We hit the road with mum and dad in tow to the first stop, world famous Bells Beach, the home of the Rip Curl Surf Pro. Coincidentally they were actually setting up for the competition which begins in April. We managed to watch some of the crazy surfers take on the big waves.
As we continued the views along the winding cliffs are insane. At every corner our jaw drops at the incredible view. Even though we have seen this coastline before on our 2010-2011 round the world trip it still amazes us.
Unfortunately the weather isn't that pleasant being overcasts with belts of rain but nevertheless we are on holiday and we will sit on the beach, even if we have to be fully dressed!
We approached Lorne and decided to stock up on supplies here. And by this, I mainly mean beer and wine of course. We hit Foodworks, the only supermarket in town, which was ridiculously overpriced. But when you are the only supermarket I guess you can up the price.
After driving 50kms today we decided to call it a day and find somewhere to camp up for the night. After dismissing the dismal looking Lorne Foreshore Caravan Park we continued along the road and stopped at the next campsite we found, the Cumberland River Holiday Park. We were quoted $42 for power and $38 for no power, a lot more expensive than the previous one but the setting was absolutely beautiful in the deep valley. We negotiated on both vans on one powered site for $70. This was fine as we sleep in the vans it takes up the same space as a car and tent.
The sun was shining in the valley so we got our camp chairs and a few beers and sat by the river until the sun disappeared behind the mountain. Perfect.
It might be beautiful here in the valley but it is full of flies. We had a mission trying to get them all out of the van.
We cooked up a BBQ dinner under torch light and sat out watching the stars. We could see a milky way so clearly it was incredible.
19 March - Lorne to Port Campbell
We were up early to miserable cloud cover and rain this morning. Dad and Shaun retreated inside the BBQ hut with the gas stoves to cook breakfast. As the rain continued we resorted to eating breakfast stood up at the washing up station under the shelter. It's times like these you can understand a caravan.
At 10am we set off on the road again, stopping for a coffee at Wye River along the way. Mum and dad got pretty excited to spot 2 kookoborahs sitting on the telephone wire and stopped to get a photo.
Along the road there are hundreds of places to pull over for a photo. We stopped at Cape Patton where you have incredible panoramic views of the cliffs that line the coast. The Great Ocean Road was actually built by soldiers returning from WW1 as a memorial to those that lost their lives during the war. Today it still remains the worlds largest war memorial. Interesting fact from wikipedia "In 1924, the steamboat Casino became stranded near Cape Patton after hitting a reef, forcing it to jettison 500 barrels of beer and 120 cases of spirits. The workers obtained the cargo, resulting in an unscheduled two-week-long drinking break".
At last, the sun came out as we approached Apollo Bay and Dad and Shaun were straight in the water which is pretty balmy at this time of year. Whilst mum was taking photos she spotted a glint in the corner of her eye ... dolphins! They were far off shore but we could just about see them through the camera lens. We stood there amazed as we watched them move across the bay.
Next stop was Johanna Beach. On route, we were lucky enough to spot some snoozing koalas up in the tree tops.
In 2010, we visited Johanna Beach and camped for the night. Shaun voted it his best ever beach. Although it wasn't quite as Shaun remembered it still remains an amazing beach not for swimming but the bay and the cliffs are awesome with not another soul on the beach.
We had a little picnic next to the beach before getting back on the gravel path back to the Great Ocean Road. As we were winding up the path mum spotted kangaroos hopping over the top of the hill. As they beeped to get our attention I think the kangas got scared and hopped off. If you look really closely at my photo you can just see one of their heads spying on us over the hill!
Just a few meters up the road Shaun spotted an echidna waddling along the path. Our little diversion to Johanna Beach was well worth it spotting nearly all the Australian wildlife.
A few hours driving inland through endless miles of sheep and cattle farms we came to the Twelve Apostles, or the Sow and Piglets as they were originally called. The sky was clouded over and it was blowing a hooly but we managed to get a few shots of this breathtaking landscape.
We kept on driving until we stumbled across a caravan park to camp for the night in Port Campbell Holiday Park. They only have powered sites here which we paid $35. This is a nice campsite with grassed sites, amazing powerful showers and a big camp kitchen. Best campsite yet.
These little towns are not great for supermarkets. They are either low on stock or extortionately priced. We definitely should have stocked up more before we left Melbourne. So this evening we decided to eat out. Luckily we did as when I was setting up the van for bed before we headed out it dawned on me that we had left behind the gas cooker and the bottle in the little hut we were cooking breakfast in this morning. So annoying as it is at least 150km back down the road. O well, there is nothing we can do as we have to keep moving forward.
Anyway, we went down the road to one of the two restaurants in Port Campbell. It was pretty full and we found a table and got a jug of the local brew, Prickley Moses Ale. We were sat there chatting away and none other than Charlie Boorman walks through the door! Just casual and no one batted an eyelid apart from us. After a few minutes mum bolted for him and said 'Hi Charlie'! He was more than happy to come over to our table for a chat and a beer. No just kidding, he came over for a photo and a little chat. He is just like he is on screen, really chilled out. He said he was on a motorbike tour with 20 guys. We told him our plan to drive to Perth, to which he responded, 'that's a f###ing long way, good on you'. What a legend. Shaun's bad mood over leaving a few hundred dollars worth of cooking equipment behind soon disappeared.
Back at the campsite we sat outside the camp kitchen to try and upload the photo with us and our new buddy. All of a sudden mum was screaming and jumped up on the picnic bench. It wasn't a rat (mum is petrified of rats and mice) but I couldn't tell you what it was. It ran off up the tree which leads us to think it was a baby possum. Later on a larger ringtail possum came creeping down the tree and down the banister. Mum was freaking out again. It was only last night, after a bottle of wine, that mum was chasing them with her torch and camera!
So to wrap that up we saw kookoborahs, dolphins, koalas, kangaroos, an echidna, possums and Charlie Boorman today.
20 March - Port Campbell to Mount Gambier
We had some more stunning natural wonders to view today as we continue to the end of the Great Ocean Road; Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge and Bay of Islands. There are all limestone karsts that have been sculpted by the fierce ocean. Luckily we had some sunshine today to get some better snaps.
100km later we were in Warnambool and the end of the Great Ocean Road. This town is bigger and actually had a Bunnings and Rays Outdoors so we managed to get a replacement camp stove and bottle.
Another 100km, we stopped in Portland, just by the dockyard and had a late picnic lunch. After the final 100km of the day we finally reached Mount Gambier. We headed straight for the Big 4 Holiday Park on The Blue Lake. The Blue Lake isn't really a lake, it is a volcanic crater, filled with deep blue water, 70 meters deep. The campsite wouldn't let us share a site so we took a powered site. These are priced at $39 but mum and dad have Big 4 discount with their van hire so they brought the price down to $35.10 per site. You have to find your own spot but we managed to find one big enough for us and yes we shared a site. You could fit 4 cars on one site!
After a relaxing beer we went off to walk around the lake. Unfortunately, you couldn't actually get beside the lake as it is all fenced off. Nevertheless we strolled around for an hour or so as the sun set.
After the sun went down it was freezing. We had to wrap up in jumpers, trousers and blankets as we sat outside for the evening. Again we had another possum show with 2 ringtailed possums jumping above our heads. One even sneaked behind the back of my chair. Mum obviously had enough wine tonight because she was chasing them again!
A la perchoine, Jodie and Shaun x
Am really enjoying this, you should seriously think of writing for a living. I read A LOT and this is a great standard. More please.
Irene
Thanks Irene. I really enjoy writing the blog. Not sure I quite have the standard of writing professionally. Thank you though, you’re very kind x
What a great read Jodie, making me smile and wishing we were doing it all again. Xx
Thanks Mum. Wish you two were here x