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Before I get to the post, a helpful reader (aka Mike) suggested that we include some dates on our posts, so it’s easier for our readers to know when we were at the different locations as we seem to not be posting real-time lately.
That said, our stay in Apollo Bay was from Monday, February 27 to Saturday, March 4.
After getting packed and cleaning our little off-the-grid house, we started on our 3.5+ hour journey to Apollo Bay on The Great Ocean Road in south eastern Australia. We stopped for chicken and chips in Daylesford, a lovely little spa town that we would have loved to explore more, but we still had miles to go, so we did take away and headed for the bay. 🙂
About 40km from Apollo Bay, we stopped in a tiny little town called Forrest. On one side of the road was a GREAT General Store with amazing bakery items a wonderful local food and crafts and on the other side was the Forrest Brewing Company. Perfect! We got snacks to enjoy immediately and snacks to enjoy later!
Snacks we enjoyed when we got to Apollo Bay! 🙂
Forrest is just on the edge of The Great Otway National Park (the Otways), and the landscape just before it had started to change from bush-land to forests. As we left Forrest, we found ourselves in the middle of an amazing rainforest with huge trees and gigantic ferns around every turn. Oh, did I mention turns? Yes, there were turns. The roads through this magnificent forest twist and turn all the way down the infamous Great Ocean Road that stretches alongside the gorgeous sands and beautiful blue waters of the Southern Ocean.
Luckily I had my trusty passenger handle and foot break available. While they weren’t functional (or even real), they made me more comfortable. In addition, I helpfully pointed our sharp curves, reduced speed limit signs, and the like. I also suggested opportunities to slow down here and there, which the kids found so amusing that they started video taping me from the back seat. 🙂 While the views were absolutely spectacular (truly amazing the forest set against the blue below), they also looked like they went straight down, and needless to say, I was happy to be on the flat stretch of the Great Ocean Road. 🙂
We found our way to the house, which was about 700 meters from the beach and about a 20-minute walk into Apollo Bay. It also had a huge backyard with outdoor games to play and grass to run around on, which the kids LOVED! After unloading, we walked into town to get some groceries and share a pizza for dinner.
A 3.5+ hour drive makes you just want to climb some ropes or recreate twists and turns…
or hang by your knees!! Or maybe that’s just me! 😉
In addition to games outside, the house was well stocked with inside games as well! The kids and I started a game of Junior Monopoly, which I actually found more fun — faster! 🙂
Our first full day was beautiful — blue skies and sunshine! After G and L finished their Junior Monopoly game (I lost quickly), they moved onto real Monopoly (with British real estate).
After a late breakfast, we walked down to the beach right down the street from us. It was far enough away that we couldn’t quite see it, but close enough that we could still hear the waves! I just love that sound!
G and L were happy to splash in the waves again, and we ended up walking all the way into town via the beach. The sand was super soft and easy to walk on barefoot.
We came up by the harbor and then headed over to…
the award-winning Dooley’s Ice Cream — The Ice Cream Tub! Oh my! So good! The kids and I all had their 2017 winner — chocolate. Amazing! Not sure how they do it, but it’s the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had! Mike had orange and chocolate, which was also good.
That evening we had tacos for dinner (G’s choice), which tasted so good as we’ve only had them one other time (at Delia and Jeff’s) since September!! Afterwards, we all played Dramatic Charades (circa 1986) together. It was board game version with cards that gave the name of a movie, book, song, or phrase. There were some that we didn’t know as it was an Australian game, but there were plenty Mike and I did. As a result, G and I were a team and Mike and L were a team. L would ask me if Mike would know the title/song/phrase, etc., and then even if L didn’t know it, he’d just act it out based on the words. It turned out to be really fun for all of us! The kids did a great job figuring out how to act things out. 🙂
The night was still young (and it was still light out), so we headed outside to try out some cricket! It turns out, I’m a natural! 🙂 I much prefer the flat bat of cricket to the rounded baseball bat! 🙂
The pitch…
The hit…see the ball halfway to G?
The catch!!! I love G and L’s huge grins of surprise after G caught the ball!
Later, as it started getting dark, the owner of the Airbnb (Andy) stopped by to see if we wanted to have a look at the stars. The house we were staying at has two side by side apartments they rent out below the vacation house they own. As we stood watching the stars come out, he told us about the koala family that lives in the trees across the street (which we didn’t see while we were there) and the various parrots (which we saw a lot!).
Below are two King Parrots that spent lots of time in a tree in front of our house.
A fun way to end another day of our fabulous beach holiday!
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