Lorne Day 4, the end

What I haven't mentioned is that before leaving home I charged up the camera. It is a heavy beast with a big battery that seems to last for a whole long holiday. And I forgot to take it, so all photos were taken by our phones. The camera does a better job with some shots, especially long distance but the phone was not too bad with only digital zoom rather than real optical zoom.

It was our last full day in Lorne. The other sides of the cabin were corrugated iron and they were really quite attractive from the outside. Each of the five facing the river were angled so that no one could see anyone sitting on the balconies and that was a nice touch.

We brunched at the local bakery. When we arrived, so many shops, including bakeries, had up signs open Thursday to Sunday. I think they perhaps missed some trade, certainly ours. Hopeful cockies hung around the bakery and were ignored. 

By this point we were pretty well over the cockies and more focused on hot tradesmen coming to and from the bakery. After seeing Mother in hospital once we were home, she said I was going to call you but you had already left home. Hello Mother, we have mobile phones. The call was to tell us that her late partner's grandson owned a bakery in Lorne. We worked out that he had served us at the bakery where we lunched.

Our friend has a big 4WD and offered to drive us to Apollo bay. His vehicle is suitable for off road travel and the suspension showed that. My aching arthritic spine. I didn't complain but the roughness and his faster taking of the curving road than I would had me wishing I could snap my fingers and get back to Lorne. Apparently this cliff face was once further out to sea but in the early 20th century collapsed. 

More spectacular scenery.

People like Apollo Bay but we didn't find it so interesting. We had a nice lunch at a cafe. Three tradies came out of adjacent cafe and a song came on the music system that they liked and they gave us a five second dance exhibition. It was hilarious and they could have graced any inner city club dance floor. I think we were the only people who saw it and you really had to be there.

Changeable weather as per norm.

A boat slipway.

I was walking to the lavvy luvvy and came across these wooden sculptures just as a heavy shower of rain fell. I took no time to compose any photo.

Verboten to feed the birds.

We had resisted but finally R gave these two some slightly stale jam sponge cake roll. So cockies' natural diet is seeds, roots, hot chips and jam sponge roll. As the sign says, it makes them aggressive. They pushed their luck and failed by coming up and one sitting on the window ledge and the other the back of a chair. 

It was curious. The last night we dined at an Asian noodle place and I can't remember what I ate. But the staff seemed to interchange between the fish and chippery, the seafood place and the noodle place.

The food was once again very good.

We headed for home the next morning and stopped off for more cheap petrol and lunch. These guzzlers would use a lot. One is a Hudson. Not sure about the others. 

At the end of last year Fire Fighting Nephew, his wife and their new baby moved to their bought off the plan apartment on the beach front on the Bellarine Peninsula. We hadn't seen their new place so we arranged to visit them on the way home and see the lovely nine month old Little J. We made the appropriate ohs and awes about their place and they made us coffee. It is very nice apartment but as they know they will lose most of their sea views when a vacant block is built upon. 

We were home in time for R's nanna nap.

Lorne Day 3

As heating these high mounted gas flames are useless, but they look quite nice. I've not seen them before.

Day three in Lorne was busy for us and this is a bit out of order of what we did. Teddy's Lookout sounded interesting and it was with stunning views.

The St George River flows to ocean here.

This walking group was very chatty and friendly. Goodness, they walked up to here from sea level.

Looking inland to the densely forested bushland.

So who was Teddy of Teddy's Lookout? It may have been King or Prince Edward, or it could have been a donkey called Teddy who roamed the nearby ranges. I like the latter.

We visited the Lorne Pier. This is an old boat slipway. There is now a much larger one.

I was waiting for our friend to ask a fisher if they had caught anything, because that is the sort of thing he does, but he did not.

All main courses here at the pier fish restaurant were well above $30 but it would be a nice experience.

A couple of photos of the Grand Pacific Hotel. It has accommodation and dining but we did not visit.

Cockatoos came a begging.

Tide out in the tidal river.

Somewhere along the way to somewhere. 

Each day at about 3pm wrens would visit. I've made an assumption that the one with the blue is the male and a wren without the blue is the female. They make a lovely soft chirping noise as they flit around and investigate what to eat.

There is a car bridge and pedestrian bridges either side to cross the Erskine River just down from our cabin.

A bit of a weir near the bridge.

A duck's life can be enviable.

Upstream. There was once a policy of clearing fallen logs etc from rivers. Not now. Fallen trees are natural and provide habitat for all kinds of creatures.

Sorry, back to Teddy's Lookout. See the winding road below? Much of The Great Ocean Road is like this.

Hmm, fires, a constant summer threat to Lorne and nearby Wye River township was burnt out a few years ago.

A blue winged kookaburra visited us hoping for a tasty treat. Alas, not a piece of meat in the cabin to sustain its life. They have often been known to swoop down and pick up a sausage cooking on a barbeque. 

A beach near Aireys Inlet. Not sure how you would get down there though.

Aireys Inlet lighthouse. Our friend asked how many steps to get to the lift to go to the top. I'm sure the guide has heard that before.

A couple of interesting houses. This one is a bit over the top.

I like this one.

I couldn't choose between photos of Eagle Rock, so here are three.

Aires Inlet didn't seem to have much in the way of cafes and it was not far on to Anglesea and the cafe where we ate on the way to Lorne. It is an educated guess on our part, but two gay guys were in the process of taking over the cafe. They were just terrific, so friendly and welcoming, and competent. I wish them great success with https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g552129-d4791316-Reviews-Bumblebeez_Cafe-Anglesea_Victoria.html

R's father would not eat shark. It is not proper fish, he would say. I love shark as battered or fried fish but it seems other people have problems with eating shark. This Anglesea sign tells you of alternative names. Aside from flake, I've never heard of the others. 

A quite nice seahorse sculpture.

The shire mobile library was visiting.

We found another lookout, Loveridge. 

Brilliant views and an interesting history.

Art Deco and surrounded by barbed wire and used as a lookout during WWII.

One of the many ships lost on the wild waters of Victoria's southern coast. Ships would sail all the way from England, around Cape Hope and come to grief a short distance from their Australian destinations.

Famous or infamous, this pole house was built many decades ago. It has been a private home for many families but now rents as accommodation for $800 per night. R said don't quote him on that figure, but I have.

Next door is what seems to be cantilevered house.

This is the third incarnation of an arch entrance to the Great Ocean Road. I think the first decayed and the second burnt in 1983 bushfires.

The Great Ocean Road was cleaved from cliffs by returned WWI soldiers with pickaxes, shovels and dynamite. The working conditions were harsh and the death rate high. The road has been widened in modern times and preventative rock fall maintenance is ongoing, as we saw ourselves. Until it was fully completed and taken over by government from a trust, it was a toll road.

 

Oh, wow. What can I say but right place at the right time.

 

When we returned to our cabin n the grassed area above the caravan park we had visitors, Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Dear old man 'roo, do take great care when jumping over barbed wire fences lest anything get caught. These are obviously used to humans but really wild kangaroos if hungry might attack you if they know you have food. They can rip your stomach open and your intestines will spill out. They can knock you out with a punch from their forepaws. Then they will grab your pet dog and take it to the nearest water and drown it. R is scared of them, I am cautious and our stupid friend threw a stick at them to make them move. The unperturbed old man 'roo just stared at us.