The Great Ocean Road Trip

Well, its time for a holiday. off to Melbourne then Torquay, Apollo Bay, Butterfly Farm Niranda and Portland then back to Melbourne. However along the way there is a few mishaps..... So first to Melbourne to visit Fran catch up with my cousin and his partner at Frans over dinner then a relaxing day involving some shopping and then its off to Torquay. We arrive Torquay and get to see the ocean for the first time in 8 or so months and the first time Ruby has seen the beach EVER!  As you can tell she loves it!

The only thing is that I booked us into a motel in Torquay in Hervey Bay Queensland! Go figure! Once we sorted that mess out we found a quiet little spot about 5 minutes out of town. Right lets try out the local fish and chips...... hmmmm ok but not great. Torquay is a nice little place and is the start of the Great Ocean Road however it just gets better after that. So off we head towards Apollo bay stopping at sights along the way and Lorne for lunch and to feed the ducks. Unfortunately its raining but we won't let that stop us. Lorne is beautiful and should have been our first stop but never mind. Waterfalls to see, beach and some shops, reminding me of a home town (Wangamata) but only smaller.

Above: Leilani and Ruby with the park that we fed the ducks in at Lorne and the beach at Lorne with the ol' VW. On we go to Apollo Bay. Stopping at Cape Patton lookout for the view, windy and cold but awesome.

Apollo bay by night. We get fish and chips again that night and are quietly reserved but find out they are delicious! the best so far.

We continue on the next day and Ruby seems a little under the weather. We stop at lighthouses and see koalas in the wild then onto the 12 Apostles.

Split Rock Lighthouse.

 Then we do the Otway fly over in the Otway national park, the walkway is 33m above ground and then the middle lookout tower is a further 43m above that. But only Leilani goes up there as I do not like heights, though someone has to look after Ruby huh! Then its off to the 12 apostles for the sights, I believe only six are left at the moment and created by the seas and winds eating away at the lime in the cliffs of southern Australia making these awesome spectacles.

 12 Apostles Left and next to that me at the "2 survivors cliffs" then below is Australia's Famous London Bridge where years ago part of it collapsed and fortunately the people involved were rescued. And below that is the Bay of Martyrs.

We stay at a place called Butterfly farm where Karen and John welcome us and Ruby is really getting worse, so panadol and neurofen for her with plenty of rest and Butterfly farm is just the ticket. We cancel Portland and stay for longer here as Butterfly farm is just an awesome place to stay and our Ruby can rest and recuperate. We travel to Wornambool to the emergency department on the Friday as no GP's around and get Ruby checked out (this being day 3 of her being unwell) and of course we get there and she perks up and makes us look a little silly. However we have a look around the town and then head back to the farm.
I would highly recommend anyone traveling through here to stop at this B&B as the hospitality is great and the cooked breaky is worth while.

We decided also to miss staying at Colac but stop on the way through to Melbourne for lunch but stopping at the beach one more time.

Leilani and Ruby checking out the birds at Colac in the park. We stay a night with Gavin and Tracy (Leilani's brother and sister in law and nephew jack and then its back home and back to work. t teh moment I am the Acting Nurse Unit Manager (ANUM) of the HDU at Wagga Base Hospital and enjoying the role. Its great to spend that family time with Leilani and my girl Ruby. I hope any others that get to travel that way get to enjoy the great ocean rd as much as us.