On the road at last. Home to Melbourne

We aimed to get away at 8am precisely and would you believe it we actually made it away on time!  And then at 8.07am just before we turned onto the main road, guess which Numpty remembered he had forgotten to turn the power off.  So we made our second departure at fifteen minutes later than planned... Not too bad considering we will now be spending the next twelve months or so living our own schedule!

The reason for our early departure was to catch up with friends in Bombala for morning tea.  We had a delightful time catching up, whilst the kids squeezed in a ride on a pony before we headed down the coast to Eden for lunch.  

At Eden we decided to pick up some fresh fish for dinner, when I spied a familiar friend

in the carpark.  It was non other than Terry, our faithful Terracan, who introduced us to the joys of 4wd touring, and hauled us on many great adventures.  We took it as a good sign that Terry was sending us off on the first day of our latest adventure - and I think Terry looked a little relieved when he saw what Rocky was carrying!

Dinner sorted, we headed down to Green Cape.  The lighthouse and keepers cottages hark back to much harsher times, yet their design is simply beautiful.  

Of course technology has moved on and the light has been automated for many years now.  the steel lattice houses the new light - and whilst it is cheaper and more reliable, I kind of like the old lighthouse, with its lead crystal lens sitting in its beautiful tower.

We stopped overnight at the old landing point for the lighthouse at Bittangabee.  The campsite was well set up, with a beautiful spot for a swim in in the inlet.  It was delightful to swim in the cool water and have a fresh shower when we got back to camp.

The following morning we had about 500km to cover.  It was hot, with expected top around 38 degrees.  We packed up quickly and started heading west.  We paused for morning tea at Orbost and lunch at Lakes Entrance before heading for the hills and Toorongo Falls, near Noojee.  We were glad we had mad so much ground east, as the cool change came through and brought a cooling shower of rain.  The falls were a short walk from camp, and quite delightful in one of the wettest parts of Victoria.

The next morning we paused to examine the Noojee Trestle Bridge, the only remaining bridge of its type in the area.  The engineering skills of the original railway men and timber cutters is impressive and we thoroughly enjoyed our diversion.

Then it was time to hit the big smoke, and after lunch in town with some friends, we had a few things to do before getting on the ferry.  As Tassie has strict quarantine rules, we not only ditched all our remaining fresh fruit and veggies, but also treated Rocky and Matilda to a wash.

We then headed down to the St Kilda foreshore to wait for boarding time. It felt like we were finally starting our holiday when we parked on deck 5 and made our way up to our cabin...  It was real, our holiday has begun!