Geelong 2/2

Up above the caravan park were some buildings. You can see an old chimney peaking above a modern building on stilts. The old mansion's views were built out. There is also a huge home dominating the hillside. How the rich live...

I see and older place to left. 

These same looking houses above the park fascinated me and of I course I had to look them up. They are old enough to have chimneys. They are the Alexander Miller Memorial Homes, paired buildings with each containing two one bedroom flats. They are owned by a private charity housing trust under State Government supervision. You can read more about them here. 

A permanent cabin within the park with a colourful garden.

So, what shall we do on this Sunday before meeting up with family? We will go to all three lookouts in Geelong and have brunch somewhere. This his is the Newtown lookout.

There is the Barwon River in the beautiful Queens Park. 

Zooming in, you can see how flooded the river is.

Hungry and need proper coffee! We went to the Old Paper Mill on the edge of the river for a sandwich and coffee. There are artist workshops within the old buildings. We perused what was on offer at the main gallery. We couldn't see much of the what was at the whole site. You really need to take the walking tour around the complex to learn its history, as a large group were.

We drove for about 15 minutes to visit another lookout to see Buckley Falls. I don't think the Barwon River normally looks like this. It is in flood.

Goodness, there is the Old Paper Mill across the river. So near but so far by road. 

Don't trust me, but earlier I said to R about the Old Paper Mill, paper mills need water, so it will be near the river and so it was. I did read that there was a water race at the Old Paper Mill, so I will speculate that Buckley Falls is a constructed weir to dam up water for the paper mill water race. 

Downstream from the falls, the river is flowing high.

We are now at the Wandana Heights Lookout.

 

The fly swatting lighting at the football ground Kardinia Park and the city centre are just visible.

Back to cabin for some down time before meeting Sister, Hippie Niece, her partner and the five year old latte coloured twins for and early dinner a place called The Hot Chicken Project, or something like that. The owner was very nice and it is a good place to take children.

We had some time to kill before seeing Jo on stage so we walked the streets a bit. Jo was fantastic on stage and the one hour show was entertaining. The twins were fidgety but engrossed in the show. Afterwards we crossed the road to a gelati shop.  

Next morning we drove further down the peninsula to see Fire Fighting Nephew, his wife and their two year old daughter and 6 month old twin boys. Hippie Niece, her partner and their twins arrived soon after us. It was lovely catch up. Between their apartment and the beach, there is a huge international volley ball competition about to start. Apparently there will be millions of viewers around the world but not so many in Australia. We arrived back home around 2pm and collapsed.