Great Ocean Road

So we left Ballarat and travelled through 'Lakes and Craters' country, stopping for lunch at the interesting town of Camperdown where we pigged out on fishermans baskets and chips. The town centre has a very interesting clock tower which dominates the whole town being 30 metres tall in a single storey town, imagine Eiffel Tower on Rottnest!
Then onto Warrnambool.  Well, Warrnambool was a pleasant surprise. We opted for the Figtree caravan park, rather than camping out at the showgrounds - that turned out to be a good move; the caravan park was close to town and foreshore and had a heated swimming pool. (which was beautiful).
We spent one day exploring the town and the fantastic Mill Markets, in the old Fletcher Jones factory. The markets were a collectors delight, whatever you're into we're sure that they would have something for you and the prices seemed good. We spent the next day walking along the foreshore and found a little memorial to the Portuguese explorers, Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama.
(Michael is with Henry: I'm with Vasco)

                                      

We took it nice and easy in Warrnambool and stayed 3 days, we'll definitely put this town on the list of places to revisit.

We've noticed some different postboxes in this area  - they are called Post Receiving Pillars and they have a lovely little hand on the handle of the emptying door.      

Friday brought the showers back so we were apprehensive about what we would actually see along the Great Ocean Road. No worries! The views were as fantastic as all the promotional photos and hype promised. We turned off the road and 'did' all the tourist lookouts and photo ops. 

We had a look around the little towns of Peterborough and Port Campbell but decided to stop at the sweetest little caravan park in the village of Princetown; on the eastern edge of the 12 Apostles National Park. The caravan park is the "Apostles Camping Park" and the blurb said,"Perfect location overlooking the Gellibrand River and National Park. Simple, clean and quiet, ideal for couples and overseas travellers wanting that natural experience" It's all true, this place is perfect.

We decided on 2 nights but yesterday it was wet and drizzly all day so we decided to take a chance on it clearing up and stayed an extra day. It paid off, although it's a bit overcast, the showers have gone and all the birds are out; Splendid wrens, Blackbirds, Honeyeaters, Robins and cheeky little sparrows.

 (Apart from the sparrows and blackbirds it's like home, at the moment we have the place to ourselves).

Looking out across the wetlands and river we can see kangaroos in the paddocks, I counted 46 just now.

Tomorrow we continue east along the Great Ocean Road, intending to stay at a caravan park with a promise of more wildlife.