Tom had a playdate with a boy a couple of cabins down so we hung around the site before setting off to Lorne for lunch. The drive there reminded us of the California Highway - route 101. It had the same feel, forest one side, golden sand, cyan sea and long rolling white breakers the other. After a few Ks we drove through a place called Santa Monica, so perhaps the founders also saw the connection. Then, another reminder of the 101 - mist drifting in to engulf the beach.
Lorne is yet another surfer town. The coast is littered with them down here. There's an excellent "beginners" surf beach here where we saw some waveboarders who could actually waveboard. I've seen them in England, but having watched them I struggled to see the point - chasing a bit of wood down the beach, jumping on it and travelling 5 feet before abruptly stopping in an arse brusing calamity. Here though, the boarders would travel a long way with grace and poise, even throwing in a few tricks. It made me want to give it a go, but I value my limbs.
The area is proudly signed as Surfcoastshire, which I think sounds like a disease if you say it fast. Perhaps Surfshire would have been better. Talking of signs, we saw an odd one today:
The odd thing is that this is on the Ocean Road, miles away from any ingress or car hire place. If you had managed to drive this far on the right and not killed yourself or several others I think you would have worked it out by the time you saw this.
On to lunch. 2 more observations. 1st, a slice of beetroot seems to be a standard burger garnish here in Oz. Never considered it before, but it's actually quite tasty. This was a damned fine burger, home made on a fresh baked sour dough roll. Yes it looks like a mess, but the best burgers often do, just so long as it has enough integrity to hold together.
The 2nd, lattes here are far too small. This is the standard size. Delicious, but diminutive.
From Lorne we headed 9km north to Erskine Falls, 300 meters up into the hilly bush and condensing mist. Tom enjoyed the walk through the forest imagining he was the presenter of Deadly 60, I was the cameraman and that there was a snake hiding in every crevice.
Then back to the cabin with a brief detour to try and see a real, wild kangaroo. We found some in the middle of a golf course! Kids not happy as you could hardly see them. I didn't even bother taking a pic, so we can't tick them off the list yet.
We're packing up tonight ready to move down the coast. Next stop a youth hostel in Apollo Bay (I've not washed for a couple of days and bought a rucksack in preparation).
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Location:Lorne, Victoria, Australia
How's the rucksack going to help mitigate not having washed?! You should have just stood under the waterfall.
ReplyDeleteIt's so I smell and look the same as everyone else at the hostel!
ReplyDeleteWhen we going to see a picture of you on a board.....what really happened when you were down 'learning to surf' in cornwall?
ReplyDelete