OZ-Travels 2018-2019, Stage 6 - Pambula Beach NSW to Apollo Bay VIC- Great Ocean Road

Stage 6 - Pambula Beach NSW to Apollo Bay VIC- Great Ocean Road, 780 km in 10 hours  45 minutes incl 3 stops.

Stage 6 was and will be one of the longest stretches of driving we are doing on our trip. The first part through the south of NSW is curvy and slow, then you have a nice faster highway leading into the Melbourne outskirts and past Geelong , along the Great Ocean Road, it gets slow and winding again but so spectacular. Lani and Kobi did amazing again and surprisingly no one including Sherry got Car sick. After almost 11 hours of travelling we were happy to arrive in Apollo Bay. Sherry and I were so excited to come to the Great Ocean Road, looking forward to ride and run along the coast and see the 12 (8) apostles. After unpacking the car we had an extended walk with the dogs at the beautiful beach down the street from our house and a stroll through the main street of Apollo Bay.

We choose Apollo Bay because it sits in the middle of the Great Ocean Road and gave us an easier opportunity to explore the 165 Km long Coast line. For our accommodation we opted again for an Airbnb. The renovated old cottage was only 2 blocks away form the beach promenade, and was perfectly set up with a small kitchen (no dishwasher), 3 bedrooms, full bathroom, a laundry room with washer,dryer and 2nd toilet and living room with a fire place and a reverse cycle Air.
The backyard was fully fenced and secure for the dogs, with a wooden deck and grassy area, and undercover area with a barbecue.
In the front of the house another covered area lead to a not fully fenced big yard.
The owners provided wood for the fire place, which we happily used almost every evening.
There are shops and restaurants close by, which is a big plus.
Overall great accommodation, awesome value. We would book this Airbnb (Moore House) again.

After the first night and good sleep in, we went  to Sandy Feet for breakfast. Food was good and

despite very busy on Saturday morning we didn't have to wait too long. Great also that the dogs were welcome to the outdoor sitting area. We went for a long walk to the marina, where Lani enjoyed herself in the cold water chasing fishes.
We went for a 30 km bike ride along the Barham River towards the hinterland. It was very scenic and enjoyable ride climbing through the forest, despite the cold temperatures(we Townsville people are used to warmer temperatures).
We enjoyed our front yard that late milder afternoon playing with dogs, sipping glasses of Champagne offered by our Airbnb Host (Thanks for that:-)) and waiting for the sunset.

Day 2 in Apoollo Bay was finally a warmer day (30 degrees, Yeah). We always wanted to ride ourbikes on the Great Ocean Road but we wanted to do it as safe as possible. We decided to ride from Port Campbell towards Warrnambool  and back. Just a 50 km ride for today as we still wanted to go and see the Loch Ard Gorge and the 12 Apostles, which we did after a late Lunch in Port Campbell. It was surprising how hard it was to find a place to eat lunch after 3.30 PM. In fact there was only one.
We spent the rest of the late afternoon visiting and walking to the Gorge and to the Apostles, What amazing scenery:-)  Nature is such an amazing artist, sculpting and remodeling! Absolutely stunning!!

Apollo Bay presented it self again in cooler temperatures on day 3. Some rain forecast for the

afternoon. Today's plan was to do a trail run. We drove by car to Cape Otway where we visited the Lighthouse. The Cape Otway Light-station is the oldest and most important lighthouse in Australia, it was built in 1848 to prevent shipwrecking. The light station is at the most Southern Point where the Bass Straits and Indian Ocean collide. It is well known as very treacherous waters and many many ships have sunk here.We climbed to the top of the lighthouse over 90m. The view was spectacular!

After sightseeing, we ran towards Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Walk trails. The scenery along the Trails are stunning and despite the many up and downs we truly enjoyed the 12 km out and back run.
As you can see we keep our travels quite active. (always a great way to justify our eating and drinking :-)

Day 4 -A freezing morning kept us in bed a bit longer- We kept it a fairly active day with 2 longer beach walks and a 6 km run (legs were bit sore from the trails yesterday) and relaxed the rest of the day. We started to pack up the car for an early start in the morning as we have another 750 km drive awaiting.

We rewarded ourselves with a nice Dinner at Chris's Beacon Point. The Restaurant is nestled on the
hillside of Skenes Creek, with a panoramic coastal view just 5 km from Apollo Bay. They specialize in Mediterranean food. The ambiance, food and service were amazing. If you're visiting, make sure you come for a treat.

Next Stop, Adelaide

Nature is absolute amazing, isn't it? If you like the pics leave a comment!

OZ-Travels 2018-2019, Stage 5 - Sydney/Rozelle to Pambula Beach

Stage 5 - Sydney/Rozelle to Pambula Beach = 454km, 7 1/2 hours including 1 stop

We choose our next stop on the Far South NSW coast. I had been to Huskisson in Jervais Bay a couple of times before for triathlons and thought it was beautiful and that Mic would enjoy the scenery. We choose the area of Eden as I had read about its beauty, whales and it was a bit closer to our next destination on the Great Ocean Road.
We actually chose an AirBnB in Pambula Beach which is half way between Merimbula and Eden. All of this area is primarily holiday accommodations with a handful of locals both retired and working.

Our trip from Sydney, despite not being that far in Kms, seemed to take forever. The Princes Highway is slow, hilly and windy all the way from Cronulla down the whole south coast. Once you passed Wollongong there was not many ocean vistas rather mostly rural and forest. Our amazing fur baby travellers were really calm most of the trip. I think we have been really tiring them out with all their walks and excursions. We stopped for a break and coffee at the Milk Shed off the highway. It was a cute cheese factory, restaurant and accommodation. Coffee was good, toilets were clean and lots of grassy area for the dogs to walk. Kobi and Lani even saw their first cows 🐄! We arrived into Pambula Beach after 630pm, just in time to unpack, settle in, go for a beach walk and have some dinner.

We chose another AirBnB accommodation that is an exclusive vacation rental but advertises itself as a luxury accommodation that is pet friendly. That along with the rough collie in their advertising pictures got my attention :-) We booked 5 nights at Heaven 2 which is a 3B/1B vacation home with a very large fenced and secure backyard. It was really spacious and had most of the amenities that we needed but you could definitely tell the difference between this being a strictly vacation home versus someone’s actual home. We are preferring the love we feel in people’s homes that aren’t just for vacation rentals. It was still very well appointed with a comfy bed and a great shower head with lots of powerful hot water, a must with how cold it is down here!!

The weather has not been too kind for our visit being mostly rainy with a few spurts of sunshine.

Temps are 20 at best and overnight lows around 11-12. Brrrrrrr!! Thank god for reverse cycle air. We have had the heat on every day!! It’s crazy to see locals running around in shorts and t-shirts while we are bundled up like we are in Antartica, 😂. We even have to cover the dogs up in blankets when they come in from the beach. I have yet to unpack my summer dresses.

Despite being cold, the scenery is spectacular., The beaches are pristine white and squeak when you walk on the sand. The water is the most amazing blues, turquoise and emerald greens and in many parts its crystal clear to the bottom. The water is cold but not as cold as you would expect considering the air temp. Probably around 17-18 degrees. People were actually swimming just in their swimmers!! Pambula Beach is super quiet with really no services and a very small population. So most of our days here have been made of long beach walks and runs. Never really get tired of that. We went for only 1 ride the first day and turned around early as it was so windy and my rims are kinda big and I thought I would get blown off my bike. Mic thought it best not to press my luck since we have so much of our trip left. We never got back on the bikes as it was just too cold and wet. Sad as it looks like some amazing places to ride. However people here don’t seem to be very biker friendly :-( Almost as bad as Townsville!!

We took a drive into Eden to check it out and were really happy we chose to stay in Pambula Beach,

liking the vibe much better here. We also drove into Merimbula and had an early Tapas and Wine dinner at Ritzy’s one night. The food was good and the service was fun, meeting another transplanted Italian. the restaurant is rated #3 in Trip Advisor for the area and is currently for sale for $200,000 if you are looking for a sea change? Lol 😝.

We took the kids to Merimbula Beach on our last day. We stopped first for breakfast at a cute cafe, More More’s on the Boardwalk that allowed dogs and had lots of gluten free options - yeah a bonus for me! Then we were off to the beach. The sun came out finallay which made for some spectacular colours in the ocean. All we needed were some dolphins in the waves and it would have been magic. No such luck but we had an amazing walk in very deep sand for over 5K. Then up to the point and more walking with the dogs. So many off leash areas, its so cool! We met some really nice people and had some great conversations. Something we never really have had time for in the past. Such a luxury and so enjoyable. I think we’re going to enjoy this new laidback life :-)

Speaking of laidback, 5 days is enough here in Pambula Beach. We are looking forward to our next journey tomorrow to the Great Ocean Road and Apollo Bay.