For the Love of God its finally Days 10, 11 and 12 - Port Fairy to Mornington....all rolled into one!!

Right, where do I start.  Unfortunately not with my jovial happy self.  Nothing bad has happened (far from it) no one has died and we are still on a trip of a lifetime (actually starting day 13). But what has happened is the 3 hours I have just spent from the crack of bloody dawn till now (namely 6am to 9am) writing one of the most witty, informative and just a little moving blog about our trip down the majestic Great Ocean Road (on days 10 and 11 for reference) has somehow disappeared into an ether of nothingness called either a 'cloud' a 'one drive' or a delete button.  I suspect due to  my lack of knowledge of all things computer, it is the latter.  For the love of God.  I've searched everywhere (even under the bed and a still sleeping V who thankfully also slept through my rantings on realising my Pulitzer Prize winning piece of work was no more).  Bugger.

So, highlights and pictures it is .  Literally bullet points.  Lets go.

Left lovely Port Fairy after long shower to warm up, to Warrnambool for beer and hot water bottles then when we saw the sign for the Great Ocean Road V took the wheel.

Weather currently amazing, this part of GOR gorse bushes flanking the road which was straight with the odd bend, not giving away the gems that lay just a few feet away and down the cliff edge, occasional teasing views until the first brown sign comes into view.

Bay of Islands - OMFG.  Breathtaking and had both V and me spellbound. A bay with rock islands in it.  The sums it up but does not convey its power.

Boat Bay - see above, time for lunch in the van reminiscent of the stops in laybys with long since departed Aunts and Uncles, but with a slightly better view

The Grotto - equally amazing feat of Mother nature leaving a romantic secluded haven for stolen kisses until being descended on by a hoard of Asian tourists in neon jackets talking in a pitch so high it had dogs miles away taking note.

London Bridge - it has indeed fallen down, well part of it did in 1990 leaving 2 tourists stranded on the other side. Once again Mother N has done us all proud,

The Arch - as with all of Oz, does exactly what it say on the brown sign, but this was far more staggering than 'Joes Rent a Fence'.

12km done in 4 hours,  Boom,  But what a 12km.  Amazing, breathtaking, staggering, unreal, holographic, cold, wet, windy, sunny, majestic, magnificent, awesome, stunning, thought provoking, memory making.......I could go on and on and I'm sure you get the picture (you will hopefully get them soon too!!)

The last stop on this leg was high on a hill, the scenic view point looking down onto our spot for the night, Port Campbell.  Amazing site at the point where the meandering river hits the crashing ocean, beautiful clean facilities, dinner cooked outside but sans mozzies, eaten inside with fab views and 2 German ladies travelling together in a van very similar to ours (once which V tried to climb into after several beers and a late trip to the toilet, that would have given all concerned a shock I can tell you) and a sunset stagger on the beach before resting our heads, happy and warm thanks to the heater I'd found hidden and at 8.20pm it was our earliest night yet.  Rock and roll (landscape and sea pun intended).

Boom.  Day 10, lets move onto day 11 as I'm on a roll and saving every third word I type...

Port Campbell to Wye River.

The road was more gorse bushes and the weather was changeable, but it was still as spectacular as the day before,

Loch Ard Gorge - so named after the wreck of the Loch Ard which tragically ran aground here in the late 1800's killing all bar two on board.  When you look at the seas and the landscape there is little wonder it sank, Incredible seas crashing against majestic cliffs.  Made even more so by a fierce hail storm that blew in from nowhere, with hail the size of peas.  I shit you not, they hurt. This is also where I broke the Aussie phone after deciding it would be an awesome idea to video the hailstorm, but as I was showing it to V a little later, droplets of water ran down the inside of the screen and it buzzed once to often and never worked again. Ooops. But what was more distressing for me anyway was losing all the amazing photos I had taken that day, but they are memories in outr hearts and minds but I do have some to share with you, yay I hear you cry!

The Island Archway and the Razorback - unexpected and totally hidden from view until a small path leads you there,  Another 'shitting hell that's impressive' moment.

Then it was onto what some may say is the main event, but V thought were amazing but no where close to the Bay of Islands....

The Twelve Apostles - Now only 7 (ish) but still rising from the ocean for a scene recognised around the world.  Actually the spot we spent the least time at, mainly because there was another storm brewing, but also because our breath had been taken away so spectacularly earlier this was almost an anticlimax.

We then snaked inland the landscape changed to that of majestic rolling hills, farmland, sheep and cows and hidden gems round most bends (of which there were many). A quick detour to Cape Otway Lighthouse down the gum tree flanked road littered with koalas happily going about their business (the trees were littered, not the road) only to find it was $20 each to look at so we turned around and looked again at the koalas instead (with another hail storm thrown in for good measure) and carried onto pretty Apollo Bay for supplies (mainly beer and Arnotts Shapes, both the staple of a camper trip along with noodles).

The road then changed to that of steep cliffs bearing scars of the recent landslides from all the rain to the left, and the crystal blue ocean to the right, waves crashing and roads winding. It was epic and V was loving it.  We headed up into the mountains and back down again, finding small villages nestled into the bays, and soon we cam across our next stop for the night, and I have to say possibly the best campsite I have stayed on in Oz, Wye River.  As it's name suggests the site was on the banks of the river with the ocean just yards away and as the sun began to shine through the trees, we took to the pub next door to watch the sunset which, although behind us, cast the most beautiful glow on the sky and even produced a rainbow.  The chicken parmy was awesome and we sat and talked and put the World to rights. The trip so far had been amazing, although there had been some ups and downs (not just the roads!) but life was good. I was on the other side of the World on the trip of a lifetime with my soul mate, what more could a girl ask for. I had so many good memories of this place from years gone by, and now I was so lucky enough to be here again, sharing them with V and more importantly making new ones together.  **sigh**  A game of pac man came after (on an original old machine, random) and we meandered back to the site in the moonlight and drifted off to sleep, with the sound of the river running next to us and the ocean not too far away.  Perfect.

And there it is, 2 days condensed into a small package which hopefully conveys the wonder of what we experienced, although no words or pictures can get across the marvel of this stretch of road, and the feelings you get from experiencing it. But try I have.

So now we have days 12 and 13 to catch up on so get another cup of coffee and make yourself comfortable, I'm determined to get this up to date before we head off this morning (day 14) to experience something that V has been dreaming of all his life.  But as always, more about that later (and I will try and not make it too much later......) until then faithful friends, TTFN....... xxx

Oh Sod it, lets just carry on and get day 12 done, it is after all still the Great Ocean Road and I can do the pictures later ( despite the loss of the phone there are still a lot to get through.....!)

Day 12 began in Wye River with a barbie breakfast in the sunshine, cooking rashers of bacon nearly as tall as some shorter people I know, and V being attacked by a rather hungry and bacon loving kookaburra......swooping down and scaring him half to death and necessitating a tug of war for said bacon in a comedy fashion.  It hung around too, finally getting the message and heading of to harass another poor soul. We then said farewell to this truly beautiful site with a walk on the beach, finally feeling the sun on our faces and the warmth that had recently only come from a little fan heater and a bobble hat.  One thing that did make us smile were the obviously eager paw prints of a dog running on the sand, only to stop abruptly when he arrived at the waters edge, the skid marks very evident and he screeched to a halt! Bless.

Then we headed out to enjoy the rest of this road, no more famous landmarks to visit but just blue ocean and sunshine flanked by cliffs and roads that wound up and down, round and round this amazing place, V happy as a pig in the proverbial to be driving such a road, and with a n added spring in his step knowing that we would be meeting up with his best mate Gary and his wife Sandra later, before the next step of our adventure unfolds.  We stopped at appropriate places along the way, marvelling at breathtaking views and reading the history of this great road mapped out on brass plaques along the way.  Built by ex servicemen from WW1 by hand it really is an amazing achievement and something that needs to be seen to be believed (clearly they have updated it since then but those brave men carved the way).

We stopped at pretty Lorne, travelled through surfy Anglesea and finally found a lighthouse at Aireys Inlet (ooooo errr) and then continued on to find one of the places V had been desperate to see.....the star of his favourite film, Point Break, sadly not Patrick Swayze or indeed Keanu Reeves but Bells Beach, also famous for its internationally renowned surf.  Once again I had been here before but it still impressed and V was beside himself!! The surf was up, the surfers were out and we spent a good hour watching them and walking across the bay, getting wet in the process as the surf was raging and the tide fast, but the water was warm and as I mentioned before the sun was up warming the skin.

Onwards and upwards (it may be short and sweet but the pictures will tell the story) and we finally left the GOR behind with amazing new memories made and headed to our long anticipated rendezvous with the Dixons at the pretty ferry port of Queenscliffe.

Wonderful it was to meet them too, although I feel I have known them so long from how V talks about them and after his trip to Perth in December, and it was hugs all round and it felt like we had known each other a lifetime.  They too had a camper, a little more substantial than M&M (with heating I must add) and with them safely loaded onto the ferry, we made the quick but very pretty trip over to Sorrento, thereby missing out the 200km trip to drive round and avoid Melbourne, but fear not that was a trip to come.

We found our campsite for 2 nights in the Mornington Penninsula, new ground for me and very pretty I must say (although the camp wasn't the best we'd had it will do very nicely) and set up camp, opened beers, found the cheapest takeaway and chowed down on pizza, fish and chips and lashings of chicken salt in the plush surroundings of the Dixons abode before finally turning in for the night actually warm and just a little bit fuzzy

And there we have it.  Boom,  Just yesterdays little trip into town to report but that can be done in a heartbeat, this was the bit I needed to tell you about, but as I said before there are not enough describing words to well, describe it!! The highlights (apart from the scenery) were the weather....4 seasons in one day, on more than one occasion, wind so fierce and cold, rain so hard, sun so warm, all adding to the experience.  And the places and people we have met along the way.  And the things we have learnt about each other.  Namely I snore.  Whatever.

Right I have to go, the moody weather is back and the four of us have a date with a Doctor later so until then its TTFN.......!! xxxxxx

P.S the pics will follow.....