Our excitement had been mounting for this section of the trip. We had done a little research on where to stay and what to see and waited until after the Easter no vacancy period. Finally the day had come. We stayed in Geelong with our friends again. Blake and Zane took the 3 girls on a bike ride from Jan Juc Beach in Torquay along the cliffs to Bell's Beach where the Ripcord Pro was being held. We had a fun night playing Boggle and Harper who is 6 was outstanding! Very strong vocab. We set off the following day and visited Torquay first with a promise to return and check out the stores and shops. Our first stay was 3 nights in Anglesea. It was windy and rainy and we utilised the very busy camp kitchen and indoor movie night for kids. Zane had lunch with work mate Emma at the Surfclub. Emma was also doing the GOR during her holidays. We went to the Airies Inlet lighthouse and had views of Table rock. We spent the day in Torquay checking out surf shops, people surfing at the beach, had a picnic at the playground - Torquay is beautiful. We rode ou
r bikes around the tracks in Anglesea and the caravan park put on a pancake breakfast. We packed our trailer to move on and saw that many others were doing the same. As it was the end of the school holidays it was mass exodus from the park. We had an amazing drive from Anglesea to Apollo Bay. Along winding roads by the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. We stayed at Pisces Bi4 caravan park and had a great spot tucked in a corner overlooking the bay. The wind had dropped and the weather was kind. We set up the tarp and were very happy with our lot. We drove up to Mariners Lookout for spectacular views of the bay. We went out for dinner to the Brewhouse and had the best meals of the trip. Swordfish for Zane, Mexicana Parmagiana for Janelle and even Stella's nuggets and chips were great! Zane went to jetty to attempt to catch a squid - no luck. Wandered into the little markets and Zane went for a kayak off the beach and got smashed by waves getting out. We drove up to Mariners Lookout for spectacular views of the bay. The next day we drove into the hills and went to Forrest for a coffee at the brewery. Forest is big into Mountain biking and the microbrewery was cool. We drove on to Lorne - great little beachside town. Firstly we drove up to Erskine falls and had a little hike. We went to the Lorne sea baths and warmed ourselves in the hot pool and steam room. Stella was pretty tough going from the hot spa to the cold pool. On our last day in Apollo Bay we went to Maits Rest for a rainforest walk. There were amazing huge trees, strangler figs, moss and fungi. On the return home we went Koala spotting along a stretch of road and Stella saw her first koalas in the wild.
We drove on from Apollo Bay towards the 12 Apostles and spent the afternoon from the lookouts down to the beach. It was really busy with tourists and Stella got mobbed by some Chinese grannies who took turns taking photos with her for about 10 minutes. It was pretty weird but kinda cute. We stayed the night in Port Campbell and ate pizza by the bay as the sun went down. The backpackers next to us stayed up drinking and singing until around 11pm when Zane had enough and politely yelled at them to go to sleep (in his green thermals). We got up early and drove back to the Apostles and there were much fewer people around. Zane went for a quick swim and we explored the cliffs and beaches.
From there we visited Warnambool so Zane could check out the Maritime Village centre. It was great. They recreated the township and lighthouse and army battery. We drove onto Port Fairy and set up the camper at the Big4. We strolled around the Jetty and had a boat ride aboard The Mulloka which Stella commandeered! Port Fairy was a beautiful little seaside town. It would have been great to stay longer. Zane went for a paddle from the surf club into the marina and a huge aussie fur seal swam out from under the jetty, under the kayak and popped it's head up right beside the kayak. It then swam under and back to the jetty a few more times before floating in the shade of the jetty. Amazing experience! We walked along the jetties, up into the old army battery overlooking the marina entrance and along the beach combing for sea objects as the sun set. This would be our last day on the Great Ocean Road and it was a sweet way to end the trip.