Day 91 -Wednesday 29 March - The Great Ocean Road - So great we did it again

Day 91

Wednesday

29 March 2017

Queenscliff – Anglesea – Wye River – Skenes Creek - Otway Tree Top Walk – Barongarook – Forrest

Ding da ding da ding. What is that sound? Morning alarm. It’s 7am time to get up! Urgh, I am so not used to this. We had a long day planned and that meant an early morning call. We resisted the urge to roll over and continue sleeping and slowly organised ourselves. The sky was a beautiful pinky orange glow, as the sun slowly made its self known to the morning. Had I not been so busy I would have loved to have gone to the pier to take photos, maybe tomorrow.

As planned we were on the road by 830am, me in the car and Paul on his bike. The whole reason we bought the trail bike was for Paul to ride the Great Ocean Road. After doing this trip in 2003 in the car and caravan, with Paul attempting to get the car on 2 wheels at every corner, he was determined to return to ride and today was the day.

I lead the way with the gps giving me required directions. We stopped in at Anglesea for Paul to fill up with fuel. I took advantage of the stop to take some quick snaps along the estuary. Once ready we were back on the road following the black tarmac that hugged, dipped and weaved its way along the coastline. I enjoyed the opportunity to drive the car on the road, it was fun manoeuvring the car this way and that. If I was enjoying it I am sure Paul was too.

We stopped for a second time just outside of Wye River to take a photo of the regenerating trees and the scarred landscape and then continued to follow the road to Skenes Creek where we stopped for a quick bite to eat and to take some photos.

We were leaving the Great Ocean Road at this point and heading into the forest of the Otway National Park. We could see the cloud cover building so Paul donned the wet weather gear and then followed me into the forest. The road still winding but this time the sheer cliffs and Bass Strait were replaced with dense forest growth and valleys filled with cloud. It was such a contrast but still so beautiful.
 At one point the car windscreen was constantly covered in a fine mist, it wasn’t raining, it was just the low cloud we were moving through. You could not see what was beyond the road and it was hard to judge the contour of the land with this fine white blanket set in.

We eventually made our destination, the Otway Fly and Tree Top Walk. Paul peeled himself from his bike. He was like a frozen popsicle covered in goose bumps. He layered up with other clothing in an attempt to build up his body warmth and then we went in to the centre. It was warm and dry in here and he quickly regained some heat in his bones.

We paid to do the walk, $25 each, the zip lining looks like much more fun, but at $125 we weren’t doing that and we didn’t think the weather was all that great for it either.

We made our way into the forest walking the paths and looking up in to the tree line above. It was much like walking through the forest areas of the SW. We reached the metal walkway, which they boast is the longest and tallest in Australia, and began our walk. You could feel some movement beneath your feet as you traversed the metal gangplanks.

The walkway culminated in a tower, again a stairway cork screwed its way up the outer edge to a platform. Up here you could feel the sway as the breeze rattled through the trees. There was a great view from here over the canopy of the trees.

Once at the bottom, we followed out along the next walkway that culminated in a cantilever section. You are greeted with the message that it can hold 14 full size elephants, so figuring we were safe we walked to the end to enjoy the view of the forest, low cloud once again making its way across the canopy.

We then continued to follow the walkway through the forest, returning to the forest floor and meandering through the tree ferns. We were back at the info centre just over an hour later, cold and starving. We had our lunch in the car, but opted for a warm chicken and camembert pie instead.

Paul donned the riding gear and we drove on to Barrongarook to check out the Otway Estate Winery and Brewery, home to Prickly Moses Beer. They weren’t open when we got there, but Paul sweet-talked his way in. We were given a run down of the estate, shown through the brewery and then the all important taste test was laid on, in which he was also given 4 beers to take away and enjoy.

Once finished, we drove on to Colac for fuel and then it was on to our next destination and another brewery, Forrest Brewing Company in Forrest. This was a much smaller establishment, but it was at least open and Paul was once again given a tasting paddle to sample the range.

It was now 4.30pm and the GPS was telling me we had a one and half hour drive ahead of us. With it set we followed the route it suggested, taking us through areas we had not seen, most of it farming land. I was watching Paul in the rear view mirror and noting how dark the sky was becoming behind us. We were in for some weather at some stage.

With the radio for company, the drive time whizzed by. Paul stopped again for fuel in Barwon Heads. By now the roads were familiar and we were only 30min from home. I was expecting more homeward bound traffic, but it never eventuated. We pulled into the park just before 6, both of us exhausted but glad for the adventure.

Paul put the bike on the back, we tidied up and then made our way into the Queenscliff Brewhouse for dinner. We spoke to Darcy the friendly barman, ordered our meals and found a quiet spot to sit. Our meals arrived and were huge, but were devoured them in no time as we were famished.  We even managed dessert, sticky date pudding, way too much for me, so Paul had 1 and ½ portions. We should have shared one.

Now so full, we made our way back to the van, Paul went straight to bed to read while I sorted the photos and joined him soon after, reading only for a short time before my eyes refuse to stay open.

Day 90 - Tuesday 28 March - Back to the coast

Day 90

Tuesday

28 March 2017

Geelong – Queenscliffe – Bellbrae – Torquay

Neither of us had the best night’s sleep last night and we were awake early, so we were up and organising ourselves for the road earlier than usual; not a bad thing. We did everything we could do with in the park and then we shifted the vehicles out to the parking area under the traffic bridge and got the car onto the trailer before making our way to Queenscliffe.

It was an easy 30min drive to our new accommodation. We again stopped in the car park outside and unhitched the getz before checking in and making our way to our camp spot in the corner all on our own. We set ourselves up for our stay and then decided to walk into town, as it was only a kilometre or so out.

We checked out the cool old buildings we have become use to seeing in these towns. We passed the bakery, another one stating it was an award winning bakery and continued on to the wharf where the car ferry leaves from for the Mornington Peninsula. 

On the wharf there was a 360 degree viewing tower that we wandered up. The staircase corkscrewed its way up to the platform where we could take in the views across Bass Strait and Port Phillip Bay across to the Mornington Peninsula. We watched a ferry making its way over from Sorrento before returning to the ground and making our way to the ferry office to check on what we have to do to get on it on Thursday. The girl was very helpful and we came away with all the information we required.

We continued our walk along the front, before walking down the pier to check on the fishermen. There were a group of kids out on school camp, we wanted to push them in. Once we had seen what was on offer, we returned to the main centre of town, stopping in at the pie shop for a pie. They weren’t bad, but we were still hungry, so we walked back to the van and made our lunch.

At 2pm we got back in the car and drove out to the Great Ocean Road Chocolateria in Bellbrae. We had seen this building on our travels on Saturday and made comment that it was much like the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. As it turns out, it is owned by a woman who use to be a manager at the WA stores and took all the winning points and started her own version here in Victoria. This is the second factory, the first being in the Yarra Valley. This building has only been open 6 months. 

We walked inside the building and were greeted by the giant chocolate tasting bowls and the many different truffles. Standing back and scanning the space, we could have been mistaken thinking we were at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. The chocolate even tasted the same.

We did a wander around the merchandise, helping ourselves to copious handfuls of chocolate buttons, before ordering a hot chocolate. Again this was just like the WA version, though it did come with a small cup of melted chocolate to add to your drink: yum chocky heaven.

We watched the chocolate fountains, browsed the shelves and checked out the workers in the factory section. I found my favourite nut clusters, so we left with a small bag of goodies, happy days. 

I took some photos inside and then outside in the gardens before we jumped back in the car and drove to Torquay. Instead of driving through, we made our way to the town centre and parked up. Deciding to walk along the beachfront walk enjoying the glorious weather once again, it was just delightful. 

With our skin warmed and pink, we continued our drive back to the van, getting in just after 4pm. We hung around for a bit, happy to take it easy. Paul then gathered his fishing gear and took off to the pier. I opted to walk, so that I could wander the streets and take some photos of the various buildings and the water. I had instructions to drop in for beers at the bottle-o and bring them to him, so I made a brief detour and then met him on the pier. There was nothing biting unfortunately. 

He continued to fish while I took to the beach to take some more photos as the sun was starting to dip away and was turning everything yellow. Some big ships were entering the bay, heading for Melbourne with their cargo. When I returned to Paul, he was all fished out, so we packed up, returned to the car and drove back to the van. 

I sorted dinner, before we ate and I worked on the photos and blog as Paul called Jason at home and then sat down to enjoy his beer and his book. We were in for an early night tonight as we had a big day planned for tomorrow and wanted to be out on the road nice and early.