our travels: QUEENSCLIFF & POINT LONSDALE

Continuing on our visit to Geelong.....

We drove down to the coast to a couple of our favourite places....Queenscliff & Point Lonsdale Beaches.

They have always been a favourite with us when we lived down this way and, strange as it sounds, it was always a great place to be when the weather was bad. Hubby and I would get our fish and chips and head to the car park at Queenscliff as that was where you could sit in the car ( with the windscreen wipers on) and watch all the ships come in and out through “The Rip”

The Rip, also known as “The Heads”...is a dangerous stretch of water, connecting Port Phillip Bay and Bass Straight.

It’s the only entrance for shipping in to Port Phillip Bay and into Melbourne.

Because of large tidal flows through the narrow channel from the bay to the ocean, and a high rocky seabed, The Rip has claimed many ships and lives.

It’s a navigation hazard, so control of shipping movements through the heads

is managed by the Point Lonsdale Signal Station. Large ships may only enter with a qualified Pilot aboard to help them navigate through the heads. You would always know there was a big ship approaching as you would see the familiar orange pilot boat going out through the heads to the it.

Many years ago, when our kids were very small, hubby worked for a bakery doing deliveries of bread down to Queenscliff & Point Lonsdale from Geelong.

On the weekends, we would all pile in the truck at some ungodly hour in the early mornings and off we would go in this truck smelling of freshly baked bread and rolls. We would take butter with us and that would be our breakfast.....yummy freshly baked crusty rolls and melting butter.

The kids would often talk about those days.

One early stop would be to the office of the men at Point Lonsdale that would pilot the boats through The Rip. Good memories.

These photos are of the lovely homes along the water front at Queenscliff.

This place is where the rich and famous have their wedding receptions.

This is Queenscliff..looking over towards Point Lonsdale.

And Point Lonsdale, walking along the old Promenade. There were a few brave people swimming....the water there was freezing....but on reflection it never stopped us from swimming when we were young and that seaweed would wrap around your legs and you would pray it was only seaweed!