Great Ocean Road Finale, With Detours (Grey River to Peterborough)

What a day!

We started it off at the off-main coffee roaster "Hello Coffee." Once properly fueled, we made our first stop at Cape Otway, home of Australia's first, and given the number of shipwrecks in the area, most important lighthouse. But for us, this visit was all about the koalas. We spotted our first koala shortly after entering the park, and once adjusted, got damn good at finding them - so good that we had a small group of tourists from China following us. After finding over 10 of the cutest animal on the planet, we headed off to Johanna Beach, home to rugged surf and the alternate to Bell's Beach for the Ripcurl events.

After some time at the beach, we took an upstate detour into agricultural Timboon. Our first stop was a 3rd generation German organic cheesery for a full spread and local craft beer in their garden. And our second stop was Timboon Ice Cream for enormous sundaes. Having fully indulged, we returned to the Great Ocean Road to hit some big sites east of Port Campbell: the Grotto, Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs and The Arch. But of that run of sites, the absolute highlight was when Amanda spotted a kangaroo in a field as dusk was approaching. We pulled over and spent some time observing it, to find out it had two children with it, and that it was part of a much larger clan of about 5 families. We were able to see them eat, graze and run at full speed across and open field - amazing!

That should have been enough to end the trip, but we were still lucky enough to see the Loch Ard (where a ship ran aground on its last night from England, killing everyone but two passengers) and the 12 Apostles just in time for sunset.

Until next time Oz!!

Crossing and Cruising (Portsea to Grey River)

Despite a hard sell from the desk manager at the Portsea Hotel to stay, we decided to leave the tip of the Mornington Peninsula to hit the Great Ocean road. After breakfast in Sorrento, we caught a ferry across Port Phillip Bay to Queenscliff.

The spotty weather continued today, so our first stop was the Ripcurl headquarters in Torquay (one of the major surf destinations in the world that launched a host of well-known brands), followed by a visit to Blackwell's brewery for a tasting. Afterwards, once the weather got a bit better, we visited the famous Bell's beach to see some surfing, followed by a short hike highlighting aborigines - also in Torquay. After that we began our ride down the Great Ocean road, stopping periodically to enjoy the thundering Southern Ocean. Right around sunset, and on the recommendation of the brewery we visited, we had dinner and drinks at the Wye River Hotel, which prominently looks out over the sea. Now halfway through our final road trip, we turned into our rental in Grey River (a town of 8 homes) to stay with the first non-European to ever wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France (11 times).

Overnight in the Bush (Wilsons Promonotory)

We spent the passes two days in Wilsons Promontory at the southern edge of Gippsland, which is simply breathtaking.

Day 1: After a nice breakfast outside Leongatha, drove the two hours down to the "Prom."  For the first leg of our hike, which was about 7.5 miles, we took a easy walk through Eucalyptus trees, before veering into a sandy plain, cut by moist fern forest (where we spotted our first kangaroo) and arriving at a wide, wild, unnamed and empty beach. Tracking it back north, we thought we were on the trail, despite the fact that we were climbing over and between enormous boulders over the ocean. Realizing this could not possibly be the path, we doubled back, found our path and were at Little Waterloo Bay within 30 minutes, where we set up camp for the night. As we approached the beach on the bay for a sunset dinner, we saw our second kangaroo of the day just feet from our campsite.

Day 2: we awoke at dawn for a 15 mile hike. No sooner than we packed our site up did it become clear that the weather was unsettled. Within 20 minutes of setting out, the skies opened up and held steady for the first 2.5 hours. After the first deluge, the rain would stop and sun appear just long enough to allow us to start drying, before the rain returning. And as if the rain wasn't sufficient, the wind was blowing storm force gales the entire hike. But despite all that, the hike was still beautiful. Our first leg took us up over the ridge protecting Little Waterloo Bay, into a gulley, over another crest and into Refuge Cove, which is an idyllic shelter harbor with a small opening accessible to a few small sailboats (we have no pictures from here because our electronics were stowed away from the rain. The next leg had us proceed further up the coast, up and down a few prominences before hitting Sealers Cove, which is another sheltered bay, this one with a mile long crescent beach rounding it out. As was a problem the day before, we were unable to find the path to our next destination. After some time we realized that we had to cross a tidal creek to get to the other side of the bay. After settling on a section to cross, which was going to require wadding through thigh-high water, Amanda got half way through before slipping and taking a small dunk (we were just starting to dry for a fourth time before this). Once we made it across, our final leg was 7 miles through fern gullets, up through forest and over a ridge that really emphasized the force of the winds...and windburned us. About 2 miles from the end of the hike, we hit a small clearing where Amanda all but had it. But we made it out essentially on schedule and can't say enough for how beautiful and unspoiled that park is.

Day 2 Night: we took a 3 hour ride to posh seaside area around Portsea and Sorrento and collapsed into our hotel/hostel.

Getting in Position (Mornington Peninsula)

Tomorrow we are setting out for an overnight hike/camping trip in Wilson's Promontory, so in anticipation we rented a studio in "the country" nearby. On our way, we made our way through Mornington Peninsula, visiting the amazing Green Olive vineyard/farm/restaurant, several beaches (including some with elaborate storage units), and most significantly the Mornington National Park for hikes.