Hi Again. Long time, no see. Seems that we are too busy to do the blog these days, and suddenly a week has gone by. Last episode we were in Geelong and had visited the Ford Centre and Wirrebee Open Range Zoo among other things. So we will continue from there with Wednesday the 23rd.
After the usual morning’s school work we decided to go for a drive down to QUEENSCLIFF a small town right at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. From there we could look across Bass Straight and just see the outlines of the Mountains of Tasmania.
After a walk along the beach and a look around the town, we headed due north to PORT ARLINGTON, another small seaside town, this one on the inside shore of Port Phillip Bay. From here we could look north across the bay and just make out the skyscrapers of Melbourne City.
We then headed back to GEELONG and down to the waterfront where Cameron talked us into having a ride on a Ferris wheel that was stationed there. This thing was huge, real nail biting stuff, but a great view from the top if you were brave enough to open your eyes. We were the only ones on it, so the operator decided to give us our money’s worth by stopping it at the top so we could admire the view. Bastard!
Thursday we went to Adventure Park, a huge fun park based on the Water World concept. The park covers about 30 acres and includes water slides of all shapes and sizes, a lazy river, kayaks, paddle boats and water bikes, plus a mirade of other water based types of entertainment. This place is geared up to hold about 500 people on a busy day with a staff of about 40 on a busy day. Guess what, we had the entire place to ourselves. Probably the fact that it was a freezing cold day had something to do with it, but we were treated like royalty.
Because of the huge demand on power to operate the pumps for the various activities, they only turn them on as they are needed, and when we bought our tickets they told us to just go and see an attendant whenever we wanted to do a particular activity. Consequently Cameron had great delight in going and asking the attendants to turn on the various pumps as we went from one activity to another.
Back in Geelong it was down to the water front again for a beer and a feed of fresh mussels and chips.
Friday was the day we had decided we would do the first stage of the GREAT OCEAN ROAD. This is one of Australia’s best known tourist attractions, and includes the famous Twelve Apostles, and was a must see for us. Its Eastern end starts at the town of TORQUAY, which is on the coast directly south of Geelong. From there it follows the south coast of Australia for about 240 km to WARRNAMBOOL. We had originally planned to take the van along this road, but others who had done it advised us against this as there are so many stop offs and viewing places that towing a van just became a nuisance.
So instead we decided to do it in two stages, from Torquay to Cape Otway on the Friday, and then take the Caravan through to WARRANBOOL and do the rest from that end. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best of weather on Friday but we thoroughly enjoyed the drive anyhow. The sea was quite angry, and it was quite spectacular watching the waves bash themselves on the cliffs. With the many stop offs and viewing spots we were glad we didn’t have the caravan in tow. We had lunch at the lovely little town of LORNE, and then continued down to CAPE OTWAY. Just before you get to CAPE OTWAY, the road swings inland and we had to take a side road 12 km down to the Cape Otway Lighthouse. This was a beautiful drive, mostly through a National Park containing thousands of Gum Trees.
On our way back from the light house we saw some people stopped on the side of the road looking at something in the trees. I glanced up as we were driving past and spotted a Koala asleep on a branch overhanging the road. Needless to say, out came the cameras, and we spent the next half hour or so Koala spotting. We must have seen about a dozen within about 50 meters of where we had stopped. Most were asleep, but one fellow put on a display of roaring for us. A great experience and our first sighting of Koalas in the wild.
From Cape Otway we continued on to LAVERS HILL, and after a beer and chips in the local, headed inland to COLAC and then back to Geelong. The longest day trip we have done so far.
Saturday we packed up the caravan and headed off to WARRNAMBOOL. For those of you like me who can’t say it, it is pronounced War-na-bull. Why they don’t spell it like that I don’t know. We decided to take the Hamilton Highway from Geelong to LISMORE, where it turns into the Hopkins Highway for the run down through MORTLAKE to WARRNAMBOOL. Long straights, very flat, and remarkable for the number of dry stone fences along the road side and disappearing into the distance across the farm land.
We got to Warrnambool at about 2.30 and thanks to Know All Nancy, drove straight to our campground which is right on the coast on the edge of the city. After setting up camp we joined Cameron on the beach and watched the local yachties and Surf Life Savers doing their thing. Then we went for a drive to explore the city. It is about the size of New Plymouth and is similar in many ways in that it fronts the seashore.
Because Dad’s birthday was coming up, we had arranged with Wayne and Maree that they would get Dad and Jean to call in at their place at about 1.00pm on Sunday, and we would Skype through to them and give him a birthday surprise. Wayne and Maree had also arranged for Phil and Jayne to be there. Sunday morning was spent doing schoolwork and chores, until it was time to Skype.
The ruse worked well, and after Maree informed Dad that someone wanted to speak to him, he was duly surprised when he saw us all on the laptop. It was great to catch up with family again after 3 months and be able to wish Dad a Happy Birthday for the 30th. We must do this ‘Skyping’ more often. It was interesting to learn from Wayne and Maree that when they were in Aussie late last year, they had taken a train trip up to Ballarat, which they found to be a small settlement about the size of Egmont Village. If you are interested in finding out more about this mystery, just ask Wayne or Maree.
Sunday afternoon we went for a walk along the breakwater and watched the huge waves rolling in from the Southern Ocean and smashing themselves against the breakwater. We also visited a couple of lookouts where we could see the sea doing its best to smash away the rugged coastline, sending huge plumes of spray high into the air. Then it was time for more groceries and another look around town before heading back to camp for tea.
The weather for the last week or so has been quite cold and overcast and we are looking forward to some clearer skies and a change in temperature. We plan to see the second half of the Great Coast Road on Monday, including the famous Twelve Apostles, and it would be so much better to see it on a nice sunny day. Let’s hope the weather improves.
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