The Victorian Road Trip Part 6 - the rest of the Great Ocean Road & Melbourne

Due to the tropical conditions in our apartment and some luck the carseat had dried ..... and it was still sunny, so we decided to head out for some Great Ocean Road sightseeing. For the second time that day we loaded up the car and headed off. This time Astrid was instructed to warn of impending vomit.  Now haven driven this section of road several times, we were worried about how windy it was and another car-sickness episode. Luckily Astrid was asleep about 5 minutes after leaving and missed all the stomach-churning action.  Soren lasted a few minutes longer than Astrid, but also eventually succumbed to car napping.  The skies weren't quite as clear as earlier in the day but there were still some nice views to be had.

We drove through Wye River (scene of the morning vomit episode) but didn't stop as most of it could be easily viewed from the car. We then reached Kennett River, which is known for having Koalas. Our haphazard research lead us to believe you could walk along the river and see the Koalas and we remembered which road the river was on. We took a drive there and it was a dirt road and quite windy. We followed it for awhile but it looked like another 5 or so kilometres to reach the river and we weren't sure if we were going the right way. Since both kids were sleeping we decided to head back into town and see if we could find signs.  The road ran through lots of gum tree forest and was quite scenic. Once we got back to town we found signs that indicated we had been in the right spot but it wasn't a walk as such, the koalas tended to be in the trees next to the road.  We hadn't seen any but we they quite well could have been there. Since both kids were still sleeping we thought we'd better keep going and headed further West to Apollo Bay.

We drove through another few small towns, and admired the farms with spectacular views.  Lucky sheep!  We reached Apollo Bay after about an hour and reluctantly woke both children. Soren was happy to be released from the car but Astrid was very grumpy.  The beach at Apollo Bay is gorgeous and the late afternoon sun was making it look particularly so. We tried to entice Astrid with a walk on the beach, normally a hit....... but the grumpy bear wasn't liking being woken. At least she got to have her tantrum in a beautiful location.

After the tantrum had run it's course we wandered down the beach, making footprints in the squishy sand and playing in the sun.  After a nice walk we headed to the supermarket across the road to procure some biscuits.  We may have promised carbohydrate treats to placate the tantruming one and had left our supply back in Lorne.  Biscuits purchased we headed back towards the car, through some parks and back along the beach. Apollo Bay seemed like a lovely town and a really nice spot to stay.  Sadly though we needed to get back to Lorne.

Neither child was happy about being sentenced to more car time but biscuits provided a good distraction.  It was now after 4pm and the sun was starting to set. We got some lovely late afternoon views on the drive back.

We managed to survive all the twists and turns in the road vomit free.  After a lot of windy driving even the adults were feeling a little green.  Soren violently objected to the last 20 minutes of driving and we were all pleased to come around the last corner and see our hotel.

We had a voucher to use for the hotel restaurant and decided it sounded like a good and easy dinner option. The restaurant opened for dinner at 5.30 so we got ourselves organised and headed down there with a tired Soren, and excited Astrid.  We were planning on ordering a few different dishes and sharing but Astrid was insisting on fish and chips (yet again). They had a kids menu with fish and chips and Anto gave in to her whinging and let her have it. Nic would have been tougher but wasn't going to argue.  The fish and chips were actually pretty good and she loved it. Soren stole quite a bit of her fish and then half his Dad's calamari and risotto cake.  Astrid had a choc paddlepop as part of her meal so the adults decided we 'needed' cheesecake. Luckily it came with a bucketload of fruit that kept Soren amused........

We managed to wrap dinner up by 6.30pm (just as both kids were about to lose it) and left the other diners in peach. We headed back to our apartment and got them bathed and into bed in a timely fashion. We had one voucher left from the restaurant that we weren't likely to use for breakfast so we seriously contemplated getting a bottle of wine (or some coffees) from the restaurant for take-away but couldn't be bothered walking back down there!

Morning dawned grey and rainy (and with kids up pre-dawn as usual).  After 3 days in the same place we had managed to spread our belongings far and wide so it took awhile to get everything packed and into the car.  A clearly overtired Soren was not making matters easier but wanting to be carried everywhere. One handed packing is not very efficient.  Luckily the cockatoos turned up at 8am and kept both kids amused for at least 20 minutes.  By 9am we were packed and ready to go. Anto left the rest of us in the warm and dry car while he checked out and Soren was asleep before he got back to the car.  He also returned with take away coffees, and a random assortment of biscuits from the restaurant. They were quite happy to let him use the last voucher up on 'car snacks' so we got our coffee and sugar fix sorted for the long drive ahead.

Our plan for the day was to finish the Great Ocean Road drive and then head to Melbourne. Lorne to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road is approximately 2 hours driving without stops. We hoped to do a little sightseeing on the way and be in Melbourne for lunch.  We considered trying yet again to go to Teddy's lookout before leaving Lorne but it was raining and foggy and we figured we wouldn't have seen anything.  Instead, we bid farewell to Lorne and head East towards Anglesea.

Like the road heading into Lorne, the road out the other side is very windy.  Astrid almost immediately alerted us to an impending vomit situation so we were driving very slowly, with the windows down and the car on antarctic mode. Soren managed to sleep through the icy blast and Astrid managed to keep her breakfast down.

We drove through Anglesea, which was another pretty town but didn't stop. The next stop was Airley's inlet, where we hoped to visit the lighthouse. You can actually see the Airley's Inlet lighthouse from Lorne when the weather is clear.  Unlike our visit to the Port Fairy lighthouse, which involved a reasonable amount of walking, the Airley's Inlet lighthouse was right next to the carpark at the top of a hill.  As we reached the lighthouse the rain had stopped and there was a pretty impressive rainbow. With a still sleeping Soren, Astrid and Anto went to check out the lighthouse (and rainbow) but returned very promptly before the next rain shower hit.

The next stop was Torquay. After Airley's Inlet the road was much more Astrid friendly and we allowed her to have her TV shows back, with the threat of imminent vomit significantly reduced.   We reached Torquay about 50 mintues after leaving Lorne and it was once again raining. We had planned to go to Bell's beach for a walk but with Soren getting some much needed sleep and the persistent rain we decided to drive through and head to Geelong.   A little over an hour of driving since departing Lorne and we bid farewell to the Great Ocean Road.  It had definitely been scenic and worth the effort. Some sections we drove multiple times, other sections we could have spent more time on (the perils of working around small children) but we all enjoyed our Great Ocean Road adventure.

While the Great Ocean Road part of the trip was done and dusted we were still a long way from home.  Since we pretty much had to drive through Melbourne to get home we planned a night in Melbourne, with a free afternoon to explore. Astrid loves Melbourne so was excited to be heading there again, although a little confused as to why this time we were going in the car. Every other visit with her we have flown, so to her Melbourne was a mystical place you fly to!

We had assumed Soren would only nap for a portion of the mornings driving and we would stop at either Torquay or Geelong for a break and to feed him. A tired poppet he slept like a champion and was still snoozing 2 hours after leaving Lorne.  He only woke up at a service station not far out of Melbourne where we had stopped for petrol and a toilet stop. Between a sleeping baby and a toddler watching endless Ben and Holly it had been a peaceful mornings driving.

Our original plan was to stay in St Kilda for the night but we ended up finding accommodation in East Melbourne.  Since it was rapidly approaching lunch time we thought we'd head to St Kilda for lunch and a wander first since it was too early to check in to our hotel.  As we approached Melbourne Soren was getting a little sick of the car (and ready for lunch) but we made it to St Kilda by 12. Being a Thursday it was actually quite quiet and we found free parking adjacent to Luna Park and headed down Acland street to find a suitable cafe for lunch.

We always love wandering down Acland street and looking at all the cake shops and cafes.  We promised Astrid we would investigate cake after lunch (although it was tempting to have cake lunch!). We found a cafe we hadn't tried before and looked busy enough to be good but not busy enough to be annoying.  They did all day breakfast and there were lots of good options. In the end Anto had a massive hamburger, Nic had an awesome omlette and the kids shared soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers......  they thought that was a fun lunch!

All full we wandered back down the street via a supermarket for some supplies. We then had to go back to the cake shops to purchase afternoon tea. On our initial stroll down the street, Astrid had spied a chocolate sail boat cake and decided that was what she wanted. We located the chocolate sail boat and purchased it, along with some other tasty treats for the adults. We intended to walk down the Esplanade and along the beach but it was raining and really windy. We ended up walking down to St Kilda beach for a wander. It was very windy and it was us and other tourists there..... We didn't last too long but the brief sunshine was lovely between the icy winds.  Melbourne was living up to it's 4 seasons in one day reputation.

With a tired Soren we headed back to the car. It was only a short distance to our hotel in East Melbourne but it took at least half an hour through traffic.  The accommodation was a slight come down from the previous nights (as expected) but was still quite acceptable and Astrid was thrilled to have her own queen sized bed. Nic and Anto were thrilled to have a king sized bed for extra space when Soren inevitably joined us!  After Soren was fed we thought we'd better head out for our afternoons activities.

The previous night we had asked Astrid what she wanted to do while in Melbourne. She has been to Melbourne before and loved it but this was going to be a shorter visit. If we had more time we would have visited the zoo again, but thought it a bit much given how tired we all were. At any rate Astrid had requested 'tram rides' and that seemed easier to organise than the zoo! We had left our tram cards at home but figured out that the city circle tram wasn't too far from our hotel.

On our last trip to Melbourne we had a failed attempt with the city circle tram due to it being over-run with business traffic, making it useless for sight-seeing. We thought it was worth giving it another go though.  It was a couple of kilometres walk from our hotel down to the tram stop but we walked through the Fitzroy Gardens which were lovely in the afternoon sunshine (well the 5 minutes between the wind and rain).  We could have spent longer there but Astrid enjoyed her run around.

We eventually reached the tram stop and waited for the city circle tram to arrive. Astrid was beside herself with excitement, which didn't dissipate once on the tram. Luckily it was less busy than the last time we tried this trip.  We had a vague plan to head into the city for a wander and some coffee.  After a few stops we jumped off the tram and headed out of the wind and into the shops.  Astrid complained that her tram ride was 'too short' but we placated her by letting her share Anto's chocolate milkshake.  After our afternoon tea we wandered the shops in the warm for a bit and decided to procure some chicken fried rice for kiddy dinner.  The adults decided we were too full and could live on cake alone.

After our shopping (which strangely didn't involve us buying anything other than dinner), we headed back to the tram. Soren had finally succumbed to sleeping and Astrid was again excited about the tram.  The return tram ride was also pleasant but we got further complaints about it being too short. I know what we are doing next time we go to Melbourne, riding trams all over the city! She was even less impressed when we made her walk from the tram stop to the hotel. Anto took pity on her and carried her most of the way back...... especially since it was rapidly getting dark (and colder).

Back at the hotel the kids demolished the fried rice and Astrid was finally let loose on her chocolate sail boat.  It didn't appeal to us but she loved it!  Of course Soren must have heard that we had cake stashed away for our dessert because he again managed to delay going to sleep long enough for us to think we should permanently give up eating cake!

The Victorian Road Trip Part 5 - the Great Ocean Road (Lorne)

We were very excited to wake up after our first night in Lorne, and not have to pack up and hit the road. After moving nightly for 5 days it was very pleasant to have a relaxed day ahead.  Of course neither child gave us a sleep in, but they didn't do too badly.  We had 1 breakfast at the hotel restaurant included in our booking and we had decided to use that on our first day.  Annoyingly the breakfast only started at 8.30am..... who starts breakfast at that hour? Not people with small children, that is for sure! We pre-fed the kids when they first got up and then headed down to be waiting for the restaurant to open. There were several other families with small kids waiting too....

Astrid and Soren were quite happy to participate in 'second breakfast'. Astrid did request 'fruit and vegetables'..... you know your kids haven't been getting enough fruit when they start asking for it!  Both ate their body weight in fruit (and bacon, always with the bacon).  Towards the end of breakfast Soren was getting a bit tired and grumpy.  Nic got to walk around to entertain him, and he managed to fall asleep before we even left the restaurant.

Our original plan for the morning was to have breaky and then head to the nearby Erskine Falls. When we went into breakfast it was a nice day. When we came out it was raining foggy and miserable and we got wet walking back to our apartment.  With a still sleeping Soren we changed plans and decided to let him rest in his cot and Anto and Astrid would take the car down to the supermarket for the supplies that we meant to get the previous evening but didn't quite get to.

While they were out, it started pouring rain and the plans for the day looked in doubt. Soren had a short nap, a feed and was again a happy camper.  The rain calmed down a bit and although still wet we decided to head to the falls. If we got too wet it was only a short drive back to get warm and dry.

Erskine Falls are about 10kms from Lorne and a pleasant drive up into the mountains behind the town.  When we got to the Falls carpark it was still quite wet and cold but not raining too heavily. Soren was in his snowsuit and Astrid had her raincoat so we thought we would head off before the weather got worse.  It's a short walk to the base of the falls, down stone steps with guard rails. The steps are quite large and were a bit slippery but even with Soren in the ergo, a toddler, and all the camera gear, we didn't find it too much of a challenge.  The falls are quite pretty and there are viewing platforms that made getting a look quite easy.  It probably would have been more pleasant if it were warmer and drier but still worth the walk.
You could also walk along the river bank, which was nice but very slippery in the wet. Still Astrid managed with some assistance and Nic didn't fall in with Soren attached, so we did well.

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While it was nice being at the base of the falls, we had to go up to get back to the car. The steps were much harder on the way up. Anto elected to carry Astrid as the steps were too steep and wet for her to manage, and with a Soren in the ergo on the front, Nic had it only marginally better.  We did get lots of looks of admiration from all the 50+ crowd heading down the steps, but it wasn't too bad and we were back up in 5 or so minutes, a little damp but not as drenched as some other people looked.

We drove back to the hotel and noticed the signs to the other tourist spot we wanted to check out, Teddy's lookout but decided to make that our afternoon activity, when it was hopefully a little nicer out. All dry and warm, we thought we should head down to the hotel restaurant for our complimentary devonshire tea. Astrid is a huge fan of scones, Nic and Anto love coffee, it was raining and cold.... sounded like a good plan.  The devonshire tea was meant to be for two but the hotel staff were lovely and gave us 3 huge scones, with jam and cream and our coffees and a babycino for Astrid.  They were actually pretty good scones, and the coffee was acceptable. Astrid scoffed hers down and we shared the others with Soren (who was a little sad he wasn't allowed the jam and cream). Sadly no photos as we forgot the camera, but there were some happy kids and it was a good way to spend a rainy cold morning.

All full we decided that both kids could do with a decent sleep, so compulsory napping for small people was ordered (much to their annoyance). After nap time and a late lunch we thought it was time to head out for another walk. It had stopped raining but was was still very damp and cold. We snowsuited Soren up, and decided to try and find our way to Teddy's lookout. It appeared to be the top of the hill behind the hotel. With a dodgy map in hand we headed out and up.  Pretty soon we hit parkland, which was not well signposted. We kept heading up and there were lovely views out to sea and over the cliffs but no sign of the lookout. We suspected we were on the wrong side of the hill but it would have been a long walk to get around the other side, and it was starting to get quite wet so we decided to try the lookout again when we had the car, and head back down to the pier and back to the warm. First we enjoyed the views and let Astrid loose on some of the grass.... it was pretty wet and cold!

Soren was warm and cosy in his snowsuit and tucked up in the ergo but the rest of us were getting blasted in the face with icy rain and wind.  We decided to check out Lorne pier, which was opposite our hotel.  It had looked much nicer the day before but we headed down anyway, on the lookout for the seals that reportedly hang out at the end of the pier.  No seals but plenty of lovely storm clouds and cold!  It was still fairly picturesque though........

Soren had managed some napping during our walk but it was time to head back and warm up and get dinner cooked. We thought we'd utilise the BBQ on the verandah and make sure the kids ate some actual vegetables (along with their sausages). After a few busy days it was nice to have an early dinner and get them to bed on time.

Our plan for our last full day in Lorne was to drive back West towards Apollo Bay and see some more of the towns we'd driven straight through 2 days earlier.  The weather forecast for the day was the same as the previous day, and if it was going to be the same we weren't sure it was worth the effort as we wouldn't get to see much.  When the morning dawned it was overcast and damp but not actually raining. The previous day had started out in the same fashion and gotten progressively worse so we weren't overly hopeful.

Our cockatoo friends arrived on schedule at 8am.  The previous morning Astrid had been thrilled when a heap of cockatoos turned up at our apartment. They managed to turn up this same time again and both kids were endlessly amused. Soren loved watching them out the window. Lorne seemed to have a cockatoo problem as there were signs up everywhere warning not to feed them, we figured out why later in the day.

All breakfasted and warmly dressed, we decided we might as well head out for our sightseeing since it wasn't presently raining. We packed a picnic lunch so we could stop and eat in one of the towns, and packed the car for our morning out.  It was 44km back to Apollo Bay and we planned to stop through several towns on the way there (or back, depending on when Soren was sleeping).  Predictably Soren was asleep within about 10 minutes of being in the car. We had made the first sightseeing spot and it was shaping up to be a picturesque view.

Having driven this bit of road the other day we knew it was quite windy and knowing Astrid is prone to car sickness we should have been more worried, but we had not had any incidents so far on the trip.  Our luck ran out though and just as we were coming into Wye River. Astrid managed to puke everywhere.  Anto pulled over but it just kept going and was all through her carseat and the car.  Of course, only planning on being out for the morning we had no spare clothes for her or the spare nappies I had thrown into the car for such an occurrence.  We managed to clean up most of the mess with whatever we could find in the baby bag and a packet of wipes. Anto had to pull her seat to bits on the side of road to empty it out and Astrid had to be stripped off as her clothes were all soaked.  She got to spend the drive back wrapped in a bubba moe sling with a picnic rug over her to warm her up.  Soren had woken up in all the commotion after a whole 5 minutes sleep.  We then had to turn around and head back to the apartment to deal with the mess, our morning of sightseeing cancelled. It was a long and smelly 15 minutes drive back.  Again Soren fell asleep 5 minutes before getting back and was very unimpressed about being woken again.

We managed to get Astrid showered and cleaned up and Anto went off to the shops to buy some upholstery cleaner.  We thought the rest of the day would be a write off while we washed and dried the car seat.  Soren, now well and truly awake, got fed. The seat and all the clothes were washed and we cranked up the heating to desert-like and put everything out on the clothes horse and hoped for the best.

Soren needed to sleep and it was now too hot to hang out in the apartment, so we put him in the ergo and headed out for a walk. It was turning into a fairly lovely day so we decided to take the picnic lunch and head to the beach via the boardwalk.  Despite the bad start to the day it wasn't turning out too badly.  It was a very pleasant walk down to the beach and we all enjoyed the sunshine and non-vomit smelling air.

With Soren napping in the ergo, we made it to the playground and let Astrid loose while Anto grabbed some coffees for the adults. They were obviously laced with gold dust given the price, but we needed it.  Astrid enjoyed her play. The playground was very good, large, a heap of slides and a boat to climb in and out of and 'drive'.  Great fun for 3 year olds.

After a good play we wandered down to the beach and found a picnic spot for lunch.  It had turned into a beautiful day and lots of tourists were out on the beach, enjoying the views and sunshine.

Soren was still asleep but Astrid was keen on lunch.  This is where things went awry. Anto wandered off to a bathroom and in the meantime some cockatoos came to visit our table. Nic covered up Astrid's sandwich with one of Soren's bibs but the cockies were quite brazenly walking all over the table and refusing to be shoo-ed.  Quick as a flash one of them grabbed a quarter of a sandwich and then it all went downhill. Cockies started landing all over the table, jumping on Nic's shoulders and one landed on Soren's head waking him up. Astrid was terrified and screaming and trying to hide while 20 odd cockatoos were climbing all over us trying to get the food.  Meanwhile 20 or 30 tourists stood around taking photos and thinking it was hilarious while Nic tried to stop both kids from being climbed on by overly friendly cockatoos.  Anto reappeared to see the ridiculous scene and managed to rescue us, but was wishing he got photos as it was quite comical.

Astrid eventually calmed down and luckily Soren was oblivious to it all (although now awake).  We decided to take our remaining food further down the beach away from the cockatoos and ate in peace.

After a much calmer lunch experience away from our feathered 'friends' we decided to head back to the hotel along the rocks of the beach.  The tide was out just enough for us to walk along the shore and over the rocks, examining the rock pools.  It was a lovely walk back and we managed to not fall over and stop Astrid from picking up every shell.

Since the weather had significantly improved over the previous day we headed back down the pier to see what it looked like when not almost snowing!

All walked out, we ventured back to the apartment to check on the fate of the carseat and make a decision on how to spend our afternoon..........