The morning dawned in Lakes Entrance cool and overcast but with no rain – perfect for packing up and moving on.
Morning percolated coffee never tasted so good.
We continued down the coast for a bit before heading west and inland towards the Victorian Capital of Melbourne.
The countryside through here was primarily industrial, farming and if I’m being honest not really scenic.
Traffic was significantly busier and most of our drive toward Melbourne was him multi lane highways.
We skirted around Melbourne – sort of – and continued west through Geelong until we headed South back down toward the Torquay Coast. And then the scenery went up a number of notches.
And the rain had set in ….
We hit the coat around Torquay where I was gobsmacked to see the “Surf Coast” region was being referred to as “The Home of Australian Surfing”.
Mmm maybe a stretch …
Nevertheless, Torquay is a great spot and the start of the “Great Ocean Road” which stretches approximately 200kms to the 12 Apostles and Port Fairy.
Now don’t get me wrong, this region plays a significant part in the history of Australian Surfing, being the birthplace of world famous surfing brands Rip Curl and Quicksilver back in the late 60s.
It is also home to some of the greatest surf spots in Australia – Bells Beach, Jan Juc, Winkipop just to name a few.
This was our first visit here and I was like a kid in a lolly shop wanting to explore everything this area offered. But first to set up camp for the next week.
We chose a tiny little community called Aireys Inlet, about 20kms west of Torquay as our base camp.
It was perfect and gorgeous – even in the horrendous weather.
It has everything you’d want on a trip to the Great Ocean Road (GOR) – a super camp ground, fully stocked little local supermarket with local produce, bottle shop, a couple of restaurants and an amazing old pub that was brought back to life after being shut down – more on that later.
We were set up and old mate Kayle as usual was King of the Castle
We went exploring and found the pub – which you may find surprising.
This pub has a fascinating history – the Aireys Pub was opened in 1904 and operated continuously to the local and tourist patrons until 2011 when it closed for a number of reasons.
It was scheduled to be bulldozed and a housing development was planned for the site.
Alas, a few local blokes banded together and bought the pub, did some renovations and started making and selling their own beer, much to the angst of the big breweries who used to supply the pub.
A bit of argy bargy followed about contracts for beer etc but here we are 15 years down the track and it is just a magnificent pub restored beautifully with great local beer and food. A locals and tourists winner.
The weather continued closing in on us and the next day it was cold, wet and windy – a perfect day to explore the wild coastline and beaches.
We made a beeline for Bells Beach – I couldn’t wait – and I wasn’t disappointed
The beach is the perfect location for a big surfing competition. Magnificent waves driving up from the depths of the Southern Oceans delivering into a perfect shaped bay beach with natural viewing platforms all around. A perfect amphitheater to watch the world’s best in action.
We continued exploring along the coastline through Jan Juc, Anglesea and all of these super beach towns that I’d always read about.
We stopped in Anglesea at a butcher shop on the highway to stock up on food for the next few days, and found out later on that it’s a local institution with people driving all the way from Melbourne to buy his sausages !
Stabby’s Butchers Anglesea lives up to the hype thats for sure
Back to the camp site for a well earned beer and bbq while Old Mate found it a bit cold outside so snuck into the van to get comfy – we weren’t far behind him
Ralph and Karen's Tours 