great ocean road- part 1

12 apostles

a few interesting facts about the great ocean road (other than it is particularly lacking in mobile and internet reception...):

-       it is approx 250km long, but takes significantly longer to drive then you’d expect

-       the most photographed seascape in australia is the 12 apostles, one of the biggest drawing cards on the GOR

-       there are only 8 apostles left at the “12 apostles”

-       contrary to its name, the GOR is not entirely along the ocean. in fact, much of it is through hills and forrest.

-       it’s packed with tourists

-       it is spectacularly beautiful

we decided to take our time driving along the GOR. we felt it deserved a bit of exploration, and to be honest, we were kind of sick of driving long periods at a time. we drove from the grampians to warrnambool- the western most point of the GOR- by way of port fairy, a cute seaside village. we stopped for the night in warrnambool- finding a cheap but well set up campground at the city’s showgrounds. a tip for future travellers- showgrounds are proving to be the best campsites. they’re generally cheap, have power, water and showers and green grass to boot.

london bridge

there were clouds in the sky and a cool wind in the air, so it was with a slow start to our morning that we drove from warrnambool to princetown, stopping many a times to enjoy the view. we stopped at the bay of islands, the london bridge, the loch ard gorge and a few other nameless lookouts. we saw waves crashing onto the beach and sheer cliffs lining the shores for miles. most places we turned into had crowds like you wouldn’t believe, but none quite like the 12 apostles. in fact, we decided to forgo them (for now) and made our way to the campground (again, a type of showgrounds). we thought about riding back up to the 12 apostles at sunset, but given how cloudy it was, we figured it would be a waste anyhow.

the weather being as it is (read: winter-like weather for australia), we cozied up by the lovely campfire the john prepared. we roasted marshmallows and tried to improvise some ‘smores with wheat-cookies and dark chocolate but it just wasn’t the same.  it’s rather unfortunate that graham crackers never made their way over here, really.

the next morning, we cycled the 6.8km back to the 12 apostles, figuring that most tourists wouldn’t be there just yet. we were right. sort of. there were plenty of tourists, just not the throngs of them we chose to avoid the night before.  we sauntered down the path with a few dozen other tourists and got the camera ready. we snapped quite a few photos of the “most photographed seascape in australia” and were pleased we’d made the trip back up to see it.

i decided to buy some postcards (as you do), and went to the tourist info/kiosk they had at the start of the walk. they had none. not they “were out” but literally “they had none”. i was amazed. surely, as australia’s most photographed seascape, the 12 apostles deserved some sort of tourist centre that stoked the more visually arresting versions of the photos i just took (because they are taken at sunset, sunrise and on blissfully perfect days. mine were taken on a grey cloudy morning). i probably would have spent more on them there then i would have at any other tourist bureau, just because i was “in the moment”  of it all. but no. they wanted nothing to do with my need for postcards.

and so it was. we packed up the van and made our way to johanna bay, were we’d be camping for the night. we set up shop and then drove off to keep exploring- discovering for the first time that the great ocean road is not along the ocean all the time. i’m not disappointed by this, at all, because the forest and hills are incredible! so lush and green and just plain awesome.

we intended to stop at otway fly- a 600m treetop walk and zipline area but for one, it was packed (packed!) and two, it was bloody expensive. so we kept going and did our own walks at triplet and hopetoun falls. we made our way down to cape otway at the end of the day- well, we tried. it was closing at 6 and we arrived at around 5:50pm.

but don’t worry, all was not lost. the drive from the GOR to the cape was filled with koalas! (koalas!) in the wild! (in the wild!). they were hard to spot at first, but got easier once we spotted the other tourist who’d stopped... and then there they were. koalas! resting precariously on the branches of the eucalypts. it was like finding easter eggs (grey ones. in trees) but once we spotted the first few, we spotted a dozen more! and we even managed to find 2 who were sitting in a tree at eyeline- yes, that close. we got out and took more photos and giggling about how cute they are (but lethal…they’re claws are massive!). one was sitting a bit higher and munching away at the eucalypt leaves, the other was just resting. and pooping.  apparently that’s all they do: eat, rest, poop. good life if you can get it.

we returned to our campsite fully satisfied. 12 apostles are something, but koalas! wild koalas! is there anything more exciting!? i think not.

xo

- i haven't loaded our photos onto the computer yet. i'll add them later...