Port Fairy and it's biggest swell in 20 years

On the way to Port Fairy and we stop off at Mount Gambier where we see the Blue Lake, which is a crater lake that had a rich cobalt blue colour. Nearby was Umpherston Sinkhole and we turned up, not expecting much. But how wrong we were. This was a delightful place. It is actually a sunken garden made by James Umpherson in 1886. The round limestone cave was amazing, with a wonderful array of plants and flowers clothing the deep abyss. Thereafter, we carried on down the A1 and, take it from me, this A1 is, thankfully, nothing like the one in the UK! The road passed through a number of forests and if there was a semblance of a relationship with the UK, then it reminded us of Thetford Forest in Norfolk. The exception was the number of dead kangaroos on the roadside; very sad. Eventually we reach Port Fairy and find our camp, Big4. We are here for 2 nights, so plenty of time to explore. It's a really interesting place, with dozens of the buildings now of heritage status. The majority of houses are all of one storey and very quaint - more Miss Marple than Crocodile Dundee. We decide to have a good wander around the town and explore the history. We walk to the seafront, mainly because we had been told that the weather conditions indicated the sea was to have the biggest swell in over 20 years. And certainly the wind had picked up, the rain started to fall and waves were crashing down, white horses abundant. Quite amazing. As the rain got heavier, we thought we better have a quick glass of wine (it is 3pm after all) and see a lovely bar / restuarant called Merrjig Kitchen, Victoria's oldest inn dating back to 1845. Unfortunately, we stumble out at about 7.45pm, mainly due to having a very nice chat with a sporting couple from Melbourne called Paul and Robyn, and also having more than the one glass of wine we originally anticipated when entering the bar.

The next day, we go into town for fresh bread and a coffee, before setting off down the coast road to our next destination.