Warrnambool: A holiday in (mostly) pictures

We got home from a 9-day vacation in the Victorian coastal town of Warrnambool on 13 January. We've holidayed in Warrnambool before (in February 2013)  and had a really fantastic time on our first trip. When I polled the family about possible locations for a summer 2017 holiday, both my partner and my eldest daughter quickly suggested Warrnambool, and it turned out to be an excellent plan.

I did daily FB posts about the holiday, so, handily, I can use them to remind myself of our activities quite easily; but I think a picture post is always nice, to capture some of the beauty that surrounded us so thoroughly.

Key things we did, and loved, included:
- Multiple beach swims
- Rockpool exploration
- Horse riding
- Visit to Tower Hill and nature walks
- A day in Port Fairy
- Fishing from the breakwater
- Mini golf and paddle boating
- Visiting Flagstaff Hill historic maritime museum
- Card games, colouring, reading, napping
- Nice food discovery and consumption

We stayed at a house just outside of town proper, set in a large garden which was occupied by many wild rabbits and next door to a field where two very friendly horses lived. Feeding apples to, and stroking the noses of, the horses became a lovely morning and evening task and really added to the whole experience. The sky was not polluted at night by city light, so we were able to use our telescope to full effect and got some great moon, planet and star-gazing in.

My parents came down for two nights while we were there and came to Port Fairy for the day with us, which was just delightful. We did the Griffith Island walking track at Port Fairy, which is the first time we've done that (last time the kids were too little for it) and it was very beautiful. We also discovered a fantastic little secondhand bookshop there.

My parents also very kindly sat with the kids one evening so my partner and I could get out for a dinner by ourselves - we went to Pippies by the Bay and had seafood and Eton Mess, and it was absolutely delicious.

We were super lucky with the weather - we arrived in the afternoon on Wednesday and left the following Friday morning, and in that time, we copped one stinking hot day where it was too hot to get to the beach (we went to the cinema instead to escape the heat!) The only rain we had commenced on the morning we were packing to leave, and we ended up driving home through quite heavy downpours (a little hair-raising at times, but we made it safely!)

It was one of the best family holidays we've ever had - I think I'd probably only rank Port Douglas in 2014 above it, to be honest. Just the right balance between Doing the Things and Doing No Things. We're already decided on a return visit in 2 years (Jan 2019) and I can't wait!