Still on the first of our two-day trip along the Great Ocean Road, we’re an hour out of Lorne driving west.
The most wonderful vistas have continually begged us to stop and take yet another photo of the most fabulous beaches, but we have pressed on to our lunch destination.
We have a very soft spot for the brilliant fresh food served in the spectacular Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant up the hill at Skenes Creek. Impossible to drive past here without sampling something – and the view is to die for too.
Today I have blue eye fillet on mash with red wine jus. Mmmmmm! Tim has calamari with blue cheese and walnut dressing and a Greek salad.
This restaurant was rebuilt after being totally destroyed by a bushfire four years ago. The refurbishment has ensured that every diner has access to that spectacular view, yet they have managed to maintain the warm feeling of a Greek taverna that it has always had.
Chris is 70 now, having migrated from Greece as a young man, and he still pops into the restaurant every day. The next party of diners arrives as we leave. Any weekend and all summer this place is packed to the rafters day and night.
There are cottages right outside the door if you don’t want to drive after your delicious meal. (Contact us for more information.) We, however, are on a mission and must press on – without dessert.
Skene’s Creek is only 6 km from Apollo Bay, which we slip through today, but is worth a stop for the beach, the pub and La Bimba – a warmly welcoming café. And if you have very little time, this is where you can catch a plane for “flightseeing” over the Twelve Apostles with Apollo Bay Aviation.
We want to see how far we can comfortably travel today. Can we get to the end of the road, or even to Warrnambool or Port Fairy?
By the way, if you’re intending to drive to Warrnambool in winter, call ahead (1800 637 725) to find out if the southern right whales are swimming off Logan’s Beach. You can often see them just 100 metres offshore – a real treat.
Our drive now covers the wettest area of the state of Victoria, where rainfall is normally measured in feet rather than inches! And yes, it’s raining – and everything is green. Cows graze in the valleys, and eucalypts, ferns, beech and wattle line the roads, which are single lane with double lines frequently reminding us not to pass. There are plenty of rest stops so you can pull in and appreciate the scenery.
We pass signs for Mait’s Rest Forest Walk, which gives you easy access to wonderful temperate rainforest, Cape Otway Lighthouse and Johanna Beach (often used as an alternative to Bells Beach for the Easter Surf Pro Competition). These would all be worthwhile diversions with time to spare. Not for us today.
Pine plantations surround us as we head over the hills to Port Campbell. Gibson’s Steps provide our first opportunity to view the rocky outcrops that this coast is famous for – the Twelve Apostles – and it’s easy to see why everyone gets excited about them. Their naturally sculpted beauty is magnetic.
But once again, because of our mission, we decide to savour the Apostles on the way back, and instead we cruise past each outcrop to the “end of the road” at Allansford, and Cheese World – a free museum devoted to the dairy industry!
It takes us an extra hour of driving, including a stop to allow milking cows to cross the road, and it’s really only worth doing this last stretch if you have a particular interest in dairying or want to buy some delicious cheeses and chocolates for the return journey – as we do!
Next post: Overnight stop and The Twelve Apostles
