Great Ocean Road. Day 1
An iconic drive along the Southern coast of Australia starts South of Melbourne and takes you through dramatic sea views, farmland, forests, small towns and some just plain old boring grasslands.
We drove from Melbourne to Apollo Bay on the first day.
It took us a couple of hours to get to the airport to pickup a rental car and recover the lost backpack. To get to the airport we walked about twenty minutes to get on the free tram which took us to the Southern Cross train station. Uber pissed me off because they had a price surge and doubled the cost to ride to the station.
At the station we rode a bus to the airport for a total cost of $39. The same trip had cost $98 by taxi a few nights earlier.
Highlights of our driving day included a stop in Lorne to walk along the “foreshore” where they had some unusual art sculpture along the beach and a lot of cockatoo birds hanging around.
A drive up above the town took us on an easy hike to a series of lookouts called Teddy’s Lookout with views to the sea and over the George River and the Great Ocean Road.
The Great Ocean Road Chocolatier is a must stop. Recommended by one of our Airbnb hosts.
Late afternoon arrival at Marengo Beach Studios just past Apollo Bay. This sweet studio was just what we needed. It is in a rural garden setting and a short walk to the beach and a bit further to town. A resident koala bear was seen high up in a tree.
We rested and then took our flashlights to walk a path that runs along the beach. Especially nice walking home after dark.
Great Ocean Road Day 2
Borrowed bikes from our host and road the ocean path to nearby Marengo Reefs Marine Sanctuary which has some very interesting rock formations.
Our second day’s drive on the Great Ocean Road took us from Apollo Bay to Port Fairy with stops at Cape Otway Lightstation, the Twelve Apostles and the small town of Port Campbell for lunch.
The Lightstation was a significant maritime location in 1800s until mid 1900s. It is located high on a bluff that overlooks the confluence of the Bass Strait and The Southern Ocean.
This coast line (aka Shipwreck Coast) was very treacherous for ships even after the light house was built in 1848. For many immigrants arriving by ship this was their first land sighting. Sad that many never stepped foot on land.
We learned about telegraph technology and signal flags. The flags were used to communicate all kinds of information between the ships and the station who would then telegraph the information on to Melbourne.
Telegraph lines were laid on the ocean floor between Tasmania and the mainland in 1859 but they didn’t hold up well so they then had to lay them overland. Having a way to communicate with the rest of the world was a huge leap for Australia. A precursor to the Internet.
It was very windy (gusting to 45 knots) up in the lighthouse.
Twelve Apostles is an iconic stop on this road and there were hordes of cell phone selfie taking tourists.
Gibson’s Steps provided a way down to the beach to get beautiful views of the cliffs and two rocks (Gog and Magog) with fewer people.
Further on is a large carpark with cafe, restrooms and a nice boardwalk to view the rock formations.
We arrived in Port Fairy which is the end of our Great Ocean Drive around 5pm. Lovely dinner at Lemongrass Thai.
Bill is keeping track and says he has driven 73 hours so far on this adventure.