I’ve hired a car for a few days to head out of Melbourne as I was getting a bit stale and I haven’t been using my grey matter to either plan or panic. Melbourne was fine, but I had slipped into it being a cosy stay rather than seeing too much, so I thought, head out and see a bit more of Victoria. No, Victoria isn’t a woman, well she was, but I don’t want to get people back in the UK thinking that a Sheila was on the way home with me. Well not yet. Funny though, when I went out to Phillip Island a waitress served me in the Penguin Centre by the name of Sheelagh, which I thought was stereotypically hilarious and fitting of my infantile humour.
The Hotel arranged a small car for me, which was just a block away to walk. All good apart from me overlooking the size of my ‘long haul’ bag. As I would be out on the road and hopping in and out the car, I wanted to keep it out of sight. Luckily I corrected this en route by loading the boot from inside the car which surprised me when it worked. Anyway, where was I going ? My first challenge was getting out of Central Melbourne without hitting anything. No problem with the side of driving as it is just as the UK and I can read speed signs in ‘Kilometres’. A few signs would test me and a few different wildlife signs to amuse. The hardest thing was Melbourne’s Trams, which you have to accommodate them being in the centre of the roads. So, if you want to turn Right, you wait on the Left even if there is no traffic in either direction and when your lights go to Red, you can then turn sharply into the lane you need. I could see that even local drivers got out of position. I shouldn’t have panicked, everything worked well and I got out on to the freeway…where to…The Great Ocean Road! This is a scenic drive west across Victoria’s coastline as it hugs the rocks along the coast. In some sections you go inland and enter rainforest before getting back to the blue ocean.
You will see hopefully from the photos that the coast line is gorgeous. A bit like rugged Cornwall, but with an Italian Riviera mountain road. There are lots of European’s out here so I have been so pleased to see a mass of signs that say ‘drive on the left’.
The other part of the drive is the distance. Australia is a very big country and I think when they talk about driving distance they take the ‘country mile’ reckoning method. My plan was to get to a place called Lorne before I made any sort of comfort stop. I headed out for about 2 hours before I hit the Coast and when you see it, you need to stop anyway. The clouds had moved on and the blazing sun turned the sea a beautiful azure with lots of white froth from the waves crashing into the shores. It was really uplifting even though I did plug the iPhone into the car and bash out the Anthem followed by some heel kickin’ country.
So Lorne, you see lots of familiar English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish town names out here. Nothing like their counterparts, but I guess when the settlers came, they made their little corner of Australia sound just like home.
My plan was to get to the Lorne Tourist Information Office and find ideas for lodgings for the night. I didn’t know how far I would get, but thought, I need to be in a Motel or something similiar by 5pm, as it gets dark just after 6pm and its illegal to sleep in your car on the Great Ocean Road. This does get a bit hit and miss, but it’s only for one night at a time I kept thinking. Lorne provided me with lots of leaflets, although I couldn’t really trust the one assistant who enthusiastically put lodging papers together, as he was the spitting image of ‘Joe 90’. If you are too young or not from the UK, google it for a picture. He also told me of one he had recently been to with his school. I was expecting him to add..and Miss allowed us to take our shoes off and paddle in the sea!
Back in the car for a couple more hours and I arrived at Apollo Bay. What I had noticed is the laid back nature of the towns on the route. Buildings of wooden slatted weatherboards, but in pastel colours that make each place look quaint and like a holiday village. Decision!, I would stay here. The Info Office again helped me with a choice of 4 Motels. It was at this point that they explained that ‘Hotel’ didn’t mean Hotel. Hotel meant Restaurant or Pub. Got it. My Motel selection was completed by a 2 minute drive by and shooting for one that had a cute unique name, ‘The Coastal’.
It was right across the road from the Information Centre, as most things were in this small village. I parked up and went to a small reception to see if there was any room at the Inn? In luck! I filled out the registration card and then the little old lady behind the counter asked me a question which stunned me. “Would you like a glass of milk?” Maybe they had had a lot of Joe 90’s ?, or had a second job as an oesteo practitioner and could see that I needed it. So stunned I thought, had I misheard but she repeated it with a straight face. I refused with a smile, but then thought is this a customary thing?
The Motel was very quiet but had the basics that I needed.
Not leaving it too late, I headed to a Fish and Chip shop that the receptionist guided me to which which was in the harbour. On entering the shop, I was met with a fresh fish stand with a range of ‘todays catch’. It was still a takeaway, but you could have your choice Cooked in Batter or Fresh. Although there were some obvious ones like Salmon, Lobster and Prawns, I was guided to a Blue Grenadier. 20 minutes later a huge portion appeared. The fish was a bit like Haddock which is one of my favourites and the Chips were good, just there was lots of it. This meal finished me off for the day.
A quick check out in the morning and reception didn’t offer me a cookie to go with the milk, and a fairly early start, I loaded up the car and drove the 50 yards to a restaurant for breakfast. Trying to get filled up before heading out as a plan to change my eating habits which are all over the place at the moment. A simple Scrabbled Eggs and Bacon on sour dough toast. Service was with a smile, so I found it a real ache to sink the rubbery pile of egg just to be polite. Loaded up with more Lemon Soda, I am off.
This next bit of Coast Line and Drive also went into dense rainforest. I stopped first at Maits Rest for a boardwalk through the rainforest. The Ferns and Old Eucalyptus trees were massive. Victoria is supposed to be in a drought, but this was a moist environment with dark green leaves which blocked out the sunlight. I was also given a big nip by a mosquito which was as prominent as any of the ones in India. But in all this greenery, I couldn’t get Cornwall out of my head and one other which was the Brecon Beacons with their tall ferns.
I could see the journey was to be one of stop start to get a real feel for the landscape.
Next was Cape Otway which is a piece of cliff which holds Australia’s oldest Lighthouse. As I pulled off the main road down the narrower lanes, the thick bushy trees were mostly Eucalyptus. I wanted to take a photo of the dense trees just to remember the silver colours and green tops, so pulled over. Now one thing I remembered from our trip in 2011 to Teton National Park in Wyoming was that when one car stops, everyone stops because they think you have found wildlife. I had just got out the car and the next car stopped and a Japanese Girl ran back up the road shouting, “What is it? What can you see?” Like a lot of other people they were in search of Koala’s in the wild. Seeing them on Phillip Island was nice, but that was a park, so I would share in her euphoria if anything is found. After disappointing her with an explanation, she was off. With my photo done, I was 2 minutes behind them.
As the trees started thinning out I spotted a large brown blob over the roadway, so pulled over. Yes! A Koala in the wild! Not moving very much but there all the same. And another, and another… I was starting to get a knack for spotting them. More cars stopped and joined in the photo frenzy. In the end I thought that I must get on as I wouldn’t have time for anything else. Then a small one decided to climb down a tree right by the side of the road. Unlike Kangaroo’s, Koala’s don’t do anything quickly. A quick pose for the camera, snap!
Eventually on to Cape Otway and the Lighthouse and Telegraph Point. A burly guy at the Lighthouse was a mine of facts. Dates, distances, names etc etc. At one point I was the only visitor at the top so he asked where I came from and quickly pointed to the Glass which was made in Smethwick. I told him that I thought the Cable was probably made about a mile from where I grew up. When I gave him a reference point for Smethwick being the home of West Bromwich Albion, he shrugged his shoulders and said he had never heard of them. I should have said it was 5 miles from Aston Villa.
Onwards and westwards, the coast got more spectacular and a great photo opportunity at Princetown for the 12 Apostles. Huge chunks of Rock that have been separated after years of erosion and find themselves away from the main cliff line. After going through the visitor centre, the first warning sign was for Snakes. That focussed my mind quickly. Only an hour before I was going past some wetlands and one squirmed it’s way across the road infront of me. I slowed and made a detour to help it out. At the Apostles, everyone stopped and took a photo of the warning sign.
The Coastline was spectacular and in the dipping afternoon sun the Apostles shone a bright bronze colour with the mixed blue seas annointing their feet. With the wind up, the waves were crashing into the rocks and producing clouds of white spray.
Along the coast to my next stopping place and resting place, Port Fairy.
As I arrived at their Tourist Office the sun was quickly going down so I needed to make a rapid decision on a Motel. 4 options given, I plumbed for one that was fairly central. In the dusky light the town looked like something from a wild west movie and just missed people, horses and cattle. The tour leaflet announced it as ‘voted World’s most liveable town 2012’. I immediately thought of the ‘world’s best cup of coffee’. Over to my choice of Hotel, where the reception was a Bar. Yes, they did have a room, did I want to see it before making a decision? Odd thing??, No it’s only for one night. I drove around to the stable type room and parked outside. I got a feeling of seeing something like this on an old Australian Cattle film, but I think the cattle stayed inside on that occasion. This was very basic, but clean. It was akin to a cell at Melbourne Gaol but with curtains and complimentary soap.
The Motel, was supposed to be the oldest Inn in town, so I just accepted that I was taking part in something bigger. I ventured over the courtyard to their restaurant which was very busy, then very empty. Some kind of local pub crawl was in progress, which left 4 blokes in the Public Bar talking about the same things like a scratched record. The food was fine and I headed off to my room to catch up on some TV.
I was up and out of my room by 9.30am. The sun was already blazing. I tried to check out (I had already paid) but there was no one in the Pub. I left my key in the door and drove off. Drove off, 25 yards to the next corner for some breakfast. In the full sunlight this town looked really different, yes the buildings looked like Saloons and Horses would not have been out of place. Very English with small roundabouts at the ends of the High Street.
After breakfast I ventured down to the Coast which was less than a mile. I could see where the Best Town attributes came from. Tall lush green trees lined the walkways, the slatted timbers were beautifully painted and matching, roses crept along the white painted picket fencing infront of each house, that had long balustraded veranda’s. The side walks were green with grass and there was a lot of shade. The South Beach coastline was amazing. The waves were crashing in for the miles of shoreline that I could see to the right of the town. I think I have taken 200 shots of waves alone. The salty smell of the sea, the blustery wind and the damp air was exhilarating. People were turning up in cars for 20 minutes of fresh air recharge then driving off. This was a nice setting to have your Town. The harbour was by contrast serene, but the same beautiful houses had their back lawns down to the river. It reminded me of Amity from the Jaws film, with its big boats, boardwalks and in the sunshine everything looked great in bleached white. Even the river was a deep blue to contrast correctly with the boats.
So the Fairy People really had something special.
I looked at the map and from here I would say goodbye to the Coast as I was to head North.
My first fill up with petrol was not without a hiccup. I had noticed the Petrol Flap lever by my feet in the car and had tested it out 200 yards before getting to the Filling Station. At the pump though it did not work. I drove off to call the hire car company who suggest that if I had one person on the lever and a second at the flap this may work. Lone travelling has many downsides. I did hail a local to help me, who was suspicious that I was trying to scam him, but did quickly see that I had an issue. It worked with a bit of wiggling.
So, fully fuelled I was off, to The Grampians.
Dave's Sabbatical 