This morning we woke to beautiful sunny skies and anxiously got ready to start the Great Ocean Road. Again Wes took the wheel as we left Torquay and headed out onto the country road. This is very difficult on my part to sit on the left side of the car with no steering wheel and trying not to back seat drive. Wes did very well I should add, but I think he was quite nervous at times about where his left side of the van was on the road. At any rate no mishaps today with the driving.
If anyone has told you that the Great Ocean Road is a “must drive” – well they were right. We lucked out to have sunny weather so the views were just spectacular. The danger of sitting in the passenger seat on the side of the views is that the camera is seldom idle. I took so many pictures and it was hard to reduce them later. Consequently you will see on this blog lots of collages and rest assured it is only a few of the many taken along the route.
We did stop at a couple of pull outs just to admire the views, take a breath and watch the waves. At one place we even walked down onto the beach, but the flies were so bad at that location we could not stay long.
Our first official stop on the way was to take a short trek (about 1 hour) to Sheoak Falls. This is a falls that requires us to walk on an easy path with steps. The vegetation was thick and lots of flowers in bloom. We even saw a Kookaburra sitting on a rock (not a gum tree sorry).
Our next adventure was to stop at the Cape Otway Light Station which is the closes point of land between Australia mainland and Tasmania. At one time they tried to string a underwater telegraph cable across (in 1859) but that failed. So instead it became a signalling station where they used flags to signal ships at sea and then using telegraph to Melbourne to pass on messages. Other uses of this station included a school room for children, army accommodations during war years and a radar station. There is a a light house as well that we were able to tour and a path through the wooded section with aboriginal displays. However, the greatest thrill we experienced was to find the Koala bears in the wild and having an opportunity to photograph several.
From here we hit the road again to travel to the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures to walk on the 600 meter long walkway that goes upward to the treetop canopy. Since the Otway Ranges experience the highest level of average rainfall in Victoria (2 meters per year), it is truly a rainforest environment. Walking on the metal walkway suspended at various levels provides an opportunity to check out the floor level, the lower level, upper level and canopy level of a rainforest.
Our next stop of the day was to see the “12 Apostles”. These are the most visited feature of the seaside on the Great Ocean Highway we are told. Naturally the walk to the cliffs is well marked, paved and fenced. From the various viewpoints we could only count 9 Apostles, but never fear we found the lost 3 later.
When we left here we moved down the road a bit to the Loch Ard Gorge where there were several different paths leading to a variety of views. We got a good view of the ‘Razerbacks’ which are rock formations off the coast. However from this viewpoint we found the lost 3 Apostles. The razor backs are rough formations created by erosion by the seas and sea spray.
One was to the Loch Ard Wreck Lookout where there was a view of the area where the ship Loch Ard was lost. This section of the coastline is a hazardous area for ships with reefs, weather and tides that are not favourable. Many a ship has been lost in this area apparently but we saw no signs of them then today.
We then walked around and viewed the Blow Hole, Thunder Cave and Broken Head.
By now it is after 6 pm and time to go find a place to camp. The campsite we found is in Port Campbell and it is relatively new. The camp kitchen turns out to be a social hub and the entire evening is becoming a chat session with travellers from Holland, Germany, Britain, Canada (yep us), Australia, and Sweden. What an international hotspot and the first place we have stayed where there was such an interest in visiting all evening.
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