Well, despite the dreadful weather we've had a really full and interesting day.

Breakfasted in our room on the melon, croissants and jam we bought yesterday then headed out, all wrapped up against the elements. Very heavy sudden showers interspersed with drizzle and wind. We had originally planned to do the Otway treetop walk today but decided it wasn't the best of weather conditions to be on walkways above the treetops so we headed down to the Otway lighthouse.

The stretch of Great Ocean Road heading towards the lighthouse road junction, and the early part of the lighthouse road, runs through amazingly beautiful rainforest. The trees soar high into the sky with long straight trunks. Mostly these are the same stripped bark trees we saw yesterday which we now know are a kind of eucalyptus that is native to South Eastern Australia and much loved by koalas. The flora at ground level is dense, mainly with lots of different types of ferns including tree ferns that must be up to about 10 ft tall.

We scanned the trees for koalas but none to be seen along this stretch. The trees thinned and we were in a stretch of farming country. We passed the entrance to the Great Ocean EcoLodge that Sally Anne had recommended to us but was fully booked on the nights we are down here.

Just beyond, still adjacent to the EcoLodge grounds .... our first sighting of kangaroos. A mother and youngster. I was beyond excited! Luckily we were able to pull over to take a better look and get a few pictures (not the clearest but they had to be taken!). At this point on the roadside shorter eucalyptus trees were growing and guess what? Two koalas were up there. How wonderful. This is what I really hoped we would see in the Otway National Park which is famous for them.

Eventually dragged ourselves away and drove on down to the lighthouse. Decided we would pay to go into the grounds and were so pleased we did. The grounds cover a large area and the views are stunning looking out to sea. Walked around to the lighthouse itself and up the spiral staircase, then finally up a steep metal ladder to the lamp room. Scary! There is a narrow metal walkway round the top - braved stepping out onto it for a brief moment.

Eddie chatted to the now-retired lighthouse keeper who was up there to answer questions. The lens of the lamp was made in England and is valued now at $5,000,000 - around £2,500,000. Astonishing. I felt incredibly exhilarated to have braved the climb to the top.

Elsewhere in the grounds is a decorated billabong, an aboriginal home, and various buildings associated with the days when the lighthouse was in use but now housing a café, holiday rentals and a couple of museums. The Telegraph Station which was built in 1859 to house Australia's first submarine telegraph cable linking the mainland to Tasmania, is currently housing a display of dinosaur finds from the area. This includes the polar dinosaur, the smallest of all dinosaurs standing only around 18 inches tall, which wasn't discovered until 1991. This exhibition has been around the world and has smashed world attendance records. It is in the Otways until April so we were fortunate to see it.

While we were in the 'old workshop' building rain hammered down on the corrugated tin roof while a member of staff - a woman dressed as the lighthouse keeper's wife from the late 1800s - gave us a vivid description of the sinking of the Loch Ard which went down one stormy night in 1878 not far from Otway.

The captain had been unable to use the lighthouse to track his course because of thick fog. When there was a break in the fog at around 4am he saw he was heading straight for the cliffs. He managed to steer the sailing vessel round but then hit a reef and sank quickly leaving just two survivors. Tomorrow we will be driving past Loch Ard Gorge where this took place, so our viewing will now have extra significance.

Driving away from the lighthouse complex we saw another pair of koalas and stopped to take photos. Later learnt that the reason why so many of the eucalyptus trees have completely bare branches up high is because they have been stripped by the koalas.

Back in Apollo Bay. Seems the weather may be clearing. Apparently the temperature is usually in the high 30s and 40s at this time of the year here and not 17 degrees as its been today.

Wandered round the town. Had a late lunch in the Apollo Seafood Bar where, as in St Kilda's, you choose your fish and they cook it fresh for you. Marlin and salad for me and flake and chips for Eddie. Flake is the most common fish shop fish in Victoria and comes from the small gummy shark. Served very lightly battered. Both very tasty.

Back to the hotel for a while then out this evening to the tapas bar around the corner - a TripAdvisor 2014 award winner. Paella and a delish Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay.

So ends another day in South east Australia.