11TH - 19TH FEBRUARY

After all of the joys of Phillip Island we were hoping that The Great Ocean Road would live up to it’s reputation as being one of the highlights of any trip to Australia. This 285 km stretch of road was built between 1919 and 1932 with the idea of it rivalling California’s Pacific Coast. It is was carved out of the cliffs by ex World War 1 servicemen and is a monument to both them and the servicemen who lost their lives in the terrible war. The road actually starts at Torquay and finishes at Warrnambool, which was great for us, as that is the place where Kelly and Jason, a couple we met on our China trip live and they had invited us to stay.

We had to get from Phillip Island so we drove to Sorrento and got the local ferry to Queenscliff just east of Torquay. The ferry ride was great and only around 40 minutes so we were heading towards Torquay in no time at

all. It was pretty bizarre seeing place names like Torquay and Anglesea and later on London Bridge!

The first part of the drive was amazing, the coastline was fantastic. We had planned our first night in Lorne, which was supposed to be quite touristy but a nice little place. We arrived early afternoon, found a campsite which was quite expensive for what you got, but it was OK for a night. We went for a walk on the beach and headed towards the town. The town had some lovely looking restaurants which were pretty expensive so we opted for the campsite barbie!!!

The next day we drove to Cape Otway and stayed at Bimbi Park camping ground, which was a really great place and had a very jolly and environmentally friendly owner. Rob went off for a walk and I stayed behind and caught up on