What a freezing morning Anzac Day 2014 was! The coldest for 8 years in Melbourne. No wonder my bones seemed to be aching with the cold. It was only 6 degrees at sunrise for the dawn service in Melbourne. We decided to explore the Bellarine Peninsula today and had arranged to meet up with Kathy Howell for morning coffee in Ocean Grove. Val and I had met Kathy whilst scrapbooking at Jenny Mac's and whilst chatting with Kathy in December, I realised that I had actually worked with her sister Jeanette when I first came to Gerladton in 1967. Jeanette was working in the Plumbing Department of Geraldton Building Co. Kathy moved to Victoria at the beginning of the year to be closer to one of her sons. She is enjoying Geraldtonians catching up as they are passing through. I waved madly to her when I saw the GN number plate pull into the carpark. It's amazing when you are travelling and so far away from home, the feeling you get when you meet up with a friend from back there.  We had coffee and cake at a lovely cafe on the beach named 'Dunes Cafe'. Travelling to Ocean Grove we went through Barwon Heads, where the Barwon River flows into the ocean. The Barwon River is just across the road from where we are staying in Geelong, and the development of the parkland beside the river is very, very nice. So much so I have taken a lot of photos to take back to Geraldton. The Disc Golf and the exercise machines for adults have really grabbed my attention!  Back to our coastline exploring.After hugs to Kathy, we travelled a little further down to Point Lonsdale. Earlier, whilst we were on Surf Beach at Ocean Grove, we had had the binoculars out and identified it was a container ship that would soon be going through what is known as 'The Rip' at Port Phillip Heads.  Point Lonsdale is on one side of 'The Rip' and Point Nepean is on the other side. The opening in not very wide. The pilot boats go out from Queenscliffe to bring these ships in. Whilst we were at Point Lonsdale another Pilot Boat went out and we thought we were going to see a ship come through. The Pilot Boat bobbed around out there in the narrow passage and did a few circles and came back into Queenscliffe. Obviously the ship wasn't coming in. We surmised that conditions weren't suitable.  We could see the ship had anchored quite a way out! Queenscliffe was our next stop and the town was certainly far more alive today, than when we had driven off the ferry at 7.45am on Tuesday!  Unfortunately the 'Fort' and the Maritime Discovery Centre were not open due to it being Anzac Day. So we had to be content with reading the history of the 'Fort' on the display boards outside. We had lunch in the park, enjoying the sunshine and boats coming and going on the bay.   We explored the Mariner and found somewhere for an early afternoon tea and "Guess what"? The pilot boat went out again. Back we went to the park, as we had good views from there to Point Lonsdale. The ship was obviously going to come into the port of Melbourne.  So we spent the next half hour waiting to see a container ship sail in. I'll say it again..."The things you do when there is nothing you need to get home for, and when you are in holiday mode and a tourist"! 

The rest of the trip back around the coastline and back to the caravan park was all about checking out the Bellarine holiday villages of St Leonards, Portarlington and Drysdale. Lots of wineries in the Bellarine region. It was a very relaxing day, spent catching up with Kathy and for a large part, waiting and watching a container ship sail into the port of Melbourne.  12 photos