Friday
Up early and off to Sorrento, which is only 10 minutes up the coast to wait for the 9am ferry. A beautiful, sunny, warm day sitting out on the dock after all the rain yesterday waiting for the ferry to come in. Once we were loaded onto the ferry, it was a 40 minute ride across the entrance to Port Philip bay. We unloaded at Queenscliff and drove onto Torquay, which is the start of the GOR. Had a look at Danger Point which is on the corner between Front beach and Back beach. This is major surfing territory and we carried onto Bells beach which is one of the famous beaches used for major competitions. The waves here made the ones at Bondi look quite tame. We drove onto Anglesea for a quick lunch and then to Lorne where we are staying for the next few days as we explore the area. We are in a great house on the front overlooking the ocean. We unpacked for the first time in a few days and shopped for a barbeque this evening.

Saturday
We decided to go off to explore the twelve apostles today even though the forecast was a bit mixed. We drove down the coast to Apollo Bay and stopped for a coffee and a browse round the outdoor market. We had been driving down the coast to here but after this the road went inland, first through rainforest in the Otway park and then into flatter and more open farming country. We were heading for the Twelve Apostles although there are only 8 left but as we approached them the mist rolled in from the sea and stayed with us for the next couple of hours. We had a picnic lunch at the Razorback and decided to go onto Loch Ard Gorge where it was still misty. We then went onto London Bridge, about 8K further on. As we were approaching this area, the sun came through and we walked down to the beach. The immmense ciffs of sandstone, the waves breaking that you could feel as well as hear and the stacks of rock looking rather forlorn were an amazing experience.
We went back to where we started at the twelve apostles and they were clear, although overrun with tourists walked down the Gibson Steps to the beach and took some photos. We then had a two and a half hour drive back, calling for fish and chips in Lorne on our way home about 8pm.

Sunday
A slow start to the day today after a long day out yesterday. We set off late morning to walk along the beach into Lorne, a hot sunny day again, walking at the edge of the ocean. A little wander down the main street, this is a small tourist town with a hotel, post office, small supermarket and several small shops, coffee shops and cafes. We walked back down to the beach by the swing bridge over the river at the end of town and stopped for a bit of lunch, I had a smashed avocado and apples, walnuts and chilli on wholegrain toast, Graham had poached eggs and bacon on sourdough, before walking back to the house. We then went for a drive up to Erskine Falls, about 10k out of town and walked 236 steps down to the foot of the falls and then back up again. We were thinking about the development of these falls in the mid 1850s and the similarities with say Aira Force and the opening up of some of these natural highlights at similar times on opposite sides of the world. We called at Teddys Lookout on the way home which looked out over the next bay on from Lorne to the West. Home for a roast lamb dinner courtesy of Tim and Chris.

Monday
Set off this morning to drive to the Otway National Park and onto the Otway lightstation. We stopped off for a coffee at Apollo Bay and then through miles of winding roads up into the forest before arriving at the lighthouse, along with the mist coming in again. We had a picnic lunch in the grounds and then walked up the tower, the lighthouse is no longer in operation, there is a lower light that shines still as a warning, powered by solar and fully automatic. We drove onto Otway treetops walk which was an amazing construction of metal walkways set in the trees sloping gradually up to a height of 47 metres. there was a tower at the end with a spiral staircase to take you to the top and then a cantileveer arm reaching out from here, which was far too wobbly, even though it said it could take the weight of 14 elephants. It was amazing to be up in the top canopy of the massive red mountain ash and beech and eucalyptus trees.