The first full day mixed history in town and a serious walk in the afternoon.
We began with a walk round a Swamp a little further down Glenelg St. Quite pleasant but very little recorded on the stroll.
I am starting with the photographs and will add text later. The first image is our accommodation, which the owners say dates from about 1840 while the guide map says 1854 (either way, definitely historic - and very well maintained/restored).
Governor of Gaol's cottage (1872) on the left and Courthouse (1854) which still functions as the Magistrates Court.
A couple of samples of the painted inspection covers found all over the town centre.
Town Hall (1863).
Customs House (1849) still used by Border Farce (
sic).
Percy St: the main retail drag.
A Spanish Cork Oak tree, dated as 1875. in front of the Wesley Church (1879).
All Saints Catholic Church (1862): a surprise of the town was that this Catholic Church was closed while the Anglican St Stephens was open: in other towns - mainly in NSW(if that is relevant) - it was the other way round.
Mary McKillip was based here for a period in the 1850s. This is a snap of the memorial window, through a pane of glass in the locked door.
The plaques have an interesting mixture of dates.
- Brass plaque: first Church built in 1849; stone laid in 1857; Church dedicated in 1862; Plaque set up in 1988;
- Steel plaque: 1863 Mary McKillop taught in classroom which had been 1st Catholic Church (built 1848); building removed 1978.
Former Loreto Convent (guess who lived there?) now Bayview College.
Interior of St Stephen's Anglican Church.
Portland Harbour.
n the afternoon we decided to do one of the shorter walks listed in
a website. The first was totally non existent: we drove down Thistle Road and no sign of the walk nor even the named house. (I enquired later at the Visitor Centre and they didn't know of a walk off Thistle Rd.) So we went to do Sam's Loop (second on the site). Here is the eBird track, with added arrows.
The inland portion was through heathland with a few flowering grass trees evident.
There were lots of turbines around. Note the top of the smelter in the background.
We seemed to be going on a fair distance and wondered if we should turn back. We decided t keep going and almost immediately the path turned towards the sea and climbed up a done. This spat us out on a cliff top with a magnificent view to the West.
Heading back along the clifftops on the GSWW we saw an Echidna.
You want cliffs?
Or Tiger Snakes?
The walk was about 600m (10%) longer than we expected and - once we started on the clifftops - a lot more up and down. We must be getting old. Overall a very good walk.
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