Our 4 day stay in the Bluegum cottage was quite an experience. The cottage was on a sheep farm in the Otways (a term I still don't really understand). This is the place to go when you really want to get away from everything. The nearest mobile phone reception was about 30 kms away and there was no wireless internet signal. I didn't think I'd miss having these 2 modern miracles of civilisation but I actually did. It had become a bit of a ritual to update this blog and search the internet for the next place to stop.

Anyway, the 4 days we were there were wonderful and rather tiring. You'll see a few photos of the farm which was set into the steep hills above Johanna beach. The drive to get there from Warrnambool passed the Bay of Islands and 12 Apostles and lots of other spectacular coastline. This is what I'd come down here to see again. To stand at the lookouts, be blown away by the scenery and windblown all at the same time. I was not disappointed.

It rained off and on every day we were there, but you could see it coming in from the see and do things in between times. There were a couple of nights where I thought the cabin was going to either be blown off or washed off the hillside, but the owners assured me their cabins were cyclone rated. Lucky for us! Poor Angel had a bad case of the runs while we were there. It usually struck her in the middle of the night and while I know she couldn't help it, I was not impressed at having to get up and down 5-6 times a night to let her out in howling wind and pouring rain. I could tell she wasn't too impressed either. So, while the cabin was cosy, warm and secluded we didn't get much sleep while we were there. There was always something more important to do during the day than to take naps.

We were allowed to roam anywhere over the farm as long as we shut the gates. So we walked some of the steep paddocks that rolled down the hill. Not only did Angel get to meet and chase a flock of sheep, there were a couple of sheep dogs to sniff around with, some horses who came to stare at her, alpacas and a donkey who seemed to enjoy playing chasings with one of their dogs. It was a wonderful place.

Despite the bad weather we did manage a couple of trips out to visit: Johanna Beach - nice small bch but not for swimming; Port Campbell - bit of a surfie town, not much there except a few surf shops, cafes and a pub; Apollo Bay - touristy place, with a thin beach that goes for miles around the bay and a nice jetty to walk along; and the Cape Otway Lighthouse - had to visit seeing the sun came out just as we were passing the turnoff. However, I was always glad to get back to the cabin again to put another log on the fire and just relax.

Sadly, we had to leave there yesterday but were given a late checkout and we didn't get out until nearly midday. We made a stop in Colac to have Angel checked by the vet as she still had the runs after 3 days. I was comforted to hear it's nothing serious, probably just something she's eaten, so after she was given a jab of a needle we were sent away with a little bottle of medicine to be on our way again. This left us with not much time to final somewhere for the night. Trying to find somewhere near or on the way to Geelong proved impossible. So we drove straight through to Olinda in the Dandenongs to stay a few days with good friends, who luckily didn't mind us turning up a day early. We're here for 4 nights and tomorrow we are driving down to Mornington to see the markets and have a nice lunch somewhere.

That's all for now but keep watching this space as the trip isn't over yet.