Thursday. August 29.

Day 33.  Rest Day in Port Fairy.

Our last Rest Day on this Perth two Melbourne trip. There had been some heavy rain last night and the morning was overcast but dry. Some drops came and went but didn't develop into anything. In the afternoon a strong wind blew, a wind that would be a headwind had we been cycling.

Had a good lie-in in my bunk till about 9.15 and then looked out on a murky day. No big rush at breakfast..regretted not buying a few eggs at that place yesterday.

Shortly after 10.30 I started on my tour of town and hit across the Moyne River for East Beach. All was quiet here on the beach and in the holiday apartments. All along the coastal road on both ends of town were plenty of new recently built holiday homes and yet more in construction.

I passed along the walking/cycling path and had a great view across to Griffiths Island and its lighthouse. Charlie's on East was open for business, but queues hadn't yet formed. It was a bit early for ice-cream.

The canons that were in use to protect the port are still in place. These 80 pound cannon were installed in 1877 to replace smaller ones. To operate them it took a crew of 10 for each but were decommissioned in 1907.

Port Fairy has a long sea-faring tradition going back to a whaling station on Griffiths Island in 1835. Whalers worked and lived on the island but within 15 years the supply of whales was exhausted. Starting in 1850s it developed as a port trading in wool, gold and wheat. The wharf is in a sheltered part of the Moyne River and presently is the home of an active fishing fleet whose main catch is crayfish, shark and abalone. A local rod-anglers told me that he’s happy catching anything but generally it's pollock or salmon (’Australian salmon...not as good as Canadian salmon’)

Tarried around for a while at water's edge watching the sea birds - seagulls and cormorants.

I cycled out the causeway to Griffiths Island and did the 3km circuit. Most of it was hard dirt track but about 500m was along the beach and I carried the bike. The island is a sanctuary for shearwaters (mutton birds). From Jan to April they lay and incubate their eggs here and on April 16 (I’m told) they leave north for Alaska and then return in late September.

A bluestone lighthouse adorns the outermost point of the island. It was manual till 1952 but is now solar. 

Back on the mainland, I cycled west along Ocean Drive for a while. Plenty of bathing beaches and some were out surfing. And again lots of holiday accommodation.

The town itself has quite a number of historic buildings. Over 50 buildings from its boom era have been listed by Australia’s National Trust and are still in use.

My moving about brought me to lunchtime and I returned to base and prepared lunch of pasta with a drop of wine. It was total relaxation after that.

Tomorrow I start the last few days of this section  and the forecast is 80% chance of rain.

......and thank God for a lovely day.