Having picked up our little hire car in the centre of Melbourne we successfully managed to get out of the city in one piece. The navigating was relatively easy but it is the "hook right turns" peculiar to Melbourne that you need to look out for. It's all to do with the tram lines, if you want to turn right over a tram line you have to pull up left and wait there until your chosen route has a free access, if no tram line you can make your turn in the normal way. All a bit much first thing in the morning with only one "short black" in the system. Our little Hyundai did us proud though and we were soon spat out of the rush hour traffic on Princes Highway heading west as we wanted to be.
A fairly bland drive for the first couple of hours with no sightings of Kangaroos or anteaters (I think) as the bright yellow road signs were warning us of. By mid morning we reached Torquay "Surf Capitol" of Victoria and "Gateway to The Great Ocean Road". With such prestigious titles we had to stop for a long black, a muffin and a mooch around. I'm sure in the summer months when the town is full of surfing types it will have a bit of atmosphere. Unfortunately on a cold (15) and windy spring day it did not give us much cause to linger so we were soon on our way and setting out on the G O Road proper. Now things began to get a bit more scenic with the road switch backing along the coast with some stunning sea views to our right and gum tree bush to our right.
Within an hour we had reached Lorne, a much more happening little place. We decided we liked the look of the locals so pulled up at the tourist information centre and were soon checking into the Grand View B & B. It's name did not let us down with fantastic views from our own apartment and the promise of a full Aussie brekkie to be cooked in the morning by our host John.
With an afternoon to fill we headed at John's suggestion 10 K up the road to the Erskine falls. A steep descent on foot passing further warning signs this time for snakes,lead us to this lovely cascade, the climb back up again provided welcome exercise and also served to warm me up. (I am wearing all my warm clothes at once today)
On our way back to Lorne we took a short detour to a rural sculpture park and pottery which turned out to be a delightful find. Following a trail of smoke we happened upon the pottery with a team of potters stoking their wood fired kiln. This is an annual event for this huge clay kiln built on the same design as the one we saw at The Leach Museum in St Ives on our HDFAS visit last year. It takes 7 days to get the kiln up to the right temperature being stoked with logs every 15 minutes or so. A rota of potters man the kiln 24 hours over the week required to keep it going. Inside it was filled with mainly large pieces of pottery sculpture some of which would inevitably not survive the firing process. A real labour of love.
Back a Grand View now we are having a rest before supper at Lorne bowling club, recommended by John ( who is on the committee). More of that next time....