My Next To Last Post...

Before I'm on a plane bound for the East Coast of the US of A.

*ALERT. THIS IS AN ALERT. AWESOME CUTENESS OF BEBEH CRITTER AT END OF POST*

I may or may not be able to keep you entertained whilst I'm away. I'll have computer access and be taking shitloads of pics so hopefully if nothing else I'll be able to get some pics up daily. No promises mates!

I'll have twitter and Skype access too. Ain't all these modern gadgets and technologies grand? Anyone remember back to when you didn't even think about going on a 400 mile drive without a mobile phone? Anyone?

Now for today, I'll be quick. I haven't had a chance to finish up the pics from Cave Gardens (with it's CATS and bees) nor go through the ones at Umpherston's Sinkhole.

But I have tweeted a few pics randomly throughout this week so I guess these'll have to do, eh? How does some 12 Apostle pics from The Great Ocean Road sound?

But first, a food pic. This is actually proof that I make my own cheese. This wheel was feta. Emphasis on the "was" as it sure as heck didn't hang about!



Now just doesn't that look tasty? It sure did to myself, Wifey-Poo, and MIL. BIL doesn't eat weird kinds of cheeses and he considers anything that isn't cheddar to be weird. Yes, HE is the weird one!

I am now going to throw up (BLARF) some random pics from The Great Ocean Road. You are very welcome.

First is the standard pic of the 12 Apostles that every Aussie should have. I may have shown you this previously.



Nextly is a nice medium zoom in of the aforementioned 12 hunks of rock.


Somewhere along the road...


Somewhere else along the road...


Watch out for that first step, it's a dooooozy!


Why? Because I can, that is why.


Ahhhh, the wide-eyed excitement of youth in contrast to the tiredness of the parent.


I'll try to get the rest of the Cave Gardens pics done and the start of Umpherston's Sinkhole for you tomorrow.

Blue Lake to Cave Gardens

is only slightly less than 1.5 kilometres than the kookaburra flies.

Yes, Mt. Gambier South Oz is not exactly the hugest nor largest thriving metropolis out there, but at least it is Out There! Not for me though, heck I think Naracoorte is too big. A place just about my size would be Reedy Creek. Heck, it's close enough to that big smoke of Lucindale for me! Can you tell I like small towns? BTW, whilst we drove "thru" Reedy Creek I noticed there was only 1 (one, uno, einz) building visible from the "road".

Yeah, I could handle living there! The fact that the single building was a CFS (Country Fire Service) depot/shack made me feel right at home. Wifey-poo however feels that Naracoorte is more her size. Harumph.

*screech* go the brakes as we shift gears!

Hey look, I can cook. Here's proof:


And if you'd like to make the dish by your very own oneses, I have explained how to do that right here.

The above sentence is highlighted, it's what is called a LINC in the biz. Pardon me for showing off my skillz.

Back to The Limestone Coast and Mt Gambier! Here's some info (in case you were interested about Blue Lake):



And here is a picture PROVING (or proofing depending on the context of course) that whilst it was raining...


... Blue Lake is still really *bleepin'* BLUE!

No, there are no (as is NONE) photo enhancements done to nor on the above picture. Trust me.

Lake water is not supposed to look that colour when it is overcast, rainy, and the angle of the sunlight still only 2 hours after dawn. Oops, who's chasing Dawn????

Next stop: Cave Gardens!

Cave Gardens was the original waterin' hole for this particular area. And when the Europeans got to this area (after killing the original inhabitants of course) they also used it as a water source. The town of Mt. Gambier was built around the water source, hence Cave Gardens is right smack dab in the middle of the hustlin' bustlin' downtown Mt Gambier! Don't worry, rush hour is very short.

See what I mean?



But before we get to the first bit of Cave Gardens, I just have to share with you my not-so-latest 3d stuff. I'm assuming that all my loyal readers will have seen or perhaps at least heard of the second X-Dude movie. You know, the movie based on a comic called "X-MEN" where all the really cool "X-MEN" were not "MEN" but were actually "WOMEN"?

Anyhows, did anyone of you think that the inky-poof teleporting-in effect for Nightcrawler was nifty? I did. So I quite naturally did what anyone who thought that Calvin (from the comic strip) was just not using his imagination enough would do.

Hereupon I humbly present to you (dear reader) an here-to-fore unknown gem from the master of imagination (that'd be Calvin, from the comic strip) of... well... something...



I shall now take a bow. And I shall take that bow and shoot an arrow with it.


Alrighty, enuff stupidness and sillytude from me. It is far past time to let Momma Nature (who has had so much more practice than myself) show off her beautiful work!

Cave Gardens, Mt Gambier.














And what would life be like without a video?




Did any of you notice a particular critter in some of those pictures or a part of that video? Something that was perhaps not bipedal and non-hairy?

Perhaps this will help refresh your mammaries...



Next up: The Birds and The Bees of Cave Gardens!
don't worry, it'll be safe for work. maybe

Blue Lake is really BLUE!

Yes, the next morning Blue Lake in Mt. Gambier was still BLUE! We didn't hallucinate the night before. Well, we did, but not about the lake colour :-}

But let me start off this post with a picture from my youth. My waaaaaaay back when youth! I do believe this'd be 1967 or 1968. We were still in the trailer (yes, I grew up in a trailer but we wuzn't trash!) and I'll have you know that my dad (Superman) built this entire addition to the trailer along with of course all the shelving and storage.

Here's proof (180!) that I was young once.



Go'an, guess which one is me!

Shall we get back to Blue Lake? Why yes, yes we shall.



If you'll be so kind as to notice, it is still a cloudy sky the next morning! And the lake is still of course a vibrant blue.

Did you know that the residents of Mt Gambier all got together one day and built a hugely wonderful (and huge) lookout and retaining wall along the edge of Blue Lake. Yep. It's true. Hey now, would I lie to you? The retaining wall itself is over 200 metres long! And the Rook Tower is awesome!

How did they do it all in one day? Lotsa muscle and know-how!



Yeah, that woulda been a sight to watch!

And just what does this neat Rook Lookout look like? Glad you asked mates!


Don't forget it stretches around 180 metres along up the slope to the right of the picture.

As you may be able to tell from this next shot, it was raining!





The main stairs leading up aren't steep at all.




Especially if you have nicely cut calves like this bloke! Cool shirt, eh?



The view from the top of Rook Tower is nice. Don't need to add a frame to the shot in photoshop, that's for sure!



Shall we just zoom in a bit on the lake as to not have the framing? Yes, we shall.






At this point I just can't resist posting a piece of 3D artwork down by Yours Truly --don't swoon ladies, I'm human!






Oops, it looks much more better at full size!




And let us not forget the whole reason for the trip: Da 12 Ahhhh-Pistols!



No, this is not a stock Interwebs photo. It's a pic by Yours Truly. Go ahead and swoon.

But before we head along The Great Ocean Road (there are only 50 kilometres that are great, trust me!) we need to explore Mt. Gambier a bit. Such as Cave Gardens right smack dab in the centre of hustlin' n bustlin' downtown Mt Gambier!




More soon mates!