Today was a fairly routine day, if you can call spending the day navigating the undulations of the wrong side of the Great Ocean Road on foot routine. But in short, the scenery continues to outdo itself, the right shin continues to ache, and life goes on in a spectacular way.
I woke up in my secret campsite to a very wet tent exterior. There would be no drying this tent before leaving, so I decided to have breakfast and just get on the job. I covered the 12 km to Lorne, arriving before 10.30 am and spent a little while searching for a place where I could set up shop for a few hours. I needed two things: electrical outlets and Wifi.
The aptly named Kate Kaos provided these things in abundance, and I returned the favour by spending for more money there than I bargained on, but getting a delicious helping of fish and chips (which I had promised myself since day two of the Great Ocean Walk) and two hot drinks. Around the food I managed to find the opportunity to get a good amount of trip administration done - contacting people along the journey and starting to organise future activities.
At around 4.00 pm I left, having spent far too much time looking at screens, went for a quick shop in the local supermarket and continued on to find a camp for the night, which would turn out to be another 12 km down the road. This route would take me high on the road the Cinema Point, where I learned that the Great Ocean Road had been built by returned Veterans of World War II as a monument to their comrades who had fallen in battle. This was in the days of pick and shovel, and took over a decade to complete. Incredible!
In the end I found myself camping on the beach around 5 km from Airey’s Inlet, and plan to start tomorrow with a swim. Can’t wait!
