Todays the day we start driving the Great Ocean Road (GOR). I hate collecting hire cars and especially when we have to leave the centre of cities. The last two car hires were from Fremantle - very quiet and Exmouth airport which was basically very remote in the outback with one road in and out. After some discussion regarding the quality of car hire, we got given another Toyota Camry but this time an ‘eco’ version which also runs on its battery which is disconcerting when you pull off but seems to be beneficial on fuel consumption.
Melbourne was rather busier but eventually we made it out and headed in the direction of Torquay and Bells Beach - the setting for the surf film Point Break with the late great Patrick Swayzee. It is the venue for the annual surfing championships and the surf was amazing - I’m not sure how anyone survives the waves. This is a view down onto Bells Beach and the surf is not actually that big... this is next to a beach with the fantastic name of Windipop!
Despite the time it took us to travel between Torquay and our destination for the evening Apollo Bay, it is actually only 73 miles (117 kms) but took us literally all day as there are so many interesting places including Anglesea Golf Club - in theory visited for Colin but actually because I had read that the kangaroos go onto the fairway... which they do! We saw lighthouses and also memorials to the 3,000 soldiers who were responsible for creating this impressive road after the First World War. We stopped in Lorne for lunch and saw a flock of sulphur crested cockatoos who were huge from overfeeding by visitors (we did not feed them).
After sight after sight we were tiring of jumping in and out of the car but we finally arrived at Apollo Bay where our first one-nighter accommodation was at the Beachcombers Motel. What a lovely place, a perfect studio, cosy and with electric blankets! Dinner was at a gastro-pub where the waitress turned out to have lived just a couple of roads away from where I Iived in Balham so yet again we have proved what a small world it actually is!
