Great Ocean Road

Thursday 14th October to Tuesday 19th October 2010

Thursday 14th October 2010 – Melbourne to Queenscliff

After a pleasant week in Melbourne, we are on the road again heading towards the Great Ocean Road.  We called into the port city of Geelong for a pleasant lunch on the waterfront.  Geelong has done a great job of reinventing itself in recent years and the area around the waterfront is very pleasant – catering for the tourists.  

We had intended to have lunch on the peer but it is closed at the moment for major rebuilding works.  We had a ride on the Armitage-Herschell Carousel which dates back to 1892 and has been beautifully restored to its former glory, complete with 36 horses and two chariots. Originally it was driven by steam.  

Someone has done a great job of decorating the bollards all around Corio Bay.  They're painted as people and are very cute.

From Geelong, we headed towards Queenscliff, on the Bellarine Peninsula (near the mouth of Port Phillip Bay) for the night.  Queenscliff is a historic seaside village consisting of elegant Victoria-era buildings.

We camped the night at the camping ground and had a pleasant walk along the foreshore to where the ferry leaves for Sorrento.  

Friday 15th October 2010 – Queenscliff to Airley’s Inlet

It rained heavily last night and unfortunately, we had left a couple of the bins open on the front of the camper so, consequently,  everything was a bit wet.  We packed up the wet camper and headed downtown for a bacon and egg breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed off, initially to Port Lonsdale (the actual mouth of Port Phillip).  It was very windy and wild and the rain was still around.  

Port Lonsdale

From there it was on to Ocean Grove and then Torquay where every surf label must have a shop (or 2 or 3).

Had lunch a bit of an explore and then headed for the Caravan Park at Aireys Inlet via Bells Beach.  It was still pouring so did not get to see a great deal of this famous surfing beach.

Bells Beach (in the rain)

As everything was still very wet and the weather bleak we lashed out and got an en-suite and power so that we could put our heater on and dry things out.  Put up the annexe for a bit extra room and wind protection.  There are also heat lamps in the en-suite so that should help with drying things out!  Have decided to stay here a couple of days and do a day trip tomorrow.

After setting up camp we went for a drive to Anglesea via Distillery Creek Picnic Area.  Drove past the pole house just south of Airley’s Inlet that features in a lot of promotional material.  Jill says that she has no interest in hiring it for a week (or even a day) – it would have sensational views though.  Checked out a bird hide but the birds had more sense and were probably huddled up keeping warm somewhere else.  Lots of kangaroos on the golf course at Anglesea – apparently about a thousand of them.  It must be a bit of a hazard when playing golf!

Found a coffee shop in Anglesea before heading back to camp for dinner in the excellent camp kitchen.  Very well set up and we were the only ones there.

Saturday 16th October 2010 – Airley’s Inlet

It was a very wild night last night – Lots of wind and rain.

This morning we drove to Apollo Bay with a stop to photograph the Memorial Archway at Eastern View.  The archway is in memory of the returned servicemen who built the Great Ocean Road after the First World War (1918 to 1932).

Had fish and chips and salad at Apollo Bay (very nice) and then drove inland to Lake Elizabeth.  Didn’t actually get to the lake as there was quite a walk involved and it was still raining.  In one spot there was snow on the side of the road.  We knew it was cold but not that cold.

The weather had improved by the time we got to Erskine Falls.  There was quite a climb down to the falls – lots of steps and we enjoyed the exercise.

Back onto the Great Ocean Road and we called into Lorne for some sorbets.  Lorne’s a bit upmarket – you can see that it is the playground of the rich and famous.  Then back to Airley’s Inlet and some more walking around the coastline to the lighthouse.

Dinner in the camp kitchen again – very cosy.

Sunday 17th October 2010 – Airley’s Inlet to Port Campbell

Packed up and headed off towards Port Campbell.  Just near Kennett River we digressed and drove up Grey River Road, apparently a spot for viewing Koalas.  We spotted several and quite close to the road.

From there it was on to Mait’s Rest, a little west of Apollo Bay in the Great Otway National Park.  Took the self-guided walk (an 800m circuit), a lovely walk through a cool temperate rainforest - including a boardwalk built over the tree-fern gullies and a 300-year-old beech tree.

Near here we left the Great Ocean Road (briefly) for the drive down through the National Park to Cape Otway.  Just before the Cape, there were lots of Koalas in the trees near the road – some with babies.  This would be the best sighting of Koalas in the wild we have seen.

The lighthouse precinct at Cape Otway has been well kept and is quite a pretty spot.  Soup and coffee at the café for lunch before climbing the lighthouse.

From there it was on to Princetown and then the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge.  It was pouring when we arrived at the Twelve Apostles so it was on with rain gear for the walk out to the viewing area.  They were pretty spectacular despite the rain.  To think that they were created by the constant erosion of the limestone cliffs and date back 10-20 million years is pretty amazing.

Fortunately the rain had eased by the time we got to Loch Ard Gorge so was great to be able to do the walks around the cliff face.  The story of the Loch Ard is a tragic one (and one repeated often along this coast now called the Shipwreck Coast).  The three-masted iron clipper, Loch Ard was on its way from England in June 1878 with 51 passengers and crew.  The pass into Bass Straight is a difficult one, so critical it was called ‘threading the eye of the needle’.  The captain miscalculated and the ship ran aground on a reef, sinking in 15 minutes with only two survivors.

Loch Ard Gorge

After that somewhat sobering experience, it was on to Port Campbell to the caravan park camping next door to a couple from Brisbane.  Take away fish and chips (in the van with the heater on) for dinner.

Monday 18th October 2010 – Port Campbell to Colac

Looking down on Port Campbell

Lots more formations out to sea this morning in the Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands.

The highlight would have to be London Bridge and the Grotto.  In actual fact London Bridge is no longer London Bridge, as one of the arches collapsed in 1990 a few minutes after two people had crossed it.  They had to be rescued by helicopter.

The Grotto a bit further along is a pretty spot where a path leads from the cliff top to a rock pool beneath an archway.  

On through Warnambool to Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, a volcanic phenomenon called a ‘nested maar’, basically, a crater 3.2km wide providing refuge to birds, kangaroos, emus, koalas and echidnas – and we saw them all.

No rain at the moment so we took a walk around the lake (much of it on a boardwalk).  Lots of bird life.

By now we were running short of time so we had a drive a little further west to Port Fairy before heading east back towards Melbourne.  We camped in the Showground Caravan Park at Colac for the night.

Tuesday 19th October 2010 – Colac to Melbourne

Spent a bit of time in Colac this morning (it’s quite a big place) before heading back to Melbourne.