Cape Otway Diary - Day 4

Beautiful weather today. Not hot - but gently warming, bright sunlight. L, F & I went on what was supposed to be a short walk to a nearby hilltop lookout and got hopelessly lost! I don't know how it happened but suddenly we were stranded on the wild scrubby clifftop Cape with no idea which direction would lead us back toward our cabin. We had taken no food, water or sunscreen out with us and so I was a little nervous about being lost for too long on an Australian summers day. Fortunately F had a sunhat on and breastmilk to drink so he was OK.

After an hour of climbing fences and following horse trails (all with Forest on my back) we came by complete luck to a dirt road. Such relief! It led us back to our cabin. What a feeling of elation to be back in civilisation again. The Cape is not so remote that survival would have been an issue (most of country Australia is this harsh), but we could have been quite easily bumbling around all day before stumbling upon a person or road. This adventure took most of the morning.

View from the top of Spyglass Hill

Kangaroo tracks

The weather was warm enough for Forest to have a bucket and spade experience this afternoon at Apollo Bay. Not quite hot enough for swimming, but we rolled up his pants and he had a paddle in the ocean much to his joy. F seriously loves the beach and all its many delights. He was so non-stop for the time we spent there that by bedtime he was completely worn out and fell straight into a deep and a restful sleep.


Much as I love spending time with my babe it was a treat once he'd gone to bed to have L all to myself. Tonight we sat out on the verrandah until it was completely dark. As I knitted, koalas grumbled gently in the gum trees, galahs squawked overhead as they came in to roost for the night, and we shared such depth and sweet intimacy in our conversation together. Thank you dearest L for your beautiful friendship.