Tuesday 25th February - Warranbool>
A warmish night of 11.5 and upto 22.9 during the day . Clive went for a drive by himself today to Hopkins Falls. Measuring 90m wide and plunging 12m over dark basalt rocks theSe are the largest falls on the Hopkins River. Located only 15km from Warrnambool this is a popular picnic spot. In winter you can see baby ells jumping from ledge to ledge during their winter migration. Clive used his SLR camera here to take some photos with his ND filter. Still needs more practice. From here he came back into town and went to the Fletcher Jones Markets. These markets are open daily and are situated on the original site of the Fletcher Jones factory built in 1948. Surrounding the factory are beautifully maintained gardens that are open to the public. Fletcher Jones is known for it's quality Australian made men's trousers. In it's heyday the company employed over 2700 staff and had over 55 stores in six states. By the 1960's it was the largest Australian user of fine merino wool. The Fletcher Jones and staff model was based on a co-operative with all staff having shares in the company. Initially the Jones family had over two thirds interest, but by the 1970's the staff held over fifty percent of the shares. The company also made women's clothes and in 1956 for the Melbourne Olympic Games the Company was awarded a contract to outfit the Australian Women's team. Today the company has only two stores and an Internet presence.