Travel Photo of the Week: Stunning canola fields in the Goulburn Valley, Australia

A Facebook friend was recently in the Goulburn Valley region to do a video gig, that’s his thing. That evening he shared this image and others on Facebook from his trip to north/central Victoria and this one in particular caught my eye. I just love it. A simple scenery comprising of 3 elements only but so effective. I cheekily asked if it was OK to share the image and was happily given permission. I hope you enjoy the photo of ‘big sky’ country as much me!

Photo courtesy of Mick Russell from Linchpin Studios

Where is Point Nepean?

Point Nepean marks the southern point of the beautiful Mornington Peninsula and the eastern entrance to Port Phillip Bay. It has a rich history and played an important role in shaping the early settlement, quarantine and defence of Victoria.

My family and I had a recent power-break weekend away where we stayed at the very comfortable Oceanic Apartments in Sorrento and spent the Sunday exploring Point Nepean. We were extremely fortunate with the weather given it is still winter but the sun did shine and only a gentle breeze meant it was very pleasant walking weather.

We parked the car near Gunners Cottage and walked from Point Nepean Cemetery, Observation Point, Cheviot Hill Stop to Fort Pearce where we boarded the bus to the Fort Nepean. (Our feet had had enough walking!). We passed pristine beaches (above) and reminders of the war history of the area (below). The sign on the gate is a warning for unexploded bombs beyond!

We spent a good hour at Fort Nepean exploring the military forts and tunnels and the photo below is showing the very tip of the peninsula, the heads (opening to Port Phillip Bay) out to Point Lonsdale in the distance.

Lonely Planet East Coast Australia (Travel Guide)

Map

TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Point Nepean

One Great Reason to Visit Point Nepean

One great reason to visit this travel destination is for the stunning views across the bay to Queenscliff, Point Lonsdale and the heads.

Point Nepean by Cycle Atlas

For More Information

• Wikipedia
• Official Point Nepean National Park

We have been enjoying a very mild, balmy spell in Melbourne given the time of year it is. The past 4-5 days have all been above 20C, well above the May average and so we decided we really had to make the most of this! So yesterday we jumped in the car and headed to the Yarra Valley. The first stop was the historic homestead and museum of Mont de Lancey in Wandin North. Funny enough my grandparents once lived around the corner on a rhubarb farm but I don’t ever recall visiting this place while they were there. With plenty to see around the property, the gorgeous ‘Savoia’ cafe to enjoy afternoon tea (which we did!) and gaze out to distant mountains of the Great Dividing Range, it really was a tranquil Autumn afternoon. We finished up at St Huberts winery drinking a nice glass of Chardonnay among the Autumn leaves.

Travel Photos of the Week: Alowyn Gardens, Yarra Glen

Melbourne dished up the most perfect weather last weekend to spend outdoors. I’ve had this local tourism award winner marked to visit for some time. So it made perfect sense to pick-up the oldies for an outing to Alowyn Gardens. The gardens are set within a layout of varying garden rooms across 7 acres. The garden is designed along strong symmetrical lines that become blurred by the softness of the space and the grace of the trees.

There are 5 clearly defined areas within the gardens, a perennial border, a silver birch forest, an edible garden, a formal parterre garden and through all of this runs a wisteria and rose covered arbour walk of about 100m. There is also a newer French garden which will be a picture during March when the sunflower bed is flowering.

You can also find Alowyn Gardens on Facebook.