Friday, 17 April, 2015 - Day 6

We drove to the Tower Hill State Game Reserve this morning.  Tower Hill is an enormous volcanic crater rimmed by beds of volcanic ash.  The swampy floor of the crater is punctuated by conical hills which, after good rains, virtually become islands surrounded by a shallow lake.  The inside of the crater, and the island-hills are now a wildlife reserve and there are lots of native birds and wildlife there, including koalas, kangaroos, and emus.  It also has an important place in local Aboriginal history. The centre is managed by the Worn Gundidj Aboriginal Co-operative - they sell aboriginal arts and crafts and provide guided tours.  Our guide, Chris (an aboriginal) took us and a German couple on the tour.  He was very knowledgeable about the plants and animals we saw along the way.  He told us what the plants were used for by the aboriginal people and also had us taste a couple of them (not to my taste).  We didn't see many animals, but we managed to see one koala (high up in a tree), a copperhead snake, a wallaby and a skink.  At the end of the tour, Chris showed us how to throw a boomerang.  We all threw one a number of times and although the two Germans and I were able to get the boomerangs to curve a little, Dad actually got his to come almost all the way back to him – I think it has to do with his aeronautical skill. J

 Emus at the reserve

 Emu looking at us

Copperhead snake

 Wallaby

 Emu at a viewpoint over looking the volcanic crater on Tower Hill Reserve

We had made such good time on our holiday that we actually had half a day not filled and so we decided to drive to a little town near the reserve called Port Fairy.  After checking at the Tourist Info Centre to see what there was to see and do in Port Fairy, we decided to grab some lunch and then take a walk along Fisherman’s Wharf.  While we were walking along it, we noticed some fishermen were cleaning their fish – they had caught the biggest fish (tuna) I had ever seen.  The cleaning station was right beside a canal and in the water, waiting for the leftovers, was a seal and two stingrays.  We then took a walk to the Griffiths Island Lighthouse.  On the way to the lighthouse and back again, we saw a wallaby.  It seems that they are solitary creatures and a bit skittish, too.

 Fishermen cleaning their catch of the day

 Seal waiting for the fishermen to throw him some leftover fish

 Stingray and seal waiting for scraps from the fishermen

Me in front of the Griffiths Island lighthouse

 Waves crashing in the surf near the lighthouse

 Showing the solar panels (on the left hand side) of the lighthouse

Wallaby on our walk back from the lighthouse

 Me in front of the wallaby

 Interesting birds we saw on our walk back from the lighthouse (above and below)

We finished off our day with another swim in the hotel pool.