sheep and tumuli
Tumuli or lava blisters, a feature here in South West Victoria (about 10km from Macarthur) is believed to be one of only three in the world (the other sites are in Africa and Iceland) But what are tumulis? I had no idea, we just followed the brown road signs that indicate places of interests and found ourselves by the side of the road next to some private farm land where we could see mounds of rocks. The rocks look like people could have piled them together but are apparently natural.
I found a brief explanation of what they are here. If I understood correctly, when molten lava flows the top cools and crusts while under the crust hot lava keeps flowing, difference in pressure pushes and cracks the crusts and bulges of liquid lava pushes to the top. When the whole mass cools, the tumuli are formed.
tumuli
wild flower in tumuli area
I would have much liked to climb the rock mounds but it was quite obviously private property. So we moved on.
Mount Napier in the distance
Before we got to our intended destination that day we stopped to look at it from afar. So, off in the distance is Mount Napier.
at the foot of Mount Napier
The walk to the top of Mount Napier was relatively easy. There was a sign at the foot of the mountain that said the walk to the peak and back would take one hour. I couldn’t help but wonder what assumption of physical capabilities they have adopted to come up with the one hour estimate. While it was still rocky like Mount Eccles yesterday, there were more dirt settlement on the rocks, so it was not as treacherous. We took things very easy and got to the peak in about 30-40 minutes. Maybe we are within the normal range of fitness hahahaha.
top of Mount Napier
The view at the peak was quite spectacular. Photos don’t do it justice. I always enjoy being above the tree lines. And here we could see the trees below us like soldiers standing at attention. Â Although we had planned to have a little snack at the peak the weather had other plans. The wind picked up and it started to drizzle! Quite afraid that our camera gear would get wet, we quickly put things away and were on our way back down.
looking out from Mount Napier
tiny on the mountain peak
After Mount Napier, we were off home. Driving out of the Mount Napier State Park, we saw an abandoned vehicle by the side of the road that someone had taken the trouble to hide. So, being the concerned citizens that we were :-), we decided to report it at the nearest police station on our route home, Hamilton. When we were there, we discovered how lousy we would be as witnesses. The police officer asked – what colour was the vehicle – erm….dark? What make or model? erm…..and so on and so erm. Just as well I took a few photos, so at least he knows we were not making it up. But it turned out they already knew about it and it is being taken cared of.
abandoned vehicle
It was a very nice weekend away with breathtaking views and energizing walks. Only next time I think I will figure out how to bring some home cooked food instead of having to rely on the local pub (the only place serving dinner in town) for dinner and have them forget to put in our order!
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