29 October 2009 - Marriage  Lines
(Cape Otway to Mornington
                           Peninsula)

G'day. George got us all excited as he returned breathless from his early morning walk, saying that there was a snake just up the path near our cottage so we quickly grabbed cameras and raced off. It was sunning itself in the undergrowth next to the path. Adrian later identified it as an Eastern Tiger (dangerously venomous). It quickly tired of our attention and silently slithered off into the bushes.
 
Nearby was a plaque recording another loss, that of Frederick Valentich who, in October 1978, was flying a Cessna aircraft and he "changed direction to south from the lighthouse to the sea. Twelve minutes later his radio transmission was cut off and in his last radio contact he said 'that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again, and it's not an aircraft . . .' After an extensive search no trace was ever found of the Cessna nor of Frederick Valentich, and to this day his disappearance remains a mystery. " And another UFO legend was born.
 
We continued the drive along Victoria's south coast, past Apollo Bay, Lorne, Torquay (the end of 'The Great Ocean Road') to Queenscliffe to catcht the ferry to Sorento on the Mornington Peninsula. Melbourne's skyscrapers could just be seen in the hazy sunshine on the horizon across Port Phillip Bay.
 
Phil the Pom

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