Late start for an estimated 4.5 hour drive to Port Fairy.
First stop was Mount Gambia to see the Blue Lake, the product of an explosive volcanic event. A few facts,
The lake is 70 metres deep and covers 70 hectares.
It supplies freshwater for the town of Mt Gambia and surrounding area.
The colour of the lake is brilliant blue from November to March and then reverts to a brown colour. There is no logical explanation for this change.
After taking some initial photos we took a walk round the neighbouring Leg of Mutton lake before returning to the car.
The area was first settled around 1850 but the original cattle farmer neglected to register the land and was subsequently usurped by a later arrival.
The predominant industry for the region is forestry with large tracts of conifer plantations and several mills.
Once on the road again we noticed the signs for the local stockyard and our luck was in as it was sale-day. This was an opportunity too good to miss although we were likely to look a bit out of place especially Nicola who was the only female in a dress!
The yard itself was quite extensive with aerial steel walkways for people to access avenues of pens without the need to mix with the livestock. There were only a few cattle left to sell but the animals we saw looked healthy and well finished. I believe that the prices were good so there were also a few smiling faces.
Moving to the sheep pens we were in time to see the start of the auction. The bidding process was really interesting and different from my experience in the UK. The auctioneer would start with identifying the lot for sale, often more than one pen, and the vendor. He then proposed a price and all the interested purchasers would shout back the best price they were prepared to fork out. The staff were keenly watching the responses and identified the person offering the most. The auction was completed and the group moved on. Where there was more than one prepared to pay the best offer a small bidding process was run to work out who was prepared to offer the most. Overall the process was very efficient and allowed the circus to move along the row at a cracking pace. A good job as there were thousands of sheep to sell before the end of the day (Look at the video section)
We had to leave the market all too soon and a short way down the road we crossed into Victoria our 6th state. It was easy to spot with the by now normal signs regarding transport of animal and plant material across the border. Australia as a whole is very concerned with the proliferation of animal and plant diseases and takes great care particularly on the state borders.
Arrived at 16:30 at Port Fairy tourist information for advice on accommodation and Griffiths Island a small island just off the coast with a lighthouse and some interesting wildlife. Unfortunately the island was due to be closed at 17:00 for a fox shoot prior to the nesting season and as the walk round the island normally takes an hour we decided to head to the island before sorting our overnight stay.
It was well worth the change in plan as we were treated to a view of a number of wallabies including one barely 5 feet away. Fantastic.
The best option for accommodation turned out to be an old railway carriage that had been converted into 2 x 4 bed cabins complete with all mod cons. Different and slightly cold at night given all the metal surrounding you.