Great Ocean Road running challenge - Lorne to Wye River

I've adopted a new anthem for this crazy running challenge, Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder.  The lyrics are fitting, and it gives me some sort of motivation to get up and keep going: "Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride, nobody gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving."

I have reached the town of Lorne, a little seaside town named after the Marquis of Lorne, Scotland, on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Louise, one of Queen Victoria's daughters.  The town is known for its Falls Music and Arts Festival and Festival of Performing Arts, as well as its display of public artwork put on as part of the Lorne Sculpture Biennale.  The Great Ocean Road Marathon also starts here, as does the more appealing three-quarter mile Pier to Pub swim, the largest ocean swim in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records.  Around Lorne there are ten waterfalls to be found, including the Erskine Falls and Sheoak Falls, which I pass on my run out of town.  Here, the waters of Sheoak Creek cascade 15m down a sheer rock face - it's very pretty.

Lorne

Sheoak Falls

Moving on from Lorne, within a few miles one comes to a memorial commemorating those from the barquentine Chittoor who drowned in three separate accidents, during salvage operations on the stricken ship WB Godfrey, which ran aground on 8 March 1891.  On the rocks below the cliff here, some remains of the Godfrey can still be seen today, and it comes as no surprise that this part of the coastline is known as Shipwreck Coast.  Another famous story here is that of the Osprey, a three-masted schooner said to have been wrecked in 1854 due to heavy storms.  Rumours go that the ship was deliberately run aground so that the crew could escape to make their fortunes in the newly discovered goldfields here. 

The WB Godfrey Memorial

Somewhere outside of Lorne, I achieve the distinction of passing the 20% marker of my journey, before heading onto the towns of Wye River and Kennet River, ten miles to the south.  Both settlements are resort towns, with Wye River boasting an off-season population of only 66, according to a 2016 census.  Kennett River, meanwhile, is a stronghold for koalas, and one of the best places to see them in the wild, along with a variety of birds and glow-worms.  The winter season of June to October also sees the migration of Southern Right Whales along Australia's southern coast, as they head towards their breeding grounds in the Indian Ocean.  Lucky whale-watchers have also been known to spot humpbacks, and even the occasional blue whale.

Wye River Beach

Moving on again, I'm slowly chalking off the miles towards the route's southern-most tip, Cape Otway, before the road begins its steady path northwards.