Day 39

11 March 2013

 

This morning we got up before the sun to start packing up the camper for our ferry ride. While we did try and be as quiet as possible the neighbours probably weren't too happy being woken up before sunrise! Joel wound the camper down and it was about half way down when I realized that the front was going down but the back was still in full upright position! The roof was on a total 45 degree angle! Shiiiiittttt! We thought the winch in the camper had finally given way or something had broken, turns out a few wiggles and a few bangs later the back part fell to the fronts level. Haha classic Jayco. We were on a time limit being booked on the barge for 8am so luckily it did not turn into a big problem.

Headed to Sorrento and we were running early and made it to the barge at 7am and just in the nick of time to catch the earlier one so we didn't have to wait another hour! And we were on the ferry for sunrise which was nice....

Ferry is very comfortable, nice cafe where we grabbed coffee and nice lounges to rest in while the ferry does the rest.

Only took about 30 mins to arrive at Queenscliff, headed off the ferry on our way to the Great Ocean Road!!

Drove on the Great Ocean Road through Torquay, Stopped at the Memorial Arch for a photo, Angelsea, Lorne, Apollo Bay. What a great road, really, why aren't they all built like this! It should be called Great Scenery Road though I think as some bits do cut inland and you wonder where the ocean went but still spectacular!

Past Apollo Bay and then we started to run out of Diesel....hmmm in the middle of two towns we decided to press on to Lavers Hill as google indicated there was a petrol station there. On way to Lavers Hill we checked out a campsite at Aire River (probably not the best choice when running out of fuel) was nice here but was absolutely packed with people for the long weekend so headed back out on highway to continue to Lavers Hill.

Diesel getting low, but come up the hill and see petrol pumps....thank you....but wait diesel pump has a sign saying "no I don't work" and unleaded has sign saying "yes I work"! Not helpful, apparently pub down road might have diesel left......head to the pub.....doesn't look open, picked up diesel nozzle and there is a padlock on it! Panic stations, we are nowhere close to another town and we are on the red line! While we were sitting contemplating how we got ourselves into this mess, a guy comes out and says "you guys aren't from around here are ya?" He also had a key in his hand that opened the diesel pump!!! Saviour!!! He told us he rations the fuel as there is limited supply so depending on whether he likes people or not he will give them $20 of diesel or a full tank! Haha he filled our tank up! That was soooo lucky!

On the way up the hill we found another free campsite on the beach so headed back here to check it out with a full tank of fuel. Great spot, in Johanna, right on the beach, big open grassy areas, lots of friendly people around and it's free! Winning!

Spent the arvo setting up, resting, beach fishing and eating!

Tomorrow day trip without camper!

Big Happy Birthday to Rachael!! Hope you had a great day!! We did buy you a card but forgot to send it! So made you a card in the sand at Johanna, Vic....you can't buy this!

Carly & Joel

Tip we learnt today - instead of buying the chemicals for your porta loo, use napisan, it doesn't smell as much and you can then tip it into toilets as it is biodegradable! Great tip as chemicals are expensive! Thanks to two men emptying their porta loos or "dumping" (as it is commonly referred) while we were at the toilet block. You just never know when you might find out useful info!

 

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Day 37

9 March 2013

We did not sleep well last night, the park is on a pretty major road and the cars don't seem to stop all night! We did go to the chemist and get earplugs so Joel has been testing them but they don't block the noise completely. Anyway we were both pretty tired and cranky today (not a good combo when you can only hang around each other) so decided to head to the beach to hang out for most of the day!

We found a nice place at Koonya beach at Sorrento and set up our beach umbrella to keep some of the 38 degree heat off us! Water was pretty rough today, especially on this beach, and there are rocks everywhere so bit dangerous.

We had packed lunch so decided to head to Point Napean NP and do a couple of the walks here and have lunch. We took the path to the observatory lookout and came to some picnic tables and a nice spot right on the beach. This area used to be where they would quarantine and test cattle for diseases coming from overseas. Some remains of the bridge that used to bring the cattle from the boats to the mainland are still here.

We had some lunch and continued on the Coles track that takes you back to the carpark. There are plenty of walks here so no shortage of ones to choose from. Back at the car we decided to check out Flinders which is on the other side of the peninsula. Along the road was a little stall selling farm fresh tomatoes...we decided to stop and have a bit of a look, it was like an honesty system, put the money in the box, take the tomatoes.....pretty simple. Funny thing was there was a camera in the little cart that had recorded people who had stole the tomatoes and the owner had printed out a picture of each person and pinned their photo up in the cart! What a shame that someone has to go to this much trouble to sell bloody tomatoes! What is wrong with people!!!

Anyway back on road we checked out the blowhole and mushroom reef and also walked the Flinders jetty. After this we had filled the whole day so headed back to camp for some rest!

Good news, we think the fridge in the ute has shit itself, it was displaying some error and draining the battery. May be that it was just too hot yesterday, tomorrow will tell! Fingers crossed it is fixable!

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 34

6 March 2013

Woke up to a fairly crappy sleep last night, the road that the park is on is quite noisy and a major road it seems, pretty much all night! Slept in shorts last night for first time as it is warm days here ATM and it was pure bliss!

Started morning off with a run, there are great bike track/walking tracks all through the park, they must span at least 20km and are right on the water. Back for a shower and to do some washing, hooked up some clothes lines with rope between trees to hang out washing.

Decided to head to Sorrento to check out where we will catch the barge from and just to have a sticky beak. Really pretty down there of course, right on the water, clear blue calm water, can't go wrong. We walked out to the pier where the ferry goes from and sat down to take in the serenity....hehe and we could see the ferry coming back so decided to wait and see how big it was in real life! Well the verdict is it is big and the driver must be good to reverse between some concrete pillars and tight spaces!

We then saw a sign for historic steam tram and lookout walk and followed the signs. Up some stairs and round a corner and there are some old tram lines and information boards with the story of the old steam tram. Walk further and up some more stairs and you get 180 degree views of Sorrento and surrounding bays. There is also a picnic area here if you are equipped with a picnic, we were not so headed back down to keep going and check out Portsea.

Bit more driving around through national park (lots of walks in here), then to shops to pick up a few bits and bots.

It was warm today so at 2ish we had enough and decided to go and sit in the water instead of in the hot sun. It was low tide so there is not much deep water, just knee deep waterholes everywhere, so we just sat down in one of the holes and enjoyed the cool water and great weather!

Back to the camper for our first try at lamb shanks in the weber. We bought a casserole dish to fit in the weber and i would say it was a big success, also found a meat shop that has cheap cheap meat with our lamb shanks only being $5! Cheap meal - done. Tomorrow we will do some more exploring and try and be a bit more active!

C u tomorrow

Carly & Joel

 

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