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Published: November 19th 2012
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After we left the cold weather in Wilsons Prom, we decided to skip Phillip Island because the Moto GP was on that weekend and head straight for the GOR. We drove through Geelong stocked up on supplies and made our way through the surf towns of Torquay and Anglesea. Torquay is the home of the original Quiksilver and Rip Curl shops and some real bargains can be found and we painfully looked but didn't touch and moved on quickly to Anglesea. Anglesea is a nice little seaside town with a great beach to learn to surf. From here the road continues to Aireys Inlet which has a famous lighthouse but as we had planned to see the Cape Otway lighthouse further along the coast we decided to push on. From here the road really starts to live up to its name as it snakes around the rugged headlands with spectacular views of the sea. Unfortunately for us Victoria's strange and unpredictable weather had decided to turn and driving the GOR in rain and wind was not the romantic vision we had planned. We still enjoyed it though as it was great to see the power of the ocean in full force.
We drove through Lorne and then inland through forest until we made it to the turn off for Cape Otway Lighthouse. Cape Otway Lighthouse is supposed to be the best and most spectacular lighthouse in Oz and for me, after growing up enjoying watching kids tv programmes like 'Portland Bill' and 'Round the Twist' I secretly have some sort of lighthouse fetish. However, to my annoyance the greedy seadogs that run the lighthouse have built the car park so far away that you can't even see it and have to pay 20 dollars per person to view it! As this was not in our budget we instead walked about a mile up the hill and viewed from a distance, it was so small we could hardly see it and left rather disappointed to say the least. It was not all bad though, on the road to the lighthouse there were loads of cute Koala in the trees to admire and take photos. We drove on and the road again veered inland (it's supposed to be an ocean road god damn it) until we eventually made it to our free campsite for the evening, the wild and rugged Johanna Beach. It
was raining and cold so we quickly cooked up some food, opened a bottle wine and turned in for an early night. The next morning the weather was still a bit cloudy but thankfully not as cold and we made our way to the highlight of GOR, The Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles are large pinnacles that have been created over many years by the sheer force of the ocean. There aren't twelve anymore, we could only see seven as the rest have been swallowed by the sea. Even though it was cloudy the apostles were amazing and as a geography geek it was a great sight. We carried on down the GOR which again made its way inland across large sections of farmland until we made it to Port Fairy. We were planning on staying in Port Fairy, but, it was a sleepy little town with not much going on, so as it was only lunchtime, scoffed a quick peanut butter sandwich and decided to drive back. On the return journey the sun decided to make an appearance so we stopped at all the sights that we had missed along the way, including The Bay of Islands and the
impressive London Bridge. London's Bridge is an island that was once connected to the mainland until it collapsed into the sea in 1992, leaving two unfortunate tourists stranded, scary. With the sun shining driving back along the GOR was most enjoyable and we decided to stay the night in the nice seaside town of Lorne. We topped a great day off with Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas! Bonser! The next day the sun was shining again and as we had such a poor lighthouse experience at Cape Otway, we decided to visit the lighthouse at Aireys Inlet. This was a lovely looking lighthouse and unbeknown to me was the actual lighthouse that was used in the kids tv programme Round the Twist! Amazing! There is a funny plaque outside it which says 'the lighthouse has been used many times on screen such as in the film Mad Max, but more famously in the children's tv programme Round the Twist' . Ha ha, take that Mel Gibson.
We spent the afternoon surfing at Anglesea beach, went to watch the pro's do it at the world famous Bells Beach and then had a lovely walk along the cliffs. That night, after we
booked into a campsite in Aireys Inlet we had an unexpected but rather exiting visitor.........to be continued!
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Anne Ash
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Warm Surf!
Did the lessons from Cayton Bay all those years ago help? Looks lovely!