It was the rubbish truck that woke us this morning before 7 am which I thought totally out of order, however it did serve to get us going and on the road again soon after 9 am, heading eastwards along the coast. A grey sky painted the sea the same and the surf rolled in creating a rather wild seascape. The road continued on, winding its way around the steep sides above this rugged coast line, uninviting but spectacular, as we drove on past Wongarra, Kennett River where we might have otherwise stopped to walk the koala trail, Wye River, Separation Creek, Cumberland River, arriving finally at Lorne.
We pulled in to a parking spot down by the Information Centre and walked up through the town and back along the sea. Lorne may only have a population of about 1,000 but it surely must expand to 20,000 in peak holiday mode. They were either all on the street, in the cafes or on the beach today. You could not have swung a cat either on the beach or in the water. It reminded me of the beaches on the Gold Coast we visited almost a year ago; beach goers shoulder to shoulder; not our scene at all. And beyond all the swimmers and the lifeguards were dozens and dozens of wetsuit clad surfers doing their best to catch the waves. We stood on an elevated path and watched them for some time, before returning via the playground area below the main street.
Chris was here about thirty years ago and hardly recognised the place. We watched small children bounce on the trampolines set at ground level, while he recalled Larissa’s enthusiasm all those years ago; a small child delighting in every moment of the family holiday. However the trampolines seemed to be the only familiar sight.
It was still before midday so we drove on, the traffic now heavy, often pulling to one side to let others past. Few acknowledged our courtesy; another note to be made about Victorian drivers. Perhaps they view us with disdain; us with our Queensland plates and big caravan.
When we arrived at Aireys Inlet we pulled in below the Split Point Lighthouse, beside the sheltered inlet, a very pretty place to swim or walk had we been of a mind to. We left that to the many families who were doing so and ate our lunch watching the scene out the caravan window. By now the clouds had cleared and the sky and sea were both the correct shade of blue.
The traffic had built up even more by the time we pulled out, and the effort of finding a park for the rig at Anglesea or Torquay, was all too much, so we satisfied ourselves with a drive through, crawling behind the other masses on the road, some simply out Sunday driving and some heading home after holidaying along the Great Ocean Road.
We passed two ambulances and five police cars all heading in the opposite direction, evidently to the one situation. It was only much later checking out the local news that we ascertained the panic had related to one woman being drowned in an unpatrolled section of the coast at Urquarts Bay along with more than half a dozen who were pulled to safety. We did wonder how six police cars could justify the six to twelve policemen in a situation where so few required assistance. But then what would we know about the workings of lifeguard interaction with the police force?
It was still before 2.30 pm when we pulled up outside this caravan park, one we had selected because they are a Family Park and we are discount card carrying members and are fairly close to the city centre. We had checked their peak time charges on line, rather than rely on the books we have which are so often months out of date, and so we lined up at the counter to pay $37 per night less our 10% discount, still a rip off in our opinion. And so the sweet young thing behind the counter said, “That will be $39 a night, thank you”.
I do not need to relay the total conversation that followed, but the gist of it was, when we told her that we had the up-to-date price from the internet, and she said that the website was being updated and had been undergoing that transformation for a month, we left saying we would go think about it. Back in the caravan, we realised that this was probably as good as it was going to get, given it was still January, so we returned, told her that it was false advertising, recognised that she personally was not at fault and paid up.
The park is quite pleasant, and the temporary amenities are close and just lovely, but our site is rather narrow meaning that our awning is extending over the next empty site, which could be a problem. While I have excellent internet, Chris has lousy TV reception, mainly due to the many trees in the park, so we probably won’t be staying longer than the three days paid up front.
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