Well here we are and its Friday already.  Our first expedition in the caravan has gone off with relatively few hitches, apart from my encounter with the biggest spider on earth that I had to wrestle with.  Being Friday we just intend to have an easy day and slip into the lifestyle of being a grey nomad.  There was only one issue that I still had to contend with.  It was also one thing that I had been putting off.  Just in case you are eating your dinner you had better not read on.  Today was the day I had to work out how to empty the loo.  The only saving grace was that Deb had only been using it for Number ones so how hard can it be.  I skipped breakfast as I prepared myself for the arduous task.  Getting it out of its compartment went without a hitch.  Into the back of the jeep and to the 'dump point' in the caravan park also without any leaks.  How easy is this thought Mr overconfident.   Opened up the dump point and scanned the surroundings for hidden cameras.  Still all clear.  I am sure the paperwork said something about pushing the pressure release button at some stage but cant be too important.  Approached the scary looking dump point contraption and pushed the pressure release button and of course it released pressure in the unit as well as some offending fluid from the top of the unit that went all over one of my hands as well as over my foot.  Just awesome.  Worked out that I had to have the nozzle of the unit in the dump point before pressing the button.  Wont make that mistake again.  Thank god we were only testing it without any number 2's.  Cant bear to think of the result if it contained all types of waste.  Anyway, in a true male fashion went back to the van and put it back in its position and told Deb how easy it was.  Piece of cake. 
After that trauma needed a coffee so walked down the street and got ingredients for a chicken curry that Deb whipped up for dinner.  Pretty slick I think.  Our only other stress reliever for the day was a trip up to a great lookout and took in an awesome view of Apollo Bay.  Of course being a lookout meant driving up a really narrow windy road to get to it.  Once again a very tough drive for my co driver.  We will really need to get her brakes attended to when we get home again.  Then it was back down to Apollo Bay for a walk along the beach.  Today has been the best weather of our trip.  Pity we are leaving as it will be 30 down here tomorrow and we could have had a swim.  Anyway after this my blog will be quiet for the next 2 weeks before we head off to Lakes Entrance for 5 days.  After that who knows.  All depends on my trip to the spinal specialist on Monday.  If all goes well then we may head off on a bigger trip in no time at all.  By4now.       

Well here we are still in beautiful downtown Apollo Bay.  Today is probably the best day weatherwise since we arrived.  Blue sky at least and a bit of breeze.  I had been trying to decide which way to get out of this place on Saturday so we took a drive without the van yesterday along the Great Ocean Road to Lorne.  It was just as narrow as I had remembered and with my limited towing experience I am not going that way.  We will go back through Skenes Creek to Colac.  That road is horribly windy as well but at least there is very little traffic.  Yesterday was a  bit laid back after the zip wire torture of the day before.  Don't think my heart would have taken another stressful day. 
Today was more my scene with a couple of 'gentle' walks through the Otways to see some waterfalls.  To get to the falls you have to go on a narrow dirt road for about 20 k's.  That was fine of course with the jeep but there was a grader on the road  The first one was great, probably 20 metres stroll to the viewing platform.  They were called Hopetoun Falls but probably would look better in the winter with more rain.  Then it was off to Beauchamp Falls.  They looked pretty good on the brochure and another couple in the car park told us it was worth the walk.  Yeh, fine for them, they were only about 25.  The walk to the falls was good, It was all down hill and it still took us about 30 minutes.  Alarm bells should have been ringing because as we all know, what goes down must also come back again. 
At the falls we relaxed for a while and they were quite pretty to look at but then it was time to head back to the car park.  The first hundred stairs at the falls were fine but then it was all up hill from there.  No suitable place seats to rest on and of course no coffee shops on the way.  By the time we got back to the top both Deb and myself were looking for somewhere to lie down.  It was a fairly challenging climb back to the top.  From there we needed a coffee transfusion as a matter of urgency so it was back to the tree top walk to the café there. 
I then decided to go back to Apollo Bay a different way.  The road looked fine on the map but of course the further we went the worse the road became.  There are constant signs warning of the logging trucks which was just great as it became very narrow and had extremely sharp bends all along it.  Was barely wide enough for one car, let alone a logging truck.  Of course we did meet several other cars along the way but Debs brakes and driving instructions enabled us to avoid them.  It would be fair to say that my co driver was just about out of her tree by the end.  Her brakes had been worn out. I think she was just about ready to bail out and walk home.  She believes it was worse than the zip line but of course, nothing is worse that the zip line.  By4now.  See photo of the falls below and of a pesky Cockatoo helping diners eat their lunch at the nearby café. 

     

Well here we are and it is Tuesday morning already. I thought that it might just have been a nightmare but no, we are actually going to go and ride the zip line out at the Otway's Fly tree top walk.  Oh well, had my last breakfast and it wasn't what I imagined at all.  Just cereal and coffee.  How boring.  Out we go and there were surprisingly few people there but it was too late to back out now.  First we had to do the tree top walk. If you haven't already been, don't bother as its pretty boring.  What do you see at the top of the trees?  That's right, just bloody tree tops.  No birds actually even live up that high.  We couldn't put it off any longer so it was into the briefing for the torment that was to follow and then assisted into our death masks (climbing/abseiling type gear).  How tough can it be, a quick spin along the zip line and it will all be over and done with in no time. 
Of course I thought it was just 1 zip line to put myself through but no, it was 7 zip's and 2 rope bridges.  Of course, all getting gradually longer and faster.  It just doesn't get any better.  After the first couple I just thought I would go into a sort of zombie like trance but no such luck.  I was fully awake and in a heightened state of pure terror.  I thought I was scared of heights before but I am now also scared of trees and of course zips.  Trackie pants only for me for the rest of my life.  Anyway you are reading this so I obviously got myself out of the foetal position long enough to type this up. 
After it was all done and I had an intra venous coffee I then returned back to my gentle side and took Deb down to see the Koalas on the Cape Otway Lighthouse road.  They are just so cute.  I have put a couple of photos on the end of this message of Deb on the zip line, koalas and the fantastic surf from last night.  That's all for now as I am off to see my therapist. 



a long way to the next safety net.

of course Deb took it all in her stride

It all finally started on a beautiful morning in downtown Cranbourne North.  The van was all loaded in preparation for our first trip in the caravan.  How scary huh.  Well of course when I started the long drive down the driveway Deb asked if I had taken off the handbrake on the caravan.  Of course I hadn't.  Obviously that was just a little trap that I had set for Deb to see if she was awake.  She passed. 
The trip through the city was uneventful and before we knew it we were pulling into the caravan park at Colac.  How lucky were we.  A drive through site for our first night.  Of course we looked like real professionals as we plugged in all the hoses and leads, under the watchful eye of a nearby vanner.  No pressure here.  We then decided to set up the awning for our first time so out with the instruction book and as we were following everything to the letter I slipped back into surveillance mode as I observed a huge set of hairy legs at the top of the awning, a mere few millimetres from my hand.  Screaming of course to Deb to get the fly spray, which of course was in one of the dozens of cupboards and drawers in the van but was elusive.  Next best thing was a can of aerogard which I doused this huge hairy spider in.  I am sure he spat it back at me as he stared with his huge brown eyes and obviously was thinking is that the best you have got. 
Being the hero that I am with spiders I knocked it off the awning with the can and stomped it into the ground.  I know, I deserve an Australia day honour for my bravery. 
It was really hot in Colac, partly because my blood pressure was off the map after my close encounter with the spider, so we decided to open the caravan door and just have the wire door closed.  How hard could that be.  We twisted and turned the handle every which way but that bloody door would not separate so it was back to the caravan manual.  How easy it was when we read the book.  Embarrassing really.
After all of that trauma it was a very quiet and relaxing night. 
Woke next morning and packed up the van, which surprisingly went off without a hitch.
On the road about 10 and heading to Apollo Bay through the lovely town of Forrest.  All was just fine but then the closer we got to Skenes Creek the narrower the road became and of course we were driving over the Otway Ranges.  Deb was quite composed for the first part of the trip but by this stage she was not so excited about the trip.  A lot of the bends on this part of the trip had advisory signs of 30, 35 and 40 kph and they were not kidding.  Towing the van now became a bit of a challenge and although the scenery was probably fantastic I saw none of it and Deb, my co driver, also saw nothing.  Of course my phone received an sms during this period and you could say that Deb did not see the funny side of it when I suggested reading the sms.  Anyway we arrived safely and here we are in beautiful downtown Apollo Bay in the dubiously named Apollo Bay Recreation Reserve Caravan Park.  This was my first challenge as I had to reverse into the site.  Thank god for the Towing Course we did as it went in beautifully.  You could probably say that it was not the classiest caravan park in Apollo Bay.  Probably could compare it to one in beautiful downtown Frankston or maybe Werribee.  Not too worried about that as we just need their power and water.  Have already walked down the street and of course had a coffee.  Went to the Information Centre and Deb spied the Zip Line brochure which is out at the Otways Fly walk.  As you know I am bloody terrified of heights and the thought of screaming through the bush on the zip line is probably quite funny to you but I will never be the same.  Maybe this will be the last you hear from me.  If I recover I will let you know what happens tomorrow.  Bye for now.    

Well we have almost made it.  After a couple of years looking at caravan shows, books and internet sites we are almost ready to take off.  We will be having a couple of short trips over the next couple of weeks and after that who knows.  We will be heading off to Apollo Bay next week but first we will be going to probably Colac and then making the drive across from there.  Probably heading through Skenes Creek.  The road looks reasonable in the directory so for our first trip it will definitely be straight into the fire.  Will update as soon as we start our trip and let you know all of the hiccups that we encounter for our first trip.  Bye for now.