OUR GREAT OCEAN ROAD

With Camera fully charged
it is time to get this long awaited part of our trip underway!

So excited are we to be here!

On our way along the great ocean road, we plan on doing some free camping,

as we feel most places may well be booked out, as the 

Easter holidays are in full swing!

We decided on taking the short cut
across Port Phillip Bay on the Queenscliff / Sorrento Ferry
This means we will dodge Melbourne & its congestion!

We drove on the ferry, parked the car & then headed upstairs!

The water so calm & so still over the bay and for

that i am happy, as i am not a fan of the water at all!!!

We had a cuppa, cake & sat back & enjoyed our ride and scenery!

We arrived safely across the bay @ Queenscliff  40 minutes later!

Once off the ferry we headed for our free camp spot, down near

Apollo Bay along the
Great Ocean Road

It is always a bit tricky going into free camps & caravan parks for that matter, sight unseen!

We haven't done much free camping as yet, so this will be good.....We hope?

The spot we choose was in our camps 5 book is beside a river, & looks good in the picture!

We are thinking as this is a busy time of the year, we need to get there by 2 in the arvo,
that way we would have a better chance of getting a good spot???

We stayed at one last year & everyone started pulling in about 3pm!

Well i just looked @ the time & it is already 1.30pm & we still have a

100 odd kms to go!

The rain just keeps on pouring down

 this is definitely not a good day to drive along this

Spectacular World Famous Road!

Our Eta is 3.25 & we still need to get milk, bread & onions for our BBQ tonight,

plus we need to get diesel for the truck, otherwise we wont be going anywhere!

We just passed a sign

Bells Beach!

Mark said how far away is it??

I estimated about 10 kms off the Hwy
 No we'll keep going he muttered,

I then said........No!

 We should go & have a look we may never be back here!

 Plus, the pro surfing classic is on there right now, which is a pretty famous event & would be so good to see a bit of!

So that is what we did!
Well, i should say....That is what we tried to do!
We got to the intersection to

 Bells Beach & a sign read.....This way to pay & enter the event, otherwise turn right

if you don't want to enter the event!

  Well, we definitely did not want to enter the event.....

I cant surf & Husband didn't bring his board!

We only wanted to go to the beach to have a quick look,
we didn't want to spend the day there,
and getting caught up in the crowds towing a caravan
would not be a good option!
So we took the right hand turn, we thought this would still take us to the beach??With no signs to guide us & the navman off, we followed the next road on the left

Bells Beach Road

Oh No!!!!

5 kms of dirt & we are lost!
Yep trust us!!!

On goes the Navman, & we are back on track!

Well so much for

Bells Beach

It was not meant to be!

This amazing road stretches for over 200 kms & was built by return soldiers, 

in the early 1900's, using nothing but picks & shovels!

No fancy machinery back then, just physical back breaking hard labour!

It was a dedication to those lives lost in

World War 1

The dismal misty day did not detract from the magnificent beauty of it all

It is everything we read & dreamed about & this was just the beginning!

The Scenery as we travelled along was so spectacular,

as the road hugs the rugged coast line of

Bass Straight

So breath takingly beautiful!!

It bought me to tears!

Beauty unfolds @ every turn, as you wind your way slowly around the coast line

with the beautiful beaches & unique townships dotted all along this magical drive!

My favorite little town is

Lorne!

We arrived at our free camp about 4.30 & as we thought,

it was pretty packed!

We parked the van & set up for the night!

I nearly died as i glanced above my head & to my surprise was this darling little Koala!

Such a rare sight to see! 

 I just love camping, even though this is cheating a tad,

 with the luxury of the van & thank the Lord for porta potties,

but it is so good to get back to

basics & nature & to top it all off it is free!

We left our picturesque little camp & headed not far down the road to our next site,

 We planned to stay here for a few days as it is central to the

Twelve Apostles

& the quaint little sea side town of

Port Campbell!

The London Bridge

Apparently in in the 90's this arch to the mainland collapsed & there were people trapped on it for hours waiting to be rescued by helicopter....No Fatalities!

Us @ The Loch Ard Gorge

This Gorge was named after the ship that went down here!

There were 2 survivors, one was Tom Pearce the ships apprentice & the other an Irish immigrant Eva Carmichael

Poor Tom floated for hours in the ocean, when finally the tide turned,

 he was swept up bruised & battered into this gorge,

here he heard the cries of Eva!

He struggled for hours to get her to the beach, he sheltered her in a cave & revived her on a

bottle of brandy he found washed up on the shore.
 He then made his way up the bank for help!
Well there, their story ends!

It was a fizzer for me!

I was hoping for a fairy tale romance & a happily ever after!
Oh well!
 Maybe they just forgot to add that bit!!!

Well from here we are heading to Adelaide!

We have a few problems & it is there, where we will get them fixed!

Firstly.........

Our waeco fridge in the van stopped & will not go, we are living out of the

car fridge & that is a pain in the bum, let me tell you!

Then after washing the van the other day

Mark discovered a crack in the caravan rim, these rims are not even 2 years old!....Meaning we only have 1 spare!

Then the water filler, hose connector, pressure reducer thingy carked it........This means we cant

even use the tank water!

It's filling kettles from the outside tap from now on!

We thought as most things come in 3's that was the end!

Not.... Now our tv areal is broken & wont pick up Chanel's!

We are really roughing it now!!....Hahaha!

 We have been on the road for just under 12 months now,

so i suppose we are pretty lucky, that is all we have to complain about!!!

Cheers till next time!

ENJOY!