Winter 2019 OZ - 27 To Portland, Victoria (Vic)

2019 OZ - 27 To Portland, Victoria (Vic)

Off and On Rain All Day

It rained most of the day. But when we got out of the car because we wanted to see something it stopped raining. Weird!

1^st stop was the Woakwine Cutting. It showed me how, when man gets an idea and is determined enough, he can move mountains. This 1 km long ditch was ‘dug’ by just 2 men. It took them 3 years to do it. and at its deepest spot the channel or canal is 34 meters deep. Wow!

Woakwine Cutting

But by completing this gigantic job, the owner freed up 420 hectares (4.2 square km) of former swampland and made it into super productive agriculture land. He did not ruin the swamp, it can still be controlled by sluices but at the end of it all, he converted a swamp into productive land. It was a very impressive job, digging out this deep trench; I cannot imagine the amount of daily work it took to do this. 

The Lady Nelson Ship

2^nd stop was the ‘Lady Nelson’ Ship.

Here is an abridged report of the life of this sailing ship. When you read it you can just

imagine the workload those early people had, the responsibilities, the striving, the conniving people you had to deal with, etc. it’s an insight into how it used to be. Not so nice, right?

White Rock Is Limestone,
Basalt Is Dark Layer and Ash Is Above

3rd stop was the Blue Lake. We saw the lake but it was not as ‘blue’ as it usually is due to the rainy weather and the time of year. It becomes more grey in the winter. Still, we were lucky enough to see some blue; unlike the pink  in the Pink Lake. 

Lighter Blue/Turquoise Area of Lake

This lake is used today to provide water to the city. The limestone above the water level and which extends below the surface, acts as a filter for the ground water to provide clean drinking water for the city.

Deeper Blue Colour

The Lake is at the bottom of a huge caldera. The soft limestone provided channels for the steam and lava to rise, build up pressure and break through the hard basalt layer. Then ash settled above the rim of the volcano. 

It is all fenced in, it is a protected area and we drove all around it. Depending on the angle, it became either a deep blue or a lighter shade of blue.

Steep Stairs Down to 1st Level

4^th and final stop for the day was the  Umpherston Sinkhole. I have seen sinkholes before, the Yucatan is full of Cenotes (sinkholes) but Umpherston is a large one. It was owned by a wealthy family in previous years who made the whole of it into a ‘garden’. Then, for some reason they could no longer take care of it and deeded the sinkhole to the town; now it is a tourist attraction. 

A long staircase descends into the bottom of this hole and the view from below is unique. We walked around this botanical garden with a bit of envy, yes, I would love to have a sinkhole like that, with its small mysteries embedded into the walls, under the partial overhang here and there, with whatever is to be found below ground… it was very neat to be able to be below ground level but totally open to the sky above.

View of the Sinkhole From the 1st Level

I know it is like being in a kettle, but in this case, the kettle is big, huge even. Botanically rare flowers bloom here, protected from the winds. Bees had their nests or hives way up high along the borders of the wall, a few colonies of them; or were those hornets, or wasps? They did not bother anybody, but it was like living in a small Garden of Eden. Peaceful, protected, lush and at the edges of the walls was even a very small spring that gave water to this Paradise.

Bees Making Honey

It was a wonderful place to visit, but of course, once we climbed up those stairs again, it started to rain once more. As if we received a reprieve from up high to just have enough time to come and visit Umpherston, but then it was made clear to me who is in charge of the weather.

Most Flowers Had Finished Blooming

View of the Walls From the 3rd Level (There Were 4 Levels)

It turned so cold that evening when we found the hotel in Portland, Vic that we had to put on the heat in the room. It was spring in Canada (April) but fall in Australia. Brr. It’s going to be a cold winter in OZ.

Raining Again