The Great Ocean Road

I am home on leave from work at the moment, and since I have been so remiss with my blogging this year, it is providing the perfect opportunity to catch up. A few posts back I shared memories of my visit to Wilsons Promontory with my friend Jayne late last spring. Here is a little more of our journey, along the south coast of Victoria, via the famous Great Ocean Road.

We took the car ferry from Sorrento on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay across to Queenscliff, the town where I spent my early childhood. I still love it so much; it is always a joy to visit. The narrow entrance to the Bay is known as The Rip and is absolutely treacherous. In the photo below, you can see the lifeboat shed on the jetty and, in the distance, Queenscliff's two lighthouses: a white one near the tip of the point and a black (bluestone) one above the lifeboat shed. Our family store was directly behind the impressive building with the tower to the far right (the Ozone Hotel).

The Great Ocean Road itself starts a little further along the coast at the surfing mecca of Torquay. The road is Australian National Heritage listed and was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932. It stretches for 151 miles/243 km of spectacular coastal scenery.

We pulled in for a leg stretch and wander at Cumberland River Holiday Park. If we hadn't been short of time, this would have made a wonderful stop-over.

Instead, we continued onwards to Apollo Bay for the night.



Our overnight destination, Apollo Bay, where we stayed in such a beautiful B&B it warrants its own blog post! 

Some of the locals in Apollo Bay

The next morning we continued our drive east to Cape Otway National Park, where Jayne was able to see some true blue Aussies up close - koalas.

And being the tail end of Spring, there were beautiful babies to see in the surrounding countryside.

The stretch of coastline that is home to the famous Twelve Apostles is known as the Shipwreck Coast. Hundreds of ships fell victim to the treacherous conditions during the 1800s. One of the most famous was the Loch Aird, which gives its name to the gorge where it came to grief. 

Of 54 passengers and crew, just two teenagers survived, a young Irish girl who was emigrating with her family and the ship's apprentice, fifteen-year old Tom Pearce, who climbed out of the gorge to raise the alarm.

After continuing on to the town of Port Campbell, it was time to head home, and to make sure we caught the last ferry from Queenscliff back to Sorrento, we opted for the inland route, which still offered up lots of glorious rural scenery.

 

 

Next post, I'll share my impressions of the wonderful B&B where we stayed at Apollo Bay.

Wilsons Promontory

 

Australia has many magnificent national parks, ranging from tropical rainforest and the coral cays of Capricornia I shared previously (click here), to the harsh beauty of the Outback. Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, affectionately known as the Prom, is the southernmost national park on the Australian mainland and a particular favourite of mine.

 

When my English friend, Jayne, visited last year we hoped to camp at least overnight to explore this national treasure with my cousins, Trish and Keith. Unfortunately, the weather forecasts were ominous, so we settled on a day trip and a walk around one of the headlands to nearby Little Oberon Bay.  The bad weather held off and, as you can see, we enjoyed a marvellous walk in a very special place.

 

 

View of neighbouring islands from the road into the Prom

Tea tree and perhaps a kind of myrtle in flower



Red Wattle Bird at the Tidal River general store - the starting point for our walk

 

My companions sallying forth

Norman Bay

Magnificent Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos

And they're off..

 

Little Oberon Bay

 

Some of the beautiful wildflowers - this is a Scaevola or Fan Flower

  

Even in Paradise, there is a reminder that Nature is not always so benign.

 

These birds are Short-tailed Shearwaters, known as Mutton birds. Every year they migrate the length of the globe from Siberia to the south of Australia to breed, covering 15,000 km in 6 weeks. Many of the exhausted and starving birds fail to reach their final destination, and last year seemed to be especially tough.  What made it even more poignant for me was that these birds had made so very far, against all odds, to fail at the finish line.

 

  

Black Wing Gull - "I'm ready for my close up, Mr De Mille."

"...or is this my best side?"

 

Back to Norman Bay

Tidal River

As we headed away from the coast, Wilsons Prom still had more to share.

We stopped to photograph a pair of emus

But we weren't the only audience

The surrounding trees were full of birds

Corellas, and Pink and Grey Galahs



Simply stunning

It's almost 12 months now since our visit to The Prom.  After having been so remiss with my posts  this year, I thought about just picking up from this Spring, but I really think The Prom is worth sharing.  Hope you agree!