Well, yesterday we left Robe for Port Fairy and at about 1 pm we left South Australia as we crossed the border into Victoria not before stopping off at the aptly named Blue Lake at Mount Gambier. This which you may well have guessed was an impressive blue, whilst the fact that a lake is blue may not sound like a particularly impressive feat I should enlighten you that this lake changes colour and is only actually blue for a few months of the year.

We left Mount Gambier and drove onto a place called Portland and stopped only to get a quick sandwich and coffee (since I finished work, I have not been getting my regular caffeine fix) as the priority was to get to Port Fairy and erect the tent prior to nightfall and the change in weather conditions as anybody's who has seen the Tweedlys version of Carry on Camping is aware that Iain can get a little irate in challenging conditions and I am the first to admit I'm more of a hinderance than a help, much better assisting from the camp chair with a glass of Rockford.

We made good time and by 4.30ish, the tent was in situ- perhaps in hindsight the fact that nobody else had chosen to pitch their tent remotely close to our chosen area should have given us an indication of what was to come, however more on that later!

With the tent pitched, we drove into town and headed to the waterfront, Port Fairy is a convenient stop between Robe and Apollo Bay but it's fair to say it's not on the Tweedly list of places we'd go again.

Whilst in town we purchased some supplies to make our tea on our camping stove, the only flaw in this plan being discovered an hour later when we realized that despite paying $40 for a gas bottle, it didn't actually come with gas, however undeterred we made good use of the camp kitchen before settling down for the night.

This morning an army of squawking birds not only thoughtfully woke us up but proceeded to shower the tent and the car with their droppings so at around 8 am this morning when it was safe to venture out, we (but really Iain) were scrubbing the tent and car free of birds excrement. I believe Iain referred to it as character building, they were not quite the words I had in my mind:)

After leaving Port Fairy, we continued on the Great Ocean Road and took in some stunning sights such as London Bridge and the Twelve (although I think we only counted 8) Apostles and stopped off at a lovely little town for lunch called Port Campbell. I had stopped here before and in hindsight if you were doing this trip I'd recommend setting off earlier from robe and driving past Port Fairy and spending your second night at Port Campbell.

We carried onto Apollo Bay which was just as nice as I remembered and with Iain muttering things like "why aren't we staying here" I was getting a bit concerned about what Lorne was going to be like as I had only previously driven through with mum and dad. The journey from Apollo Bay to Lorne is one of the best parts of the drive with gorgeous views of the ocean, mixed with rolling hills and sheer clifftops, and even though there was some congestion, there are worse places to be delayed!

Driving into Lorne, I was pleased to see that it looked like a cracking place to spend a couple of nights. Our campsite is next to the beach and tomorrow, we're going to explore the town and to a place called Erskine Falls, I'll write soon and keep you posted!

Xxx