WARRNAMBOOL

From MacArthur we headed South again to a town on the Southern coast of Victoria in Warrnambool.  Warrnambool is a town/city of approximately 30,000 people and has an interesting history.  Part of this history is the use of Maremmas guardian dogs to protect the middle island penguin colony.

Maremmas are Italian guardian dogs, used for centuries to protect local flocks of sheep from wolf predation.  Here at Warnambool the have been used very successfully to protect the only colony of mainland penguins in Australia.

The Middle Island Maremma Project began in 2006 when there was a sharp decline in the colony size of Little Penguins on Middle Island due to fox predation.

A Deakin University study of the 1999-2000 breeding season found 292 occupied burrows with 502 penguins coming ashore during a one-hour period in January 2000. At that time tourism was found to have a negative impact and the study raised concerns over the threat posed to the colony by foxes and dogs.
By 2005 there were fewer than 10 penguins on the island.
A local chicken farmer, Swampy Marsh, suggested Maremma guardian dogs could be used to protect the penguins. Swampy had successfully used Maremmas to help protect his free range chickens.
In a world-first, Maremma dogs were trained and placed on Middle Island to protect the penguins from foxes during the breeding season. The project has been a huge success, with no evidence of fox attacks since the beginning of the Project and a steady increase in penguin colony size to an estimated 180 penguins in 2013.
Middle Island has been closed to the public since 2006 to protect penguin burrows from human trampling which can harm penguins, penguin chicks and eggs. The closure of the Island has contributed to the increase in penguin colony size. Over summer each year, people who want to visit Middle Island can book a place on the “Meet the Maremma Tours” and experience the project firsthand.
Our two Maremma guardian dogs, sisters Eudy and Tula, spend five days per week on Middle Island during the breeding season and on their days off they live at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, interacting with visitors and helping to educate people about environmental conservation. For more information on education programs, the Maremma guardian dogs and tourism activities over summer.

A great success!

Some of the protected penguins

A large breakwater wall protecting the marina and swimming beach

One of the walk ways available

Views on the way

So thanks for the adventure Warrnambool, but like any adventure it is...

Time to hit the road

MACARTHUR AND LAKE SURPRISE

So after saying goodbye to our good friend Amos we head further south to a nice little town in Hawksdale. From there we headed out to MacArthur in search of an extinct volcanic crater.  On the way we came across this impressive wind farm.  This wind farm produces enough energy to power 220,000 suburban households annually.

At one with nature...

There are 140 wind turbines in this farm.

and after about 25 minutes drive we came across found the extinct volcanic crater which is called Lake Surprise.

At the base around the lake is volcanic rock everywhere

Some quite picturesque landscapes

well picturesque except to the bloke

Not far from Lake Surprise is the Natural Bridge and Cave formed by flowing volcanic lava that solidified

it was nice and cool down there

And once again it was time to hit the road

INTERVIEW WITH A HIDDEN COMMUNITY

Heading south from the Grampions we came across a hidden community that agreed to let me interview them on the trials and tribulations of living and working within the community.

Here I found Amos Ebenezer doing the washing chores.  He says that all chores in the community are a shared task and and must be performed by all parties including all children as young as 1 year of age. 

Amos says that each day tasks are allocated to all members of the community and here Amos continues the task of maintaining the community living quarters

Amos says to keep the community in a healthy condition we must work hard and know ones responsibilities and carry them out with steadfast conduct.

Amos also says that we must gather raw materials from wherever we can and nothing must be wasted.

Amos also says that when it is absolutely necessary to get supplies from the store we must resort to the most basic of transportation, one that is with nature and is not detrimental to the environment.

But Amos also says we must not show off whilst in control of wild animals because...

at times they can be unpredictable and hard to control, which takes a steady hand to calm them.

Woooohh there girl she's a feisty one today

Amos states that what brings him strength in times of adversity is his belief in the religion of Bacteriology that has existed since the beginning of time

And after a long celebration with Amos Ebenezer his wife and 18 children, we would join them in a prayer to the great Bacteriological Grand Father and that was an amazing spectacle one which we will never forget.  And having done the entire community came out to see us off which was a real treat and it was time to hit the road.

GRAMPIONS VICTORIA

On our way to the Grampians we met this cute little fella.

We also found this funny bunch of turkeys! Click on the picture to view utube video ;)

Set up camp at a beautiful place on the edge of the Grampians called 'Plantation Camp ground'.

Simply awesome from this free campsite!

The 'Wonderland Pinnacle' is about a 2.5 hour trek which takes in some quite amazing scenery.

There are arrows marked on the ground for you to follow but in some sections are a fair distance apart so we did manage to head off in the wrong direction on two occasions but soon got ourselves back on track.

Had to hold Karen back cause she wanted to head up the hard way...

Its a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!

Not so squeezy!

First floor ladies apparel

What a view from the top

Hey has Mark lost a bit of weight and got younger?

.

 Nah just a case of mistaken identity but you could see why it is such an easy mistake...

Beautiful

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!!

Actually with the size of my hat I was able to glide effortlessly to the bottom using the thermals to lift me higher and higher until I was safely at the bottom.

If you look closely you can see me in the distance just touching down....

Ah well sort of a safe landing, here you can see the emergency crew parasailing down to my rescue...

As Karen's hat wasn't quite as big she had to walk all the way to the bottom but she had a nice walk!...

Whilst in the Grampions we came across this motor show in Halls Gap.  There were some beautifully restored vehicles

We head to another area of the Grampions with beautiful views

On our way to another lookout we spend 5 minutes putting this collage together

and Karen putting the finishing touches

Stay in the life

And with that time to hit the road