The next day, 21 March, we again woke to rain. We checked out of our hotel and had breakfast in Sorrento which was the first mainland European settlement in Victoria (1803). It's a pretty place with some lovely limestone heritage buildings. We boarded the car ferry which took us across Port Phillip Bay from Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula to Queenscliffe on the Bellarine Peninsula. The trip took 40 minutes and was very smooth. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much because of the rain which was heavy at times. We arrived in Queenscliffe - which started in 1806 when one of the convicts, William Buckley, escaped from Sorrento - but just drove through in the rain. It looked quite attractive though with lots of heritage buildings.  
 
We were on our way to Torquay, famous for its surfing beaches and as the home of Rip Curl and Quicksilver. En route to Torquay, we detoured to Point Lonsdale and its lighthouse but just turned around as the rain was too heavy by then. We gave up on sightseeing and carried on to Torquay, through Barwon Heads, to our accommodation for the next 2 nights. We're staying in the RACV Golf Resort at No 1 Great Ocean Road and it's very nice - even better than the Portsea hotel! Our room is large with floor to ceiling windows, and a balcony, looking over the golf course and the ocean. So, we settled down in the comfortable chairs to admire the views and read. After a while, we were feeling restless - and there'd been no rain for a couple of hours - so Robert went down to the fitness centre whilst Margaret went out for a walk to the beach - and got caught in a downpour! Should've gone to the fitness centre! We had dinner in the hotel's restaurant and were grateful to be out of the weather - by this time it was windy and lashing with rain - typical Bass Strait, according to our waitress! 
 
By next morning, the rain had stopped and it was cool and overcast but the weather improved as the day progressed. We set off along the Great Ocean Road stopping first at the famous Bells Beach. There was work going on preparing for the next surfing competition but we were able to walk down to the lookouts. We were disappointed! Considering the previous day's storm and the wind, we expected more spectacular waves but they were quite tame - no different to Margaret River or Yallingup really. 

Using Lonely Planet as our guide, we drove on to "spectacular" Point Addis at Angelsea where they have a "clothing-optional" beach! There weren't many people around that we could see and they'd all rugged up!! We checked out the "sheer orange cliffs falling into the sea" - they looked very dangerous. 

Aireys Inlet was next with Split Point Lighthouse, named because the Point has indeed split and part of it is missing. It looked as though more could easily break off! We walked along a lovely beach to the end of the point and could see the lighthouse on the top of the headland. We didn't bother climbing the cliff to get closer to the lighthouse.

We stopped at the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch which commemorates the 3,000 men who built the road by hand using just explosives, wheelbarrows, pick axes and shovels. They had returned from WW1 and the building of the road was a project to give them employment.

We then drove through the Otway Ranges along a winding stretch of the Great Ocean Road with hairpin bends, sheer drops to the sea and spectacular views! Our final stop for the day was at Lorne which is a pretty place. We arrived to see a koala on the roadside with an entourage of photographers! By the time we got close, the koala was climbing a tree but we still managed to get a good look at him and some photos. We then drove up a hill in the Great Otway National Park through some lovely rainforest to see the Erskine Falls.  

 

 It was then too late in the day to go any further so we drove back to Torquay.