Port Fairy and Surrounds

Although Lake Eildon was beautiful, the cold of the inland nights and the desire to see the coast resulted in a fairly long drive straight to the Great Ocean Road. However, the crowds and the fairly dismal standard of Lorne Caravan Park meant we only stayed for one night before continuing on.

It doesn't seem to matter how many times you have traversed this section of the Australian coastline, it never ceases to amaze. Due to all the rain that has fallen lately, the drive was even more spectacular than usual. We mostly just drove and took in the lushness of the rainforest, the surreal greenness of the cute little farms and of course the amazing deep blue of the ocean, However, we did stop for coffee in Apollo Bay and the obligatory stop at the Twelve Apostles. We have seen them several times before but thought Jarvis might find them spectacular too. Well he was impressed but not by the rock formations created over millions of years but instead by the echidna who crawled up to say hi and sniff Rob's finger and the helicopters which buzzed above, oh yeah and the John Deer ride on mower.

Jarvis was way more interested in helicopters than the Twelve Apostles, he even brought one of his own.

The last time Rob and I passed through this way was our honeymoon, 5 years ago (almost to the day). On that drive I had taken particular note of a little southern port town called Port Fairy, it was really pretty but we didn't have time to stop and look around. So this time we decided to aim for Port Fairy and stay for a few days. Unfortunately the wind and a little rain also decided to take residence in Port Fairy at the same time. Although, I'm told that that's just the Southern Ocean for you. The weather didn't dampen our time here, we still managed to explored islands, volcanoes, nearby towns and local coffee shops and frequent the local park which had Jarvis' now favourite "spinny thing" (aka very fast round-about, which will make any reasonable adult sick in a matter of minutes). We met emus and seabirds and Jarvis had his first close up experience with a lighthouse, which has started a love affair and constant requests to be taken to see a lighthouse.

Jarvis on the 'spinny thing'

Jarvis being an Emu (the goggles are a bit of an obsession
at the moment)

I would have said Port Fairy is the prettiest seaside town I have visited. However, that was before our next, very short (overnight) stop at Robe. In fact, the southern ocean coastline is scattered with postcard perfect historical towns. I would highly recommend continuing the Great Ocean Road drive up to Adelaide with lots of stops in the little towns along the way. However, a little tip is to ensure you take the Southern Ports Highway, a slight diversion from the Prices Highway.