So again we were super organised. I guess you can’t sleep in when you are illegally camped along ritzy Melbourne foreshore! We woke up and had breakfast and rugged up ready for the city.
We couldn’t park too close to the tram stop so ended up about 1km away, walked to the tram stop and caught a tram to the city. A little drizzly and cold but not too bad.
We headed straight for Target and Big W to find Rod a new pair of volleys; today was THE DAY! With success we found a pair in his size and buried the old ones in the closest bin. Rod even took a photo first. So with his new, bright white shoes we headed off to our favourite lolly shop!
The lolly shop was closed, so were the markets. So we headed off to DFO and ended up at the new Harbourside, which didn’t impress me so we headed off to DFO. At least it was inside. Nothing exciting there. The kids got Subway. Rod and I saved ourselves for China Town to get something yummy for lunch there. I wasn’t about to waste my money on something normal.
So we found a restaurant and ordered the lunch specials for about $8.00 each. They were great meals and so were the big bowl of complimentary prawn crackers we devoured.
It was time for us then to head over to the MCG ready to watch our first live AFL game, Hawks vs Cats. With thanks to Tamara we got fantastic tickets right on the halfway line, thankfully undercover. Just as the game started it drizzled. And can I say it is true. Melbourne experiences all the seasons in a day, in our case, every 5 dam minutes. One minute it was sunny and we were blocking the sun with our hands. Then the clouds would come over, a cool breeze, a drizzle of rain and then the sun. This happened every 5 minutes, the whole game. Anyway, there were 69200 people there and the stadium was huge. I think Rod was the most excited of us all. We did leave after the 3rd quarter, just to beat the crowds and the dark and the cold.
A quick trip back on the tram to Port Melbourne and we headed off in the rain and dark for a free camp near Geelong.
We pulled into the BP and made some dinner and went straight to bed.
The next day we woke up and headed off exploring.
While we only explored Geelong foreshore, it was quite pretty. There were all these old bollards which a lady had transformed into different people, who represented people of historical significance to the town. We did a walk along some of the waterfront and read about each one while the kids played on the playground. I was also keen to see the historical wooden carousal which is housed along the esplanade. There was also a swimming enclosure and kid’s pool. Really very pretty, but too cold for us. Photos will show you the views.
We left Geelong and headed clockwise around the Bellarine Peninsula. We passed through Portarlington, cute but not a great deal there. Next was Indented Head where we saw the house from Grand Designs. The boys and I watched the show one day and it just happened to be that house. We got pics of course. We then went through Queenscliffe, looked at the waterfront, walked up the 360° tower and reminisced about the nothing that we remember from 13 years ago.
We continued on to Barwon Heads, which is apparently where “Sea Change” is filmed; a show on ABC that we had never heard of. We headed to Torquay and continued on to show the boys Bells Beach. There was a surfing tournament on and grandstands etc were all set up, but no surfers in sight. But still exciting.
We kept moving to Anglesea as the day was getting late. Nowhere there to free camp so at the next town, Aireys Inlet, we stopped at the information centre to ask. Nope, there was nothing until near Lorne. So we cooked dinner there and continued on, in the dark. Not a good move.
We drove up a vey big hill to find this free camp, overshot the turn off, found somewhere to turn around; a one lane dirt track, not good. Turned around and returned to the free camp turn off, turned in, and found out it was closed. So reversed out of yet another one lane, dirt track, with a van on back and went back down the hill 12km. Needless to say Rod was very cranky and I was tired. We pulled up illegally on the waterfront at Lorne and had a plan in place to cop the fine and give the poor copper a serve! Victoria does not have many free camps.
We got up super early and left before we got caught!
We returned to Aireys Inlet, so I could see what I missed the previous night in the dark, thanks Rod! We spotted the “Pole House” which is just a house that is built on one very big pole. We returned to Lorne and kept driving through to Apollo Bay.
At Apollo Bay we had nice hot showers and filled up with water. We parked down town, got gas and walked downtown, while the kids played on the playground. We also go a few supplies.
We left Apollo Bay and found a nice spot on the side of a hill, with gorgeous views of the valley and had lunch. We continued on to Aire River East, free camp and set up.
The boys went for a fish with Rod while I had a little snooze and prepared dinner. We had a lovely early dinner and people turned up with two boys similar ages to ours, so they all played soccer until after dark. Both our kids went to bed early that night buggered.
In the morning we got up and had breakfast and headed off, without the van, to Cape Otway Lighthouse. Not far from our camp, while driving along, Mitchell spotted a koala. So we stopped and took some photos and watched him for a bit. Closer to the lighthouse there were heaps of koalas, so we stopped and took more photos, impressed by how many there were in the trees. So then we played spot the koala in the trees as we drove. I thought it would be cool to show the boys inside a working lighthouse, but not for $46.50/family. We did a short walk, saw the views and returned to camp, packed up and headed off.
We managed to do Gibson’s Steps and the 12 Apostles that day.
Gibson’s steps were apparently named after a man who owned the property adjacent to the beach. He loved fishing and couldn’t go due to the sheer cliff drop offs. So slowly he carved steps into the cliffs to get to the beach to fish. The original steps have since eroded and the Parks have put in official steps. You really don’t get a concept of how high and straight the cliffs are until you are standing at the bottom of them.
We continued on to the 12 Apostles. Since our last visit, 13 years ago, they have put a massive information centre in and a big boardwalk. It is all very nice and I am sure the helicopter flights that run from there are raking it in at $95/10ms!
Deciding to come back the next day, without the van, we headed off to Peterborough.By name dropping (that I knew the crew from Discover Down Under) I got a good rate and kids free at the Top Tourist Park! Very nice and clean, things for the kids to do and a river front site!
The kids went while we did the duties: washing clothes, setting up and charging everything up. They even had an over so I took the opportunity to make chocolate muffins – oh how I miss home baked goodies! Rod and I went for a walk down the road. I can’t really say downtown, because there is no town here. We sat and had crackers and cheese and Rod had his quota of 2 beers. The boys even got to watch a movie at night.
The morning sunrise was spectacular with all the colours and pelicans in the foreground. Unfortunately I was too lazy to go to the car and get the camera to take a photo.
We had breakfast and headed off to do all the things we missed the day before. We did have a brief stop at Port Campbell to sus out the fishing on the jetty and a monument up on the hill. Very pretty little town.
Starting back at the Loch Ard Gorge we did a couple of the walks there, Broken Head, Thunder Caves and The Gorge. Great views from most of these spots. We then did the Arch, London Bridge and finished with my favourite The Grotto.
While most of the others resembled rock formations in the water with parts eroded away, the Grotto was still attached to the land and you could walk down to it and look through the eroded hole to a little water pool and out to sea. Quite spectacular. Friends of ours said the water was right up high when they were there, which would have been great to see.
With the boys over walking and all sightseeing complete we headed up to Timboon Cheese Factory. Well the signage was dismal so we ended up taking a longer, scenic route. Finally got there and tried some cheese. Way to expensive so we left; which I am sure the lady was mad about.
We returned to camp where we again utilised the oven and put on a roast beef, lasgna and vegetables. The boys ventured out to the river and waded in the water with another boy. While that was cooking we had crackers and cheese with the new neighbours, Wendy and John, who are also from Brisbane. Along the foreshore of the van park there were 4 of us, all Queenslanders! Dinner was very, very yummy. The colours in the sky at sunset were gorgeous. We ate early and headed back to Port Campbell for a fish, hoping to get some squid.
There were many people there and no one was catching anything really. So we didnt’ stay long, returned to camp and had warm showers and a muffin for dessert. The night was cold but not as cold as the previous night. We slept well and so did the boys.
PHOTOS: AFL, Melbourne to Peterborough
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