Pt 2 - Day 46 - Great Ocean Road - Otway National Park

This morning the rain stopped before we got up so we were able to pack up without getting wet.  We are a bit reluctant to move on as we love this spot.  The location of our van in the park is awesome and we just love the small town of Ocean Grove and proximity to the beach.  The only thing we don't like about this park is for the very first time, we have come across showers that have timers on them.  The first night we were here, Shannae came back from the shower saying that her shower went off and she had to wait ages for it to come back on again.  When I went in I read the big sign that said showers will go off after 5 min as they are water wise.....a bit of a joke when it never stops bloody raining!!!

Anyway, we are excited about seeing the Great Ocean Road.  The sun is trying to peer through the clouds and we are glad the roads aren't wet as they soon become pretty treacherous.  Wow, but what an amazing drive.  The scenery along this road is absolutely beautiful.  There were a few bits I didn't see though, as the sheer drop down the side of the hill around a corner were just a bit much for me to endure and I had my face buried in my hands, hoping Glen was watching the road and not the scenery!!!!  We passed through many small towns that I would loved to have perused but we are headed for Apollo Bay.

We arrive in Apollo Bay, a beautiful seaside town, and head for the information centre.  We are looking for a free camp, however, after the drive and talking to the lady in the tourist centre, it soon becomes apparent that there is no way we are going to get the "big girl" into a free camp in this neck of the woods!!!  So we find Bimbi Caravan park right in the middle of the Otway National Park. This caravan park is just great, right in the middle of the bush, the guy tells us to try to get a powered site not under a big tree, well this is a bit hard as the place is full of massive gum trees, all of which house a couple of koalas each.  What a treat, to see koalas in the wild.  I can't believe that I am 41 and have not seen a koala in the wild before. 
This big guy, pictured above, decides he has had enough of his tree, so he climbs down, sits for a while and lets us all take photos of him, then climbs up another tree, where he makes himself comfortable, curling up in a ball in the fork of the tree and going back to sleep.

This park is just great, it is fairly small and there are no manicured lawns, just black sand but it is so nice being in the bush, almost like free camping but with showers and power.  So when we discovered we couldn't free camp I said to the kids, well at least we'll be in a caravan park and "no 5min showers".  They thought this was great until we arrived and discovered our nice eco-friendly ablution block has coin operated showers which cost $1 for 3 minutes, very amusing, the kids weren't impressed. I told them we would give them the one dollar for their shower, but if they wanted a longer one they had to use their own pocket money.  Well, this was met with moans and groans and they all opted for the 3 minute shower.  "That's not a shower that's a splash" reports Tori after returning from her shower the first night.  And Shannae reckons by the time she got her water temp right, the water cut out!!!! 
This evening we build a fire which we are allowed to have in the drum, and we enjoy the fine, however, very cold weather, cooking marshmallows.