Bart Bear's Blog

This cute little lighthouse is at a place called Whalers Bluff at Portland in Victoria. It was one of the 21 lighthouses we visited on our Great Ocean Road trip in 2007. It is on a cliff way up above Portland harbour and it guides ships safely past Whalers Reef and into Portland harbour. The lighthouse was built in 1859 at a spot called Battery Point, but it was moved to Whalers Bluff in 1889 so they could put guns on Battery Point. If you look carefully you can see me on one of the posts of the fence around a little garden. This was a good lookout post and I saw lots of small lizards and some wrens while I was there. You can see Mum over by the lighthouse door. She has this thing about taking lots of photos of lighthouses, including the signs on the doors. This lighthouse was easy to get to, you can drive right up to the park it is in. Some others are way out at the end of rough dirt tracks. Either way, I like lighthouses and will be sorry when Mum has finally got to every one in Australia.

Labels: Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, Victoria

How embarrassing! This thing looked like it was put there just for small bears to climb on, but it turned out to be a trap. It is actually meant to be a sculpture thingy, full of meaning and artistic merit. It is in the main parking area at the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier. You can read more about the lake in some of my earlier postings. Anyhow, while the oldies and Scruffy were reading the signs at the lookout, I climbed up the sculpture. It has this interesting hole in the centre that goes right through the rock. I thought it would be great to climb through the hole and up the other side. Half-way through I got stuck. "No problems", I think, "I will just turn around and go back out". There were problems. I got well and truly wedged in the hole. The oldies and Scruff were no real help, they were too busy laughing their heads off. Dad got me unstuck by pushing my posterior with a thin log. He seemed to think that was funny. Some days not even a small bear can win.

Labels: climbing, Great Ocean Road, South Australia, trouble

I just love birthdays, and the best birthdays are those of very special people. Last night we had a special dinner for my friend Enid. Enid is like the grandmother I never had, because all of my grandmothers died years before I arrived. I am not allowed to say how old she is, but I can tell you that she is older than Mum and even older that Dad, although you would never guess it. We took her out for dinner at the Lobby, which is the resserterrarauant that the pollies have lunch in. At night, when the pollies are not in town, it is a nice place for a special dinner. Of course birthdays have to have birthday presents and Mum found a very special one for Enid. Wombats are a special thing for Enid's family and when we were in Robe on our Great Ocean Road trip we saw this absolutely perfect little wombat sculpture in one of the shops. Mum always knows what is special for people, so she bought it. When we gave it to Enid I had to check out the present box, because you never know what else might be hiding in there. Although wombats are solitary animals, he might have had a cobber in there with him, but no such luck.

Labels: family, Great Ocean Road

Wind can be useful, as well as being dangerous to sailing ships. On our Great Ocean Road trip we saw two windfarms. They are both on ridges near the coast where the wind from the Roaring Forties hits Victoria and South Australia. This one is at Codrington in Victoria. The other one is near Lake Bonney in South Australia. You can drive right through the Lake Bonney one, but at Codrington you have to be in a tour group. The oldies were very excited by these places. They have often argued that wind power should be used more in Australia. The old arguments that wind turbines make too much noise and are dangerous to birds don't make sense to this small bear. Even standing just about right under a turbine all you hear is a very quiet swoosh. And we saw a flock of crows fly right through a spinning turbine without injury to the crows or the turbine. I guess people think the turbine blades spin fast like aeroplane propellors, but they actually spin quite slowly, even in strong winds. The Codrington windfarm is Mum's favorite. Can you guess why? That's right. Cows. Sometimes I worry about her.

Remember, to see a bigger picture just click on this one. Check my archives out too, to see what I have been doing over the last year.

Labels: engineering, Great Ocean Road, South Australia, trips, windfarm

This is the anchor of the American sailing ship "Eric the Red". "Eric" was wrecked on a reef just off Cape Otway lighthouse on September 3rd, 1880. The captain thought he was much further out to sea and steered in toward the lighthouse. There were no survivors. Lots of wreckage came ashore between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell. We saw some houses in Apollo Bay that had had additions built with timber from the wreck. The anchor is now displayed at the Cape Otway lightstation. You can see from the photo that the anchor is over 10 Bart's long, so you can imagine the size of "Eric the Red". Sea travel along the southern coast of Australia was a dangerous business in the days when ships were powered only by the wind.

Labels: Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, Victoria

Normally we have good weather for our holidays, but our Great Ocean Road trip earlier this year had some rough days in it. This photo was taken at Port Campbell, just after our first helicopter flight.You can see how rough it is by the waves and the condition of Mum's hair and my fur. No boats in port in this sort of weather. Port Campbell used to be visited by quite large ships back in the days before there were good roads. One of the ships was wrecked just opposite the jetty and you can see the remains on days when the water is calm and clear. At least in weather like this crabs stay tucked up in their burrows and small bears can go onto the sand.

Labels: crabs, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

Here's a couple of signs that tell you a bit about Blue Lake and the courage and foolhardiness of some bears. Scruff and I climbed up onto the rails where we could read them easier. The top sign tells about how the lake is the main water supply for Mt Gambier. Scruff had no problems with that. Indeed, he was so unworried that he sat on the top rail of the safety fence and rested his legs on my head. Now, not only is this stupid because a gust of wind could have blown him into the lake, but it is also downright rude to use your younger brother as a footrest. However the next sign we climbed up to showed up just who is the smart bear. We read the title and Scruffy was out of there and back into the car like a shot! (click on the photo and you can read it too). Us educated bears know that the volcanoes in Australia are all extinct and that the crater won't explode. I had a long talk with Scruff about geological timescales but I think he is still a bit confused. Anyway, he cheered up a lot when we left My Gambier.

Labels: climbing, Great Ocean Road, South Australia, trips

One of the places we visited on our roadtrip this year was Mt Gambier. The whole region is a mess of very old volcano craters. This one is the best known one. It is called the Blue Lake because the crater is filled with water that is incredibly blue. The photo was taken on a cloudy day so you don't see the really crystal blue that it looks on sunny days, but you can see the colour even on a dull day like this. Scruffy and I sat there for ages while the oldies were busy taking their usual swag of photos. We were hoping for a sunny break, but it didn't happen. We did meet some new friends while we were waiting, a family from England that had just settled in Australia. I think that they were surprised and pleased to see that small bears inhabit Australia and can sometimes be found in odd places.

Labels: Great Ocean Road, South Australia, trips

Dad shouldn't have taken us for a helicopter ride when we were on our Great Ocean Road trip because both Mum and I are totally hooked on them. They are a fantastic way to see things that you can't see from the ground and really give you a better idea of what the country you are driving through is like. Here are a couple of pictures from our two flights so far. As you can see, the weather and scenery were very different each time. The pictures on the left are from the wild and rainy day we flew over the Twelve Apostles and the nearby coast. You can see how rough the ocean was and how deserted the countryside is apart from a few houses and cows. The pictures on the right are from our Gold Coast trip. You can see a big difference. Beautiful weather and a landscape full of buildings, canals, lakes and sandbanks. My favourite spot in helicopters is on top of the instrument console. From there you can keep a check on what the pilots are up to and can see everywhere except behind the chopper. Sometimes I clamber around the cabin but Mum always notices and drags me back, even when you would think she is concentrating on filming. Mums really do have eyes everywhere!

To see the photos better, just click on them. And do check out my archives for earlier posts.

Labels: aircraft, Gold Coast, Great Ocean Road, helicopter, Queensland, Victoria

We have seen lots of lighthouses in our travels. Visiting lighthouses takes you to some of the prettiest and wildest places, so we always try to get to as many as we can whenever we plan a trip. So far Mum has been to 72, Dad to 68 and us bears only to 54. This one is really pretty. It had just been re-painted when we visited and was a bright orange-red and glossy white. You can see this one at Cape Banks in South Australia. To get there you drive to the small village of Carpenter Rocks and then take a sandy track to the lighthouse. I wouldn't like to try driving it when the track is wet or deep in sand, but Mum can drive anywhere.

Labels: Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, South Australia

Here I am with Mum at the windiest spot we have ever visited. You can see how windy it is by the angle of the bear on the rail and the way Mum's hair is trying to run away from her. We were at Cape Otway visiting the lighthouse. Cape Otway light is the oldest in Victoria and the third oldest on the mainland. It marks the northern entrance to Bass Straight and was often the first sight of land that sailing ships would see on their long voyage out from England. The coast around here has seen hundreds of shipwrecks because sometimes the captains thought the light was the one on the southern side of the straight. This was the furthest south we got on our road trip this year. It was so windy that it almost blew us backwards when we walked around the lighthouse. Dad says that was because there was absolutely nothing between us and Antarctica to stop the wind.

Labels: Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, trips, Victoria

Here I am, way out near the edge of the safe area at Cape Schanck lighthouse. I am actually closer to the cliff edge than the lighthouse is. It was good weather the day we were there and the sea was lots calmer than it was later in our trip. Lots of ships have been wrecked on the reef that runs out to sea from this point. Mum went orbital when she saw me balancing on the railing. I tried to point out that I didn't actually climb up there and had some help. So Dad got the riot act read to him as well. There are signs all around places like this that say "Beware Cliff Edge". I keep a sharp lookout for Cliff Edge, who is evidently a real trouble-maker, but he never turns up at any of the places while I am there.

Labels: climbing, Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, trips, trouble, Victoria

I found this interesting thing at Robe in South Australia. It is the Cape Dombey Obelisk, and it has sat on this crumbling rock spur since 1855. Obelisks are sort of like lighthouses without the light. This one can be seen from 20 km away at sea and helps boats find the way into Robe harbour. For a long time it used to be the storage area for rockets. When boats were in trouble the rockets were fired out across the boat, dragging a line that could be tied to the boat and the shore so that sailors could climb to safety. The cliffs are really dangerous and there are signs up telling people to keep off them. They don't say anything about small bears. I had to climb up the fence to read this sign. Mum was not impressed, particularly when she found me on the wrong side of the safety fence. Sometimes I don't understand mothers.

Labels: climbing, Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, South Australia, trouble

Boy, was the ocean rough the day we went helicoptering over the Port Campbell National Park coast! Some of the waves were so big that they actually threw spray right over the top of the cliffs. None of them hit my helicopter though. The town is Port Campbell. Waves were running right into its little harbour so no boats were there. Our helicopter ride wasn't rough at all and the pilot dodged all of the rain showers. It is easy to see why so many ships have been wrecked along this bit of coast, particularly sailing ships which got too close in and hit the reefs and cliffs. There have been over 150 wrecks along the coast we travelled between Melbourne and Adelaide. I'll stick to planes or cars along here. That water is far too rough and cold.

Labels: aircraft, Great Ocean Road, helicopter, Victoria

For most of our roadtrip we followed the coast between Melbourne and Adelaide. It was not good weather for swimming. It rained a bit, the sky was usually overcast and the ocean was very rough, so not even Dad was keen to go snorkelling. If it had been good weather the oldies would have been looking for this little critter and his relatives. This is a weedy sea dragon and it lives in the ocean water over 2m deep all along the coast we travelled . They are hard to see because they live in areas of rock and kelp and they look just like the background. They are different to sea horses because the dad doesn't have a pouch to carry the young ones around. Instead he sticks the eggs under his tail until they hatch. I'm not keen on swimming in rough water, so I saw this guy in the safety and comfort of Melbourne aquarium.

Labels: fish, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Victoria

The absolutely most exciting thing we did on our trip was to fly in a helicopter over the Port Campbell National Park. I was a bit worried because the day was overcast and blowing a gale, but Dad wanted to go and Mum let herself be talked into it. I expected to be tossed all over the place but the chopper was a lot more stable than an ordinary aeroplane would have been. We flew over the Twelve Apostles and up the coast past Port Campbell. The sea below us was really wild and smacking onto the cliffs with lots of spray. The oldies got some great pictures and video. I watched the pilot so I could take over if anything went wrong but nothing did. If you visit the Twelve Apostles then take a trip in this helicopter. It really is one of the things you will remember forever.

Labels: aircraft, Great Ocean Road, helicopter, Victoria

One of the highlights of a Captain Cook cruise is the crew show. The Barrier Reef crew of "Reef Endeavour" are good, but the Fijian crew of "Reef Escape" are superb. Fijian singing and dancing just has to be experienced at least once in your life. Actually once you hear it once you will surely want to hear it again. Here is some of the crew from our 2006 trip serenading us before performing some of the most exciting dances this small bear has ever seen. My special friend, 'Tiko the divemaster, is playing guitar at the far end of the front row. I just love this crew. There seems nothing they can't do to make the trip one to remember. I can't wait to meet them again.

This will be my last post for a few weeks. Tomorrow morning we hop on a plane for Melbourne. We go to the Avalon airshow, catch up with friends from our 2005 Barrier Reef trip, and spend the next 2 weeks driving to Adelaide, seeing all the spectacular scenery along the Great Ocean Road and checking every lighthouse along the way (all 22 of them!).

Labels: aValon, Barrier Reef, boats, Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji, Great Ocean Road, lighthouse, Victoria