Thursday 1st March

Early start and moving on to Warrnambool.Got a local bus and chatted to some real Ausis! Not backpackers for change and they passed on some good adivise of where to go next.

I arrived to Warrnambool at lunch time and the people at the hostel came and picked me up, which was a good job really as the hostel is quite away from the town but right next to the beach! And what a great stretch of beach it was too. As soon as I got sorted I headed straight down there. Warrnambool sits on a huge bay (Lady Bay) and July to September Sothern Whales emigrate here to have their babies, but I wasn't going to see that unfortunately.

So I walked to the beach and there is an Island (Middle Island) which you can walk to when the tide is out but I was going to leave that for another day. Instead I walked to the end of the breakwater (like a peir) and there was a sea lion swimming at the end! I spoke to one of the fishermen fishing at the end of the breakwater and they said he has been living there for years and the locals had named him 'Sammy'. He steals the fish off the end of the lines so not quite as popular with the fisherman! But I thought it was pretty cool.

The next day I wondered into town for a look around as a mist had rolled in off the sea quite eary so no beach that morning! But by the afternoon the sun had come out and I headed for Thunder Point where there is a look out on to the Southern Ocean quite breathtaking. As I walked back the tide was still quite high so decided not to risk it going over to the Island so sat on the beach instead and topped up the tan and read my new book.

Saturday 3rd March

Woke up feeling quite enerjetic so decided to use one of the bikes from the hostel and bike along the Foreshore Proenade across to Logans Beach where the Whale look out was, even though I wouldn't see any Whales. It was a great ride and the views from the look out were spectacular. I then rode to the BoatHouse which sits on the Hopkins River and has been converted into a cafe/restaurant. So I got a coffee and cake and sat on the varander and took in the great scineray, it was really peaceful. I was back by the afternoon and took a little nap on the beach! On the way back the tide was out enough so I could make my way over to Middle Island. It was great and wading through the water was fun as was rushing around the pathway taking photos as I had no idea when the tide was due to turn! After dinner some new people joined my room, well 10 Irish boys and girls whho were travelling the GOR for the weekend from Melbourne and they asked if I wanted to go out with them, so I did. It was great to get dolled up for a change and I had such a great time, they sure knew how to party! And we didn't get back until 5 am! Which was mainly due to the fact that we got lost on our way back!!

Sunday 4th March

No hangover Yeh!! Think I walked it off after getting lost on the way back to the hostel the night before!! Today I had planned to go to Port Fairy whichis further along the GOR and I was going with a girl in my room (not the Irish) as she was going to stay there so I helped her with her bags. What a beautiful little town with a fantatic beach which had some amazing shells on there. I spent some time on the beach while Alison booked into the hostel. Later we met up and walked around Griffths Lsland which is a nature reserve with a light house on it. As we walked around you could see heavy rain falling out at sea which looked quite spectackular. As we came to the light house we came across a walaby and got really close and got some good photos too. I said bye to Alison and got the bus back to Warrnambool and arrived back about 6pm which was good as I had to pack my bag as I had a really early start the next day as I was moving onto Adelaide via Ballaratt.