We had a big breakfast,then walked two blocks to the local information center. Once again, we found an incredibly friendly and helpful person, eager to give us local knowledge to help us plan our day. I’ve never been in a friendlier country.
Our first stop was about 15 miles down the road, the Cape Otway Lighthouse. Its keepers proudly proclaim it to be Australia’s most significant lighthouse.
The lighthouse really is important in Australia’s maritime history. We learned quite a bit about it from a staff member named Pam. A lifetime of work in the Australian sun made her skin look like a pair of my old Earth shoes; we guessed she was in her late 70’s. She’s actually in her early 60’s. Wear sunscreen, people.
One of my favorite cool facts about the lighthouse is that it’s an artificial boundary. Australia has decreed that the water to the west of the lighthouse is the Southern Ocean, a branch of the Indian Ocean. The water to the east of the lighthouse is called the Bass Strait, part of the Pacific Ocean. If this becomes part of a Final Jeopardy question and you miss it, you can’t blame me.
We ended our tour of Cape Otway by indulging ourselves with a cream tea in the cafe. The scone was warm and moist, the clotted cream sweet, and the strawberry jam delicious. The hot tea was a bit substandard; a tea bag and a paper cup instead of proper tea in a pot. But no matter.
We then drove about 45 minutes to Triplet Falls. The last few miles were over a bumpy gravel road. We had to drive it at about 15 mph. It was a 45 minute hike from the car park to the falls, and I’m sorry to report that the juice was not worth the squeeze. It hasn’t rained in more than a month in most of Australia; you may have heard something about triple digit temperatures and raging brush fires. Neither is a problem here, but the lack of rain has reduced the waterfall to mild splash.
Seeing that was enough to deter us from going to any of the other waterfalls that had been on our agenda. We instead went to a short loop through the rainforest called Mait’s Rest. It was cool and dark, with majestic trees and ferns spreading wider than a beach umbrella. We heard lots of birds, but only saw one. A tiny thing; I have no idea what it is.
Having splurged on dinner last night, we opted for fish and chips tonight. Walking to the restaurant, Roslyn noticed that one of two young fellows walking toward us dropped something.
“You dropped a piece of paper. Is it something you need?” Roslyn said. One of them ran back and picked up.
“My ticket! Gonna need that!” he said by way of thanks.
“Good on ya, miss!” said the other fellow.
And good on ya, Apollo Bay. We’ve enjoyed it here, but we’re off after breakfast tomorrow, when it will be February in Australia.