En Route to Melbourne

Leaving Lorne with mixed emotions.  Sad, because we've loved it here - it's a great place  &  happy, because we're on the way to Joy & Barrie in Melbourne. Mark & Mel will be on their way to join us for Christmas & New Year. They arrive in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

We wound our way down the Great Ocean Road, stopping at the Memorial Arch. Built to commemorate the 330,000 Australians who volunteered to fight in WW1. 60,000 were killed & 160,000 wounded. 3,000 returned soldiers & sailors built the G O Road.



We drove on to Aireys Inlet & walked up to Split Point Lighthouse.

Coffee & a chat with a local couple & an email address in case we want to rent their holiday home next time we're here !!!!

Onward to another lovely beach at Anglesea - picnic watching the locals setting up camp for the day. First day of the school holidays here & everyone's enjoying the sunshine.

Three more beaches to explore on the Surf Coast -  Bells beach, Jan Juc & Torquay.  All famous for their surfing & lots of  action today. All kitted up in their wet suits....nice!

Rip Curl the surfing equipment/ clothing company was started here in Torquay.



Leaving the Great Ocean Road behind us now to head on the motorway to Melbourne. This leg of the trip from Adelaide (approx 1300 kms) has been exhilarating -  spectacular in its scenery & diverse in its wildlife.

Before we left, Rob patiently looked up all our routes on Google maps & printed out the directions.
Three cheers for him & Google maps because it got us to our destination in the suburbs of Melbourne almost without a wrong turn.

As we drove up Haldane Road in Eltham we could see Joy waiting for us at the end of the drive. A santa hat placed in the tree to welcome us! They live in a lovely bungalow in an acre of gardens, with resident magpies. lorikeets, frogs & a deceased snake. Joy regaled us with the story of its demise as we sat on the patio with a celebratory glass of Champers!

Our first Australian BBQ with Barrie & Rob at the helm.

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 Joy drove us out to the golf club at dusk  to see the kangaroos.
Unbelievable.....just all over the course. I suppose it saves mowing the greens !