Roadtrip update!
Hello you lovely people! Rohan and I are ensconced in a motel in Hall's Gap in the Grampians National Park and a freaking enormous kangaroo just bounded past our back door. It's awesome.
Everything has gone smoothly for us so far. We headed down the Great Ocean Road, to Lorne (which is as far as I've been before) and then on to Apollo Bay where we spent the night, then onwards to see the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge and all the other groovy coastline sights. It was stinking hot - 38 degrees. I got sunburnt in the few short minutes I had my hat off (because the wind at the Twelve Apostles threatened to blow it away!) Then we went on to spend two nights in sweet sleepy Port Fairy, after cooling off in the ocean until we were all prunified. And there was drama! We had to call the ambulance for a poor old gent who tumbled over while crossing the road in Warrnambool - I don't think he was too badly hurt but he bumped his head and his knuckles were all bloody, and better be safe than sorry with a head bump in the elderly.
Also in Warrnambool, I bought a book about the immigrant experience on the voyage to Australia and - unbelievable but true - the book contains a diary kept by an English girl who emigrated on not just the same ship but the exact SAME VOYAGE as Rohan's great-great-grandmother Anastasia. So we now can find out a bit about her journey!
Now we are in Hall's Gap watching cockatoos and kangaroos from our back door. It's awesome. Sadly we are on mobile bandwidth and I can't upload everything yet, but here, have some pics of the first two days.
This is not Lorne Beach, despite my naming of the file. It does show you why this is called the Surf Coast though.
Closeup of people having fun in the water. It was a really hot day.
Erskine Falls near Lorne.
Apollo Bay at sunset. We swam here.
Lovely and peaceful.
Cape Otway Lighthouse, apparently Australia's most significant lighthouse. I don't know if it's the oldest but it's pretty old, dating from the late 1840s I believe. This was the first indication of land for many people emigrating to Australia.
View from the lighthouse.
Frederick Valentich plaque! This was Australia's biggest UFO mystery ever. There was even a whole episode of 'In Search Of...' dedicated to him!
The Twelve Apostles. Must admit, they are really something :)
A different view with an extra 'apostle' (I only counted nine, and that was being generous and counting the collapsed rubble as one)
London Bridge - or what's left of it. This used to be an actual land bridge connected to the mainland, but it collapsed in 1990. Fortunately nobody was killed, although two people were marooned on the other side for some hours.
Check out these awesome stark cliffs!
Some of the islands in the Bay of Islands.
And some more of them.
Homes along the river at Port Fairy. Very pretty!
Everything has gone smoothly for us so far. We headed down the Great Ocean Road, to Lorne (which is as far as I've been before) and then on to Apollo Bay where we spent the night, then onwards to see the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge and all the other groovy coastline sights. It was stinking hot - 38 degrees. I got sunburnt in the few short minutes I had my hat off (because the wind at the Twelve Apostles threatened to blow it away!) Then we went on to spend two nights in sweet sleepy Port Fairy, after cooling off in the ocean until we were all prunified. And there was drama! We had to call the ambulance for a poor old gent who tumbled over while crossing the road in Warrnambool - I don't think he was too badly hurt but he bumped his head and his knuckles were all bloody, and better be safe than sorry with a head bump in the elderly.
Also in Warrnambool, I bought a book about the immigrant experience on the voyage to Australia and - unbelievable but true - the book contains a diary kept by an English girl who emigrated on not just the same ship but the exact SAME VOYAGE as Rohan's great-great-grandmother Anastasia. So we now can find out a bit about her journey!
Now we are in Hall's Gap watching cockatoos and kangaroos from our back door. It's awesome. Sadly we are on mobile bandwidth and I can't upload everything yet, but here, have some pics of the first two days.
This is not Lorne Beach, despite my naming of the file. It does show you why this is called the Surf Coast though.
Closeup of people having fun in the water. It was a really hot day.
Erskine Falls near Lorne.
Apollo Bay at sunset. We swam here.
Lovely and peaceful.
Cape Otway Lighthouse, apparently Australia's most significant lighthouse. I don't know if it's the oldest but it's pretty old, dating from the late 1840s I believe. This was the first indication of land for many people emigrating to Australia.
View from the lighthouse.
Frederick Valentich plaque! This was Australia's biggest UFO mystery ever. There was even a whole episode of 'In Search Of...' dedicated to him!
The Twelve Apostles. Must admit, they are really something :)
A different view with an extra 'apostle' (I only counted nine, and that was being generous and counting the collapsed rubble as one)
London Bridge - or what's left of it. This used to be an actual land bridge connected to the mainland, but it collapsed in 1990. Fortunately nobody was killed, although two people were marooned on the other side for some hours.
Check out these awesome stark cliffs!
Some of the islands in the Bay of Islands.
And some more of them.
Homes along the river at Port Fairy. Very pretty!