Great Ocean Road – Day 3

The word that springs immediately to mind when thinking about Sunday’s weather is ‘perfect’. Saturday wasn’t too far off but Sunday couldn’t have been better.

Our first destination was the Cape Otway Lightstation. We’d heard that the road down to the Lightstation offered the best opportunity to see koalas in the area. We mentioned this to our host before leaving and he told us to just look out for where other cars had stopped and there we would find them. And find them we did. In fact, we found so many and managed to get so close to a couple that we’re now quite koalad out.

The lighthouse and its surrounds were quite interesting. I feared I might have difficulties climbing the spiral stairs inside the lighthouse but reached the top feeling quite ok. From the top we had wonderful views of the coast made all the better by the perfect weather.

From the lighthouse we pressed on a little further east stopping off at Mait’s Rest Rainforest Walk. It wasn’t a long walk but it did descend a way at first before becoming quite easy. At the end of the trail was a tree one could climb through. An obvious photo opportunity.

Throughout the day I had been thinking a bit about my illness and my own attitude towards it, particularly in light of my fall last week. It had shaken both of us and left us feeling quite low for a while and still feeling fragile later. I was wondering how much of my current difficulties walking was real and how much was in my head. I suddenly realized how important it was to see oneself as a survivor rather than victim. It’s not as though I’ve not been thinking positively. I definitely have. But in a lot of ways I have still thought of myself as being ill and beating it. The reality is that I am already past my first sell by date and with more than a little help from those around me I have survived. And continued to survive. And will continue. So each day I am winning. I felt very positive about this. I then turned my mind to my walking and told myself to get going and not be limited like I have felt for so long. For the first time in 6 months I then overtook Helen, on the uphill section going back no less, feeling quite comfortable.

I’ve often said that our cruising life was as much a journey through our own minds as it was across the oceans. This is more than ever the case right now.

After this walk it was time for a late lunch which we took in Apollo Bay, a very nice and relaxed seaside town. From there we decided to head on to Lorne where we had accommodation booked for the night. The road between these two towns was the highlight being a winding cliff hugging route with fantastic views.

At Lorne we checked into our accommodation, spent a while sorting out photos and uploading them before going out for a walk through town. At the other end of town we stopped for a beer at the hotel overlooking the town and beach and chatted about the day. We then stopped off for noodles for dinner sitting outside having an interesting conversation with a young nanny who has recently moved into the area.

Our weekend is nearly at an end. We still have today left as my next RT session is after 4pm. We both feel we’ve experienced a ‘normal’ weekend together in the midst of this abnormal period of our lives. A real upper. My hair is now well on its way to disappearing completely not without a lot of help from me. It was beginning to come out so easily it became quite irresistible pulling out the tufts that wanted to come away. I now look quite a mess and will almost certainly shave it all off tonight as long as the oncology staff suggest otherwise. I don’t care how it looks really. It’s not a mark of my illness. It’s a badge of my survival which I wear with pride. And, of course, Dignity.