Posted by Neville | Posted in Destinations, Places | Posted on 17-08-2012
Tags: Historical, Places, Tower Hill, Warrnambool
Towns To Stay In Longer
I picked up the latest edition of Caravan and Motorhome On Tour magazine today. The front cover tells us that the contents include Australia’s Top 20 Towns To Stay In Longer.
I would like to add another to the list, since Mount Gambier (our last stopover) was already included. Let’s make Warrnambool, Victoria No 21 on the list. And I am sure there are plenty more that could be considered. I expect to discover many of them in my travels.
So why include Warrnambool on that list?
It is obviously a popular spot during the warmer months with it beaches and water activities, both in and near the town.
Tower Hill
We had a quick drive through Tower Hill Game Reserve yesterday and despite the occasional shower and cold weather we discovered a 
wonderful whole new world inside the crater of a dormant volcano. It has been restored to natural bushland, based on the paintings of an early visitor, before the area was devastated during the rabbit plague era. There are still rabbits in the area, but now controlled to allow the natural vegetation to flourish.
The yellow wattles at this time are brilliant and a mass of colour. We saw kangaroos, emus, ducks, finches, wrens, crows, magpies and many more birds who use this haven as their home.
This panorama show the Tower Hill Reserve from a lookout on the edge of the road to Koroit.
(click the picture to enlarge)
Inside the Reserve we met this kangaroo who was content to keep munching on his grass despite our presence in his territory.
We stopped alongside this little fellow and sat watching as he continued to pull out mouthful after mouthful of grass from the side of the road. He did not even move or seem concerned when we got out of the car for this photo.
While we were watching him we also saw some finches (probably firetail finches judging from the colour that we could see) that flitted in and out of the reeds at the side of the lake.
In this spot we could hear blue wrens but they stayed out of sight, unlike those near the information centre.
Also near the information centre we managed to see a couple of Koala high in the top of one of the gum trees that they are allowed to 
climb. We presumed that they are prevented from climbing some trees with plastic skirts around the base to allow them to recover and not be eaten out by the koalas.
The two that we saw were busy reaching out to pick gum leaves to eat. Since they were high in the treetops the pictures taken were not brilliant, but it was good to see koalas in their natural environment.
Tower Hill is a definite revisit place when we make the return trip when we have more time, and maybe even before we move on in a couple of days.
On good reason to stay in Warrnambool for a few extra days.
Flagstaff Hill and Shipwrecked!
The information Centre at Warrnambool is next to the Flagstaff Hill Village, a recreation of a typical port on the coasts of Australia in the 1870s. The replica buildings and cobblestone streets give an impression of life in those times. The village is also the home for relics and survivors of shipwrecks along this part of the Southern Victorian Coast. Most notable is the Lochard Peacock whose story is told in the interactive Shipwrecked! laser show each evening.
Last night was a perfect night to view Shipwrecked with the cold weather and threatening storm. A perfect atmosphere for learning the story of the Lochard and the rescue of just 2 people, and the Peacock. This highly recommended for your stay in Warrnambool, and is another good reason to stay longer, because there are many things not mentioned in this post that you can also do.
Check out the list below for some options.
