Travelling The Great Ocean Road
Following our visit to Bacchus Marsh it was time to move on to Warrnambool 172 km away.
The decision had been made to allow a full day to travel from Ballarat to Warrnambool to allow the team to take in some of the majestic sites along the Great Ocean road.
Our first stop along the way was Red Rock lookout point, this allowed us to take in the expanse of the Victorian countryside before making our way down to the coast. Following this, coffee (and brunch) was a top priority for most and so the Lake View cafe was our next destination. One of the vans decided this stop wasn’t necessary, although there is some debate around if this was a unanimous decision or if some level of kidnapping was involved….
Following brunch we headed for the coast and the town of Lorne. This was many team members first experience of the Southern ocean (some may have had a little taste in Melbourne). Blue blue ocean and sandy beaches were the order of the day and Lorne delivered just that, along with the potential for some crabbing for our team gunsmith.
Soon it was time to move on along The Great Ocean Road in search of lunch. Our team captain’s van was now our outrider for the reduced convoy of 4 vans and the feedback on potential lunch spots was not promising. This lead to some alternative planning from two of the vans to stop off at The Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park to avail of their cafe and finish our substantial breakfast boxes provided for us that morning. There may have been an alternate motive in stopping here for some team members in stopping here and following a tour around the park all was made clear. Fortunately all team members survived with their fingers intact despite some enthusiastic Emus.
The next stop along the road is probably one of the more well know tourist spots, now known as the 12 Apostles, although has previously held a number of other names as we were ‘reliably’ informed by our team ‘historian’. Then on to Loch Ard Gorge (the story of which we would later hear fully) and the Bay of Islands.
These were the last of our stops on the Great Ocean Road as we completed our journey in Warrnambool. But the fun did not stop there. Once we had arrived into Warrnambool we were treated to the Sound and Light show on Flagstaff Hill. Here we were regaled with the First People’s tales of Warrnambool and the surrounding areas, the history of Whaling in the area and the sad story of the Loch Ard shipwreck.
We finished the night off with a tasty dinner at Bojangles, expertly kept open late by our brilliant tour guide Anna.
Shooting at Warrnambool
After a long day of sightseeing, the team were given a few welcome hours off in the morning. Some went for a run, some for a walk on the beach, some for coffee in the local equivalent of John Lewis. Meanwhile, the team’s illustrious Captain ran one of his by now legendary “Treminars”, where he shared his near half century of experience with all things Match Rifle: wind reading, hand loading, beard stroking, etc. This was a very well received event and drew plenty of questions from attendees, some of whom had travelled for over four hours to attend!
The team then joined its Captain at the second range of the Shipwreck Coast 1000 yard challenge: Warrnambool. This picturesque and gently undulating range at the end of the Great Ocean Road looks out across the Southern Ocean and, unsurprisingly, is affected by salty sea breezes that roll in unpredictably – from the southwest on the day GBMRT shot there.
Following a traditional Australian lunch of kangaroo meat, delicious sausages and burgers and TimTams, everyone prepared to shoot. A large number of spectators had gathered, looking on while fluttering their long eyelashes from the field behind the range.
The course of fire was a two and 15 shoot, followed by a nought and fifteen shoot, both at 900 yards. The range used to have a 1000 yard firing point but, sadly, a local landowner had levelled it to create additional pasture for their herd of Jersey cattle.
Even though this was only the team’s second day of shooting, scores were impressively high:
11 of the 18 competitors recorded possibles (75 ex. 75) in the first detail. Sophie Wentges (GBMRT) topped the field with 75.11v just 1v ahead of her nearest 5 competitors. The second detail produced another 14 possibles with only 4 competitors dropping any points. Jon Sweet (GBMRT), Peter Mayer (Lilydale) and Alex Cargill Thompson (GBMRT) topped the board here with 75.12v, closely followed by Ashley Abrahams on 75.11v, and a further 3 competitors on 75.10v.
The high scoring details left the aggregate scores at the end of the day very close. Three GBMRT members tied at the top of the leaderboard on 150.21v (ex. 150.30v). Jon Sweet took the win on count back, with Ashley Abrahams continuing his brilliant form to finish second and Sophie Wentges taking third. Peter Mayer was the top Australian shooter with a 150.20v in 4th. Full results of the day can be found here.
After the shoot, some of the team helped club members to take down targets and danger flags, which offered an opportunity to admire the ShotMarker electronic target system, which had worked flawlessly throughout the day. Excitingly, there is room behind the current butts to extend the range by 300 yards, creating a much more Match Rifle friendly 1200 yard range. The team look forward to returning to shoot again at Warrnambool, once this has been done.
Rifles safely packed away, and with only minutes to spare, team vans loaded up and raced back to the motel to shower and change before the first of many formal receptions and dinners. This gave the team the chance to take our number ones for a test drive.
The Mid City Motel put on an excellent menu, demonstrating the Australian art of culinary negotiation, the seating arrangements ensured new acquaintances were made and good conversation was had through out the night. There were of course the obligatory thank you speeches and presentations of prizes and gifts.
One of the more surprising presentations was made by Richard Assistant Chief Fire Officer for the South West (www.cfa.vic.gov.au) to Sophie Wentges (and the rest of the Bisley Volunteer Fire Fighters) in recognition of their work this July on Bisley camp, a really lovely touch.
The merriment carried on into the early(ish) hours despite the early start the following day.
Next stop is Hamilton and a chance to test out another one of Victoria’s many rifle ranges.
