After breakfast it was decided to go for a walk down to the beach, around past the Erskine river and maybe along to the Lorne pier. All quite simple, until you try to take two young nephews and all the required support infrastructure along! I think it was at least an hour from decision to leave until we actually walked out the door.
Back at the house, examine the maps to see what would be the easiest way to get from Lorne to the Otway Fly — once again we seem to have left it too late, so it seems Jo and I are doomed to never visit! We decided to drive further along the coast, then turn at Apollo Bay and go home along the inland route.
Jo drove, avoiding the more maniacal motorcyclists who cut corners and used both sides of the road — fine racetrack form, but not ideally suited to a two-way public road! The first one or two lookouts had so many cars stopped that we wouldn’t fit, when we got to Cape Patton the lookout was empty so we pulled in to take in the view.
Four motorcyclists on three bikes soon joined us, delighting in the good weather and the twisty road. After climbing over the safety wall to peer down the crumbling cliff face and each bragging on how he’d been taking it easy to let the others keep up, they hopped back on and continued on towards Lorne. To the last of the four I would have recommended gloves, but I guess its his fingers on the road, so its his problem.
On to Apollo Bay and we arrived as the music festival was in its final hours, people and cars everywhere, but many in the midst of packing up and leaving. We skirted the tents and walked out along the beach, dodging dogs and rubbish to watch the fishermen on the breakwater around the boat harbour. Good luck had me glance into the water just as a huge stingray drifted past through the shallows. It must be over a metre across, and according to one of the fishermen, it just cruises up and down sucking in all the bait and bits of fish that fall in. Anyone hooking it would be in quite a task to lift it out of the water!
There was also a squid boat tied up at the docks, showing up close all the lamps and wiring that they carry — I’ve seen them out to sea at night, lighting up the ocean, but have never seen one up close. A frightening tangle of wiring on a wet, salty, metal boat!
The afternoon wore on, it started to cool down so we started to head back. The carnival tents were still finishing up, I picked up an Ash Grunwald CD that was lying on the ground. A quick ice-cream as the shops were clearing up and then back in the car for the twisty drive up through the forest then over the flat plains back to Geelong.
Geelong to Melbourne, boredom on the expressway as three lanes of cars sit nose to tail at 100km/hr, the odd idiot tailgating even closer, then weaving and dodging through the traffic. Victoria’s motorists just don’t seem competent.
Pizza at Silvio’s; a magnificent way to end the weekend! Hot, tasty, and very, very fast. Sometimes I can’t work out how they can serve us so quickly. Sunday evenings are always a blur of activity in the shop, the tables full, people calling in for takeaway, and the oven radiating across the room.
