Very good night’s kip in the B&B, which differed from most B&Bs I’ve visited in that you have to make your own breakfast! All ingredients, except bacon (makes the place smell, apparently) were provided, so I was actually able to make myself a breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese in! Plus baked beans! My cup runneth over, as did Jean’s as she was able to have boiled eggs! Simple pleasures, and all that….

Once done, we had a nose round Robe. It really is a nice place in a beautiful spot. It gets its name from Frederick Robe, a Governor of South Australia, who named it as a port in the mid-19^th century.

The local tourist office was an absolute wealth of information, and we decided to make our first port of call an obelisk, built on a promontory in 1852 to assist ships navigating into the bay. Very glad we did as it is an awe-inspiring spot. A really delightful surprise, and pictures don’t really do it justice. Here are some anyway.

Next stop was Beacon Point Lookout, which provided some great 360-degree shots of the area:

One of the slightly more challenging aspects of driving round Australia is the fact that, to get to certain places, you have to come off the bitumen and take some gravel paths. Our current hire car at least offers a 4WD option, but that proved unnecessary on our visit to a small bay called Nora Creina, even though the limestone road was very bumpy and dusty. We’re getting used to this, though, as we had to take some sandstone roads in Western Australia which also proved somewhat bone-jarring.

Anyway, the visit to Nora Creina Bay proved well worth the effort:

The area is very flat, and is home to a variety of lakes and conservation areas. Genuinely interesting to drive through, though. Yes, honestly – and I mean it.

By this time, a requirement for coffee had become persistent, so we made our way to Beachport, further down the coast, probably most noted for its very long jetty:

Rather dowdy café, but a great cup of coffee having been imbibed, we realised that time was marching on. We decided to high-tail it to our overnight destination – Mount Gambier, which is the second largest “city” in South Australia after Adelaide. All of 31,000 people.

Satnav proved invaluable finding this place, as it is well out of town. Lovely setting “in English style gardens” and we have been upgraded room-wise, so a real result. Another huge room with great facilities, but I didn’t have time to take any pictures before we did our usual trashing-the-place job. It’s set out rather like a posh resort, with up-market rooms presented motel-style. Anyway, Jean gets to have a bath, which is always much appreciated!

There is an accompanying steakhouse restaurant, so a table was booked for later that evening. Excellent food, and we both managed to finish our meal, which was a result given recent efforts.

Shortish journey to the strangely named Port Fairy tomorrow before we start our drive along the Great Ocean Road.