We heard heavy rain falling overnight and, in the morning, we thought we heard some small hail falling.
Today we were booked to see the Maremma dogs at Flagstaff Hill.
In about 2006, a local chicken farmer, Swampy Marsh, suggested Maremma guardian dogs could be used to protect the penguins. Swampy had successfully used Maremma’s to help protect his free range chickens from predators, namely, foxes.
In a world-first, Maremma dogs were trained and placed on Middle Island to protect the penguins from foxes during the breeding season. The project has been a huge success using guardian dogs for conservation and raising community support and awareness of the environment.
Middle Island has been closed to the public since 2006 to protect penguin burrows from human trampling which can harm penguins, penguin chicks and eggs. The closure of the island has contributed to the increase in penguin colony size.
We had the opportunity of meeting one of the dogs. Due to the rain, the dog was very wet when he was brought into a theatre as they enjoy the rain. The dog was very tame and friendly.
Later in the morning we purchased a lithium battery pack from Harvey Norman in preparation for some free camping. Will have to make sure that we leave this battery pack in the caravan
Stops were made at Woolworths and BWS. Back at the caravan we enjoyed a seafood salad for lunch before visiting a small trade show in the marquee.
Late in the afternoon we were taking to one of the organisers about what areas we had visited in and around Warrnambool. He asked us if we had been to the Hopkins Falls Scenic Reserve and we showed us a picture of a wonderful looking waterfall.
We immediately jumped into the car and drove the 20k’s to the falls. The picture that we had seen did not do the falls justice. We spent about 30 minutes there, taking pictures and “He” helped another photographer who was trying to adjust the exposure on his camera.
Returning to the muster site we participated in happy Hour before retreating to our caravan.
We had a quiet night in the van with both of us continuing to cough so we benefited from a closed door and some warm air.
We had toasted sandwiches for our evening meal.