I forgot to mention that last night we watched the Edinburgh Tattoo on TV. It seemed to be a New Year type programme even though it was filmed in August, probably because it was a Scottish programme and Scotland and New Year have some connection. Well in my mind anyway? On a different note, I was especially happy to hear the the Queens New Years Honours List included the knighting of Ken Dodd, not before time! It was sad to hear that the Queen has been poorly over the Christmas period. I hope she is fully recovered before she actually Knights Sir Ken, otherwise she could be 'tickled to death'! What about knighting some of the Diddy Men too....Sir Nigel Ponsonby Smallpiece has certain ring to it.
In the morning Paul, Marg's brother, kindly took us to collect our hire car. It was certainly better than catching a train into the city centre with luggage etc. We said our fond farewells, although we will be coming back and seeing everyone again for one night after we return from Adelaide.
The hire car was from Thrifty this time. We ordered a Toyota Corolla and got a free upgrade to a Misubishi SUV. It wasn't new but it will do the job nicely. Please note - we are parked nose in at a 45 degree angle, not reversed in (we haven't had a response to our appeal against the first parking ticket). We don't want another ticket with this car.
We drove out of Melbourne onto the Great Ocean Road. We had very much enjoyed our stay in Melbourne and had had some special experiences. Our stay with Marg and family had been wonderful because everyone had been so accepting of us and kind. Her brother and wife and friends had been kind and friendly too. The visit to cousin Ralph and Bronwyn and the trip to Ballarat will be a highlight of our holiday. I link them together only because they took place consecutively in the same two days and were special.
We drove down through Geelong and onto Torquay and Anglesea. You don't often see the three names on the same street sign!
Our trip on the Great Ocean Road (from now on it will be abbreviated to GOR) will be a dry trip, at least for a few days. It appears that this is a busy route for Australians going on their summer holidays and as we approached Lorne we found a slow moving line of traffic. We arrived at our motel at Lorne and quickly went for an afternoon walk on the beach. We had left some of our clothes at Marg's in order to keep our suitcase light, the clothes left included my fleece jumper and my long trousers, so I only had T shirts and shorts for the rest of the trip. The day was so cool I had to put two T shirts on! I must be getting soft, having been away from England so long.
Whilst in Australia I have been amazed by the similarity of Australian life with British life. I know I pick out some different vocabulary but so much is the same. The fashions are the same (hipsters with beards, tattoos etc), food (fish and chips are especially popular and restaurant food is very international) and political issues are all the same. Public standards and general behaviour seems to be good in Australia (probably better than in the UK). Driving behaviour is generally good. Drivers wait patiently, abide by the speed limits, pedestrians wait at junctions and wait to cross when the green man flashes. The TV offering is very similar, perhaps a bit dated in places. They get programmes a bit after us. We watched the 'Sound of Music', surely it can't be its premier in Oz? I heard that the Great British Bake Off is starting on Australian TV on 17th January. I am strongly tempted to tell all the Aussies I meet, who becomes the winner of the series. That would be cruel. Instead, I wonder if I can get a bet on the eventual winner here in Australia??
In the evening we drove away from the coast to look at Erskine Falls. It was quiet in the evening and probably a good time to visit.
We also took the opportunity to go to Teddys Lookout.
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