Log One Hundred and Twenty Six – the Skies have Cleared

13 November 2025

The rain followed us along the Great Ocean Road and onto Port Fairy. For variation and further entertainment the rain came with gale force winds, and we are camping!

We arrived in Port Fairy, a town I had visited with my family in my childhood. The small fishing village that was populated by generations of the same families is no more. Many of the old houses have gone and the ruined blue stone cottages have been rejuvenated. What were once the homes of the working class are now multi million dollar retirement and holiday homes. The vibe in the town has changed, or maybe that was just the wind.

The wooden pedestrian bridge across the river is now concrete. The walkway along the wharf is also now concrete and steel. The boats moored along the wharf are no longer wooden cray boats. Now it’s high tech cruising yachts and motor launches.

The swampy ground around town has been drained for housing developments, with more under way.

From Port Fairy we headed inland and hopefully away from the wind. We arrived in Halls Gap, travelling on excellent roads with hardly any traffic. Regardless of how good the roads are the locals still complain about the potholes! I think they need to get out more.

Halls Gap was brimming with visitors supporting runners doing the 100 mile Grampian Peak Trail Ultra Marathon. This is a world rated ultra marathon that covers the Grampians from north to south. This is seriously tough country to walk, much less run.

We enjoyed the Pinnacle Walk and a walk to the Mackenzie Falls lookout. As we have experienced so often, on our returned from the Pinnacles Walk we were confronted by a large group of very noisy walkers. Their footwear was wrong and they were so inappropriately dressed for what they were about to face. It’s a fair guess that most would not have made it past the first series of steep stone passages. In previous logs such walkers were awarded the title of butterflies.

From Halls Gap we cut across country to Echuca on the Murray River. Again on this section of road we hardly saw another vehicle. Our visitors from the UK were amazed at how empty the country is. Along the way there was the obligatory stop at a bakery in St Arnaud.

Today it’s a steam powered paddle steamer to our lunch destination which is of course a winery. Echuca has kept alive its paddle steamer history and it’s great to see so many old steamers in private hands, fully restored for relaxing times on the river.

This is our penultimate day as we head back towards home. The weather is warming up and no gale force wind or rain.

Our last night on the road is in Junee with a visit to the licorice and chocolate factory planned for tomorrow. After that it’s a direct route to home.

Current status: 12 days on the road and 12 bakeries.