Getting away in winter....

Well it's been 5 weeks since we came home from our big adventure in Europe and life in Melbourne has returned to normal. Winter has been a bit hard to take after coming straight back from the lovely summer weather in France and London.  And as you know we delayed the inevitable with our long weekend in Darwin.  This years winter has seemed much colder than usual but of course that could just be mind over matter but it certainly doesn't feel that way.

On the social side of life we caught up with Jill and Grant from Adelaide for dinner at Tsindos one Saturday night and the following week we ventured out on a cold, cold night and saw Annie at the Regent Theatre in Collins St.  It was a great production and very cute.  

We have managed to keep ourselves busy during these few weeks with a little retail therapy.  Before we left we had been looking at upgrading our car so that we could tow our camper trailer without having to worry about the weight limit.  Once back home we set about the 'interesting' task of test driving cars and deciding what would fill our parking space.  Bill did all the hard work researching makes and models and I got the easy job of just going along for the test drives.  Bill had narrowed it down to two at this point so it wasn't a difficult job and the winner....We bought a Jeep!  

After taking delivery of our new car last week we decided that we would christen it with a weekend away and see how it ran. This time without the camper as it is a bit chilly still.  We found a lovely cottage at Aireys Inlet and left on Friday night after work.   We had a good run up the new bypass rd and arrived just after dark.  Once unpacked we drove back to Angelsea for dinner at the pub before returning to throw a match into the fire and getting the place toasty warm.

Split Point cottages are in Aireys Inlet just down the road from the Split Point lighthouse.  They are very comfortable mud brick cottages set around a tennis court and native garden and are a lovely place to stay when you are exploring this part of the world.  The fire warmed the whole cottage and before long we were tucked up in bed resting up for the next days adventures.

Our first stop on Saturday morning was the lighthouse and the red and white column against the black sky looked pretty impressive.  The cloud soon passed over and was replaced by blue sky and sunshine and we enjoyed a wander round the headland looking over Eagle Rock.  A cup of coffee and a scone in the old stables kept us fueled as we drove down the road for a look at the Allen Noble sanctuary.  An interesting sculpture here is Buckleys Bunyip, carved out of an old tree trunk.  This interpretation of the mythical Bunyip looks pretty scary and I wouldn't want to meet it on a dark night.  

We spent a little while here with the ducks and the swans before driving on to Moggs Creek where we followed the circular walk along the creek and back to the car park.  It was a lovely walk through the forest though we did have to watch our footing as it was wet and slippery underfoot.  We made it back to the car and were entertained by a cute little Red Robin before leaving and making our way along the Great Ocean Rd to Lorne where we stopped for lunch at Kafe Kaos.

Leaving Lorne we headed up the big hill to see if we could find a camping ground for future trips but the road in was closed so we kept on driving until we found a track in.  We spent the next couple of hours making our way back to Aireys Inlet through the many fire trails in the area.  Our lovely clean new car was not so clean once we arrived back at our cottage.  We had enjoyed our day and love our new car for both comfort and fun.  

Once home we got the fire burning again and and the cottage warmed up before we headed off to the Airey Pub for dinner that night.  After our yummy fish and chips it was back home to curl up in front of the fire and watch the footy.  How's that for excitement.

We left early the next morning and drove to Lorne stopping along the way to look at the Memorial Arch over the Great Ocean Rd.  The monument there is to commemorate the many ex-servicemen who built the road by hand using local materials.  After taking our pictures we walked down to the beach before leaving and making our way back up the big hill and driving over to Colac. 

We drove around Lake Colac stopping along the way to see what birds were playing around the edges but with the weather deteriorating we didn't stay out of the car for long.  We had a drive though the lovely botanic gardens before finding some lunch and then turned the car for home stopping along the way at some other lakes in the area.  All stored in the memory banks for another visit in more clement weather.  

Once home it was time to turn the heater on, rustle up some dinner and sort out the washing in readiness for another week at work.  We had had a great weekend and loved everything about our new car.  We look forward to many more adventures!

So until next time......