Betten On Bike: DAY 103 = 21ST JULY 2013 - APOLLO BAY TO MORNINGTON

Day 103 – 21st July 2013 - Apollo Bay to Mornington

Walter started his ride at 7.30am – early for this part of Australia and the weather was cloudy but fine so a good start to the day. I decided to walk into Apollo Bay to buy some of the fantastic sourdough bread from the bakery which had been sold out yesterday and the early morning sun over the bay was beautiful.

The plan was to meet Walter at Lorne but he arrived before me as the beautiful heavy sourdough loaf I bought split the seam of the light packaging it was in and fell into a puddle so I drove to the bakery to get a replacement and then top up the fuel in the campervan so this all took a little longer than expected.

The winding beautiful Great Ocean Road and its amazing views never fail to absolutely take your breath away. It was constructed by returned World War One soldiers and is a tribute to them which is documented by the monuments along the road.

Cycling Stats: 160 kms

Cycling Average: Walter doesn’t know as the computer stopped working

We stopped past Lorne for coffee at a scenic lookout and there were heaps of surfers out enjoying the huge waves. Then on to Anglesea where Walter said he wanted to have a lunch stop. But this ended up being too close to our morning tea stop and too early so he said he was keen to stop at Torquay. The only thing was when I arrived and saw the route we had to take there was nowhere to stop so I ended up on the big fast highway to Geelong and went around 10kms and then called him – no answer but I decided to wait until I heard from him. Yes he was at the roundabout and would cycle to where I was. Time was running short – we were booked on the 1.00pm ferry from Queenscliffe and still more than 60 kms to go so unfortunately Walter needed to hop into the car for 15 kms or so otherwise we would never make the ferry.

This was a good decision as when I arrived in Queenscliffe he arrived at 12.40 – only 20 minutes before it departed.

Ferry crossing to Sorrento (only 40 minutes) and then on to Mornington – another 50 kms. After Mt Martha the wind was extremely strong and the drive to Mornington which hugged the coast was so very gusty and I kept having to clean the windows of the van because of the sea spray.

It was a gutsy ride – the winds were so fierce and gusty for Walter and he also felt the incredible sea spray on the exposed coastal ride from Mt Martha.

I was to find a camping ground which I did and then waited for Walter to call – luckily he wasn’t too far away. Then we drove into town to meet up with Mark who used to live next door to us in Brisbane & meet his girlfriend Amy and we very much enjoyed chatting with them over coffee. They have very recently become engaged and it was wonderful to see their joy and excitement in planning their future together. Amy comes from a Dutch background so we all felt a great connection and enjoyed talking about her family and their Dutch heritage.

Thank you to Mornington Gardens Holiday Village for supporting us and giving us a free powered site – fantastic place to stay !! Interesting observation is the use of hedging – I noticed quite a few farm houses totally surrounded by thick high hedges in Victoria – some I guess to be 3 metres high and significantly at least a metre thick. They provide excellent protection from the very gusty windy weather. Even in our caravan park all the sites were separated by hedges – wind protection and privacy – well thought out.