Warrnambool and Tower Hill

As we were now well into the peak holiday season with tourist operators scaring Freedom Travellers such as ourselves into believing that there was absolutely no accommodation available anywhere we prudently accepted the first campsite we came across at Hopkins River. This suited us very well as, being a few kilometres away from Warrnambool, it was in a wide open space and, being bordered by the river with farms all around, also allowed us to forget that we were in a big park with hundreds of other holiday makers.

Hopkins River, Victoria

Except for fishing, for which you need a boat, there's nothing to do in the immediate vicinity at Hopkins River so we headed to Warrnambool just five kilometres away. Situated on the mouth of the Hopkins River Warrnambool is a pleasant city of about 34,000 people with trees and parks providing eye appeal. The seaside was rather breezy and holiday makers were instead enjoying the fun parks and cafes, leaving the beach for all but a few brave souls.

War Memorial, Warrnambool

This Memorial sits high on the hill so cannot be missed. I was pleased to see that the Warrnambool women who lost their lives received a mention.

I'd only heard of howitzers so I was interested to see these from the 1914 - 1918 war. The killing machines certainly have become very much more accurate and efficient in the past hundred years. I was interested to learn that the modern howitzer was invented in the late 1600s by Sweden, a country that is not nowadays quickly associated with war.

Howitzer 1914 - 1918

The port at Warrnambool had its hey day during the Victorian gold rush period in the 1850s. Today we saw leisure craft and a couple of tourist cruise boats.

Warrnambool

As it was just a little windy to walk on the beach we decided to head for Port Fairy however a sign indicating a Reserve caught my attention and I turned down a narrow, twisty one way road, much to the consternation of my spouse who likes to know exactly where we are going!

Tower Hill Road

His protestations ceased abruptly when he spotted this emu on the road and reached for a camera. From that moment on I had made a good choice!

Emu

We had previously seen wild emus only twice - once from the train near Rockhampton and once north of Port Douglas - hence the excitement.[ Once we were settled at a picnic table the enthusiasm wore off as several of them tried to snatch the food off our plates.]
The road continued, passing small lakes until a sign informed us that we had arrived at Tower Hill Reserve. This seemed to be just the kind of place we liked - a peaceful place with trees and water and wild life all around. Noticing that we were sheltered from the wind, we decided to have lunch and then visit the Information Centre to get an idea of what this place was all about.

Koala in a gum tree

Our visit here lasted three hours or so and koala slept the whole time, occasionally opening an eye and shifting a little to offer some excitement to the multi national visitors' clicking cameras.

Wagon Bay Walk, Tower Hill

Our visit to the Information centre informed us that Tower Hill is the site of a volcano that erupted about 32,000 years ago forming a shallow crater which later filled with water. The conical shaped hills [ see the emu on the road photo] are the result of subsequent eruptions. 

There are several different walks visitors can enjoy and we selected the easiest of these, the Wagon Bay Walk. Our leisurely stroll took us around one of the small lakes, small birds flitting away as we approached and things rustling in the undergrowth - echidnas, I thought, as the rustlings were too noisy for snakes. A one point a fallen tree crossed the narrow track so some contortionism was required to get under it!

Wagon Bay Lake, Tower Hill

Near Tower Hill, Victoria

A very pleasant afternoon in a special place, Tower Hill features on our list of trip highlights.