Iconic Victoria

We had heard about this thing called free camping but wasnt sure it sounded safe or legit since it is illegal to stop and sleep in certain places like carparks hehe. Having had our night of luxury we headed off to find a free camp in the National Parks of Lorne. We were so lucky to find one that only had 8 sites and was high up a path in the middle of nowhere. It was fantastic (no electricity or toilets there but some a few kms down the road) so beautiful, so we set up for our first night sleeping in the back of our car. Seats down matresses placed car light on we realised we could not fully stretch our legs but we would be warm enough and it was an experience. Drank some wine watched a movie and slept ok considering the small conditions :) This is James reluctant to get up the following morning and the view from the car!







 First car camping experience taught us some seroius lessons! Buy a camp stove and take your own food, long drops are worse than going for the room with a view and park before sunset if you want a spot!

The next day we had the most fantastic variation in things to do we went to a waterfall, a light house, on a forest walk and a hike down onto a beach. This didnt even including the time spent parked on the side of the road watching koalas in the wild which was really awesome! Here some photos:

We spent that night in another free camp in Cape Otway National Park with that view down to the beach we walked to just meters from our car.
The next day was the big one when we were off to see the most photographed landscape in Victoria the 12 apostles. Turns out 12 is a bit ambitious and there are really only a few, the debate is whether there were ever 12 but we know at least one has been claimed back by the sea in recent years. So we added to the millions and took our photos oohed and aahed and fought through the long weekend crowds but it was worth it :)

I love having the blog as a reference to look back on our travels which was a bonus to its main cause of keeping family and friends up to date with the stuff we up to. Unfortunately it doesnt quite work as well as an email in making people reply with their news and we have no idea what you all are up to :( Please post comments on my blog if  you reading it so I know if its worth carrying on :) We miss you!

all aboard

It has been waaay too long since my last post so I will try get some of the important bits summed up this week :)

If you google things to do or places to go in Victoria the one place that will always be there is The Great Ocean Road. It is a two hundred and fifty something kilometer ocean drive. It is the world's largest world war memorial with a great history story. It was built by 3000 ex-servicemen after WW1 to commemorate those that were lost in battle.

We started out late in the day to get us from Neerim to the Mornington peninsula to start early the next day. On arriving in the peninsula we still had no place to stay and had worked out it was not the cheapest area to spend time in. We spoilt ourselves to a night in a motel. Now my idea of a motel is from American movies where it's dingy and someone inevitably gets murdered. So I was really surprised in my last minute research to see how expensive these places were! We found a reasonably priced one and in moving in suddenly realised why you pay more. It was a lovely self contained room with a dining room table, a fully equipped kitchen, huge comfy bed and an immaculate bathroom. Coming from potato dust covered permanent camping I thought we were in heaven. Best night sleep ever and the most incredible shower. I think from this period in my life I will forever remember how much each good shower meant to me hahaha. It's not that we are dirty the rest of the time it's just that a luke warm pressureless shower each day is less than remarkable!

We decided to splash out and take a ferry trip across a short area of the bay that would allow us to cut Melbourne out of our journey and give us the experience of a boat ferry. I don't remember ever having been on one and I really enjoyed driving the car up onto a boat and whisking across the bay in so short a time. It had pretty views and a nice atmosphere onboard but it was over too

On the other side we set off on our drive just before the official start of the Great Ocean road driving through little towns that were full of markets and cute little shops. One of the first places we stopped was called Angelsea and ended up being on of my favourite places on the trip.

quickly.

We hired and pedal boat since James had never been on one and pedaled our way up and down the allowed area on the river. There were ducks and other peddlers and I couldn't help but feel like I was on that ride in Rollercoaster tycoon (for anyone that has played that game). We even amused ourselves by peddling after the ducks to see if they would quack if we clicked on them ;) I temporarily got off the boat to take a photo and my loving husband decided it would be funny to paddle off without me leaving me stranded on a random exposed part of the river looking very guilty and awkward! After the great boat trip we bought ourselves a little fishing rod and a liscence and complete with picnic went in search of a quiet place to fish on the river. I sat and made lunch while James failed dismally to provide us with fresh dinner, but it was lovely and peaceful. It was at this place that we stealed our nerves and decided to try the awfully red looking "Creaming soda" to establish its worth... it is disgusting! Dont try it EVER! Luckily some good cheese on crackers and a back up drink got us through the experienec relatively unharmed :)

That night we had driven as far as Lorne, the biggest town on the Great Ocean road famous for its hikes and waterfalls... sooo next time on the blog great ocean road continues!