We were up early again as some people were leaving this morning at 8 and we wanted to say bye and then before we knew it it was our time to say goodbye to our dear friends Colin and Elaine and some of their extended family. So after lots of hugs and a few pictures we set off at around 9.

It was going to feel a little weird as we were finally going to be on our own having been with family and friends for almost 2 weeks.

First stop Geelong, a port city in Victoria where we filled with diesel (struggling to find it under Aus$2.00 a litre now) before heading to park near the Botanical Gardens to go for a walk. We set off along Eastern beach, then around a really cool swimming area in the sea before going along the beach to the Ferris wheel, past an old carousel and onto Cunnington Pier where we turned around to retrace our steps after stopping for a ‘thickshake’ to try and cool down as the temperature was now just under 30 degrees.

With a little detour to the local Woolworths supermarket to stock up for hopefully 5 days, we proceeded to Portarlington, a town located in the Bellarine Peninsula and known as Australia’s mussel capital. We walked down the long pier and harbour protection and back again before walking in the sea to cool our legs at the beach. Across the Port Philip Bay you could see the skyline of Melbourne.

With a quick stop at Indented Head to see the remains of the Ozone Shipwreck from 1925, we continued around the coastal road to The Lookout at Ocean Grove. It was stunning with the waves now crashing in as we were now outside of the sheltered bay. 

Next stop was Barwon Bluff lookout point. Apparently there are 9 shipwrecks off of this coast and only 8km out to sea there is a boat graveyard where another 25 boats including a sub that got into difficulty have subsequently been intentionally sunk. 

From here it was a short drive to the campsite at Torquay. We arrived around 6 so the office was closed but they had left instructions where our pitch was and access codes for the facilities. 

Dave set about cooking some dinner, sausages, potatoes and onions before we then had a late chilly walk along the cliff edge (it was now very breezy and we had our coats on!) arriving back at the van once dark.