Escape to the Coast

We had a four-day weekend ahead of us, with Sean having taken Monday off. We woke up Saturday morning with good intentions of heading off down to the coast. By noon we were melting and just couldn’t imagine trying to pack in the heat and traveling in it, so we spent the day huddled near the air-conditioner. The temp rose to close 44°.

We got up earlier on Sunday and headed out the door before it got too hot. We escaped to the coast where it was only 28° compared to the 42° at Halls Gap.

We spent the day at Port Fairy, a small historic seaside village, straight south of us. We spent the afternoon at the beach, had take away at a playground overlooking the ocean, did a little geocaching then spent an hour or so at the fair that was set up near the information centre. Aiden took in a few of the kid’s rides and talked his dad into taking him on the Octopus before we left. Aiden was a little scared at first but was grinning ear to ear when he stepped off. Sean on the other hand looked a little green when all the spinning was over.

The next day we had a leisurely start and headed west down the coast to Portland. The heat seemed to have followed us down to the coast and it reached an unusual 42°. Overnight the wind had shifted from a cool sea breeze to a stifling hot north (inland) one. It didn’t concern us, as the afternoon was spent on the beautiful Cape Bridgewater

beach soaking up the sun, playing in the sand and jumping waves. We had a lovely Chinese supper before heading to a campground to set up our tent. New Year's Eve was spent sitting near the ocean, listening to the waves roll in and watching an excellent show of fireworks over the harbor: a highly recommended way to ring in the New Year.

We spent New Years Day geocaching, enjoying a picnic in the Botanical Gardens and touring Portland by the historic Portland Cable Tram before heading home to a very hot house.

We are still experiencing a bit of a heat wave. It has been in the high thirties the last couple of days and is forecasted to be there for a couple of more but then we get to look forward to a bit of a cooler spell (low thirties). By next Thursday we are supposed to be back into the forties. The thirties are livable but the forties are just darn hot. At that temp, even the locals hibernate in their AC houses. At least when it is –40 you can dress for it, but +40 is hard to escape outdoors and it is hard to imagine working on a fire line or doing any kind of work. Stay cool.