Well my journey is getting very close to the end and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I can’t believe it’s been almost 12 months. I get a surreal feeling when I look at the map and see the distance I’ve travelled and the places I’ve stayed. Just the fact that I made it home in one piece without any serious mishaps is amazing to me!!!
I'll give a breakdown of the statistics in the final following blog
This next episode documents the journey around the South Coast of Victoria with a detour through Albury to surprise Peter on his birthday 😎 I arrived in Portland around 3pm and parked my van at the Portland Tourist Park. After setting up the van...it only takes me 10 minutes these days😃 I drove out to Cape Nelson Lighthouse about 20 minutes south via the tourist drive. The drive along the coast had some great views.
Cape Nelson Lighthouse
Scene from the tourist drive looking towards one of Australia's largest wind farms at Portland
On the way back I detoured past the Point Danger Bird observatory to see the Gannet Colony. This is the home to the only Australasian Gannet Colony on Australia's mainland. More than 6000 pairs of Gannets nest on Lawrence Rocks and 300 pair on the mainland. Every surface on the rock is covered with gannets!! They've been coming here since 1996.
They were a magnificent sight, but you had to have binoculars, which thank goodness I had, to really appreciate the sight. When tours are available you are taken through the gates to a much closer view of the mainland colony.
http://www.visitportland.com.au/gannets/ will give you a better view of the birds and more info.
The following day I drove through to Port Campbell calling into Port Fairy for a look around and a coffee break on my way. I remember attending the Port Fairy Folk Festival when I was about 18, but I don't think I've ever been back since.
More great beaches along the Victorian South Coast. This one's at Port Fairy.
It's overcast and cold...I think I want to turn around and go north again... Well, it's cold in relation to the weather I've endured for the past 12 months and I think I like warmth over cold!!! I begrudgingly🤪continue on and decided to bypass Warrnambool as I was keen to spend my time exploring The Great Ocean Road. Not long before reaching Port Campbell I started detouring into the coastal lookout points around the Petersborough coastal park region. First stop was "The Bay Of Islands" and "Bay of Martyr's". Photos do not do these magnificent coastal scenes justice. It was the beginning of me gaping at every detour...the beauty of the coastline and limestone formations were almost overwhelming. The weather was overcast so light for great photos was not the best, but I'd have to say, in reality I thought the vista's were spectacular.
I think this was The Bay of Islands or was it The Bay of Martyrs...oops, I can't remember!!
I called into "The Grotto", "London Bridge" and "The Arch" before arriving into Port Campbell .
On the path to The Grotto
Down in The Grotto
London Bridge
Coastline looking west from London Bridge lookout.
The Arch
I arrived into Port Campbell and parked my van for the night at the NRMA Holiday Park. I still had plenty of time left in the day so I continued on towards the "Twelve Apostles" only 12 kilometre further east detouring into "Loch Ard Gorge" and see the "Razorback" rock formations on my way.
Loch Ard Gorge named after the site of a shipwreck. I walked down into the gorge and along the beach. This photo shows people on the beach
About to take the steps down
Up close to the limestone wall at the end of the gorge, which is constantly wet as water seeps through the wall, hence the beautiful patch of green grass!!!
Now down on the Lock Ard Beach looking back towards where I took the first photo from.
Another walk around the Loch Ard Gorge to the Razorback lookout.
A closeup of the Razorback
By the time I reached the 12 Apostles it was about 6.30pm and the weather was getting pretty cold and threatening rain. I wanted to be there for the sunset around 7pm.
Twelve Apostles...Amazing!!!
As I arrived at the lookout some 700 metres from the carpark the sun came out..Although the sky looks OK in this photo, it was very dark and ominous over the ocean and five minutes later it turned into a downpour. Luckily I had my rain coat on, but I was still wet by the time I got back to the car. I'd had enough sightseeing and done a fair amount of walking and exploring so time to retreat to the van for the night. Time for a drink I think!!!
The following morning I packed up and continued along The Great Ocean Road towards Airey's Inlet pulling in to check out Gibson's Steps. The 82 steep steps down to the beach are only open when tides are small and low. They were closed 😞I thought I may have got my aerobic exercise in for the day!!!
I took it easy enjoying the coast road travelling through the seaside resorts of Apollo Bay, Kennett River Wye River, Lorne and arrived at Airey's Inlet early afternoon. I parked my van at the Holiday Park. Time to go walking again around the coastal walkway.
Heading off towards town and the Lighthouse on the coastal walk
On my way to the lighthouse you can see and a closer look at the rock
A close up of the rock out from the point.
Split Point Lighthouse
Looking back at the lighthouse from Split Point
After about 6 kms of walking along the coast I reckon it was time for a rest and just across the road from the caravan park was a great looking little gin tasting bar...how convenient was that 👍 I ended up sitting and chatting with a couple of guys who were off to a party and had dropped in for a drink on their way.
It's now 29th Feb and it was my intention today to travel about two thirds of the way to Albury, park for the night and arrive in Albury around lunch time on 1st March in time to get to Peter's birthday party and surprise him. I started driving and felt relaxed, the roads were excellent and easy to drive so I just kept driving. I was driving on familiar roads and through towns I knew so I wasn't needing to do any sightseeing. I parked my van at the Big 4 Caravan Park in Lavington about 4pm. I had a quiet night, and didn't tell anyone I was on home territory. I was able to have a sleep in the following morning 😍 catch up on domestic chores and surprise Peter late afternoon at the party.
Happy Birthday Pete...Surprise! surprise...although he had a feeling I might turn up!!!
I stayed a few days to grab some supplies and catch up with a few other friends. On March 4th I hook up the van and drive through to Canberra. By early afternoon I've park my van at the Alivio Tourist Park and immediately take off to visit the National gallery to see the Matisse Picasso exhibition...fabulous!! I spent a couple of hours at the gallery. I love the NGA😍
I then visited my cousin and his wife for dinner who were not far from the caravan park. It was pouring with rain by this time.
The following morning, March 5th, as I was heading for Broulee to see my daughter and her family, I called in to see a friend I had met at the Rolling Solo Event in Exmouth who lives near Queanbeyan. I've made some great friends from the event from all around Australia and it was great to catch up.
Driving over the mountain range to Bateman's Bay and Broulee was quite distressing. I have done the trip many times, but the landscape was so very different to any I'd seen before. I always love the drive through the beautiful countryside and gorgeous towns of Braidwood, Bungendore and the Clyde Mountain. The fires were certainly devastating 😔 The beautiful little village of Mogo had about 1/3 of it destroyed and between Bateman's Bay and Broulee there was hardly a tree untouched. As Jodi says, she won't ever forget the start of 2020. There were no NYE celebrations for the family as they spent the night protecting their house from fire!!!
This next photo shows how grey the day was...It's a colour photo and not a black and white photo as much as it might appear to be. The fog was thick and with blackened trees and the mist everything was black and white.
The top of Clyde Mountain.
Just past this point was the signpost "Misty mountain"... how apt!!
The road out of Mogo. The new growth on the trees is beautiful, but some trees and areas have been burnt so intensely they'll probably never regenerate.
I had 6 nights in Broulee with Jodi, Patrick and Josie. It was 12 months since I had seen them all. Phillip was working away and Max was at uni. The family had been under a fair amount of stress with the recent fires coming as close as to their back fence. The kids school close by lost buildings. Jodi works for the Eurobodalla Shire in the buildings department and was flat out handling fire related building enquires along with managing a family and project managing the new house they are building, which she designed.
Jodi and Phill's new house finally becoming a reality
Granddaughter Josie showing me around the new house, Patrick engrossed in his phone!
Jodi and Phillip had tickets to Bateman's Bay "Red Hot Summer Tour" and Jodi was able to get an extra ticket for me. Phill came home for the weekend and we had a fabulous afternoon and night enjoying some great bands. I never realised how good "Living End" were. They were amazing😍 My favourite act of the concert!! It's been a while since I attended a music festival.
One of the last "The Red Hot Summer Tour" concerts before they were cancelled due to COVID 19
I left Broulee on 11th March and drove through to Cann River along the coast. I parked my van at the Cann River free camp beside the river. I took my time and drove the tourist road through Bermagui and Tathra. I didn't come across a lot of fire affected area's on the coast road, but after I passed through Eden the extent of the fires from then on became very evident. For the next 200 kms it was almost completely fire ravaged. Lots of roadworks on the road logging the salvageable wood especially in the Cann River region.
This was taken on the Cann River to Bairnsdale road and some areas along this stretch of road look like they will never regenerate. The ground was completely bare and large areas of trees had no new growth...just brown and dry!!!
The town of Cann River was saved. The camp ground is on the right of the river. It was an oasis in the surrounding burnt landscape!!
I walked over the bridge into town to have dinner at the pub, but for some reason it was closed. I ended up eating at one of the cafe's, which was OK, but not fabulous!!!
Next morning I drove through to Bairnsdale and did a detour to Paynesville to visit friends. After we'd had lunch they walked out to the van to have a look and see me off and Rob, with his inquisitive eye noticed one of the tyres on the van had split...OOPS!! I think this was one lucky escape from a disaster that could have been...Thanks Rob 😀I immediately drove back (slowly) to Bairnsdale and had two new tyres fitted before continuing on to Lifestyle Villages Caravan Park in Traralgon where I parked for the night. I had arranged to leave the van at the service centre in Frankston the following morning to have it's 12 month service and some warranty issues resolved. I dropped the van off around midday and stayed with friends in Melbourne until the following week.
During the week in Melbourne I caught up with another Rolling solo friend, Michelle, who I had travelled with in north west Western Australia. We spent an afternoon together walking along St Kilda beach and keeping away from crowds. I also had a couple of nights in the city with some friends who had flown down from Sydney to go to the circus, which was cancelled at the last minute because of COVID 19. Large gatherings and social distancing was starting to be enforced so we spent the weekend walking around the city keeping our distance and just hanging out together. All the galleries were closed 😢. I then stayed with Sara's in-laws, Marie and Alan, in Aspendale for a few days waiting for my van to be completed.
I arrived home in Albury on March 19th one year and 5 days after leaving Albury. My tenants are still in my house so I parked my van and myself in the All Seasons Caravan Park in Lavington for three weeks. I've officially finished the trip 😢😃😮 and I move back into my house on Good Friday April 10th.
I don't think I could have timed my return better...I was so very relieved I was able to complete the trip and be back home before the COVID 19 restrictions became so critical. I'd always planned to be back mid March. I have met a number of travellers since I arrived back in Albury who are only part way through their trip and they either had to get home as quick as they can or if their home wasn't available to make the decision to sit it out somewhere. I've loved the van lifestyle, but I will be glad to be in my home if we are social distancing and self isolating for some time to come. A bit more personal space sounds wonderful!!
I have one more blog to go, which is a summary of the trip. It is almost complete and will be uploaded within the next few days.
A big thank you to all those who followed the trip. It's been sensational to be able to share the experience with you all.
🥂Anne