March 23 - Cape Otway

CAPE OTWAY

 As my blushing bride of 45 years slept in, Keith, Di, and I drove the ~20 miles to Cape Otway for a walk along the Great Ocean Walk and for me to see the lighthouse there, which was built in 1848, making it the 2nd oldest in Australia. Thankfully after melting in jeans yesterday I had the foresight to wear shorts and a lightweight t shirt. The walk was fairly hilly, but it was a beautiful trail with several ocean views from high along the cliffs. We saw one other couple along the way. 
Part of Great Ocean Walk




After about 70 minutes I turned back so I could tour the lighthouse (something they weren’t as interested in). Going back I almost walked up on a wallaby and saw lots of birds. I was hot and thirsty, so had a drink made with passion fruit, guava, and some other fruit ... the fizz, wet, and sugar were wonderful after the walk. I very much enjoyed the lighthouse ... have a special feeling for them, perhaps because the Biloxi Lighthouse is a special image of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where the other hometown of my youth lies. Of course, Cape Otway light is high on a bluff, so offers majestic views. I climbed up the stairs and — shock!! — even made myself go outside at the top and walk around the circumference. [Full disclosure: I didn’t totally overcome my chickensh*ttedness when it comes to heights ... I inched around it with my shoulder against the wall of the lighthouse the whole way around, and thankfully there was no one else around to see my pantywaisted behavior and laugh at me.]




Cape Otway Lighthouse





We were parched, hot, and tired, so stopped at a pub in Apollo Bay and had a cold draft. Got back for a very late lunch. I wandered down to the beach, collected a few shells, and took off my shoes and stuck my toes in the Southern Ocean to say that I had. For the record the water is too cold to swim in (which explains the wetsuits worn by all of the numerous surfers), much colder than the Gulf, but not the mountain stream freezing of the Pacific on the Oregon coast.

After dinner a little footy (both AFL and NRL) on tv.

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