Warming Up!

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Thursday morning (8th December) dawned with a bit of excitement - Graham spotted a fire engine parked at a neighbour’s house. On closer inspection (being nosey) we could see flames billowing into the sky very close to a substantial fence but, fortunately, some way from the house. A garden fire had got out of hand – it was a very warm and calm morning – and even the three volunteer firemen were having difficulty controlling it as the flames threatened to spread. The “garden fire” had been well stocked with, amongst other things, large planks of wood, old doors and frames, anything that would burn. In hindsight, it was very irresponsible to have a fire of such a size but I don’t suppose the old chap who lived there dreamt that it would become such a problem. The firemen were there for a good two hours but eventually everything was brought under control.

We had decided that, if the weather looked reasonable, we would attempt a swim in the sea at Port Campbell. Luckily the weather was gloriously warm with very little breeze so we prepared ourselves for a dip. We also prepared a picnic and set off on the short journey to PC. On arrival we found a handy parking spot and made our way to the beach where a few brave souls were testing the water. Graham and I were determined to have a go but Daphne was suddenly getting cold feet. She chose to settle on the sand under the shade of the sea-wall but Graham and I both braved the water – cool, but we’ve often been in colder water during our journeys around Aus. The beach at PC is very inviting and we were unlikely to get a better opportunity on this week’s trip so, whilst Graham just had a “dip”, I managed several swims. We were accompanied for a while by a sting-ray but it soon drifted off into deeper water. After we had dried off a bit we retreated to a picnic table near where the car was parked and had our picnic overlooking the beach which was a great choice. After a brief stroll around Port Campbell we drove back towards Peterborough but stopped at every advertised viewing area, the first of which gave a view looking back down upon PC. Daphne and I walked a little way along a coastal path while Graham waited by the lookout with his binoculars trying to spot sting-rays. Our journey back to the house took in The Arch, London Bridge and The Grotto, all of which were stunning and fascinating in equal measure – a brilliant stretch of coast. Back at the house we all just relaxed with a book (although Graham dozed) and spent an idle couple of hours just un-winding. I had an idea about walking to the Bay of Martyrs and back in the evening but Graham persuaded me it would be too far, especially on top of what we’d done already. So we compromised and after a lovely dinner, we drove to the B of M and walked down onto the beach – beautiful. Then Daphne and I started walking back along the coastal path while Graham took the car back as far as the golf course where he parked up and then walked to meet us. We must have dawdled because he covered far more of the walk coming back to meet us than we had managed, but there were so many lovely outlooks which we stopped to view and photograph. Eventually we met up and by the time we arrived back at the golf course the sun was just setting – it was perfect. The” sunset " was rosier than last night as there was a bit more cloud about which made it spectacular. What a great way to end the day – except that we then had some strawberries with yoghurt and sat and watched the film ‘The Man from Snowy River’ again. Rod made contact part way through the film and, once we’d established a decent signal, we had a lengthy conversation. All this meant that before we knew it it was midnight and time for bed.

On Friday 9^th December we awoke not really sure what we would be up to. The weather forecast had not been good and, sure enough, it was very overcast and looked as though it may have rained a bit during the night. One of the things we’d considered was returning to Warrnambool, a city we had really enjoyed a few days ago and which could well stand another visit. It wasn’t cold or even breezy so, although we didn’t consider going prepared for a swim, we decided that Warrnambool was the place to go. Beforehand though, at about mid-morning, we chanced a visit to Julie’s Mum who lives in the village and who “keeps an eye” on the holiday house. Earlier in the week we had missed her but we wanted to leave a little gift for Julie so called round to see if Mum – Mary – was in. She was and we had a delightful chat with the lovely lady. We then drove on to Warrnambool and on the way into the city we took advantage of a Coles petrol station as we were quite low on fuel and had a couple of discount vouchers to use up. We received an excellent discount on the fuel and then drove into the city centre to find a parking spot. Graham became aware of an odd noise relating to one of the wheels and drove on to Cannon Hill Park overlooking Pertobe Lake, where he was able to examine the tyres. Alas, he discovered that a large “stud-like” nail had penetrated one of the rear tyres – the large head was still protruding by about a centimetre which accounted for the odd noise and which meant we couldn’t really drive any further on it in case it split the tyre. Fortunately the spare tyre was in good condition so it was just a matter of changing the wheel but, with his heart condition, Graham didn’t feel confident about coping too well so we called the RACV. It would take them about an hour to arrive so Daphne and I went off to the shops hoping Graham would be able to join us later. After about 45 minutes, an RACV van approached and Graham, thinking it was for him, tried to wave it down but it just drove straight by and pulled into another parking spot a few spaces away. The driver then got out his sandwich box and proceeded to have his lunch - it was the wrong van!!! Ten minutes later the correct van arrived and the fellow soon had the wheel changed and gave some advice about how best to repair the tyre. I arrived back to see how things were progressing just as the task was being performed. I had left Daphne outside a pub-cum-restaurant listening to a jazz band, so she was very happy. Neither of us had done much shopping but Graham and I then joined her and we found a lovely restaurant to have what turned out to be a splendid lunch. Driving a little tentatively because the spare tyre was a little low on pressure, we then went down through the Pertobe Park area to the sea front and had a little walk along the sheltered beach we had admired on Wednesday. The weather was beginning to warm up so a dip in the sea wouldn’t have been un-realistic but we hadn’t come prepared so we just enjoyed the stroll.

Our journey back out of town included a bit of “I Spy”. We were looking for a petrol station with an air-line and a tyre depot to see if we could get a “quick fix” of the damaged tyre. We found an air-line so Graham was able to add a bit of pressure to the new tyre and to check the others as well. We didn’t find a tyre depot though so we’ll have to hope we get back to Melbourne without further incident tomorrow and Graham can get it fixed there. About 10 kilometers out of Warrnambool is Cheeseworld where Graham and I had called on our last visit here. Daphne seemed keen so in we went to see what was on offer. Not only did we both buy cheese but we bought postcards, ice-creams and coffees so it proved to be a worthwhile stop, at least for Cheeseworld’s profits! Our day had remained dry but we noticed that, nearer to Peterborough, the roads were very wet. Strangely, back at the house, it was also very dry so the rainfall must have been very localised. After our generous lunch in Warrnambool we settled for a light evening meal and spent time writing out cards and generally relaxing but with an eye also on the tidying up process which we will need to complete before we leave tomorrow for the journey back to Melbourne. We all agreed that it had been a very special week in a wonderful location and the variety and natural beauty of this part of the Great Ocean Road makes Peterborough a superb centre for exploring the area. We are very lucky to have been able to make use of Julie’s holiday house in such an exquisite, quiet location as Peterborough which is virtually un-touched by the spread of tourism seen in other nearby areas - long may it continue. (Thank you so much Julie.)

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Photos

A neighbour had been a bit over enthusiastic building and lighting a huge bonfire
- it was very fortunate that the nearby fence didn't catch fire

London Bridge now missing one of the arches
but still a spectacular sight

The remains of the bonfire
- the Fire Brigade left their water hose there just in case!

Evening stroll along the beach at the Bay of Martyrs
- wonderful