March 24 - Surf Patrol Competition at Apollo Bay


SURF PATROL COMPETITION AT APOLLO BAY


 We awakened, as predicted, to heavy rain and dark skies. The forecast was for this type weather all day today and tomorrow. We lounged around, did laundry, sipped tea and coffee (I’ve become quite the barista with the Expressi machine). Suddenly the rain stopped, and the clouds began to break. Keith was feeling a bit crook with a head cold coming on, so the girls and I went to Apollo Bay for some souvenir shopping. There’s a surf competition scheduled for Apollo Bay this weekend. We watched a little and took a few pictures. At Di and Susan’s suggestion I bought a scallop meat pie at the bakery for lunch, along with a lemon meringue tart and a saucer size ANZAC biscuit for us to share. We had lunch on the balcony, made even more enjoyable by the sailboat race getting underway across the bay and a dozen surfers riding some nice swells just down the hill from us. The good life!
Victoria Surf Patrol competition at Apollo Bay
Sailboats in Apollo Bay


















This afternoon we began getting packed to break camp here tomorrow for Manly Beach. Keith stayed in quarantine taking meds while the girls and I spent some time at the beach watching the surfers, who had a nice swell all day long. Late this afternoon Di and I rode over to Apollo Bay and up a mountain to Marriners Lookout. The view of the town, the surrounding area, and the sea were panoramic. 
View of Apollo Bay from Marriners Lookout

We returned and had dinner on the deck overlooking the Southern Ocean for the last time on this trip. Keith and I finished the night up watching the Hawthorn Hawks give the Collingwood Magpies a hiding in Rules.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 18 - First Full Day in Melbourne

Image
FIRST FULL DAY IN MELBOURNE Started my day with an instant coffee (that had been awhile!) — in Australia and NZ they’re big on hot tea, so an electric kettle to boil water for tea is standard equipment, rather than a Keurig or drip coffee maker. Found a Starbucks a couple of blocks away, and got us a muffin. It had gotten cooler and was threatening to rain ... but only sprinkled a little. The girls headed to art galleries, and Keith and I went our own ways. Taking a chance on the rain, I decided to walk the ~1 mile to the Melbourne Museum. It wwas excellent!  Saw outstanding exhibits on Aboriginal life, the history of Melbourne, and Aussie animals.  Also found lots of cool stuff for some of the grands at their gift shop. I was whupped, so headed for a place to sit, have a beer and a sandwich, and chill. I’ll be damned if I didn’t wander into a brew pub that had the Florida vs. Texas Tech NCAA tournament basketball game, which was very close at the half. I got mys...
Read more

March 14 - Happy Pi Day

Image
HAPPY PI DAY Not sure about where you are, but here in Nambucca Heads we elected to celebrate Pi Day by spending time enjoying the beach and the great outdoors.  Susan, the woman who should live to be 180 because she's been asleep about half the time she's been alive, actually woke up to see the sun come up over the trees in the national forest to our SE, as the photo reveals.  "It's another Nambucca sunrise ...." (There's a good reason for this:  The neighbors on the side next to our bedroom window get up and going at 5:30 each morning, have a squeaky garage door, and a loud truck ... and take turns shouting at each other.  As if the kookaburras need the help!) While Keith swam, I walked through town to the riverwalk, along it, to the estuary and V Wall, then across the hill to Shelly Beach, and along it back home.  It was a good 1 1/2 hr. walk, and I was ready for breakfast.  The girls went off the Shelly, and Keith and I returned to Ma...
Read more

March 25 - Planes and Boats and Trains ... and Rental Cars

Image
PLANES AND BOATS AND TRAINS ... AND RENTAL CARS Arose with mixed feelings: sadness at leaving the natural beauty and numerous attractions of the Otway/Apollo Bay area, but looking forward to our stay at Manly Beach. The clouds were dense and the rain intermittent as we broke camp and loaded the car. There was a bright rainbow to the north, however, as we turned in that direction to follow a winding mountainous road toward Melbourne. [cue Paul McCartney]. Once through the mountains we could have been in rural Mississippi ... broad fields of recently harvested hay; heaps of cattle (Angus, Hereford, Holstein, Brahman), as well as sheep and horses; small towns with churches, a general store, and a ball field ... only the eucalyptus/gum trees are different.  In less than 3 hours we were turning our rental car in near Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.  Flying Tiger Air, and having learned our lesson about sweating a close call on making the cutoff for the flight last...
Read more