great ocean road- part 2

stephenson's falls

we left Johanna beach, once again sighing at the looming rainclouds. i don’t really want to complain about the weather because god knows i’d much rather be chilly (especially at night) but it’s getting a bit ridiculous. i mean, this is australia. australia! in the middle of summer! and other then the random day of heat in the grampians (clearly, not where we wanted heat), we’ve been lucky to get a few hours of sunlight during the day. the evenings are cool, bordering on cold and require long pants, a jumper/hoodie and the occasional lightweight tuque to keep us warm. again, i don’t want to complain but i’d be keen on a bit of sun, possibly in the next few days whilst we hug this magnificent coastline and gaze longingly at the turquoise water.

lush forest in the GOR hinterland

from johanna we drove towards apollo  bay- a quintessential beachside village. after speaking with the tourist info centre, we realized that there was no way we’d be staying in apollo bay for the night. generally things are too busy and full, but we’d also just prefer not to pay for a site and be jammed like sardines between our neighbours at the local caravan park. so after sorting out supplies, we drove back into the hinterland and made our way to stephenson’s falls, where we settled in for the night.

the falls themselves were lovely- quite large and rather remote. there weren’t too many people staying in this campground and even fewer who’d be willing to make the 4km return walk from the site to the falls.

the next morning, we packed up and made our way to lake Elizabeth in search of the elusive platypus. lake elizabeth has a colony- a colony mind you!- of platypus (platypi? platypusses? we like platypi). i’d seen a sign at the tourist bureau in apollo bay suggesting that you can do canoe tours on the lake. well sign us up! as it turns out- you have to arrange said tour at the tourist bureau in apollo bay and as such, we were unable to canoe on the lake. couldn’t even rent a canoe. though we were tempted to unlock the 2 canoes (from the tour company photo no less. only 2 canoes. some tour!) and take them out ourselves, but there were no paddles and alas, we don’t carry them on our persons. instead we walked the 3.5km loop around the lake.

now lake Elizabeth is interesting, not only for its platypus colony but also because it was only created (by natural means no less) in 1952, following the largest rainfall this area had ever experienced. in short, there was a mudslide/rockslide and it filled the river, cutting off the flow. oddly enough, no one discovered the lake until some time later, someone said “hey, why isn’t the river flowing anymore?” and they sent out a search party. the lake itself is nothing to write home about- rather stagnant looking- and is obviously not a main attraction because the trail around the lake was poorly kept (unlike most other trails in the area). i find this surprising mostly because the lake is home to a colony of platypus! i mean come on! platypus! a whole colony!

as it were, we didn’t see any. they are rather shy and tend to be nocturnal (like all cool Australian animals) and they only really move around at dawn or dusk. suppose that’s what the tour was for…

after out disappointing adventure searching for platypus, we drove down to lorne, another quintessential surf town. it was packed. turns out there’s a major swimming event on this weekend. we lazed about the beach for a short while before deciding that actually, we are not really keen on spending time in towns that are so packed! i am aware that this will be the story of our next few days on the GOR, but still. it’s such a major contrast going from quiet camp in the bush, near a river/lake/beach to being bombarded by bars, cafes, bikinis, booze and people.

we left lorne- apparently it was only going to get busier with the swimming event. the lady at the tourist bureau said it can take an hour to move through the 5km town. ugh. sounds terrible to me!

we managed to find another small campsite off the beaten path. and we aren’t holding our breath that the next few villages we stop in will be any better- it is the weekend after all. but the weather is getting warmer, so maybe we’ll be enticed to hit the beach for a while and revel in it instead.

xo

- photos to come