20th Anniversary Get-Away - Great Ocean Road

If you have just received a flurry of comments on your posts from me this afternoon then its because I've just caught up on whats been happening while I've been away for a few days.  Its our 20th Wedding Anniversary today and to celebrate Hubby and I escaped the pressures of work and family and literally retreated to an idealic holiday home at Grey River for three days.  Where, you say? I know, its not a town but a settlement of several holiday homes between Lorne and Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The closest village would be Kennett River, a few windy kms down the road and while we were there we only saw the guy working on the new house next door a few times and he made no intrusion.

I cant say we were "off the grid" but we certainly had no mobile service (unless we drove several kms up the hill to Cape Paton Lookout - which we did several times), no data service (hence no blogs or emails) and a landline that only allowed local calls.  After the initial panic of not being able to reach Tom and a quick dash up to the lookout, we gave him the house number and from then on we got a call at midday and in the evenings to reassure us that he was OK.  Tom had Tilly sitting duties and sent lots of photos that were designed (I'm sure) to make me feel bad.

OH Mum, where have you gone???

 She was still waiting at the door for us to return several hours after we had left. Such a mad frenzy today on our return.

OK guilt trip is over, back to the real trip.

The very short bush walk down to the beach/rocks.  I don't know who would maintain this path.  As it neared the beach there were cut out wooden steps.  As it is on the other side of the road to the settlement and it wouldn't belong to anyone, i can only imagine that the owners of the holiday houses do it for their guests. Don't Know?  

There was a reason why the surf was so loud at night.  The house was just above this very rocky outcrop and the waves were crashing down on it at high tide.  It was awesome and we slept with the doors open all night despite the cool nights .  This little sand area doesn't look much but in summer it should make a lovely place for a picnic and sandcastles.   There is a swimming beach down the road at Kennett River or Wye River with lifeguards.  

Lots of rockpools to explore

So where did we stay?   Sea Oaks  a holiday home owned by Bruce & Lyn Pascoe.  I found it through the booking site Stayz.  It is out of season at the moment and also we chose mid week nights making our nightly tariff for the house only $150 per night.  Bargain.  When booking on the Internet i always read the reviews of the property over the last 12 months, off several sites to be sure that its OK.  So far, I've aced it each time and we have stayed in some pretty spectacular places for very reasonable prices.

These extremely well fed parrots were our welcoming committee and they were hanging around the deck almost the whole time we were there.    They weren't the only ones though. Several times a day we would look up from our reading and see beautiful wild birds perched on branches or foraging in the garden.

View from Top Bedroom

The whole house is surrounded by big picture windows and the garden was planted to provide a stunning view of natives flora whilst ensuring total privacy.  

These couches were so long and wide that even completely stretched out, i was swamped. 

The main bedroom also had its own deck with sliding doors.  They were left open all night and it sounded like the sea was crashing right outside our window.  

View from kitchen window

Very tastefully decorated.  

I loved this picture.  

So what do you get up to on your 20th Anniversary Get-Away?  Not much when it rained everyday and that's exactly what was needed and wanted.   No gifts were exchanged, just a few days in each others company doing what we wanted.   As it turned out, we both read, slept and ate the whole time.  Sounds good to me.

I actually did start and finish reading all 3 books and the papers in 3 days.  Sounds like we didn't speak to each other but we did and i kept asking if he was happy reading his technical magazines (HI-Fi and Computers) and was assured he was.  He was abit bummed about having no Data connection but i dont think he suffered too much.

We both catnapped throughout the day on our respective couches and just relaxed.   We drove the 28 km along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay on Monday for lunch and a quick walk on the beach.  Always up for a soup, we went to The Bay Leaf Cafe and i woofed down a cauliflower, leek and blue cheese soup with sourdough toast while Hubby enjoyed a beef curry with rice, naan and chutney.

Hubby in a reflective mood.  Was he deciding as he looked out at the horizon in Apollo Bay whether he could put up with me for another 20 years.  He didn't enter the water and keep on walking so i guess he's going to stick around. 

The kitchen at the house was well stocked and was fully equipped with anything you might need.  I always cook when we are away and so i took a dry bag (full of condiments, sauces, cereal, coffee, eggs, bread, veggies, baked beans, crackers & nibbles) and a wet cooler bag (meats, bacon, yogurt, milk, butter, cheese, dressings and more veggies).

As you can see we didn't exactly rough it.

I'm looking forward to our next holiday that wont be until next year.  Not only will Hubby be working through Christmas season (shutdowns and maintenance period) but today our only child, Tom, 16, got his first full time job.   Woo Hoo!!!!!     Shortly he will join a very local KFC, not as a casual, but as their Full Time Day Cook.  I am hoping that this will lead into a traineeship.  It was a hard, big decision to let him leave school in Year 9 (after almost 11 years of private schooling - there is our mortgage) but he continues to do tutoring in Maths and English and now has his first full time job. Tom is on his way.....

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