Sunny
but windy and cool
Start time: 9:15am; arrived: 4pm
Walk:
11km
After breakfast we went for a walk into the thriving metropolis of Port
Campbell. Not a lot to see so took a photo of the port and moved right along.
We were ready to leave before we went for a walk, so when we returned, simply
turned the fridge from gas to 12V, locked up the van and off we went.
First stop was only 5km up/down the road to the first of the viewing platforms
on the Great Ocean Road (GOR) to check out various bits, such as Island
Walkway, Razorback, Loch Ard Gorge and Shipwreck Walk. We were going to walk to
see the Blowhole and Mutton Bird Island, however, Gunther found he had a
problem with the lights on his truck - they stayed on even when they were
turned off. It didn't take long for him to find the fault - 4 wires leading to
the plug had rubbed up against a sharp bit on the inside of the A-frame and
worn through the plastic coating and were shorting!! Although not an
auto-electrician, lucky Gunther is an electrician and has all the gear to fix
things like this, and just about anything else for that matter. About 45 mins
later we were on the road again after having mornos while Gunther fixed his
wires.
Next stop was at the Twelve Apostles. We had seen them in Jan 14 on our way to
Adelaide to watch the TDU, but it was a cold, windy and wet day so we didn't
stay for long. This time we did both walks - out to the Apostles and to Gibson
Steps. We just had to have an ice-cream at the Visitor Centre as well. Lunch
was had at Lavers Hill; Greg had a home-made salad, while Wendy opted for a
chicken, tomato, cheese, etc toasted focaccia which was not too bad; better
than the salad sandwich and wraps that G&Y had.
We ventured on to Cape Otway; the road into it was a shocker. G&Y wanted to
see it and the LightStation which is apparently the oldest surviving and most
important lighthouse in mainland Australia. When we eventually got there, we
had to double park behind ignorant motorists who had parked in the long vehicle
bays. We then found out it was about $20 each to walk out to the LightStation
and have a tour. We figured we had already seen enough lighthouses and would
probably see plenty more that we did not need to pay to see this one.
Apollo Bay was our final destination for the day. Wendy decided to ring ahead
to the Apollo Bay Recreation Reserve and Camping Ground as it was fairly busy
and we did not want to miss out on a site. $60 for an uneven, gravel site, with
really old amenities, toilet doors of which do not even have latches!! These
parks along the GOR are milking it, and we will definitely not be staying here
again. Wendy chose this one after reviewing WikiCamps.
After setting up and an afternoon cuppa for Greg, we went for a walk along the
beach which was nothing extraordinary, and very windy. Dinner was prepared
(pork chop and salad, and salmon and left over roast veggies) and was eaten
with G&Y in their van. There was a very noisy collection of families with
quite young children and there was a lot of noise up until 9:15pm when they
finally put the kids to bed. The parents (six) stayed up until well after
midnight drinking, and talking and laughing very loudly. About 11:30pm, Wendy got up, closed all the
windows and turned the aircon on. There
are some very inconsiderate people around who just don’t realise how loud they
are when they are drunk.
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