A beach holiday in winter is a special joy. Just five nights of bracing, salty wind, gazing out to the horizon and admiring the hardy souls out on their boards is real renewal. We have had mini breaks mainly in the east, closer to home, but decided to brave it to the west side of the bay and hit the surf coast. We chose Bells Beach for our stay, feeling that as a world-renowned venue for surfing competitions, there must be some waves to watch. We would explore the Surf Coast in low season!
As always, the further we get from home, the more we relax into uninterrupted conversations and comfortable silences with a background of ABC FM classic. Going east, we are usually in the country within minutes. This western adventure was more challenging, with a route taking us an hour to the CBD and then out the other side.
The first decision, and a good one, was to choose ‘No tolls’ in Google maps. It only added a few minutes and saved us $37 on the return trip – that’s a fish and chips meal! More than that, it took us through suburbs we don’t always see, including a lovely drive by Albert Park Lake before we finally hit the freeways. The western side is now an incredible new labyrinth of roads, and by the time we reached the services at the start of the towering Westgate Bridge, we needed lunch. It was my first experience of a Pieface purchase – actually a very nice pie with free sauce (it’s funny how a small sachet of tomato sauce felt so generous).
Bypassing Geelong reminded me of our frequent trips in my childhood to see family there. It was a different drive then that went right through Werribee with its famous stinky smell (we would see how long we could hold our breath), and then the long approach through Corio industrial area. On the way home, we would buy chips (couldn’t afford fish for eight people) and make them last all the way home. This time, however, we sailed around the edge at 100kph, gazing at the new developments on the fringes.
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