LORNE (The Trip)

Lorne is a magical place. I don't know how else to describe its energy. The drive there alone has a special kind of beauty.Our trip starts in Templestowe and it is usually filled with the expectation of a fun-filled day. The trip to Geelong is very uneventful except for annoying sectors of traffic that only delay our pleasure. We try to pass the time it takes us to get to Geelong by concentrating on listening to our favourite music or having an interesting conversation. But from Geelong onwards that's where the real trip starts and the road unfolds into a sequence of very distinct and picturesque places.The first real exciting part of the trip is when we take a left at (is it Colac Road?) and we see the long stretch of 90 k an hour road in a straight line all the way to the coast. We know that right at the end of that road is the ocean, and that has a special vibe. When we hit Torquay and we see the blue shiny water, 'just a mirror for the sun', we know that we are almost there and we also know that every km on that road is just a piece of art to look at. The air is different too, it's filled with saline particles, with sun kissed sand travelling in the breeze, with fresh whispers of long gone sailors and the songs of millions of fish dancing at the bottom of the ocean.Travelling along the surf coast awakens the senses. It is at times a road tunnelled with the green of trees which had been twisted and bent by the force of the wind. At others, a passenger between little towns with names that I can’t remember but when I read them they evoke a special imagery.
The next big town is Anglesea, which is nice in its own way. The river that runs through the centre of town gives it a life of its own, fishing, canoeing, and all other aquatic activities. My brother in law used to own a house here, I will never understand why he sold it. It’s like owing gold and mistakenly trade it for something that shines a little more, but it’s fake in the end. We never stay long here because we know that Lorne is near. It is there at the end of the search, waiting…
We see the ocean from here but, like a tease it disappears behind us for another stretch until we pass Aireys Inlet, a small village of which we only know the tempting shops and weirdly lit restaurants but, it has a unique appeal and a lighthouse that attracts my attention.
The trip now accelerates into a continuous eye catching sequence of scenery beyond description. On the left the sea, with its shades of blue and turquoise constantly crashing on the shore and transforming into fluorescent white foam. On the right patches of wild vegetation and yellowish red rocky surfaces mixed with exotic architecture of which the most prominent one is the pole-house. The sea and the hills in the distance make for a hell of a panoramic view. It is a feast for the eyes and the mind wonders.
Fairhaven is the next stop, but it doesn’t seem any bigger than the waves. This is the place where the surfboards abound and the waves crash in neat tunnels of curly water. Beautiful. The Great Ocean Road takes you now into its realm of curvy bends and risky turns, but is so pretty that it doesn’t matter that without notice the sea was taken away from you. Where did it go? Will it be back?
Here is where the expectation reaches its peak because it is on the other side of this maze that Lorne awaits with all its magic, with the yellow sand, the green hills, the turquoise water, the crafty shops, the aromatic cafes and bakeries, the pier, the surf, the falls, the river, the embracing and welcoming air of holidays, of love, of eternal beauty.