High winds and storms break the heatwave.

Monday 21st

Someone is bound to correct me but the saying in the UK of sunset at night Shepherds delight doesn't seem to apply here. Twice now we have had a glorious sunset and twice the next day's weather has been bad. Could it be because we are in the Southern Hemisphere?

It was a sudden strong gust that made us jump out of bed at 1am. The awning was up and the last thing we wanted was for it to be blown away. Took some handling but got it stored away in the end. At that time of the morning looking at the stars were even better than when we viewed them free camping. The heat and humidity was unbelievable though. Forget about getting under the covers, we lay bathed in sweat until we could stand it no more and the air con went on. That was so noisy that we had to switch it off again.

Took an age to get back to sleep what with the heat and those gusts rocking of the van. Found out later the wind speeds were in excess of 50 kmph. So awake next morning before 6am. Walking towards the loo block I noticed the sky had a definite red hue to it. Back to the van for my camera to see if the winds had whipped up those waves. Ian joined me with the camcorder and.. Wow... an amazing sight greeted us.

The wind didn't abate at all during the day. In fact, I reckon it got stronger. We visited Cape Otway Lighthouse, no longer shining its light across the bay. It became operational in 1848 but was decommissioned in January 1994 after being the longest continuous operating light on the Australian mainland. Open to the public now and could be viewed if one was able to climb to the top. All those stairs again and my calves still hadn't quite recovered after yesterdays walk. Fabulous to see close at hand the inner workings though. But again that wind! Lighthouse keeper reckoned the gusts would exceed 80kmph later that afternoon. Took all our effort to stay upright on the outer platform and as for hats.... I'm sure that in the UK health and safety officers would have closed the platform to the public!

Spray being whipped up

Hang onto your hat Ian

Prismatic crystal lens was shipped from England to a value of 5 million dollars.

Looking in at the light

View from the top

After the visit, we were at a loss as to what to do for the rest of the afternoon. The Platypus and glow worm tour was fully booked and with the temperature now reading 38 deg we decided to have a laze on the beach. Intentions were good but the sand blew in our faces and the multitude of flies swarming around us causing us to continually do the Auzzie wave, we only managed a paddle. In the distance, a rumble or two of thunder was heard. Sure enough, we experienced the first big storm since leaving Sydney.

My back

and Ian's

Storm coming in.

 We sat it out in the caravan listening to the thunder and watching the lightning flashing all around us. Went on for a good hour and as soon as it passed by Ian rushed out with the sponge and gave the car a good wash. Water conservation is a priority here along the Great Ocean Road and especially around Apollo Bay. The car was covered in dust from when we went 'off-roading' towards those waterfalls and was in desperate need of a clean.

So we have booked another night here in Skenes Creek. We have managed to get onto tomorrow's evening tour to see those Platypuses. We have to meet at 6.30pm outside the pub in a place called Forest. Only instructions bring warm clothes as the temperature is set to drop by nearly 20deg!