Great Ocean Road

Mike and Alisa cont.

After the rain there was, as was to be expected, a break, bringing the beautifully calm area to the full potential that our hosts had been describing the entire time. Of course, we were set to leave around noon on the day that it did finally get nice, so we were unable to really enjoy it. Mike skiffed (more like tiny-rowboat-with-motor-ed) us out to the boat  for lunch and a game of cards before we left, though, and the entire experience was very pleasant, although it included several repetitions of “In the Moonlight” or “In the Midnight”; not quite sure which. Either way, it was Elias’ favorite song and it’s the only one that will put him to sleep effectively. After leaving we drove the four hours or so back up to Brisbane, which we reached just before dark but unfortunately got lost just outside of. We ended up at a slummy Comfort Inn because we were unable to find any other hotels -I mean absolutely none. The next morning we flew down to Avalon, which is between Melbourne and Geelong. For all of you wondering about the tragic bushfires in Victoria, we’ve actually been too far south for them to have any effect on us directly except for a slight haze over the ocean. However, the newspapers and news in general have been filled with more stories of the horrors and heroes surrounding the events.  

This includes the death- about two days ago- of a volunteer, firefighter when a tree fell on him just two days before he was due to go home. We’ve been sure to donate whenever possible, but there really isn’t much else possible we can do in our position. Anyway, there’s no reason to be worried, if you for some reason were.

Since we arrived in Avalon we’ve driven down even further to Torquay and Pt.Addis, to the home/ bed & breakfast of friends Stuart and Bronwyn Spark. We spent one night there after some sightseeing and kangaroo scouting, then started on our drive up the Great Ocean Road. They’ve accompanied us so far, for two days. Our first sleeping spot, reached after many cliff viewing stops, was Port Campbell, an endearing little fishing town turned tourist stop. We viewed the Twelve Apostles, or rather seven remaining Apostles, which are large free standing sandstone rock formations directly off of the coast. Breathtaking. Yesterday we continued our drive, once again stopping multiple times for by now somewhat redundant cliff views. We took a major break in Warrnambool to look at the Maritime/Shipwreck museum and authentic historical village which was immensely entertaining. Especially the live pigs at the blacksmith’s. Our final stop of the day was Port Fairy, where we parked at a Caravan park with a cabin for us and a powered camping spot for the Sparks and their trailer.