Apollo Bay Monday 2/11/08
Finally our stretch of cool, windy and cloudy has moved out and we have bright blue skies this morning and about 60-degrees. John has an encore ham and cheese Danish (a great invention) and Mary does the spinach Danish (not so much) with a pile of fresh fruit. We missed parts of Warrnambool over the weekend amidst all of the Wunta festivities so we take this opportunity to drive down by the lake and ocean beach which are only separated by a very neat little park. The beach rings the bay which is shaped like the letter “C” and probably a mile around. We take a stroll along the water and escape just as the little kid surfing class comes running past us. We move on to the lake which is more of a curvy lagoon with black swans and mini rental boats. There are a bunch of stainless topped gas barbies provided under the good auspices of the city council.
We are going the same direction as yesterday but find a different route out of town and stop at the Logan Beach whale “nursery.” There are some viewing decks above the beach where the folks can watch the whales and their calves in the winter (May – September). Obviously no whales here but the beach is miles long with a wide sand beach, high bluffs and not a person to be seen. Real Estate folks in California would be doing unspeakable things to each other to get hold of ground like this.
We rejoin our Sunday route at Cheese World and when we pass the sights from yesterday we are struck by the change in color that has come with our perfect weather. Our lunch stop is Port Campbell where we break out our Cheese World cheese, some sausage, mustard and crackers and grab a picnic table by the beach. About 70 degrees now with a little breeze off the water and if we haven’t mentioned it, it is a very nice day.
After lunch we walk out to the jetty where some folks are fishing and watch a fellow pull in a squid which he tossed in his bucket. Then a fishing boat pulled up and one of the deck hands jumped out and scrambled up a ladder about 8 feet to the jetty level and lowered a winch, we assumed to pull up a container of fish. No way. He hooked onto a nest of cable and pulled the whole boat up above the deck while somebody with an old truck and trailer pulled underneath it and off they went. Not the way we do it on Lake Ada. The truck had parked at the end of the jetty and we peaked at the bins that were stacked there…lobsters.
Our drive east takes us through farms and forests and more gorgeous shoreline with our next detour at the lighthouse at Otway park. The lighthouse, that we don’t much care about, is about 5km through a eucalyptus forest and Mary, now the expert, spots a koala straight up. We take a bunch of pictures, finish our drive to the lighthouse, blow off the tour, and go back to “our” koala for more pictures. An Aussie couple stop and they tell us that you never see these guys in the wild. We do.
It is late afternoon when we arrive in Apollo Bay which is a pretty little vacation spot on a bay that is a mirror image of the one we left in Warrnambool. The main street here, however, follows the shoreline of the bay so it feels more laid back. We walk the half mile length of the town, reward ourselves with a beer, and walk back along the water. We had picked out a couple possibles for dinner and decide on Buff’s Bistro. There are about 18 tables in the place and half are full when we arrive with two servers/bartenders who are busy. We have started the parade and people start streaming in behind us and we know these two are in big trouble. We manage to get our order in and have a carafe of wine so we can sit back and watch the action. Finally the male member of the team realizes how much trouble he is in and runs over to the door and puts out a “closed” sign. We compliment him later on his decision.
There is a young couple at the table next to us who is fondling a camera so we offer to take their picture. She is an Aussie and he a Brit who has just come to visit. They tell us that on the immigration forms he was asked if he had a criminal record and he answered, “I didn’t know I still needed one.” We told them that would make our journal.
Off to bed.
Todays local headline: Minister delivers Afghan ultimatum to NATO chiefs The Australian (Aussies are not members of NATO and while supplying troops are not in on the Afghan planning process.)
Finally our stretch of cool, windy and cloudy has moved out and we have bright blue skies this morning and about 60-degrees. John has an encore ham and cheese Danish (a great invention) and Mary does the spinach Danish (not so much) with a pile of fresh fruit. We missed parts of Warrnambool over the weekend amidst all of the Wunta festivities so we take this opportunity to drive down by the lake and ocean beach which are only separated by a very neat little park. The beach rings the bay which is shaped like the letter “C” and probably a mile around. We take a stroll along the water and escape just as the little kid surfing class comes running past us. We move on to the lake which is more of a curvy lagoon with black swans and mini rental boats. There are a bunch of stainless topped gas barbies provided under the good auspices of the city council.
We are going the same direction as yesterday but find a different route out of town and stop at the Logan Beach whale “nursery.” There are some viewing decks above the beach where the folks can watch the whales and their calves in the winter (May – September). Obviously no whales here but the beach is miles long with a wide sand beach, high bluffs and not a person to be seen. Real Estate folks in California would be doing unspeakable things to each other to get hold of ground like this.
We rejoin our Sunday route at Cheese World and when we pass the sights from yesterday we are struck by the change in color that has come with our perfect weather. Our lunch stop is Port Campbell where we break out our Cheese World cheese, some sausage, mustard and crackers and grab a picnic table by the beach. About 70 degrees now with a little breeze off the water and if we haven’t mentioned it, it is a very nice day.
After lunch we walk out to the jetty where some folks are fishing and watch a fellow pull in a squid which he tossed in his bucket. Then a fishing boat pulled up and one of the deck hands jumped out and scrambled up a ladder about 8 feet to the jetty level and lowered a winch, we assumed to pull up a container of fish. No way. He hooked onto a nest of cable and pulled the whole boat up above the deck while somebody with an old truck and trailer pulled underneath it and off they went. Not the way we do it on Lake Ada. The truck had parked at the end of the jetty and we peaked at the bins that were stacked there…lobsters.
Our drive east takes us through farms and forests and more gorgeous shoreline with our next detour at the lighthouse at Otway park. The lighthouse, that we don’t much care about, is about 5km through a eucalyptus forest and Mary, now the expert, spots a koala straight up. We take a bunch of pictures, finish our drive to the lighthouse, blow off the tour, and go back to “our” koala for more pictures. An Aussie couple stop and they tell us that you never see these guys in the wild. We do.
It is late afternoon when we arrive in Apollo Bay which is a pretty little vacation spot on a bay that is a mirror image of the one we left in Warrnambool. The main street here, however, follows the shoreline of the bay so it feels more laid back. We walk the half mile length of the town, reward ourselves with a beer, and walk back along the water. We had picked out a couple possibles for dinner and decide on Buff’s Bistro. There are about 18 tables in the place and half are full when we arrive with two servers/bartenders who are busy. We have started the parade and people start streaming in behind us and we know these two are in big trouble. We manage to get our order in and have a carafe of wine so we can sit back and watch the action. Finally the male member of the team realizes how much trouble he is in and runs over to the door and puts out a “closed” sign. We compliment him later on his decision.
There is a young couple at the table next to us who is fondling a camera so we offer to take their picture. She is an Aussie and he a Brit who has just come to visit. They tell us that on the immigration forms he was asked if he had a criminal record and he answered, “I didn’t know I still needed one.” We told them that would make our journal.
Off to bed.
Todays local headline: Minister delivers Afghan ultimatum to NATO chiefs The Australian (Aussies are not members of NATO and while supplying troops are not in on the Afghan planning process.)
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