5th Lap - Gippsland Victoria

 THE FIFTH LAP

Gippsland Victoria

Last:  Embarkation ( NSW )

Photo Album: Gippsland Victoria

We had an early start from Bombala as we had to get to the Philip Island in one long drive, a good 400+Km by my Maps.me App.  The route would take Sandi through the Gippsland regions of Victoria passing a number of major towns, such as Bairnsdale, Sales, Traralgon etc.  Not an adventure by any parlance.

We did not make it to Philip Island, and had to stop at Leongatha for one night.  It was a quiet night sleeping at the car park of the local golf club.

When we reached Philip Island the next morning, which I last visited 15 years ago ( 2008 ), I had to go to the local Visitor Center to get a map of the local attractions.  Philip Island is a popular weekend destination for many a Melbournians as it is only about 80Km away, and is fairly well developed.  Don't expect any exciting adventures here for Sandi though.

The first stop was the Nobbies, at the southwestern end of the island. I had been to this place countless times since 1972, but this is the first time with a drone.  The first thing we noticed was the thriving population of Cape Baron Geese, made possible by the rehabilitation of the habitat there, but I am not sure if it has not been overdone, with the man-made nests.

After taking some fantastic aerials of the coastal-scapes with the calm and Iceland like light conditions, I was becoming greedy for just one more flight, to have a closer peep of the Blow Hole, which is not "blowing" because of the calm conditions.  So up it went, about 50 meters away, it suddenly signals the to need urgently land because the battery has depleted.  What!  before launching, it says 100% charged !!  Aged battery playing up!!

I could see that it is trying to land on the side of a cliff, just inches out on the wrong side....but nothing I could tweak on the controller makes it change its mind, and moments later, the controller display froze, a dead give away...bye bye drone, my second one in my droning "career". 

So we decided to have lunch by the beach side to seek solace !!  Well, I still have two more in Sandi, my usual practice is to bring two, but this time three.  So early in the piece, one is already GONE!

In absence and memory of the many images and videos captured that went down with the drone, we have to get by with these lunch photos for a long time to come......!

Nonetheless, it was necessary to continue on, to get to Nepean Point ( entrance to Port Philip Bay ), before sunset, which still a good 130 Kms away.....the peak afternoon traffic through Frankston and Portsea may stand in the way.  And they nearly did !

At Nepean Point, after a few kilometers of brisk walking, drone #2 performed magnificently, in very strong wind conditions, just before sunset ! I was extremely conservative for fear of getting the dubious honor of "losing-the-most-drones-in-a-single-day".

We finally settled Sandi in a deserted camping ground by the side of Rye Beach, which would otherwise be full during summer time.  Lucky for winter travelers.

It was a long day, we did 272 Km since the early morning...

Gremlins:  The same gremlin raise its ugly head again, Sandi would go into a heavy vibration in the mid afternoon after a sustained high speed run at above 2000 rpm, this time with a persistent "oil filter" amber warning.

After measuring the engine oil level, it seems that it is a bit over the MAX mark, probably I did over fill it when changing the oil a few days before leaving home.

So I started thinking how to drain the oil somewhere in the next couple of days.


Grief: Lost drone.

Next: Reminiscing Melbourne

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