Princetown to Apollo Bay
clouds and green roads, Castle Cove, Maits Rest Rainforest walk
From Princetown the road turns inland through green hills and in our case low hanging clouds. We stopped for coffee in Lavers Hill and from here turned towards the coast again. The next view point was Castle Cove where we met 5 Germans and an Austrian couple. We skipped Cape Otway and the Lighthouse but stopped again at Maits Rest for a lovely 1km Rainforest hike. The cool climate Rainforest has a stunning green and huge fern trees. The sun came out a little bit making everything even greener. We all enjoyed the hike, after being in the car for more than two days.
Maits Rest to Lorne
more lush green hills, Wye River NP, back on the Great Ocean Road, Sheoak hike, playground in Lorne
Lunch stop in Apollo Bay, one of the few spots where you can swim (if you dare to in those temperatures, like -I assume - the English group who did it). The view onto the bay is lovely and we could sit outside at a picnic table. Otherwise it looks very touristy and we headed off again to get to our next free camp in the Wye River National Park. What a difference! 3 separate campgrounds with a total of 12 sites and hardly anyone there. Deep in the forrest, we enjoyed the solitude and quietness and dragged Sarah along for another little hike to look out for Koalas. We didn't see any but heard them in the night. The weather got better next morning and on the way to Lorne we stopped for the 2km Sheoak-Hike with waterfall, cave and lots of steps. And Sarah, after being really grumpy and unhappy that morning, got into a happy and relaxed mood. We managed to find a parking spot in crowded Lorne - everyone seemed to be out for late breakfast or coffee with friends to enjoy the sunshine. The big playground was the next stop and Sarah was happily running around, climbing up and down.
Geelong
Geelong and Werribee
We decided to give the greater Melbourne region a miss. Too busy for our liking. However there is no way around Melbourne unless you do a huge de-tour. Our route went past Torquay and then Geelong. It was Saturday afternoon and it felt like all of Melbourne was heading the same way home. We stopped at the Geelong sports ground, so Sarah could play a bit on the playground and I was in need of a cup of coffee. We planned on staying a short drive outside of Geelong, next to the highway. But not like WA, where it didn't matter if you camp beside a highway - this one was busy as. We moved on and finally found a nice caravan park in Werribee, right on the beach. They also had two playgrounds and the best showers we had in a long time, so happy days. ;-)
Melbourne
Melbourne in 5 minutes