This morning we awoke to a storming rainfall. Considering yesterday was so beautiful, this was a slight disappointment, but what can I can. That is fine; today we want to get closer to Adelaide so that by tomorrow we can complete the trip.
However, we were determined to continue to see what sights we could on the Great Ocean Road. There are 3 stops very close to Port Campbell so we decided they would be our immediate goals. They are the Arch, London Bridges, the Grotto and Bay of Islands. The first one we came to was London Bridges and yes one of the arches has fallen down. (in 1990) We never saw the road sign for the Arches so missed them completely. When we got to the parking lot for London Bridges the wind was howling and the rain pelting down. Not to be deterred we got out our rain pants, rain coats, hats etc. We were prepared. It was worth it.
The next stop was the Bay of Islands. This is exactly as it is described. The bay is full of little islands and with the weather they all were being pounded. At one point we saw spray of a wave go several feet above the height of the island.
By now we have finished the Great Ocean Highway and are on the Patricia Highway. We are looking at the time and cutting out a lot of the stops we would have enjoyed doing but realized that we really have a lot of distance to cover and with all our stops we were not covering nearly as much as we want. But at the same time we would rather shorten the distance and enjoy the journey.
The next stop was Tower Hill which is a vast caldera born in a volcanic eruption. We read about the 30 minute Peak Climb walk which takes you to the top of highest part and provides a 360 degree view out to the ocean and inland. Again the weather was not 100% so our visibility was limited and my pictures a bit muted.
After leaving here we headed onward towards our goal for the day Robe in Southern Australia. As we drove through Mount Gambier we decided we really needed to stop for a bit to see the Umpherston Sinkhole in the middle of town. This natural sinkhole had a small lake at the base of it but with the dropping of the water table in the area there is no lake now. However, the entire bottom has been terraced and gardened to provide a beautiful sight. From the top grows ivy that drapes downward in a thick tangle reaching the bottom – other than it is trimmed to give head clearance for the pathways.
Because of the limestone geological structure in this area the whole area is easily eaten away by water. As a result sinkholes are common as are caves (which we decided not to go explore due to time restraints).
Another feature of this area is its historical volcanic activity creating craters. In Mount Gambier we stopped by the Blue Lake which turns an almost implausible hue of blue during the summer. It is suggested that this is caused by the calcite crystals suspended in the water. Volcanic activity occurred in recent geological time. The Blue Lake crater is a explosive structure called a “maar” which consists of a rim of ejected material (balsalt and ash) resting directly on the pre-eruption landscape.
We continued from here onto Robe. As we sat eating dinner we discussed our goals and realize that continuing to Adelaide and then heading back to Canberra was perhaps too ambitious. We are going to leave tomorrow instead to Canberra cutting out Adelaide on this trip. I talked to a gentleman tonight who lives in Melbourne and he and his wife have been driving around Australia along the coastline and they are on their 5th month now. So compare that to our 6 weeks… just does not do even touch it. We will do the best we can with the time we have but already have cut out things we wish we had time to do.
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