Jess and Ruth's Visit to Torrevieja

17 - 22 MARCH



Roger and I are now back in Torrevieja, and Roger is doing all the boat jobs needed before we set off sailing again.

Our daughter, Jessica, and her friend Ruth came out to visit us for a few days so they could finish off their PADI Open Water Diving course. They wanted to do it in warmer waters than the UK (who can blame them?), but it seemed pretty cold to us at 15 degrees! Max Scuba Diving is run by Tony and Lin, a very friendly and accommodating couple, which enabled Jessica and Ruth to enjoy their diving and feel confident. On the first day Roger and I used our semi-dry wetsuits and went diving as well, but wimped out on the second day, preferring to wait for warmer water when we can use shorty wetsuits and a lot less weight!

We managed to pack a lot into four days, including a lot of eating. The first two days were spent diving, and then a meal with the people from the Salinas Marina in our regular Chinese Restaurant.

The next day we spent a couple of hours on the beach, had lunch, visited our friends in the Salinas Marina, had enormous ice creams at a Heladeria and then cycled to the salt lakes. In the evening we visited the local stalls and funfair before going to the German restaurant.

On the last day we visited the Torrevieja submarine, went to a Pasteleria (cake shop), had lunch on Alistair’s boat (Koala) and then watched the Wales v. Ireland rugby match in a local bar. We finished off with tapas in another bar, after which the girls left us about 11 p.m. to see what night life they could find without the oldies.

Salt Lakes, Torrevieja

Qualified Divers

Walking the plank ashore

Postcript to our Road Trip - The Bushfires

It reached 45 celsius the next day!

No doubt by now many of you will have read or seen news resports of the horrific fires that have swept through Victoria. This is Australia’s worst disaster. The confirmed death toll this morning was 173, but that will rise a lot more. Over 750 homes have been destroyed, 5000 people have been evacuated and vast swathes of land have been destroyed. It has been heartbreaking to watch the news and hear of parents who have lost their children, and children who have lost their parents. The ones who count themselves lucky are those who escaped with their family and just the clothes on their backs.

Many of the areas that Roger and I visited have been badly affected. The Rochford Winery, where we saw Leonard Cohen, is on the Maroondah Highway near Healsville, which has been under serious threat since yesterday. The Tidal River campsite we stayed on in Wilson’s Promontory was evacuated yesterday as a rapidly building fire was affecting the Promontory. We had passed very close to the town of Marysville which was all but wiped out.

The Australians are an amazingly resilient people and offers of help poured in immediately. Funds have been set up to help those so badly affected. Lisa’s firm, Amcor, have offered to match any money raised by the staff. A newspaper group has offered $1,000,000.

On Australia Day I listened to the radio where people were asked what made them proud to be Australian. I think the reactions of people to this unprecedented disaster would make any one proud to be Australian – apart from those murderers (the Prime Minister’s words) who started the fires.

Phillip Island to Mentone- 170 Km - 45 degees

SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2009

We drove back to Tony’s house in order to clean the very dusty vehicle before returning it to Britz. It had been a great trip with varied countryside and a fantastic way to visit Victoria.

The temperature reached 45 degrees in Melbourne yesterday, breaking all records. Some serious bush fires broke out in Gipsland on Thursday, not far from where we had been travelling. It took about three days to get them under control and about 29 houses, several cars and a wide area of farmland and bush were destroyed. Problems continued in Melbourne with about 750 trains cancelled and power cuts across the city and suburbs to limit the use of electricity, resulting in people being stuck in lifts, air conditioners failing, and the cancellation of the Roberta Flack concert on Friday. About 30 people died due to heat related causes, and many of the vineyards in the Murray River and Yarra Valley areas have lost a most of their crop.

The state of our van at the end of 4 weeks!

Wilsons Promontory to Phillip Island

 FRIDAY 30 JANUARY 2009

The Nobbies, Phillip Island

We drove the 147 Kilometers to Phillip Island, crossing the 640 meter bridge which joins it to the mainland. 

We walked along the boardwalks to The Nobbies in the afternoon and stayed to see the Penguin Parade in the evening.

Phillip Island is home to about 32,000 Little Penguins and is one of the few areas where Little Penguins can ben seen.  Every evening at sunset they come ashore in groups and it was wonderful to see them coming out of the sea and marching up the beach.

Lock Sport to Tidal River, Wilsons Promontory

A thirsty wombat in 43 degrees!

THURSDAY 29 JANUARY 2009

We went to collect the tyre, but the inner tube was shredded and he didn’t have a replacement, so we had to go to Sale to get it changed. We didn’t leave until 12.30 p.m. and drove to Yarram for lunch and then on to the small village of Port Albert to look at the interesting Maritime Museum. We had a look at Port Newport where there was a small marina and then drove to Wilsons Promontory which is the most southern point of Australia.

The weather was just as hot today - 43 degrees Celsius is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit! The radio was constantly giving advice on how to stay cool, look after animals, and reporting fires. By the end of the day over 200 trains had been cancelled due to lines buckling and the air-conditioning not working. There was also a report that the road next to Tony’s street was closed because a power line was down and on fire. We had no phone signal, so we couldn’t contact him.

We camped at the campsite at Tidal River and went for a walk in the evening when it had cooled a little. We saw a wombat drinking from a puddle formed by a dripping tap – the first live wombat I have seen that wasn’t in a zoo! Norman Beach is beautiful and the boardwalk walk along the river led through the wetlands where there were black cockatoos, herons, teal and ducks.

WILDLIFE: Live Wombat, Crimson Rosellas, Black Cockatoos

Sale to Lock Sport, Gipsland - 84 Km - 43 degrees

Changing the tyre in 43 degrees!

WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY 2009

I have been in e-mail contact with Deirdre Lebbon for the past couple of years, as we are both descendents of Lawrence Rostron. When she heard we were going to be in Melbourne, she kindly invited us to visit, so Roger and I spent a lovely morning with them. 

After lunch we set off on an easy 4WD track through the Sale Common Wetlands towards the lakes and the 90 mile beach. On the way we managed to blow the rear tyre. This was one of the hottest days of record – 43 degrees - and Roger had to lay in the dirty grey boiling hot sand to get the jack underneath. Luckily, we managed to change the tyre without too much problem, but it was so heavy it took two of us to do it.

We got to Lock Sport which is on the banks of Lake Victoria and the 90 Mile Beach, which is the world’s third longest uninterrupted beach. We drove to the Marina Hotel for a much needed cold beer and decided to stay at the local caravan park as I was too nervous to continue driving off road with no spare tyre. We found a local garage and left our tyre there, and had a meal at the Hotel. There was a wonderful sunset when we left.

WILDLIFE: Emu, Black Swans,

Noojee to Sale - 254 Km

TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2009

We walked to the spectacular Toorongo Falls near where we had camped overnight, and then drove through Noojee to walk to the Ada Tree. This is a Mountain Ash thought to be nearly 300 years old, is 76 meters high and has a circumference of 15 meters. Having done our two walks through the rainforest, we then drove to Warburton for lunch and then on to Sale.

WILDLIFE: Lizard, Crimson Rosetta, Sulpher Crested Cockatoo, Rabbits

270 year old Ada tree