[And it means that]

[Lovely weather here in Australia]

We are woken at 6am by kookaburras and galahs. Kookaburras have a call that is a cross between a throaty laugh and a witch's cackle, and it's piercing. Galahs are just loud noise. I walk down to the free laundry, and en route see a huge variety of birds, including, for the first time, sulphur crested cockatoos (big white parrots). Australia is making me into a bird-spotter; I can now identify quite a few by their call and colour.

We check out, and go out for breakfast in the hope that the weather will clear. After crumpets and porridge, it eventually eases, and we drive off. We are aiming for Port Fairy, at the other end of the Great Ocean Road.

[Cathy likes trees]

[Rainforest at Maits Rest]

Again, the views are fantastic, we stopped a couple of times when it was less wet. The road goes a few miles inland, through the foresty Otway Park. Thankfully the road is now less heart-stopping. We walk through the rain-forest, a stunning area with incredibly dense vegetation, humidity, and a unique smell. The rain has stopped at a useful time, and the forest is dripping with fresh water. We eat lunch (the biggest wraps you've ever seen), and drive on. We pass dairy land, undulating green fields, which feels like we'd expect New Zealand to look (not that we've been there), then back to the coast. The weather has cleared, and the sky and sun form brilliant contrasting blues.

[Iain finds a tree of his own.]

[Panorama]

[More plantlife]

[Some Apostles]

[More Apostles]

This is the famous section - the rock formations of the Twelve Apostles, London Bridge, Grotto, and Bay of Islands. The Apostles are serious tourist land, and we see more people here than we see on the road all day. It's off season, but the road is almost empty. I was concerned about the levels of traffic on roads with one lane, but it's not a problem. The odd vehicle is usually travelling at a fair pace; the limit is 100 kph (around 63 mph). Each time we stop, we meet the same people, travelling the same road at roughly the same pace.

[What happens if you step over the yellow line]

[Not an Apostle]

[The Arch]

[London Bridge has fallen down]

[Southern Right Whale (back end)]

Getting towards sunset (which is a bad time to drive because of the wildlife), we still have 50km to drive, so we press on. Thankfully we have time to stop at one of the most important destinations of the week: Warrnambool. We're here to see the Southern Right Whales who breed off the coast. So is everyone else. Thankfully where-ever there are myriad tourists, someone seems to cater for them, so we all fit along a board-walk 40 ft above the beach. There are a couple of whales around 150m out to sea. We think one may have a calf with it. We can see the whales arching and splashing, but mostly they're staying put. This is an old whaling town that the whales have returned to since whaling stopped. It's a fantastic thing to watch and I could stay all day.

Sadly we have to drive on. We make it to Port Fairy, a pretty little town, and into the YHA, where the manageress is exceptionally friendly and helpful. We walk out for dinner to a place called Ginger Nuts, which unfortunately doesn't have any veggie food (I have some leftover pie from lunch!) but Iain manages to extend his range to shark. Another long day and we are in bed at 9pm, exhausted.