Portland and the Petrified forest

Portland is the oldest town in Victoria. It was founded in 1834, five years before Port Fairy, two years before Melbourne. Unlike Port Fairy, Portland is still an active industrious port and extremely important to Victoria's economy. Portland has a population of 10,500.
The port is now privatised. It is the number 3 port in Victoria, but Victoria's deepest port. Ships can take on a far heavier load than in Melbourne or Geelong. Far larger ships can also come to Portland.
The port however looked all but dead. Before the recession the port would process one truck every 11 seconds. At the moment the next shipment of woodchips out of the port to Japan is due in May.
We had a nice seafood platter for lunch before discovering a feature of Victoria that I never knew existed.

Photo Gallery:

Historic buildings of Portland




All Saints Catholic Church. Mary McKillop served in Portland for a few years in the 1860s. (Mary McKillop is being considered for Catholic Sainthood.)




The tram is no longer used for public transport, just for tourists.


Not the only lighthouse on the infamous "shipwreck coast."


The big pile is woodchips.



Portland's other major industry is aluminium. This is the aluminium smelter.


Nearly all of the stock is exported, and predictably, things are moving very slowly.



Twenty kilometres west of Portland is Cape Bridgewater. The Portland windfarm is located here, and the very ancient 'Petrified forest.'
One theory has it that the forest was trapped by a sand dune and petrified over time. Another theory is that is it not a forest at all, but mineral deposit pipes. As it's all so ancient anyway, I prefer to stick with the forest idea, it carries more mystique.

Abigail really got into climbing. I can just see the day in the future, when this will all be fenced off and no climbing will be allowed.








The ancient and the modern form this lunar like landscape.