Back in late 2002 I went on a three-day trip to Anglesea with 13 university friends including two day-trippers. The following is the result of content migration with very minor edits to protect individual anonymity, which remains  a strict XBOP policy.

Friday 15 November 2002

The trip began at 9:30am when I was picked up from my home by one guy. Collecting two other guys, the four of us made our way to the rendezvous point – one of the girl’s home in the area. There, we met up with three others including the girl’s home. After rearranging some luggage between cars and packing the esky cooler, we agreed to meet up at our Anglesea accommodation, RoadKnight Cottages.

The trip was straightforward: travelled along the Monash Freeway to Warrigal Rd, and then Princes Highway/Kings Way to the West Gate/Princes Freeway. On the outskirts of Geelong, we stopped by Corio Village Shopping Centre for lunch – MacDonalds… 🙂

We arrived at the cottages just before 1pm, where we met up with the other car load of people plus our a couple where had come to spend the day with the group and would return back to Melbourne that evening. It turned out that we were the only group of people staying at the cottages for the weekend. Since the some of the group had also eaten lunch on the way, the day-tripping couple went in to Anglesea town to have lunch, while the two guys started early preparation the dinner food (marinate the ribs) and the rest of us took a walk to the beach 500 metres away. We spent the early afternoon on the beach and then decided to go into Anglesea town to buy some food. Dinner was ribs, salad and pasta. The final car load of people arrived just before dinner around 8pm with two girls.

After dinner, we all sat down to play Pictionary. The next 4 hours was filled with a lot of drama and entertainment – with people attempting to draw things like “Seahorse”, “Dog eat dog”, “Westpoint”, “creep”, “swoop”, etc… We all called it a night around midnight and retired to our cottage – one for guys, the other one where we had dinner, played games and hung out was used by the girls.

Anglesea is situated 109km southwest of Melbourne, past Geelong, Torquay. The area is protected from southwesterly weather by Point Roadknight, and the beach behind this point forms a majestic half-circle around to the river mouth. The cliffs of the Great Ocean Road rise up to the sea on either side of the Anglesea River mouth, generating spectacular walks and views. Cape Otway and the Otway Ranges stop much of the rain from the prevailing westerlies and give Anglesea a dry and sunny climate. Fronts and storm clouds are deflected out to sea past Lorne and this provides Anglesea and nearby Aireys Inlet with a constant procession of rainbows. The highway from Geelong first greets the deep blue-green lines of Bass Strait and the epic hills of the Otways at Anglesea. [Extract from The Great Ocean Road]

RoadKnight Cottages is made up of eight stand-alone cottages – each identical in layout with a lounge area, kitchen at the back, bathroom facilities in the back-left corner and the sleeping areas upstairs – the front bedroom containing a double bed while the other bedroom had four bunks. The cottages are arranged in a U-shape, with the open end bordering the car-park/driveway. Next to the driveway (middle of the block of land) is an enclosed spa (open 10am to 10pm) and at the bottom of the carpark is a separate laundry facility with clothes line. Behind the clothes line was a back gate, which led to an alleyway and ultimately the beach. On the other side of the driveway is the enclosed property of the owner of the accommodation, accessible by a reception area at the main entry to the driveway.

Saturday 16 November 2002

Waking at 7am, we had a lazy breakfast, courtesy of one of the girl’s cooking, of bacon, eggs, French toast, normal toast and (self serve) cereal. We then prepared the lunch for Saturday (sandwiches) before embarking on our road trip of the Great Ocean Road.

The three cars set out for Apollo Bay, passing through Airey’s Inlet, Fairhaven, Lorne, Wye River, Kennet River and Skenes Creek. One car kept stopping several times so that a few of us keen photographers could take snaps. We eventually reached Apollo Bay and had lunch there. At about 1:10pm we began the next leg of our trip to the Twelve Apostles. This trip took us inland through the Otways National Park. In one car, we began to run low on petrol and the emergency fuel indicator kept flashing on and off as we drove uphill. Fortunately we came across a settlement where we were able to refuel! We passed Princeton and reached the tourist centre at the Twelve Apostles around 2:15pm, where we spent the next hour waiting for the other two cars to arrive. It turned out that one car had decided to turn off and visit a Cape Otway attraction – some 30 minutes from the turn off. Coincidentally, the third car had also decided to turn off and the two car loads met up at the historical attraction. This led to the delay of an hour, before they caught up to us at the Twelve Apostles.

The view was magnificent and we took a number of photographs of the scenery and group shots. We then decided to proceed the extra 12km to Point Campbell, where we spent time relaxing on the beach and trekking. Spending about two hours there in total, it was only around 5pm when we finally decided to head back to Anglesea. We reached our cottage accommodation around 7:30 – 8:00pm but fortunately, with daylight savings and being summer, it was still bright. On the journey back, we stopped over at Apollo Bay momentarily to pick up some more bread.

Dinner was a western style rice with chicken and salad. After dinner, we began playing Trivial Pursuit, before abandoning the complexities for a form of charades using Pictionary cards. This game started off in a team-oriented mode – but eventually evolved into everyone taking it in turns to act while everyone guessed. The entertainment factor was 10 times more than the night before, where we were now acting out actions like “hover”, “swoop”, plus many more… Many of us will agree that this was the best/most fun part of the trip! While most of us were playing, one of the guys took a dip in the spa and built a very successful fire in the guys’ cottage. The fire was so effective that you had to stand at least two metres way from the unit to avoid feeling the extreme heat, the guy who was sleeping on the couch didn’t need a blanket at all, and it was still going the next morning it was such a good fire.

Apollo Bay is located 112 km southwest of Geelong and 186km from Melbourne. It is situated on a bay of Bass Strait and is sheltered from the prevailing weather by Cape Otway. Apollo Bay is midway along the majestic Great Ocean Road, spread around a sweeping bay and harbour. It lies in the shelter of Cape Otway and on the lowest slopes of the beautiful Otway ranges. [Extract from The Great Ocean Road]

The Twelve Apostles is a key landmark distinguishing the Great Ocean Road as a world class tourist attraction. The rocks are all that remains of former caves (limestone worn away by the ocean) which became arches and then collapsed, leaving the islands where they are today. Currently there are only eight apostles left, the ninth one of the stacks collapsed dramatically in July 2005, but given this trip was back in 2002, we have memories and photographs enshrining the nine.

Sunday 17 November 2002

Rising at 5:30am, I joined two of the guys for a walk to the beach and rocky headland where we admired a beautiful sunrise and took some phenomenal photographs. After being joined by the other girls, we spent a good half hour there before heading back to the cabins. After breakfast, we packed up and cleaned up the place.

One of the girls had planned out an outing for the day and she led the group back up the Great Ocean Road, past Lorne to Sheoak Falls and a complete walking track. Visiting the waterfall, a cave and a cliff lookout, the whole walk took two hours and exhausted everyone out from the steep climbs involved.

After the walk, we had lunch at Lorne at a cafe called Four Seasons – fish and chips. I had a chicken burger which was fairly tasteless and a couple of bottles of drink – to make up for the dehydrated state I was in from the walking. We all returned to the cottages where we loaded our luggage into the cars and began our return journey to suburban Melbourne.

Sheoak Falls is managed by Parks Victoria as part of the Angahook-Lorne State Park. Steep forested ridges separate deep valleys with luxuriant fern gullies and spectacular waterfalls. The park combines a rugged coastline, 100-metre cliffs, sandy beaches and rock platforms. The tapestry of heathlands in the drier northern section of the park burst into colour in spring providing a haven for birds and other native wildlife. [Extract from Parks Victoria]

Set between the sparkling waters of Loutit Bay and the majesty of the Otway National Park, Lorne is a spectacular and refreshing place, where the bush meets the beach. An ideal spot to stop and enjoy on the journey, offering a great range of places to eat and drink, quality accommodation, unique specialty retail and attractions and all the magnificence that is the Otway National Park stretching beyond. [Extract from The Great Ocean Road]