Tour de Portland

Day 120
Portland rest day 2

Our gracious hosts took us out to show us the sights today. We started the day with a little hike to a local gannet colony, followed by a trip out to see a lighthouse and ending with a look at some blow holes on an old volcanic flow.
The hike to the gannet colony was through the greenery and native scrub next to the giant aluminum smelter on the outskirts of town. There is a natural buffer between the plant and the ocean which contains a nice path leading to a gannet colony. In years past the colony resided on a small outcropping of rocks off of shore. Being the prolific breeders they are, they bumped some unlucky ones to the mainland where they are more exposed to predatory dangers. The park service has the point fenced off to offer a little protection.
We then went on over to the Cape Nelson Lighthouse. Since Leslie and I are land lovers we rarely get to see old lighthouses. This one was a beautifully maintained white and red number perched on the limestone cliffs. All in all pretty cool.
Our tour then took us over to Cape Bridgewater where we looked at some blowholes where an old lava flow had met the sea. The sea wasn’t quite rough enough to get them really going, but it provided a great soundtrack. We then grabbed some coffees at the local café and shot on back to Portland.
We ended the evening with a great, meat-a-rific Aussie barbeque. The green salad and potato salad were nice compliments to the pile of chicken and beef. We ended the meal with some left over pavlova from the our first night in town. I was jazzed because our hostess entrusted me with her recipe. It is a baked meringue base with whipped cream and fruit on top. My description doesn’t do it justice. You will have to take my word on it. YUMMY!!
CK