Melbourne round 2 to Lorne



After arriving in Melbourne yesterday we returned to Jayco for a few minor repairs. One of which was drilling out a deeper hole to stop the bathroom door miraculously jumping free and playing corners. We spend the night nearby at Bens previous home of 4 days, the Dandenong Big 4, which is deep within an industrial zone but has decent wifi so Ben and the girls pile on the bed to watch Turbo while I make dinner less than 2m away.



Chilling out watching movies with Dad.


We're up before dawn again and we clock up some school time then we head outside into the 13 degree dawn and Ben, April and I are trying to keep up with the Les Mills workout on the laptop which Ben kindly refers to as Jump Jam. A quick breakfast and a bit more school.  Then we're rolling out of our campsite slightly later than planned at 9:27am, heading for Iveco Servicing Centre to find out what they can do for our van.


Leaving Iveco and going for a walk to find some lunch.


So they replaced the missing bolt on tbe jacks and topped up the hydraulic fluid, then fixed the sensor errors of which there turned out to be quite a few and took till 2pm to fix. It’s now 5:43pm and we’re not nearly there, rolling past Geelong at 95 clicks, the sun is low but it’s still out. It’s been a long day chilling in the customer lounge which was in the midst of a renovation. There’s some comfy chairs, a snack bar, random puddles, half a dozen flies and the best coffee machine around, if you believe the parts warehouse staff sneaking in to fill their cups. We’re two days behind now on our trip with no plan, but we’ve found a shop in Geelong and bought ourselves outdoor chairs and a butterfly net - so things are on the up. Bens dreaming of fish and chips on the beach at Torquay and then it's another hour to Lorne where by some crazy luck we've secured a few nights over the long weekend which was proving almost impossible. 



Fish and chips near the beach was at an outside table at Fishos as it was not the balmy evening we imagined. I'm starting to wonder if we didn't pack enough winter clothes. We're into our delicious fish and chips when I notice Alila is having trouble eating hers, her tooth is just too wiggly. So with a bit of prompting she gives it a reluctant tug and the thing is hanging by a thread, she gingerly pulls it and she's rewarded with a tooth (or $2 as she hints to us quietly).






Fishos: a good spot for gluten free fish meals 

It's near dark when we pile back in the camper and head off to the start of the Great Ocean Road. We pass by Bells Beach turnoff and warning signs for kangaroos and smoke from a burnoff but we don't get to see any of these. The road is quiet and the radio is loud as we're soon leaving behind the houses and winding along with the ocean on our left, passing lonely sandy beaches with dark exposed rock. We roll through Angelsea and are soon arriving in Lorne, as is dusk.

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