Tuesday 17th February 2015
The alarm was set for 8am but the noisy pipes, dustbin men and other noises, made sure we were awake well before then – we had both slept reasonably well. We had a cup,of in room coffee, got packed and sorted and were on the road for 9am. It is a cloudy drizzly morning, but is still warn. We continued our odyssey west with Peter’s maps and guides highlighted at the ready.
First priority however was breakfast. The Great Ocean Road, went inland after we left Apollo Bay – it was very twisty and windy, as well as going up and down a fair bit – this did not however excuse some of the awful driving we witnessed – slow cars – last minutes decisions and just generally bad driving – it the risk of stereotyping, the vast majority of the bad rivers were of Oriental extraction – some of whom were piloting big camper vans!
Lavers Hill was our port of call – a restaurant called YatZies Pancakes – it was one of three at the crossroads – the best looking one was closed, so this was second choice, it is a restaurant /general store / petrol station / tourist info office all rolled into one. We both had a coffee, I had a bacon and egg pie, with a token attempt at salad on the side, Sue had a big slice of home made banana bread toasted. Both hit the spot and set us up for a bit.
Once we had eaten we continued on our way and the first port of call of the day was the most famous landmark on the whole road – The Twelve Apostles – a series of sea stacks emerging from the beach / sea – a stunning vista. It is well set up- and all free, there is a huge car park and kiosk on the opposite side of the road and you walk under a tunnel and along well defined paths to get to the viewing areas.
Everything about them is impressive – the size, the power of the sea, the colours, the beaches just everything. We spent a good while taking loads of pictures, it was still a bit cloudy but warm and the sun was trying to break through the clouds, there was a fair breeze but nothing too bad. It is apparent from the number of people here compared to the other scenic lookouts, that many people just come all the way to the Great Ocean Road for the one view so they miss out on so much.
After the Apostles, the scenic outlooks and spectacular views come thick and fast – some are just lay-bys at the side of the road, but some have their ow car parks and fenced off viewing areas. First major one is Loch Ard Gorge, which has three separate walks from the car park Shipwreck Walk tells the story of a famous shipwreck and takes you from the suite to the cemetery – we just saw the site and read the story of the two survivors. Back on the road through Port Campbell, we had a drive round but didn’t stop at all.
In quick succession after Port Arthur there were a number of spectacular vistas. Two Mile Bay, The Arch, London Bridge The Grotto and the Bay of Martyrs. All of them were different but all offered great photo ops. London Bridge was particularly interesting with the story of how one of the spans of the ‘bridge’ collapsed one day stranding two walkers who had to be rescued by helicopter – now you have to take in its beauty from above as no one is allowed onto it.
There was a degree of sensory overload by the time we reached the Bay of Martyrs which is a magnificent series of rocky our crops on a very powerful beach, but it was a great experience and I am glad we took our time and did it in a couple of days. After the Bay of Islands the road heads inland a bit and we then made faster progress towards our stop for the night Warrnambool.
The town itself was a lot bigger then we though it would be, and we drove along the A1 going through it there was a huge Woolworth’s / Kmart plaza and lots of motels. We followed signs to the Tourist Info Office and parked up – a lovely couple of ladies in there answered all of our questions and fixed us up with a great rate at a hotel called The Best Western Colonial Village Motel at 31 Mortlake Road, Warrnambool.
After chatting with them for a while, whilst I used the free wi-fi to get emails and get a message from Christopher, Sue navigated us to the hotel – it is still cloudy but the sun breaks through every now and again making it hot. The hotel is very nice our apartment is massive – it is on two levels and sleeps six. Downstairs is a kitchen, bathroom and living room. Two further bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom with a massive spa bath – after a couple of nights with just a shower, this is ideal.
A short time sitting, then we went out to the local supermarket, which is a Cole’s – them and Woolworth’s clearly dominate in this part of Oz although we have seen a couple of Aldi’s – so we will have to see if they expand like they have in the UK.
Before the supermarket I filled up with fuel at a BP station — Unleaded was $1.135 per litre and I got 52.8 litres or AU$60 worth.
Trip 505.
At the supermarket we got Weetbix and other breakfast stuff, as well as drinks and fruit – we have been warned that we can’t take any fruit over the border into South Australia, so we didn’t buy too much. Back at the unit for a bit of washing, a bit of internet and sorting. We also debated our plans for the rest of the week and where to stay in Adelaide – we booked a couple of hotels and we decided that tomorrow should be a chill day after all the driving of the last three days, so Sue went to resumption and they agreed we could have another night at the same rate – apparently they are full tonight but have a few vacancies tomorrow – most importantly we can stay in the same unit.
Once that was sorted, it was out again to the Kmart where Sue got another SD card, as she isn’t happy about the quality of the one she got yesterday. Food was the next order of the day and restaurants that open in the evening seemed a bit thin on the ground – we finally found one called Images, which is on Liebig Street, which is one of the main shopping streets in Warrnambool. It was fairly busy for 7.30pm on a Tuesday but we got a table okay. I had an enormous plate of fish’n’chips while Sue had chicken in a peppercorn sauce with vegetables. You get the choice with your mains – you can either have a bowl of vegetables or you can have chips and salad.
The food was excellent and plentiful, we also met the owner an ex-pat from Newbury who has been here 21 years having married a local girl. A nice night in every way. We went back to the car which was parked outside the local theatre, which included among its upcoming attractions – Leo Sayer in concert next month!
Back to the hotel to carry on with diary and getting sorted.
Trip – 520
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