After our night at Jan Juc we found Pixie Cave, a small grotto shaped by the ocean that you are able to walk down to and in. We walked along the beach here and dipped our toes in the water (not to cold either!).
Next stop along the way was Split Point Lighthouse, built at the end of the 19th century and one of 400 lighthouse erected along the Aussie coast. We didn’t get to climb this one but we have some great coastal shots. We broke here for coffee and tea at the café nearby and to savor our holiday mode were in.
As we drove along we stopped at the Great Ocean Road memorial for a quick pic. A sign we did notice had the advice on it to “Drive on left in Australia”. I can understand the reminder to drive on left for our foreign friends but if you need to be reminded of what country your in… surely the air ticket you booked told you where you were going???
As long as our roads authorities aren’t underestimating the people who use the roads!!
The memorial was built in honor of Victorians who had served in WW1, 1914 to 1918.
Our next stop was the beautiful Erskine Falls just outside of Lorne.
These are the most picturesque falls in the area, surrounded by rainforest, but the flow of water is minimal due to drought. The falls are tapped into a natural spring, which allows them to flow even though rainfall may not be at a premium.
We walked to the bottom of the falls and along the creek bed to enjoy the serenity… do we miss the city… NO WAY!!!
From here we went to Teddy’s Lookout south of the town centre, which gave great views of the ocean and stood directly above The Great Ocean Road. There was a distance sundial there to let you know how far away you are from the rest of the world.
Lorne, by the way, has a great music festival known as “The Falls Festival” which is held over New Years Eve for two days and attracts some big name bands from overseas.
We stopped in to Apollo Bay for a bit of a break and admired some interesting wooden sculptures outside the Tourist Information Office (the yellow “I”, like in Interesting!!).
Next stop was along the Cape Otway coastline at the Cape Otway Lightstation (click here). This is the oldest lighthouse on the Australian mainland and is currently being maintained by Tourism Great Ocean Road and the Victorian Government. Entrance fees go towards this maintenance and restoration.
The condition of the buildings is very good and you do get to climb the lighthouse at no additional cost. We were there when the wind was blowing 25 knots from the east and, thank God for the handrails, as I thought Sal and I may have been the next sacrifice to King Neptune. The attendant said that this was a summer breeze compared to when the wind is blowing from the south, then you know your alive!!!
On site, the old workshop building had some great memorabilia including old flags, a bike, a display living quarters and the original roof shingles (which are now supported so the roof doesn’t fall in, so don’t worry!!)
The Bureau of Meteorology uses the lighthouse to record the weather conditions here also. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1994 and replaced by a solar powered beacon.
Driving out on the access road we came across Amazing Sight #1. A fellow traveler had found a spot where there were two Koala’s sleeping in the wild up a gum tree. This was an incredible find as the only place city slickers like us (Sal is an exception as she’s from the country and has seen one koala in the wild before) see koala’s is in the zoo or as Killer Koala’s on the Paul Hogan Show.
After basking in this amazing find, no more than three minutes later we had stopped again, this time to find five koala’s sleeping up gum trees!! Unbelievable!!
One the drive out Sal spotted one more, which I think filled our quota for seeing koala’s in the wild for the next 20 years!!
The first sign that we were nearing the Twelve Apostles was Gibson’s Steps. Though we did not walk down the steps we had our first view of Apostle like rock formations.
The views were incredible but nothing like what was to come.
The Twelve Apostles don’t look real… they jut out from the coast like they were placed there rather than formed. The first viewing area has a newly collapsed Apostle, just a remaining pile of rubble. To see that happen would be amazing.
Not all twelve can be viewed from the one viewing area and there are many to choose from as you move towards Port Campbell. Only six Apostles can be viewed from the viewing platforms.
We stopped at Loch Ard to have our typical traveler meal of spag bol not expecting what was to come. We were trying to decide whether to stop here for the night or continue into Port Campbell. Boy, did indecision work in our favor!!
Amazing Sight #2
Now, we’ve seen some sunsets that, between us, stretch from the east and west coast of Australia, California USA, the Greek Islands, Turkey and Mexico but what we saw here was breathtaking!!!
The 43 photos we took in 17 minutes gives you some idea of how this sunset was… photos to follow…
We shared this with one other couple and no one else…
We pulled up at the Port Campbell Caravan Park for the night, coming in at the busy time of 8.30pm. This was the busy time according to the owner as everyone comes in after sunset.
