fake snow and one rather adventurous boy who caught “snowflakes” with his tongue found out the hard way that it didn’t taste very good.
Nothing could dampen the excitement in the air or my delight at being in the middle of Sovereign Hill’s outdoor museum, a living township that has been frozen in time – to be exact, during the gold rush of the mid-19th century in regional Victoria in Australia.
Built on a 10ha former gold mining site in Ballarat, this is a place where time has stood still. A horse and carriage rattled down the dirt road, a man yelled for people to get out of the way and law enforcers strode around with much aplomb, weapons by their side and with a twinkle in their eye.
Alongside shopkeepers, miners, women and children going about their day, these were costumed actors, all part of the magic that breathes life and soul into this reproduction of a sleepy settlement turned bustling gold rush boomtown in the 1850s.
You can pan for gold at the nearby creek, just like how it was done more than 160 years ago, or go on a tour of the mines. Here, a journey into the mines means being plunged briefly into darkness while you rumble into the depths of the earth on a train to discover the world of Ballarat’s early miners.
Proceed cautiously on foot through the tunnels as your guide shares interesting facts and a gruesome story or two about the risks faced by the resilient miners of the past.
My experience at Sovereign Hill was as quaint and charming as it was educational, made all the more memorable by the Winter Wonderlights programme rounding up the itinerary for the day, a breathtaking sound and light show that illuminated the surroundings and made their traditional boiled sweets taste all the more sweeter.
Just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne, this is one of the many places you can consider checking out if you are based in the city, whether as a day trip from Melbourne or as part of your road trip around regional Victoria.
It really put the “cool”, in more ways than one, in my recent “Cool Escapes To Melbourne And Surrounds” work trip.
Cuddle me not
What’s a trip to Australia without koalas? Having never been to Australia, I couldn’t help but conjure up images of smiling tourists cuddling these furry creatures when I knew this trip was happening.
But in Victoria, it is against the law to cuddle koalas (although you may take photos standing in close proximity to a koala), and so the koalas I did see, I observed from a distance.
In fact, before I even spied my first koala up in the tree, I was down on the ground sniffing their poop.
A guide picked up a couple of pellets, crushed them with his fingers, smeared them across his palm and unceremoniously offered me a sniff. They were a lovely dark green in colour and smelled strongly of eucalyptus, probably the most pleasantly scented excrement I will ever partake in this way.
We were at Wildlife Wonders, one of our stops along the Great Ocean Road, where we took a stroll in the rain amid ferns and woodlands. This is an ecotourism and social enterprise that offers visitors a unique opportunity to observe the wildlife that call this place home – the koala, emu, wallaby, bandicoot, potoroo, sugar glider, kangaroo, kookaburra, just to name a few – in a predator-free environment. The sanctuary is surrounded by a fox- and cat-proof fence, which means that the animals here are protected from these feral predators.
Wildlife Wonders officially opened in February 2021 but due to the pandemic lockdowns, had to temporarily pause operations soon after. It reopened to the domestic market in June 2021 but international borders only reopened to most markets in February this year.
The tours here are guided and include a stop at the Research Base which showcases ongoing projects across the Otways by its founding organisation, the Conservation Ecology Centre, which your visit is helping to support. All profits from Wildlife Wonders, including its cafe and gift shop, is channeled into supporting this work.
A fun fact for fans of The Hobbit films and New Zealand’s Hobbiton: The experience at Wildlife Wonders is designed by Brian Massey, art director of the three The Hobbit films and landscape designer of the award-winning Hobbiton.
If you have a sweet tooth or want to pick up some locally-made chocolate, make a stop at the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery where choc- olate products of all sizes, shapes and colours beckon from their showroom, and sample some items at their Pod Cafe.
If you are here in August, the chocolaterie, together with Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Mornington Peninsula Chocolaterie in the region, are hosting Victoria’s annual Hot Chocolate Festival. This is when a total of 31 hot chocolates are served throughout the month via a revolving weekly menu featuring dark, milk, white, ruby or caramelised white couverture chocolate, artisan ingredients and a giant handcrafted marshmallow.
Off the grid
Many people who plan day trips from Melbourne would have Phillip Island, a popular spot to penguin-watch, on their list.
Often overlooked is its quieter neighbour, French Island, which is the perfect destination for someone wanting to get
away from it all.
Located in the middle of Western Port, you would have to hop on a ferry to get there, as there is no road access from the mainland.
The French Island National Park occupies two thirds of the island, with the remaining third being privately owned. There are over 200 indigenous birds, 260 fauna species and almost 600 species of flora on the island, including over 100 species of orchids.
There are no shopping malls, no traffic lights and no crowds. Australian pop superstar Kylie Minogue once had a holiday home on this island. That’s probably the most exciting news to come out of this place. So if you are looking for some peace and quiet, or just to reconnect with nature, you will get plenty of that here.
The island was named by a French scientific expedition in 1802. Prior to European settlement, it was a hunting ground for the Aborigines of the Bunurong tribe, who collected shellfish and swan eggs here. On the island today, there are several registered sites of the stone scatters and shell middens from those days.
Located around 70km from Melbourne, French Island has a population of just over 100, with around 400 times as many koalas roaming the premises. Koalas were introduced in the late 19th century and the island is now home to one of the leading disease-free koala populations in Australia. French Island’s koalas are regularly moved to mainland Victoria to boost populations as part of a conservation plan.
I got around in a 4WD when I was there, but cycling is a popular eco-friendly option, with campsites aplenty if you want to rough it out in
the wilderness under the stars.
Another perspective
The Great Ocean Road, which hugs the seaside cliffs on the rugged, windswept Southern Ocean, is one of the world’s most scenic coastal routes.
Besides Wildlife Wonders, which is one of the newest attractions along this stretch, there are many other things to do and see here.
An obvious crowd favourite is the 12 Apostles, a collection of limestone formations located off the shore of Port Campbell National Park, looking like they just emerged from beneath the waves. They were once part of the mainland cliffs but over the years, the waves and wind battered them into caves, then arches and eventually these columns you see today.
At the moment, there are eight apostles left standing (with one just being a small stump) but due to the continuing erosion, more are expected to fall with time - as well as new ones possibly appearing in the future.
For a bird’s eye view of the majestic cliffs and limestone stacks, hop on a helicopter and soar to the skies.
Less than a five-minute drive from here is the Loch Ard Gorge, a stunning little bay flanked by two majestic cliff faces. There are numer-
ous lookout points and walking paths that you can explore here. I was there on a morning with a stormy sky, which made for quite a spectacular sight, one that fits the dramatic story behind this place.
The gorge is named after Loch Ard, a large clipper ship that collided with a rock reef on a misty morning in 1878 and ran aground near Mutton Bird island. It was approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Only two of the 54 passengers survived, a sailor named Tom Pearce and Irishwoman Eva Carmichael who was emigrating with her family. They were both 19.
Since then, this place has appeared in a number of movies, including the 1999 TV series Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and The Pirate Movie from 1982.
Chugging down the tracks
There is something about trains that holds a special place in our hearts. On the way back to Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road, make a detour for The Q Train, a restaurant that travels along the historic Bellarine Railway between Drysdale and Queenscliff. Onboard the train, you will be served seasonal produce and local wine, beer and cider, in its refurbished dining cars.
The return journey is approximately three hours, which is plenty of time to wine and dine, and admire the views of Swan Bay and the Bellarine from your window.
Ferries arrive into Queenscliff and Portarlington, and transport will be arranged from the ferry terminals to the train station.