Anglesea to Melbourne

Part of the Federation Square Building

The Anglesea caravan park was massive, close to town, by the beach and almost full to overflowing. Somehow, we managed to get a lovely, quiet spot on the frindge of the park, away from the crush of tents and people with just another motorhome beside us.It had been a long hot day, so we welcomed the southerly buster that blew in during the evening. I explored the beach and township the next day while Marnie did some painting. Then it was we off to Geelong for 2 days, where we  found a park close to the CBD, just a short bus ride away. The parks along the Great Ocean Rd are very expensive at this time of the year. Anglesea had charged $65pn and this one in Geelong was $42 (but we had an ensuite included) Most parks average $20 to $25. We were very blessed to get into any park at this time, without booking, so we no complain! We loved Geelong. It has a wonderful waterfront which was abuzz with activity being the Australia day weekend. Further along the waterfront is a beautiful botanical gardens. The CBD is just the right size for my liking,easy to find your way round and not too much traffic. We really enjoyed our stay.
Marnie has a friend in Melbourne she'd met while in Hong Kong, and her advice to us was to drive to Queenscliff and catch the ferry accross to Sorento, then enjoy a leisurely drive into Melbourne along the Mornington Peninsular. Sounded good to us, so thats just what we did. The ferry accross only takes 40 minutes and, yes, there was room for TMH. Sorento is beautiful from the water, lots of waterfront mansions to ogle at. I think this must be a very wealthy area. The drive along the coast was wonderful. Most of the beaches have cute,colourful,timber beach huts along them. We saw one advertised for sale in Rosebud, for $44,000 and they are not even as big as a boat shed! Caravan parks run almost continuously along the foreshores. Unfortunitely we didnt have enough time to stay here before our 5 day booking in Melbourne, but I was glad we had taken this route so we could see the Mornington Peninsular. The last leg into Melbourne was along the East Link freeway and over the course of 24km, we had 6 toll charges, I think around $3 each (I will know when I get the bill) In the last few Km we saw a sign warning  a low bridge was ahead, but most unhelpfully, gave no measurement. After the third warning, it suggested high vehicles get off the expressway NOW. We obey immediately and were thankfull we had. We were only a few km from our hotel. Our Navigator, James, had made an error and was leading us on for another 47 km. We recalculated the route and arrived a few minutes later. Being Australia day, we were unsure of a parking spot near the hotel, but there was a double spot across the road, just waiting our arrival. How awesome was that? The hotel included a 5 day parking permit as this  street was one hour parking otherwise.
We settled in (that means we dragged loads of stuff from the RV up 2 flights of stairs) and took off to see what Melbourne had to offer on Aussie day. We are close to Fitzroy gardens and strolled through them on our way into the CBD. There was much happening...Lots of food stalls, and a loud rock band, people enjoying a day out in the sunshine. On a little further to Federation Square which was also very lively. I love this mad building, though I know lots of people hate it. We caught the free city circle tram, which takes about 50 minutes round, passing Parliment house, the Liabrary, Docklands etc.
On Wednesday, we met up with Camilla and her son,Leonard (Marnies friend from Crossroads) They picked us up and took us out to lunch near where they live in Carnegey and then drove us to St Kilda for a browse around the shops and a stroll along the beach. Lots of colourful sail kites  enjoying the windy weather.
Yesterday we saw the Australian Art Gallery in Federation Square (excellent) and did some shopping in Bourke St Mall and were back at  the hotel at 2pm to meet with the awning man. Alas, when he unpacked the awning, it had been damaged in transit from Sydney. So we are now waiting to hear if another one will arrive before we leave Victoria. After resting our weary bodies, we walked down to the Australian tennis Center. It costs only $19 to get in and that allows you to see any match currently being played, other than on the Center court and the Hisence arena. (but you can watch those on the big screen) We saw some players practicing, a  female doubles wheel chair match, some of the womans quarter finals doubles and the piece de resistance, the whole of semi finals between the Williams sisters (Serena and Venus) versus Renee Stubs (Aussie) and Lisa Ramond (USA) How excitement! It was an excellent match to watch and we gained a better appreciation of just how hard those Williams girls, hit the ball . They won in 2 sets.
We have a few more days here before going to Wilsons Promontory via Moe.
Vicki

The Geelong Waterfront

Tall ship at Geelong Waterfront

The car ferry arriving at Queenscliff

Nice house in Sorento

These beach sheds are common all along the Mornington Peninsular

Captain Cooks cottage in Fitzroy Gardens Melbourne

Busy Fitzroy Gardens on Australia day

Lots of people enjoying the band in the Gardens

Bikers also enjoying the day

Flinders Street Station, Melbourne

Kite sailing at St Kilda

At The Australian tennis center.

Ladies doubles quarter finals match

Ladies doubles wheel chair match.

Balls girls/boys at the start of the match

The all powerful, Venus Williams

Concentrating.

Venus and Serena

The match over. The Willaims sisters victorious.

From Robe to the magnificent Great Ocean Rd

We really enjoyed our 3 days in Robe, walking on the beach after dinner, lunching out (me) painting (Marnie) and loving the cooler weather.We left for Mount Gambier and enroute, stopped at Beachport which boasts a healing pool called the pool of Siloam. Of course we  had to take a look. It is a natural spring fed pool, close to the ocean, but 7 times saltier. Even though it was a cool day, Marnie couldnt resist taking a dip. She did appear to be floating and declared her whole body to be stinging when she emerged 5 minutes later.On arrival in Mount Gambier, we went straight to the Blue Lake, which is the city's water resevoir, grey in winter and blue in summer. It was once a volcano and has the most incredible colour, almost as if the water has been dyed, even when the weather is overcast.
Our van park was close to the city, but being Sat arvo, everything was closed. That of course, applied to Sunday as well. We walked a long way down the main street to find the markets that were advertised. Need'nt have bothered as they were not the best! The day was cold and wet, so we hunkered down for most of the remainder of the day, reading.
A slight improvement in the weather the next day, spurred us on to visit Umpherston sink hole, which is a facinating sunken garden, again thanks to a volcano.(see pics)
Nelson was our next destination. Enroute,We had slipped quietly back into Victoria and had to change our clocks back by 1/2 hour.Nelson is a tiny town, with  pub, general store and boat hire (as it is on the Glenelg river) and a national park. The van park we stayed in was out of town, but really delightful, bushy and close to the river. On our walk to the river, we spotted a Kangaroo and found a small river beach and decided to hire a boat the next day to see more of the river. There are many little houses/boatsheds, fishing verandahs, built out over the river which we though might warrant  closer inspection . A few more Kangaroos visited us in the park that night. The next morning it was overcast but not windy, so good for hirering a boat. Not wanting one of those tiny putt putts, we opted for a half cabin cruiser, not quite as grand as it sounds, but bigger that the former. All went well as we cruised down the river, turning after 1/2 hour to come back. Things went a little pear shaped as we approached the spot that we were to steer to boat into.As you know, boats dont have brakes, or power steering so what are you to do, when the thing doesnt go where it is meant to. Thankfully, as we were about to crash into the next door boat's motor, superman came to our rescue. He was  from the boat hire place, and came out of nowhere. He leapt onto the front of the boat we were about to collide with and stopped us in our tracks, putting his hands out and shoving us into the desired position. Oops, catastrophy averted! Phew, no wonder they ask for a large deposit!
Driving further into Victoria, things began to green up a little. We passed vast tracts of pine forrests, almost all the way to Portland, where drove on through as it held little appeal , then on to Port Fairy for the night.The park was huge and almost full to capacity, sitting nicely between the beach and river, with a delightful town just 15 minutes walk away. We checked out the shops and stayed in town for dinner.
We were finally heading for the Great Ocean Road, and on our way, stopped at Tower Hill, to inspect the extinct volcano, which is now a wild life game park with many bush walks and easy to spot, kangaroos, emus and koalas, picnic areas and an excellent souvenir shop.From the floor of the crator, you can see the rim all around. Facinating stuff. Woornabool was really big, but we stopped briefly, for lunch and a visit to the regional art gallery. We have been mostly in small towns so cities seem almost overwhelming now and we pass through quickly. Just out of town, it was hard to resist stopping at  Cheeseland and as luck would have it, just in time for some cheese tasting. Twenty minutes later, and armed with a bag of cheeses, we headed for the much anticipated drive along the Great Ocean Road. The first iconic lookout was The Bay of Islands and then the Bay of Maryters, both very spectacular. We were nearly lifted off our feet as it was blowing a howling gale and we even had difficulty  holding the camera steady to take pictures. Hoping for better weather the next day, we stayed overnight at Peterborough, ready to view the best of the Great Ocean Rd.  So, how blessed were we, when we rose to a glorious sunny day. And what a difference the sun makes to this incredible scenery. The water is aqua blue and the limestone cliffs look wonderful bathed in sunlight.We ooed and ahhed our way along the coast, stopping at every lookout and viewing platform, camera snapping madly at The Arch, The Lock Ard Gorge, Mutton Bird Island and finally the piece de resistance, the 12 (more like 5 now) Apostles. Let me tell you, this is hard work on the legs, with an amazing amount of walking to view these icons. We were utterly exhausted after 4 hours of viewing, but remarkably satisified that we had seen something truly special.
We spent the night in Princetown and drove all the next day (today) most of the remainder of the Great Ocean Rd, trying to find somewhere to stay. We had forgotton it was the eve of a long weekend and every van park was full to overflowing. Finally had success at Anglesea, where we will stay for the next 2 nights.
Then we are off to Melbourne.
Vicki

The beach at Robe

The old customs house, Robe

Marnie getting healed in the Pool of Sialom

The (very) Blue Lake at Mount Gambier

The sunken gardens (Umpherston sink hole) at Mount Gambier

Marnie on a lovely little beach on the Glenelg river in Nelson

Marnie looking pretty cocky before the near disaster.

Little house/boat sheds on the river in Nelson

The London Bridge (which did fall down in 1990) The Great Ocean Rd

The Beach by the Lock Ard Gorge

Port Campbell

The 12 Apostles

So many international travellers come to see the Great Ocean Rd that they need to be reminded which side of the road to travel on.

Waves of heat in Victor Harbour

Our arrival in Victor Harbour was a little disappointing as the heat had followed us and the hoped for sea breezes had completely died .Also our spot in the caravan park was totally devoid of trees and in order to create some of our own shade, we had to park facing the central social gathering tent of 12 or so youthful campers whose tents almost surrounded us. We unhooked our bikes after dinner and had a long ride around the waterfront on one of the many bike tracks.  The frivolities  of our neighbours, continued well into the night and as we had planned 3 nights here, we requested a move to another spot which we were allowed to have later in the afternoon. We decided to leave the park till then and plonk ourselves down by the water, where the breeze had finally materialised and we were much cooler.Victor Harbour is a delightful town with water everywhere, but not really suitable for swimming. It is very shallow for a long way out, but lovely and clean. Our new site was excellent and even had a tree for some shade, which we badly need for the next 2 days when the heat really cranked up to 42C making it dificult to do anything. We did manage a few short ventures into town. The farmers market was on Sat morning. It was fairly small, but had an abundance of local produce. Marnie did a late night penguin tour on granite island, which is connected to the Harbour by a 650 meter causeway. I didnt feel confident enough to cycle in the dark, so stayed in the RV with the air conditioning on full blast. By 9am the next day, the temp was already 40C so decided to get going to our next destination.Marnie did something to her back while we were packing up, so we headed to Mount Barker where she was able to see a chiropractor later in the afternoon . The main expressway to the Limestone coast, started from there, so it seemed to be the best place to go. By 10.30pm the temp was still 34C, but the next morning it was wet and cold! It was great to see the badly needed rain and it helped enormously, to reduce the catostrophic fire danger for the region we were in. We had a good look around Mount Barker before leaving for the Limestone coast to a place called Hacks point, 25km south of Meningie in the area known as The Coorong.We planned to stay at an Aboriginal cultural wildernss center which had powered sites, a restaurant and offered a cultural experience. However, our arrival was greeted with a closed restaurant, an empty caravan park and not a soul to be seen anywhere. We poked our heads in a few of the buildings, to find that every tap in the place was leaking buckets of water, the laundry was overflowing with wet washing , and we wondered what we were doing there, when we finally found a man and his dog. I think everyone else had gone walkabout. Anyway, we decided to stay after we were offered the use of the ensuites in the bunkhouse, where the taps only dripped a little. It was potentially a wonderful place in which an enourmous amout of money has been invested, but sadly lacking in maitenance. We were unable to have any of the cultural experiences (one ,was the hoped for bush tucker dinner) as the only gentleman there, had just come out of hospital after suffering from heat stroke the day before, and the other 6 staff members were nowhere to be seen. Another caravan joined us just before dark and we chatted to them and watched the fantastic sunset over the Coorong. We saw a few emus disappear down towards the waters edge.
We drove to Robe the next day, a monotonous 170km drive along an almost unbending road with great scenery of pink lakes, salt lakes and endless sand dunes. We are having 3 nights in this lovely small seaside village.The caravan park is on the magnificent beach and just a few minutes walk to the town. The sun is shining brightly and it is a cool 22C and everything in the garden is rosey!
Vicki

The waterfront away from the main drag at Victor Harbour

They have a horse drawn tram to take you over to Granite Island.

The causeway to Granite island. Victor Harbour

This part of Victor Harbour looks a little like The Entrance

Marnie at the Farmers Market

More waterfront

The causeway at dusk

The restaurant at the Coorong Wilderness center

Emus

Sunset over The Coorong at Hicks Point

Down by the water at the Wilderness center

more of The Coorong

The big Lobster at Kingston

The beach at Robe in front of the caravan park

More of the beach