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Barnbougle | |
Ben Lomond National Park & Jacob's Ladder
We took another unsealed road to the ski resort at Ben Lomond...
The first part of the 14km road was through a forest, we didn't see another person, but we did see 4 Echidnas though which are always a pleasure.
Our first sight of Jacob's Ladder -
a series of tight switchbacks up a gravel road to get up a pass onto
the mountain plateau. I had some trouble convincing Miche that this was
exactly what a 2-wheel drive, 4-door saloon, hire car is built for...
Dolerite columns flanking Jacob's Ladder...
We reached the top without any incident and Miche was relieved to
see another car on the plateau road - our first one for not far off an
hour. Miche relishing the prospect of the ride down...
Other ways to get the view...
The resort itself; it's not known for its summer skiing and the whole place was completely deserted apart from the 2 people we'd seen at the top of Jacob's Ladder. Oddly & trustingly the main lodge was unlocked and you could wander in...
View on the way back down...
Bridestowe Lavender Farm
We had seen so many beautiful pictures of Bridestowe Lavender Farm and our timing was due to be spot-on to see fields full of lavender in full bloom, but the rainy weather that has dogged Australia this spring/summer meant everything was 2 or more weeks late - so it was all a rather less impressive green. The lavender & blueberry ice-cream was very acceptable though...
Barnbougle Dunes Golf Club
My selfish indulgence for the trip was to play golf on Australia's top-rated public golf course. A course that has been ranked in the top 25 golf courses of any type in the world (currently 45th). For a place as highly rated as it is, it was incredibly friendly and relaxed.
Surely a sign, a wallaby cheers me on near the first tee...
Walking along the coast on the way to the 5th Tee...
This doesn't do the wind justice, the flags often bent much further over than this and the sand being blown from the bunkers and dunes scoured you if you weren't careful...
View from the 15th, directly into the wind, needless to say I ended up in the long grass, but there was no point looking in there it wasn't going to be found - besides, I was worried about snakes...
On the 18th tee I was joined by a large Blotched Blue Tongued Lizard (It moved off before I could get a shot of my own)...
We stayed in a bungalow overlooking the putting green and first tee. Miche on the veranda...
Next stop - St Helens - Bay of Fires