Port fairy to Torquay

Day 308

Wake up to a certain air of excitement this morning as we are meeting up with Carmen’s mum and auntie today. So pack up Polly and head just down the road to Warnambool where we organise a campsite for us and a cabin for the twins. Head off for a stroll along the foreshore and a look at the beach and arrive back just in time to meet the twins and Mary Lou (their car).

We all have a stroll along the beach amid much merriment and call in at the surf club for a slap up dinner, then it’s back to the cabin where the party really kicks off and continues into the early hours (about 9 pm).

Day 309

Wake to a gorgeous sunrise and after a breakfast of eggs and bacon we bid a fond farewell to the twins and head off to start one of the world’s great drives along of great ocean road.

The road hugs the coastline for 250km from Warnambool to Torquay and our first stop is in Peterborough (!) to look at the dramatic sandstone cliffs.

The day is a bit foggy and overcast but the scenery is no less spectacular and we continue along to a rocky outcrop known as London Bridge. Unfortunately the bridge fell down in 1990, stranding a group of Japanese tourists on the outcrop who then had to be rescued by helicopter!

Further along the road we stop at the information in Port Campbell and pick up a map before continuing to Loch Ard gorge and more dramatic sandstone cliffs.

Next is perhaps the most famous stop on the road at the Twelve Apostles. The place is literally heaving with tourists and we have to battle our way through the crowds to get a look at the apostles (we only counted 9).

It is pretty spectacular but after the deserted stops so far we feel like cattle being herded along the boardwalk and out to the viewing platforms.

Another short drive and we leave the Ocean road to a free campsite at Johanna beach which is a large grassy campsite nestled among the sand dunes and probably the nicest free camp we have stayed in so far.

We are treated to a beautiful sunset over the ocean and retire to the van for a good night’s sleep.

Day 310

Up nice and early and time to tackle a section of the Great ocean walk.

Like the Ocean Road the walk takes you right along the cliffs and stretches for 100km (odd) between the Twelve Apostles and Apollo bay. We are tackling a 7km section between Johanna beach and Castle cove and the walk takes you first right along Johanna beach before ascending the cliffs and continuing past deserted beaches and through forests before finally descending back down to Castle cove.

A spot of lunch and after saying hello to an inquisitive Echidna (much like a hedgehog) it’s time to turn around and walk all the way back again where, back at Johanna beach we are treated to another beautiful sunset and both fall asleep before our heads even touch the pillow.

Day 311

Continuing along the Ocean road this morning we take a slight detour to Cape Otway, where along the road we pull over to see hundreds of Koalas nesting in the trees!

They are not doing much (I don’t think they ever do too much) just sleeping and occasionally letting out a growl but it is amazing to see them in the wild, right there just above your head. Carry on to the end of the cape and the famous (?) lighthouse where after finding out it is $18.50 each to get in we  take a walk up to the lighthouse lookout (free) and just have a look from there instead.

Rejoin the Ocean Road and a short drive brings us to the lovely seaside town of Apollo bay. Set up for the night and take a walk through the picturesque town and down to the port where we look at all the fishing boats and think about getting some fresh fish from the market only to be disappointed with the fact that it is closed!

Day312

The final section of the Ocean Road today and this is by far the most amazing bit. The road twists and turns right along the beach and the view is spectacular as you go from sea level up into the cliffs and back down again.

It’s pretty slow going as the turns are tight and the road is narrow but it definitely lives up to the hype and when we stop in Lorne for a drink (God bless the flask) I feel like turning around and doing it all again.

Next stop is the famous Bells beach and the location of the Rip Curl Pro surf classic next weekend. The surf looks excellent but I don’t want to show up the locals (and the Pro’s) so the board stays in the van and instead we watch from the cliff top whilst having some lunch.

Continue into Torquay and pay a visit to the Surf museum where we learn all about the history of surfing in Australia and see some of the huge classic wooden boards that they used to ride, they are also playing a film about big wave surfers tackling some of the world’s biggest waves and believe me these waves are huge, in excess of 10m and I think even I would have second thoughts about going anywhere near these monsters! The exhibition on surf culture is interesting and they even have a life sized silver surfer.

Manage to avoid going into any of the surf shop factory outlets and instead check into the biggest campsite I have ever been to right on Torquay beach where we stroll up and down and watch all the people on paddle boards before settling in for the night

Adelaide to Port fairy

Day 302

The alarm wakes us pretty early this morning as we have to organise a second tow truck for Polly to take her in for her new clutch. The truck duly arrives by 7am and loads her up and luckily the garage is just around the corner so we arrive by 7.30 and leave her in the capable hands (we hope) of the mechanic.

Stroll back to the campsite and spend the day sitting around feeling lost and homeless and awaiting the call to say she is fixed. The call finally comes and we walk back to the garage and after paying the man $716 we drive (very carefully) back to the campsite.

We seem to be the talk of the campsite in the evening with every other person is asking us what the problem was and if it is fixed now and think about making a sign so we don’t have to recall the same story over and over. We get chatting to our neighbours (after recalling the clutch story again) and it turns out that they are from Sydney as well and are on a 10 week tour of as many wineries as they can visit and are writing a wine blog! If you find yourself with some spare time (and are up to date with our blog of course) you can have a look at theirs by visiting www.winetraveltime.com. They are travelling in the opposite direction to us and so we spend the rest of the evening discussing wineries (lubricated by some of the product).

Day 303

Time to try and leave Adelaide again and so we are up, packed and on the road nice and early and decide to take a different route out of town, avoiding the cursed roundabout. Polly seems a lot happier with her new clutch and she purrs through Adelaide’s suburbs and before we know it we are out in the countryside and heading for our next destination.

Pull over on the way and stop for a flask of coffee and a look at some of the salt flats that seem to be all around us, it looks amazing and you could be mistaken for thinking we are surrounded by snow and ice.

A highlight of the day appears on the horizon as we approach Kingston and we pull over to marvel at our next ‘big thing’.

The big lobster is 17 metres tall and dominates the entire area and we (along with many others) take the opportunity to get out, stretch our legs and take a photo of the beast before continuing onwards.

Arrive in Robe and if only because of the advert (“Robe isn’t famous for Robes”) decide to stay and find out exactly what Robe is famous for. Check into the ‘Sea vu’ campsite and park Polly with an excellent view looking out to sea and settle in for what turns out to be a wet and windy night.

Day 304

After a wild and windy night we are glad to be in one piece in the morning and decide to conduct a walking tour of Robe. The main street is nice enough with some cutsie little shops and some nice historic buildings but it seems the town is mainly geared up for rich Adelaide holidaymakers. Continue our walking tour along past the yacht club and around the headland to a strange sight indeed. Instead of a lighthouse (regular readers will know I have a soft spot for a good lighthouse) Robe has a giant obelisk perched on the clifftop in order to warn off stray ships!

Now I’m no expert mariner but even I can tell that a white concrete pyramid is not going to be much use to a ship that doesn’t know where it is going at night! We also find out that Robe is in fact famous as the landing place for thousands of Chinese who arrived here during the gold rush and walked the 400km to the Victorian gold fields to avoid the immigration tax imposed by the Victorians (people from Victoria) and to try and find their fortunes. The wind continues to blow in the afternoon and we retire to the safety of the van before the rain starts again and decide call it a day.

Day 305

Awake in the morning to an beautiful sunrise and enjoy the view from Polly with our breakfast before packing up and heading inland (to try and escape the wind and rain) towards yet another famous wine region, the Coonawarra.

Only a short drive and we check into the only campsite in the region at Penola and instantly think that someone is missing a trick here as the campsite isn’t that nice and even feels a bit creepy.

Making the best of it we unhook the bikes and head off for a spot of wine tasting (for a change) with the coats packed as the sky looks pretty forbidding and it looks like it will bucket down at any minute. Head out of town to our first stop at Yalumba.

The Coonawarra is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon  grapes and so we decide to base our tastings around this today and we are off to a great start with a couple of lovely wines (‘The Menzies’ and ‘The Cigar’).

Just over the road is Patrick wines and an award winning sparkling Chardonnay Pinot which goes down very well (plus a nice aged Riesling).

Literally next door is Hollick wines and here our pick of the bunch was the Tempranillo and the Sangiovese cabernet.

Just a short pedal away and we come to Punters corner wines with one of the nicest cellar doors we have come across so far in a great little modern building with an outlook over the vineyards (Primo wines take note) and a lovely blend called ‘Triple Crown’.

Working our way back towards the town we come to the Parker Coonawarra estate (lovely 2007 Shiraz).

Penultimate stop of the day is the Coonawarra wine gallery showcasing several different wineries our pick of which was ‘Mildara’ with a great Coonawarra cab Sav and Cab Shiraz.

Final stop is Raidis, a relatively new winery that has only been open a few years but is already producing excellent wines (in particular the 2009 ‘Billy’ Cab Sav).

Having managed to avoid the rain all day we return to the (scary) campsite just in time before the heavens do open and we settle in for a cold and wet night.

Day 306

Not wanting to hang about in the morning we pack up quickly and hit the road and after a short drive find ourselves in Mount Gambier where we head straight for the famous ‘blue lake’ in the crater of an ancient volcano. The water really is pretty blue but it is one of those things that as soon as you have seen it you can tick it off the list and move on.

Another short drive and we cross the border over into Victoria and our 6^th state! Just across the border is the Lower Glenelg National Park and we drive along a very good gravel road to a lovely forest campsite where we find we have the only site without a firepit!

The rain is still on and off and it starts getting pretty cold so we make friends with our neighbours and stand by their fire for most of the evening before retiring to a cold (and damp) Polly.

Day 307

Back along the gravel road and we continue to Port Fairy where we are so taken with the name that we decide to stay the night! The town itself is quite small but must have been a busy port in its heyday as we count at least 6 pubs along the main street and after setting up we go for a stroll around and find ourselves in one of said pubs where I am delighted to find they serve pints!

An old local comes into the almost deserted pub and puts a couple of dollars in the fruit machine where he instantly wins the jackpot and decides to shout the whole pub the next round! So a couple of pints down we return to the campsite where Carmen starts getting excited as we are meeting up with her mum and auntie tomorrow.