22nd to 23rd March - Bonbeach

My Darl spent a day doing maintenance on the trailer bearings, battery etc and we spent our time hanging out and catching up with Belinda, Lucas while Oliver went to work.   We did go for a bit of a bike ride on Thursday arvo, have a look around down along Patterson River.   A lot of flash houses along here, one side is a canal estate, some huge cruisers and speed boats in there.   B cooked us a nice spag bol last night, my turn to cook tonight, so nice to have an oven to cook in, Apricot chicken, rice and veggies.

Packing up his tools, wheel bearing all greased up!!

Such a bloody show off!!

Modern day terrace housing, guess what they are actually 3 storys high, there is a levee bank

Units built on water - reminds me of Venus

The weather forecast was not too crash hot  next day, gales, rain, hail in some places.  Yep it did look pretty gloomy out there.   Call us mad or crazy, but we decided to take a push bike ride up to Mordialloc.   Yes we were crazy, it was freezing cold, gale winds though it was a nice ride along golf courses, pony club, reserves and wetlands, you wouldn’t think the city only 20 minutes away.   The head winds were a bit rough.

Little Lucas 9 mths, learns a new trick, pass the ball to mummy and daddy - after he sucks on it!!

We encounter a bit of debris on the bikeway - a strong head wind too!

Love the wooden craft in Mordialloc Creek, how black is that sky??

We got to the Bar/Café at Bridge Hotel (by the Mordialloc creek) for a nice warming hot chocolate, just got inside and it poured rain for about 10 minutes, how close was that.  Had a bit  more of a look around the shops here, a bite to eat, a drink back at the pub then set off for the journey home.   Winds not as bad as before, but still a bit chilly.    I commented on the number of golf courses in the area (there's 4 on the map) and Belinda said this area is known as the Sand Belt, ideal for golf courses.

Not too often you will see my Darl in a pub drinking hot chocolate!!

This boat called "Howie" decorated with skull and cross bones.....

Pompeii Bridge, the water level is higher than the walk/bike path

 It’s great to chat to some locals, giving us some ideas on what to see and do around Victoria.  Belinda and Oliver have done Wilsons Prom where we are heading, they did over a 4 day hike with a 20 kg back pack each, I don’t think we will be that adventurous but we are contemplating the walk to the lighthouse.  Look forward to having you guys come and stay with us in Brissy sometime in the near future….

See back to basics and Lucas is happy chewing on a wooden spoon!

B and Lukey - see you soon!!

21st March - Great Ocean Road to Bonbeach

Not such a great start to the day, the weather is total crap – raining now and with the winds we got wet again, the tent was satched.  My Darl went to get the “pantry” box out and it collapsed into pieces outside, he cut his finger, it was still raining – could’ve been worse, we could’ve been camping in dirt/mud but we had nice grass.  I made a call to my friend Belinda at Bonbeach, she said to come over tonight, saved!   We waited for the rain to stop, managed to get everything dry – then it rained again, had to wait another ½ hour.  

Drying out the camp

Before heading off we ventured out to the mouth of the Gellibrand River – my Darl just had to cross it and waited for the waves to recede before dashing across, damn he got one shoe wet (he had his shoes and socks on). On the other side on a small rock, the waves crashed in, both shoes now soaked…..the waves here were ferocious.  

He got there, gotta get back now

The seas roughest we have seen

It is a very picturesque, windy drive along the edge of the coast from Apollo Bay, Lorne, Angelsea, Torquay.   This is big dairy farm country, I’ve lost count of the dairy farms we have seen along the way from Portland.  The coast is abundant in wildlife also including echidnas, bandicoots, black wallabies, rufous bristlebirds.   We did this stretch in pretty quick time, it would be great to come back here and spend a good couple of weeks exploring further, doing some walks and the hinterland areas.

Darl's good deed for today....

Cape Patton and yep that there's rain following us....

Cliff drive awesome, windy, hilly, coves

Most of my shots, fly bys....through dirty, wet windscreen

Awesome! House on right is a holiday rental and booked out forever......

THEN, we hit the city!!  I was busy taking pics and trying to navigate my Darl at same time.  Best concentrate, if we miss the exit we may not be able to get back too soon.  We went over the Westgate Bridge into the city – there was a boat fire and a huge plume of smoke.  We were on the M1 which takes us through the city and into a tunnel under the Yarra.  This is a toll road, lucky we have had the e-tag on the windscreen since leaving Brissy, knew it would come to use sooner or later.

M1 somewhere between Geelong and city

Negotiating the Westgate Bridge

Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees - what are these!!!

We got to Bonbeach okay, now to find Belinda’s place.  Off to the shops to ask directions or find a map of the area.   In the pizza shop asked the young lads, one of them said, I live in that street!  He was giving directions then said no wait, why don’t you follow me I’m going there now, thank you!   We got to Belinda and Olivers around 6.30, it was a long day and so great to have a cosy bed in a warm, dry house!   And of course so great to catch up with these guys and their gorgeous 9 mth old boy, Lucas.

Aahh, we made it -  nice, dry, warm, cosy home - thanks Belinda, Oliver and Lucas!!

20th March - Great Ocean Road

We left our friends in Portland and continued on our way towards the Great Ocean Road.  We had a quick look around in Port Fairy, another nice little seaside village, then onto Warrnambool where we were going to get a noise checked out in the car, but the noise has gone, so we didn’t worry bout that.   This old galleon, Notorious Geelong, was moored at Port Fairy and was attracting a lot of attention, it looked quite eerie against the gloomy skies.

These flowers appear randomly along roadsides, first opportunity I have had to take photo at Port Fairy

Warrnambool - Historic village behind the Visitors Centre

Decided to keep going on to Peterborough, the start of the most scenic part of the Great Ocean Road.  Took some pics at Bay of Islands and Bay of Martyrs just before the town of Peterborough.   The weather is quite fine, windy and chilly – so we decided to continue on to the 12 Apostles via Port Campbell.    The scenery is amazing, millions of years of waves beating against the limestone cliffs has created a very unique coastline. 

Bay of Islands

Limeston Cliffs, Bay of Isles

We really enjoyed the stops to look at the Grotto, London Bridge, the Arch between Peterborough and Port Campbell – a few people about not too many.  It was a bit of shock when we got to Loch Ard Gorge, just before the 12 Apostles where we come across bus loads of tourists everywhere, a couple of helicopters buzzing around.  The Razorback was a highlight here.

Grotto from the top

Grotto from the bottom

You guessed it..... the Arch - we notice quite a fews hats lost over the sides of cliffs

London Bridge fell down in 1990, 2 trapped on point rescued by helicopter

Razorback, my favourite

Onto the 12 Apostles – the biggest car park, buses and people everywhere, we are so not used to these crowds.    There is an under road access from the car park out to the viewing platforms and boardwalk.    I’ve seen photos of the Apostles, it was a little disappointing as by this time of day the sun was behind the Apostles and did not make for taking any really great pics here.

The best of a few dodgy shots - still awesome

View to left of Apostles, limestone cliffs disappearing

We travelled on to Princetown to set up camp at the camping reserve there, it was blowing a gale by now but we got the tent up without too much hassle.   A camp beside the oval which is covered in roo poo.  We watch the roos come in at dusk and there is plenty.  

I can feel a Roo Stew coming on!!

19th March - Portland, the morning after....

We all awoke feeling rather 2nd hand, but not too bad and decided to book in for another night to recover fully before heading off.    We hadn't seen any sights of Portland so Leonie and I ESCAPED and went down town to have a look around and take some photos.   Portland is a lovely spot, the weather was picture perfect.    This row of trees along the foreshore at one end of the esplanade, overlooking Portland Bay.

 A memorial wall to early pioneers. One chap John Wilzon from Prussia arrived on a ship in 1852 as a steward and deserted.  He married in 1853 as John Wilson and he and his wife, Elizabeth had 13 children.... I guess that was pretty common back then.  The other wall was memorial to past diggers.

This little tram goes the whole way along the foreshore from the harbour.  Portland is the most westerly of Victoria's major coastal towns and the only deep water port between Melbourne and Adelaide.  It was the first permanent settlement in Victoria, founded by the Hentys in 1834.  There are more than 200 historical buildings around town, many National Trust classified.  Leonie and I enjoyed strolling around the streets, happily snapping away.

One of the many many vintage cars, parading around town, part of the Fly the Flag Tour 2012 on from 17th to 23rd March.  Veteran, Vintage and Classic vehicles are participating. This includes motorcycles and commercial vehicles. All pre-1982 registered and club permit vehicles are invited to enter.  The itinerary starts at Keilor (Melbourne), then to Colac, Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Port Fairy, Portland, Nelson, Mt Gambier, Penola, Hamilton, Ballarat and back to Keilor... Leonie reckons they have seen these cars all along the Great Ocean Road.

Leonie on a couch.   Kind of reminds me of our time in Margaret River, WA - when we went on the search for several painted couches throughout the district.    This one is a beautiful mosaic done by local students with an ocean theme, fish, coral, seals, sea horses etc.  

Leonie in the shell.  Another beautiful artwork by local students.

 One of two chairs made in honour to Vida Goldstein.  Vida Jane Mary Goldstein (13 April 1869 – 15 August 1949) was an early Australian feminist politician who campaigned for womens suffrage and social reform.  The other chair is in the Parliament gardens, in Melbourne.

Old letter box, there is a couple of these around town.  It was about now that the boys called up, "we're hungry, pick us up something for lunch" - they really meant to say "we missing you girls, hurry up and get home".   Time did get away on us a bit and it was 3 o'clock when we got back to camp.   It was a great day out.

This little fella showing off, look no hands!  Just resting on a broken branch.   He tried getting higher in the tree, but just couldn't manage it.  One of several Koalas living in the trees at the van park we are staying at.  We also saw frog mouth owl and Leonie got a photo of the barking bird...well it sounds like a dog barking.

The girls blogging.   It was great to exchange tips and hints and try to solve some little hiccups, some we did, some we didn't.    And yes we are having a quiet drink or two.

Unlike last night we are actually eating tonight.  The girls cooked and the boys washed up.  We had run of the camp kitchen and made use of 3 of the 4 tables, we like spreading ourselves out, lucky no one else was using the camp kitchen.

Killer.......Killer..........get your beady little eyes off Leonie's dinner!   Funny enough we continued on with a few more QUIET drinks.  No dancing or playing games tonight, but we yakked on till after midnight. 

20th morning -                                               We've discussed the pros and cons of our different camping methods, each has good and bad points.  Sometimes I do wish we could just pull up and not have to worry about setting up camp, but we haven't seen too many Winnies go the places we have.     What a great 2 days we spent catching up - Leonie was giving me crap cause I was fading and not in too much of a drinking mood last night.  Guess who isn't feeling too flash this morning cause she normally doesn't do 2 nights in a row??   Catch you guys when we get home.