wyed open road

a handful of days spent down at the great ocean
tree top living
found on stayz, but booked through great ocean road holidays
[logistics]
a tree-filtered view to the ocean, a stagger from the wye river pub, and a few more steps to the general store,
1 koonya ave, wye river
pick up keys from 136 Mountjoy Pde, Lorne
if we want to take a few more steps, there's the glorious ocean beaches, and bush walks near wye river and kennett river

a review (the vine) of the general store reminds us wye river is a two-horse town, but assures too, that
"there's no longer reason to fear the cafe lattes (OK, perhaps the price — can you blame $4 on geography or is it simply a price gouge?) ...If you want an excellent loaf of sourdough (it had better be, it's $7), get there early before people swoop on them like seagulls on chips.
Six Degrees has done the makeover. It's the type of production the architects probably bang out in their sleep these days, replete with their trademark designer touches: contrasting textures and timbers and recycled bits of this and that. It's great — airy, comfortable and city-cool with reclaimed school chairs that are more comfortable than they might sound.

the wye river pub (aka the rookery nook hotel) - open daily for lunch and dinner, with views of the ocean
"The food is good honest pub grub done well, and with a cold beer in front of you and that unsurpassable view, nothing could taste better. " unless it's the above while you're on holidays with your beloved
i'm hoping we'll take a trip further down the coast to apollo bay,
get some fresh fish from the apollo bay fishermen's coop

Irrewarra Sourdough Bakery
(inland from lorne to apollo bay) 85 Irrewarra School Road
The bakery make bread with real flavour and texture using traditional bread-making techniques... Each loaf is the culmination of a 30 hour fermentation and resting process. Hand-shaped then baked on the stone floor of the oven, each loaf is the individual creation of our bakers' hands.

on the way...
Starfish bakery
78 Hitchcock Avenue, Barwon Heads
Paul Fox, (originally from Natural Tucker in Carlton) is baker of substantial talent and reputuation. At Starfish he continues to bake qualtiy breads ranging from rye, to multigrain, white and wholemeal high tops and an enviable range of sourdoughs featuring in breads and rolls. Also not to be missed are the flaky, buttery croissant, awesome cakes, fabulous pastries and good coffee. The "squishy" (egg with bacon and herb mayonnaise) is still famous and a firm favourite. Starfish is more than a bakery, it is a quality cafe offering breakfast and lunch options, also, some fine sandwiches, filled foccacia, and excellent pre-packed house made take away meals (curries, pasta, meatballs) to enjoy at your beach side shack.

Freshwater Creek Cakes
650 anglesea road, freshwater creek
is a wonderful little cake shop located at Freshwater Creek, between Geelong and Torquay on the Bellarine Peninsula, Southern Victoria. Famous with the locals, Freswater Creek Cakes, cannot fail to satisfy your sweet tooth. Filled with flavour and texture, the cake and biscuit varieties will have you salivating; these include a range of sponge cakes, many biscuits, mud cakes, banana, hummingbird, carrot and pineapple cakes. Take home with you, eat in with a nice cuppa.

music to holiday by,
wide open road, the triffids...

mike's party

ANZAC Day weekend
where to stay

avoca lodge motel, randwick

double room, $99, $89 24 & 25th april

hotel 59, king's cross/rushcutter bay

reviews on travel adviser, rates for a double $110 incl. breakfast
(apparently the breakfast is big and very good)

Metro Inn Edgecliff

i'm wondering whether we can add a little beach holiday to the beginning of this trip. hire a car and drive down from sydney, to manyana perhaps? and then come back on sunday afternoon, and head on to the party from there.

hire from europcar, they have a) a king's cross office to drop off the car, and b) a green-fleet offer - discount code, 50206263 ...

this beach house in manyana,

$475 per week in september

great ocean trove

restaurants

• a la grecque - epicure review, airey's inlet
• wye beach hotel - some of the best coastal views in Australia can be had at this welcoming Aussie pub
• Chris's Beacon Point Restaurant and Villas, Apollo Bay
  

walks along the great ocean road, visitvictoria
day spa, endota at mantra hotel

racv member recommended, lorne b&b, la perouse

Willow Haven - Skenes Creek

• 4 bedrooms - 2 queen, 1 double and 1 single.

Lovely older style 4 bedroom house is set on acres and acres of gorgeous manicured gardens filled with flowers.
The property ends at the Great Ocean road facing a beautiful pristine beach.
There is a grass tennis court next to a lovely orchard and a trout stream meanders through the outskirts of the gardens. It is a simply stunning spot, totally unique, there is nothing like it available for short stays on the Great Ocean Road.

Seatree, Wye River - $840 / Week

Located 7 minutes walk to the Wye River beach, this cedar home makes the perfect holiday for any family that appreciates the beauty of the Otways and the Great Ocean Road. The house is surrounded by magnificent gum trees through which there are filtered views of the ocean. Wildlife includes koalas, king parrots, rosellas and cockatoos.

Kath's View - Wye River

Kath's View was one of the first beach houses to be built in Wye River in the 1950's. Located in one of Wye's best spots, there are no houses directly in front to spoil the ocean view, Kath's View enjoys all day sun and the house is less than a minute's walk to the beach, pub and store.
The top floor consists of a large open area with original 1950's kitchen, two open fires, split system air-conditioning/heating, a large dining room, lounge room and bedroom to one end.
Furnished largely with original 50's & 60's furnishings, a stay at Kath's View is like going back in time to the golden days of 1950's Aussie beach culture.
A large deck leads off the top floor where you can watch the comings and goings on Wye River beach.
The house has everything you need to laze around including 2 sets of outdoor dining tables and chairs one retro for sitting with a glass of your favourite drop and a larger one for enjoying a BBQ lunch while soak up the sun and stunning water view.
Typical 50's beach house design, the property has 3 distinctly separate sleeping areas allowing for plenty of privacy and making Kath's View perfect for adult groups or families.

Wye River Beach House

7 Feb 2011 - 1 Apr 2011 - $1950 / Week; Min Stay: 7 nights

AWARD WINNING architect designed home

with a brilliant outlook. Tastefully appointed, good design and comfortable modern furnishings feature throughout.
ECO FRIENDLY house with sustainable practices.
LIVING area is generous and comfortable, featuring a flat screen tv, an extensive selection of books, videos and dvds.
RELAX- Laze with a book from our library and listen to the waves crashing on the beach. There is a slow combustion fire for a little romance on those chilly evenings and the bedrooms are heated too.
BEDROOMS are spacious retreats. They have new pillow top mattresses. Sleep in luxurious 550 count Egyptian cotton linen and when you wake the first thing you will see is the ocean.

Wyed views, Wye River

• 3 bedrooms (3 doubles, but one is part of a bunk)
  

This recently completed designer modernist house features top of the range finishes and panoramic views of the ocean and the forest. It is in a secluded location with the Otways as your neighbour, yet is walking distance to the pub, beach, cafe and general store at Wye. Enjoy a peaceful, relaxed visit at this magnificent home.
Huge external decking areas provide constant sun and various areas for relaxation and entertaining. Generous use of wood, glass and steel characterise this unique property.

Altitude, Wye River

• main level - master bedroom, a beautiful bathroom with window bath taking in the stunning ocean views
• downstairs - main guest room with an ensuite bathroom, two further bedrooms and a playroom. There is also another bathroom which again has a window bath with ocean views.

Situated high on a hill in Separation Creek, the amazing ocean and coastal views spread along the Great Ocean Road, Separation Creek beach, and Wye River.

Main entry to the house is on the upper level, opening into the spacious dining, living and kitchen areas. The gourmet kitchen has stone benchtops and splashbacks and Bosch appliances. Relax on the day bed or couches in the living room looking out at the stunning ocean views while warmed by the open wood fire. The living room also features a wall mounted Plasma TV and surround sound system.


Lorne luxury

• Stylish 3 Bedroom Multi Storey Home with 2 x Queen Beds, 2 x Single Beds sleeps up to 6 people

Enjoy the best of the best that this five star home can offer you. Beautiful furn
ishings, with the best views of the Ocean and bushland.
Wake up in the tree tops with the sounds of the parrots and kookaburras.





Coast cottages, just past Apollo Ba
y

someday hopefully not too far away

aaah manyana
i have no idea what this place is like (google maps can only tell you so much),

but some "tomorrow" i'd like to get to manyana

lots of beach houses there,
like this one, sea deck with a view out to green island and right on the beach

between cunjurong point and bendalong, north o' ulladulla and mollymook, south of jervis bay

local papers say that there is a suburb development on the horizon,

it's a gorgeous area - surrounded by lakes, sea and national park - but this means it would be bush-fire prone (we're in australia after all)
there were bushfires (deliberately lit) in september and november

around the corner is cunjurong point ... with the "cunji shop" - local landmark, apparently

here's a house at cunjurong point, 85 steps to the beach

tea-towels

it's funny where things take you
a tea-towel purchased on ebay can bring on future holidays...

hook island queensland
i had never heard of this place before
i looked it up
a national park with a dinky down at heel resort (top rooms are the ones with an en suite *the resort has changed hands and is to be redeveloped - from reviews it doesn't sound as if the development has taken place yet. sounds like the new oweners aren't bothering too much with the state of the old place in the meantime. the new resort will be much bigger and will be "eco" ... )
camping grounds are part of the resort - i like the sound of camping.
although there are other camp sites, these are only accessible by boat, which in the whitsundays means a yacht
a description of the island's attractions:
Hook Island General Information: Hook is rugged and a true wilderness island. Hook Peak, at 459 metres, is the highest mountain on the Island. One of the few walking tracks leads to Butterfly Bay - named so because of its unique shape and the butterflies which swarm around its shores. Two magnificent five kilometre fjord-like inlets, Nara and Macona cut into the southern end of Hook Island to provide a spectacular anchorage for yachts. People refill their water tanks from the cascading waterfalls.
The diversity of coral of the fringing reefs on the northern shores provide some of the best diving and snorkelling in the area...
The observatory on Hook Island (which seems to have been made for the Life Aquatic set! cool!!) allows visitors to descend nine metres below the ocean to view coral, reef animals and plants in their own habitat. There are marine biologists on hand to explain the wonders of the reef.

oh and this! hook island was the site of a "nessie"-type hoax, what's all this talk about sea-monsters?

how to get there?
fly - both jetstar and virgin go to prosperine, the airport on the whitsunday coast, but the jetstar site won't show flights going from melbourne to the whitsundays (not sophisticated enough to cope with connecting flights apparently), and then says "no flights available" if you try to help by asking for for flights from brisbane.
the cheapest flights with vb are $199 each way.
once there, fly overhead

taking things littorally

while i don't want to live in an octupuss's garden, i would dearly love to hang out by the sea
well, it's practically unaustralian not to have seachange longings.
my practical brain says: if you don't live somewhere permanently, it means you can stay at lots of different places and explore a lot.

here is a place which i think would be wonderful to get to know better

broulee
10 wirrunna st (holiday rental) - between broulee island and the south beach









there is another house just around the corner that looks a bit fancy, too
suits my down-at-heel aesthetic!
cool house in mossy point where we have stayed, down the street from the muffin shop - very good place with secondhand paperback books, good coffee, ace atmosphere
town of manyana, just north of mollymook, in the middle of state forest
"classic beach bungalow"
and ooh, another swanky place in manyana, this one's for sale...
(and also for holiday rental)
probably ain't called manyana for nothin'...





surf story in the smh, them's the breaks
There's more quality surf up the road at Green Island, north of Ulladulla. This spot was the first big surf discovery south of Sydney and was once considered the best left-hander in the country. The growth in short boards has taken the gloss off its reputation but the wave is still rewarding.
Nearby towns such as Manyana and Bendalong are in classic NSW surf settings, with lively sand-bottomed waves on beaches nestled between wooded headlands dotted with beach shacks. You won't find solitude but you'll be far enough away from the hustle and bustle to make surfing here on a longboard rewarding