Cape Nelson/Lower Glenelg week end

[Hallu]

This week end I decided to have a look at a place certainly known by bushwalker, thanks to the Great South West walk, but certainly pretty unknown from tourist, even Aussie tourists. Being winter, I was hoping to see a whale as well.

First up, we stopped at Warrnambool, but no whale this Saturday. So next we had a look at Cape Nelson Lighthouse and did the Nature Cliffs walk. Very nice area, beautiful coastline. I have mixed feeling regarding the wind farm. It brings something to the place, but it's noisy, big, and not green at all (you need rare earth elements to build them, which are very polluting to extract, and when there's no wind, coal power plants have to take over and do their job). We saw a couple of wallabies on the way out, but not a lot of birds in the area.
At sunset, we ended at the Blowholes, very impressive : huge waves and great booming sounds. The nearby petrified forest was great too. The moon rose over the rock formations, with the sun setting on the other side.

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Last edited by Hallu on Mon 24 Jun, 2013 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Hallu]

The next day we did Cape Bridgewater. Beautiful walk to the Cape, great lookouts, and a seal colony, all of them having fun in the huge surf. Great sight. And on the way back, jackpot. A big splash, and we saw a humpback whale at the foot of the cliffs, near the fisherman's cabin. It was very active, thrashing around. Couldn't see any calf though.
Afterwards we had a look at lake Monibeong. It's a bit odd and sad to see those pine plantations, but it doesn't seem to affect the kangaroos, which were numerous in the area. I'm guessing it had dramatic effect on bird, possum and koala populations though. The area called Cape Montesquieu is very nice, with the campground and lake nearby.
Next we drove to Lower Glenelg, more specifically to the labelled "The Gorge Walk", 5 km North of Nelson. Lovely walk, we didn't have time to do the full 10 km, we did about 6, but still good views and again some wallabies.

Although it's a bit far from Melbourne, it was definitely worth it. I was expecting an area similar to Croajingolong, but it's very different. Not as wild for sure, but the seals, cliffs, whales and gorges make up for it. It has a unique feeling, totally different from the Warrnambool/Port Campbell area, and more importantly, it's a lot less crowded. This makes for cheap accommodation in Portland, and they have good food. We ate at Edward's Waterfront and it was fresh and nicely made Italian influenced local food. A bit pricey though. Afterwards I realized we were very closed to the Piccaninnie Ponds, and I wished we had a look at it.

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[neilmny]

Nice report and pictures Hallu, sounds like you had a great time.

[ofuros]

picturesque....nice variety of landscapes there, Hallu ....I like it.

[Hallu]

Thanks. After examination of my photos, I think it was a Southern Right Whale actually, as there is no dorsal fin, and the tale is black on both sides.