Day 19 Australia - Penola to Port Fairy

Thursday 12th March, 2015 - Penola to Port Fairy



We check out of the townhouse and go around the corner for breakfast, eggs on Turkish bread and then wander around Penola.


Is centrally located within the South East and is one of South Australia's prettiest and historic towns with a range of excellent restaurants and boutiques. Come and see where Australia's first Saint, Saint Mary of the Cross, MacKillop's Sainthood began. Penola's heritage has largely been maintained and is evident everywhere. It is central to many tourist attractions.

First stop, naturally, was the church.

The main hotel.

It is known as the central location in the life of Mary MacKillop (St. Mary of the Cross), the first Australian to gain Roman Catholics ainthood, who alongside Julian Tenison Woods in 1866 established the first free Catholic school using the Woods/MacKillop Catholic education system in Australia, St. Joseph's School. Woods and MacKillop also established in Penola 'her' order of nuns, the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. The order, otherwise known as the 'Josephites' or 'Brown Joeys', continue to work with the poor and needy communities throughout the world today.
I will post more about Mary in another post.

Mary Mackillop was a niece of the hotel owners.

Petticoat Lane, so named because of the large number of girls born there. I will be showing more photos in detail in another post.

On the road with a stop at the Blue lake, not so blue at the moment.

Then we drive into Mount Gambier to see the  Cave Gardens famous for its roses.

This sinkhole was the original source of water for the early settlers. you can walk down into the cave and venture out onto the suspended viewing platforms for an awesome view into the cave. During winter, storm water run-off makes its way to the cave forming a spectacular waterfall. It eventually enters the underground water system which possibly feeds into the Blue Lake.

We stopped in Port Macdonnell for lunch. Lots of murals to come.

It is the southernmost town in South Australia. The small port located on the Great Australian Bight in the Limestone Coast region about 477 kilometres (296 mi) southeast of Adelaide and 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of Mount Gambier and had a population of 623 in the 2006 census.

Once a busy shipping port, the town now relies heavily on its fishing and summer tourism industries, particularly rock lobster harvest industry, proclaiming itself the "Australia's Southern Rock Lobster Capital".

We shared the flathead and chips.

Driving around town.

Approx 218 km / 2 hours 40 minutes



The unique fishing village of Port Fairy is one of Victoria's earliest ports and many homes and
other buildings of last century have been preserved.


Port Fairy is fortunate to have retained much of its early history. Many original buildings still stand, and are still in use today. As one of Victoria's earliest settlements, the rich and diverse links to our past serve as a valuable record of the history of European settlement in Australia. Unlike other so
called heritage towns, these buildings are real, original, and still in use, history you can walk
through, touch and experience. Port Fairy has several beaches, each with its own characteristics
and suited to different uses. To the east of the town is the main beach, which is referred to logically
enough as the east beach. This stretches north from the mouth of the Moyne River along a wide, sandy, and gently arcing bay. Generally protected from the rougher seas by Griffiths Island, this is the perfect beach for families, and is patrolled most of the season by the Surf Life Saving Club.

Accommodation:
54 On Bank Port Fairy
54 Bank Street,
Port Fairy VIC 3284

54 On Bank is centrally located in the historic seafaring village of Port Fairy where some of the finest restaurants, cafes and specialty shops are at your doorstep. 54 On Bank consist of two buildings - the first encompassing a 2 bedroom cottage with the reception and information centre and the second featuring 6 individual and private suites.

We decide on Italian for dinner at Portofino, the owner/chef isn't sure if he can fit us in as we don't have a reservation. He manages, funny how ordering a bottle ofwine changed his perspective.