DAY 170 – EXPLORING THE LIMESTONE COAST.

We had a big day planned for today, as we wanted to visit some the the spots we had been to the previous evening but to visit them in the light of day so that I could photograph them. 

We left not long after 9am and headed into town, where we went to explore  the tiny Custom’s House. 

This small museum is right at the entrance to Lake Butler Marina and it has displays that tell the stories of gold fever and the Chinese migrants as well as the many shipwrecks off the coast and general everyday life for the early settlers of the period.

From here we walked across the road to take some photos of the earlier discovers of Robe and then also down to the Marina to have a look at the Fisherman’s Memorial. Robe has been a fisherman’s mecca since the early days of settlement and so it has seen quite a few fishermen lost at sea.   The design of this memorial is an interesting one and when you look carefully you can see that the memorial is shaped like the hulls of several different kinds of boats.  There was a plague explaining the significance of the different hull shapes which was interesting to read. 

Robe Lighhouse

We drove from the Marina around to the Lighthouse where we had some stunning views looking back to Cape Dombey with even the Obelisk in the distance.  After exploring this bit of coastline, we drove around to Factory Bay to see if we could find some of the illusive weathered glass that Glass Beach is renown for.  We managed to find a few pieces of mainly brown glass with one clear and one green piece which I collected as another souvenir to bring back for Willow. 

Patterns on the rocks around here

Blow Hole at Factory Bay

Glass Beach  - Factory Bay in Robe

 It was up on this headland the previous evening that we enjoyed watching the stunning sunset.  It is also a great spot to get some great views of Doorway Rocks.  More photos before heading around to the other side of Cape Dombey to explore the Old Gaol, and the Obelisk.

  The Old Gaol in Robe held prisoners from the time of construction in 1860/61 until 1870 when it was closed. It was then reopened in 1872 but closed in 1881, which is how it has remained since. To help contain potential escapees, the walls were reinforced with steel boiler plates from the wreck of the SS Admella.

The Gaol was given some restoration work during 1995 which helped rebuild the walls. It is now an historic icon of Robe, and a great place to explore and discover more of Robe's history and we enjoyed wandering around it and taking a few photos.  

The landmark icon in Robe though would have to be the Obelisk.  The Obelisk was erected on Cape Dombey in 1852 and was used to navigate the entrance to Guichen Bay, as well as to store rocket lifesaving equipment. The firing of rockets, carrying baskets to distressed ships to bring passengers ashore, saved many lives. It later assisted passing ships with navigation because its height of 12m (40 ft) makes it visible 20km (12mles) out to sea.

You can no longer walk out to the Obelisk as it I fenced off.  This is becaue of the erosion of the land surrounding it which will mean it will eventually fall away into the sea, so I am glad we got to visit here and see it whilst it still is standing.

Robe Jetty

Town Beach - Robe

Driving into the Jetty in Robe

 Whilst we were here we took a little walk along the Cape Dombey Walking Trail up to one of the lookouts which gave us a great view of the ocean, rocks and bays surrounding Cape Dombey.  This is a very scenic part of Robe. 

Entrance to Lake Butler Marina - Robe

St Peter's Anglican Church - Robe

Great Art Gallery in Robe

Steve at his new shop

Once we had finished exploring this area of coastline we headed back into Robe itself, as it was close to lunchtime by now and we wanted to check out a few of the buildings, galleries, and eateries in town.  On our drive through town the night before we had seen a sport’s and fishing store called Steve’s Place, so I definitely wanted a photo of Steve there in front of it.  Robe has some delightful old buildings and cottages and it actually reminds me of Noosa probably 40 years ago before it got too commercialized.  

We had heard about the famous Robe Ice-cream and Lolly shop and decided to check it out as it was just across the road from “Steve’s Place”.  They do the most amazing homemade ice-cream, and the setting and atmosphere of this little shop was pretty good.  Obviously, it is well patronized as people were pouring in and out the whole time we were there.  

We also wanted to check out Long Beach and some of the lakes around Robe but as we came out of the Ice cream shop, we noticed a heap of dark clouds building in the sky so decided to head back home and get our washing off the line in case it rained. 

Long Beach - Robe

After getting it in and folding it we had a bit of a rest before heading back out to do some more exploring of the area.  We followed the coastline in the opposite direction and came across another amazing little bay which s had some beautiful coastal homes set across from it.  What amazing views they would have.  We then drove down to Long beach and out onto the beach.  This beach is over 100kms long and there were heaps of cars on the beach.  

Hundreds of swallows rest on the power lines

 We did a little exploring through some of the dirt tracks around Robe and found a lovely picnic area around one of the lakes just out of town.  It was lovely to just sit and be… just enjoy our surroundings… A lovely relaxing way to finish a pretty full of day.   
 

One of the old mines, the corvettes pulled up from the waters around the Australian coastline

Lest we forget

 One last drive around town....

Then it was home to pack, mirrors on the car ready to head to Mt Gambier in the morning.  At least we didn’t have to leave at the crack of dawn… We had less than 100kms to go today, but we did want to stop off and explore Beachport and have a look at Millicent…