Day 14: A pancake brekkie and Warnambool highlight

Sunday morning is free pancake breakfast morning here at the Big 4 Port Fairy caravan park. We all wandered over to the camper's kitchen with our plates, and joined the queue for pancakes. I think Andrew managed five and Callum squeezed four in. It was quite a sociable occasion and we had a chat with other campers who had emerged for feeding too.

After breakfast we headed off to Warnambool (a big city - it has a Coles and a Safeway) to have a look at the Flagstaff Maritime Museum. This is a particularly interesting place to visit, as it is set out in much the same way as Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. A maritime village has been recreated so that you can see what it was like in it's hey day. There was a boat in the 'harbour' called the Rowella, which was built in Hobart and was the main transport for goods (and people) in and out of Launceston in the 1800s. It was fascinating to read about it's history. I have never really thought of Launceston's past, and so this has given me a new perspective on the Tamar and it's importance in those early days.

Callum and Andrew had little bags of food to feed the pigs, chooks, ducks, etc. Andrew soon discovered that enthusiastic, hungry little piggies BITE if your hand gets in the way! Never let it be said that this trip is not educational.

It took a couple of hours at least to wander around the village. Later we drove on to Tower Hill, the site of a volcano that erupted most recently in Australia (7000 years ago), where there are a variety of walks. By this stage Andrew was pawing and poking me (a sure sign of tiredness) and Callum was making references to his various aching body parts, so we decided we can do the place more justice if we come back tomorrow. We did see a couple of koalas lounging in a tree, which is the first time that we have seen live koalas outside of captivity. It was cool.

A drive around Port Fairy and a swim in the pool to finish off the day.

Observations from the driver:

1. In Victoria road signs warning of rough surfaces do not mean loose gravel or an uneven surface but are in fact a euphemism for disintegrating road.
2. There is surprisingly little road kill on Victorian country roads. I am not sure if this is because they have killed all their native animals or if Tassie beasts are just slow and stupid? (I must confess to running over a duck outside Apollo Bay).
3. Never park under a gum tree at night! I have had my car cream-pied by galahs and it is a bugger to get the stuff off.

Day 13: Moving day: Port Fairy

Well, last night we drifted off to sleep to the not-so-dulcet tones of a woman's strident laughter from a tent across the way, punctuating the still night at irregular moments. Often. Some people...

We rose early and departed Cumberland River by 7.45am. It being Saturday, we thought it a good idea to get a head start on the traffic. As it turned out, we saw very few cars on the road and so we made good time. We were going to stop off somewhere along the way (check in time at the parks is around 2.30pm for some odd reason), but decided not to in the end. With everyone back at school, the park is quite empty and so our space was available.
There is a caravan club group staying here at the moment, mostly consisting of oldies. They join this club and then people take it in turns to investigate an area and organise a trip away for whoever wants to go. Several of these people were particularly interested in our caravan mover device and there were several bottoms up in the air as they crawled around on the grass peering underneath the van. Some people...

Port Fairy is another caravan park extravaganza. There are lots of things to do here, including the obligatory swimming pool (heated, indoors) and a number of other facilities. We are all much happier here than we were at our previous stop. We think electricity is just fabulous and feel more connected with civilisation.
As the sun goes down the air is filled with galahs, settling in for the night. At first this seemed kind of romantic, but suddenly I miss the laughing lady of last night. These birds are LOUD. Ear plugs anyone?

Day 12: More rain and a look around

Airley's Inlet

Well, last night the wind picked up around midnight, which saw Duncan and I traipsing around in the spitting darkness, putting the awning away. Yawn! So, we slept through the alarm and got up an hour later than intended.

Andrew finds a friend

We took a drive through to Airley's Inlet where we had a walk up to the Split Point lighthouse. There were a number of short walks around the lighthouse area, so we did those and then headed off to the Erskin Falls. They are supposed to be the highest falls in this area, but did not compare with the MacKenzie Falls that we visited in the Grampians. It was fascinating, however, to see the fish jumping out of the water to catch the passing insects. Again, the old conundrum of 'what goes down must come up' came into play, as we descended into the depths of the valley to see the base of the falls. On the ascent we counted 312 steps! It was pleasing to note that we coped with the steps quite well. If we had done this two weeks ago there would have been a considerable more huffing and puffing going on.

Erskine Falls

Andrew was the lucky recipient of his second Swine Flu injection this afternoon. When we had our H1N1 vaccines done in January, we were unaware that children under the age of 10 need to have two doses about four weeks apart. Lorne has a lovely big hospital which houses a medical practice, so we managed to get him into the Swine Flu vaccination clinic today. So, that at least is done. Let's hope we don't pick up some other vicious bug instead.
Tomorrow is moving day again. This time further down the GOR (Great Ocean Road) to Port Fairy. This will be more civilised in that we will be 'connected' again. I suppose I should not be surprised at the degree to which I/we are addicted to technology and all that it has to offer. Roll on tomorrow.

Day 11: Rain – TIME OUT!

Rainy Lorne.

Yay! It rained today. This means that we got to have a sleep in and took some time out from being tourists. We all enjoyed the change in pace. Duncan has been doing a great deal of driving (you can't imagine the vast distances between places) and so also needed a bit of a rest.
The rain came down just before lunch, though this did not stop us from going for a little walk in Lorne and window shopping. The shops there are all either clothes shops (surfie style) or eateries. Picked up a few groceries, checked emails on iPhones (there is reception in Lorne), then headed back to the van to play a few board games and do the budget.

Work time.

Tomorrow might be a bit more adventurous...

Day 10: Great Ocean Road: The Twelve Apostles

The drive along the Great Ocean Road is truly majestic...and slow! There are lots of places to stop off and take in the view. We chose to head straight for the Twelve Apostles today and have a walk around Loch Ard Gorge.







The Twelve Apostles are quite amazing, as their size is phenomenal and one really feels quite insignificant when you see the power of the ocean and what it can do. The only drawback to this little adventure were the evil flies at the lookout area, which was also so hot it felt like we were slowly being roasted.





The aforementioned evil flies seemed to follow us to Loch Ard Gorge, the site of a big shipwreck in the 1800s. So bad were they, that we had to set ourselves the challenge of not mentioning the words 'evil' and 'flies' in conversation as we walked along all the different paths. Andrew lost by a mile, not being able to stop himself mentioning these nasty little beasts as they tried to find moisture in our various orifices. It was to the great delight of everyone that I seemed to attract the most flies, having quite a collection finding a resting place on my back. This in itself was interesting as I was the only one who put on insect repellant sunscreen. Go figure.


Features of Loch Ard Gorge included a blow hole (see above picture), thunder cave, various lookouts at the eroding cliffs, a beach (see picture below) and a grave yard. Only two people survived the wreck, and those four bodies that were recovered from the wreck of the Loch Ard are buried in the graveyard.

Our journey back to Lorne took a bit longer than we anticipated because there was a collision on the road between Skenes River and Lorne, so the police blocked the whole stretch of road. We found ourselves having to make a detour through the forest, which was a bit hair-raising as the road was not fantastic. We put Sheila to work and she at least confirmed that we were heading in the right direction. When we came into Lorne the same 'road closed' signs were up, but we decided to chance it and see if we could get to Cumberland River (4kms along the road). If the accident was before CR, we would be stuck, but if it was after then we would be able to get to the caravan park. Luck was with us this time, as the accident was about 100m up the road from the park, on the other side, so we were allowed to pass and get back to the van, coffee and FOOD!

Day 9: From Hall's Gap to Lorne (Cumberland Park)

Our camp site at Cumberland River.

Today was a five hour drive from the mountains to the sea. With the wind in our hair and the countryside passing by, with the breeze cooling as we reached the coast, it was altogether a pleasant experience. Duncan and I both had flashbacks, as the scenery is very reminiscent of Cape Town. In particular, Simonstown and the Chapmans Peak area. There are also parts that remind me of the drive between Camps Bay and Hout Bay. It was quite de ja vu-ish.

The caravan park at the Cumberland River is in a majestic setting and we find ourselves perched next to the river (which is more trickle than river at present). The ocean is across the road and in easy strolling distance. There is no power here and no mobile coverage, hence we can't post our blogs on a daily basis. We are typing them up nonetheless, as our blogs are also a way for us to remember this incredible trip later on. Water is also short and there are water restrictions – stage 4 – at the moment. The facilities are good, though no jumping pillows or pools for the kids, and the sites are roomy.

Once again we are inundated with ducks. (They were a feature at Hall's Gap also, but I forgot to mention them there.) Andrew keeps demanding our bread rations to feed the ducks, with Callum looking on, horrified, as the ducks gulp the bits of bread.

Stocking up on supplies was interesting, as the only supermarket here is a Foodworks (no Coles, boohoo). The fruit leaves a lot to be desired and the vegetables – as Duncan observed – are pre-composted to save you the hassle of doing it yourself. Blech!

Lorne is quite spiffy and obviously an upmarket seaside holiday town. It is also bigger than I expected. There is much to do in this area, and tomorrow we will set about exploring the Great Ocean Road.

Interesting texture on the rocks at the beach across the road.

Out of range...

Our next site is unpowered and we might also be out of range. If this is the case, there will be no updates until Saturday.

We have not dropped off the face of the earth.