Port Fairy to the Great Ocean Road

A charming little place, Port Fairy, was the next stop. It used to be called Belfast until 1850 due to the large Irish immigration. But now its mainly a mix of surfer types, fishermen and artsy types. This is the home of a large Folk music festival every year. There was quite a loud storm out at sea that evening and many a ship have fallen foul along this stretch. That´s why this part of the coast is named the ´Shipwreck coast´. 180 ships were wrecked along here in an 80 year period, between 1840 and 1920.
Some towns have a kind of aura about them, when you arrive you almost know if you like them straight away. Others do grow on you but it´s fairly instant with a nice place like this. Friendly people and a great tree covered caravan park help.
Just down the road was an old volcanic crater which is now a national park and home to lots of wildlife, Tower Hill reserve. Some of it is wetlands and there´s a nifty boardwalk around them, where there´s a constant frog croaking soundtrack. I did'nt like the warning signs entering it though. ´Remember, snakes live here too´. Oh good. Again it was'nt difficult to spot wildlife. I´l say again that I´m no wildlife fan at all but it really is amazing here. We saw 3 different lizards crossing our path, large emus, enumerate multi-coloured birds, enchindas(a large kind of hedgehog) and koalas just relaxing and eating in the trees. All with a free reign to wander where they like.
We took a walk upto the top of a hill and looked out over the place, along with the ocean in the distance, and it was another great view. It´s a great looking place Australia. But I was itching to get to the Great Ocean Road. We´d heard how winding it was and how close to the ocean it is and that there´s loads of things to see so I was really looking forward to it. And to actually driving round some corners!
Warnambool, a surf and whale spotting town, was in view from Tower Hill and the official start of the Great Ocean Road. There next then.
Warnambool was another friendly town with great surf and great surfers. The first time we´d properly seen any so far in Oz. We did´nt spot any whales though. In Warnambool they also have a fake maritime village set up for tourists. It´s all about the ´old´ days of the shipwreck coast and has a water show with lasers and pictures projected onto the water itself. Sounds just like the 'only one in the world' show from Xi'an in China. But looking at the photos it didn't look a patch on the Chinese equivalent. We didn't go in though. Too much money of course! I wasn't paying 5 times the cost of a much better Chinese park to see more 'historical' guff! Let's hit the road. The one next to the ocean.