Yellow flowers in Spring bloom
Bells Beach - famous surf break DIARY/PHOTO JOURNAL - Page 25
Week 31 - October 15, 2018 - October 21, 2018
There was no way a week could go wrong when you are spending most of it along a road called "The Great Ocean Road". This spectacular section of the Victoria rolls seamlessly into South Australia and provides countless vistas of sapphire blue and teal green ocean, red and gold cliffs, emerald green hills and massive rock formations that seem to be chiseled from the hand of a giant artist. It was a week of wonder and a few surprises.
We drove the B100, otherwise known as
"The Great Ocean Road" turning off to various beaches and points along the way.
We immediately fell in awe-love with the landscape and likened it to our beloved
Big Sur Highway along the central California coast.
Yellow flowers in Spring bloom
Bells Beach - famous surf break
Even the cloudy weather could not dampen the beauty of this coastline
It seemed that at every turn was
something unique to see and admire and the day flew by with the kilometers
driven.
One heck of a view to the beach and just love these old hotel/bars
Cliff views along the Bass Strait
You do not need sunshine to see the amazing blues and greens of the ocean
We stayed along the Kennett River with the anticipation of making it to the Twelve Apostles the next day. What we did not expect, was to be joined for breakfast by many feathered locals and even a couple of them, helping us take selfies.
Near the Kennett River outlet
King Parrots were quite friendly
While taking this photo, a King Parrot landed right on the camera and clicked
the picture
Photo bombed by a Sulpher Crested Cockatoo that landed on my arm right when I
was taking a selfie with a King Parrot
More spectacular views along the highway
On the way to Cape Otway - love the trees
As we come around Cape Otway, we
started to see the coastline change and the cliffs and rock formations begin to
grow in size. Great clefts in the rock walls have been formed from the
millions of years of ocean abuse and the admirer is left with breathtaking views
from every angle.
So many beautiful coves and bays
Loch
Ard Gorge area
Loch Ard Gorge area
Tom and Eva (teenage survivors of the shipwreck Loch Ard)
As the weather was being a bit unpredictable, we decided to stay in Port Campbell and make our way back to the Twelve Apostles the next day, wherein the weather gods promised sunshine with a side of scattered clouds.
The Twelve Apostles are claimed to be
the most photographed stretch of The Great Ocean Road and we could see why.
From every viewpoint and lookout, the what are now about nine 'Apostles' (as no
one is sure if there really were twelve to begin with), jutted out of the ocean
like sentries guarding their precious coastline. We spent hours between
the various walking tracks, viewpoints and road shoulders just admiring this
long stretch of the coastline.
The Twelve Apostles
Arches and windows were plentiful
There were so many arches and windows
and other evidence that the Apostles are ever-changing with their erosion and
it was easy to see that new Apostles will emerge (in hundreds of years) as the
arches (or connections to the mainland) will collapse.
12 Apostle views along the way
Razorback Rock and Mutton Bird Island
Rock formation looks like Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Just another awe-inspiring cove and arch near Razorback Rock
Spectacular coastline
Wind and waves make for some beautiful pictures
Sherbrook River area
Gerson was dwarfed by the magnificent ocean
Broken Head area
You would think we tired of the cliffs and rock
formations but alas, we felt just the opposite. As we drew away from the
Twelve Apostles, the coastline continued to have wondrous formations dabbled in
the sapphire waters.
Port Campbell
The Arch
The Great Ocean Road
Every turn, more fantastic views - Bay of Islands and Bay of Martyrs
We visited the London
Bridge, now infamous due to its collapse in 1990 and subsequently stranding two tourists on
the now-formed island. As they had to be rescued via helicopter, I can
only imagine what they were thinking when they turned around and saw their
'bridge' disappeared.
London 'Bridge' went from the mainland to that arched 'island' and the nearby
beach area
We managed a short side trip through
the Tower Hill Reserve and enjoyed the change of scenery and found some
interesting locals wandering about. We finally saw an echidna on the move
along the roadside and taking a tip from Michelle and John (way back on Diary
Page 6) we moved the echidna by use of Gerson's thongs (flip flops). The
echidna curled up into a little ball and let us see its amazing underside
(feet). We set it away from the road and let it dig itself into the soil,
exposing only its menacing quills.
Interesting rock formation, Emu and Superb Fairy Wren
Just love the echidnas
And, before we knew it, we were crossing into the seventh and final State (or Territory), South Australia. We officially have traveled to every State in Australia!
We stopped by a lake aptly named "Blue
Lake" for its translucent blue color that reaches its peak azul in February.
Even though this was October, the lake was quite blue enough for us to
appreciate its beauty. We also popped into the Naracoorte Caves National
Park and due to being late in the day, we just walked around the reception area
and passed on a last tour of the caves.
South Australia baby!
Again, loving the old hotels/bars
Blue Lake was well, quite blue
Just another odd Australian animal long extinct - the size of a leopard!
And, as we had been enjoying
all along this drive, we found a few more places to stop off and admire the
majesty of the Southern Ocean and its 'Cinderoo Blue' color.
Gorgeous coastline near Robe
Cinderoo's new Blue was a match for the ocean
Not the livestock we anticipated (but then, there are over 1,000,000 camels
loose in Australia)
South Australia countryside
Of course, we had to stop at this most magnificent bay - Wright's Bay
Gerson being attacked by the giant Lobster (Kingston)
Our camp for the night was a great example of making lemonade out of lemons. We had hoped to cross over a lagoon to camp around sand dunes that lay between the ocean and lagoons in Coorong National Park. As we were driving into the sand road, we were warned with a very large sign that the lagoon crossing was 'closed'. Not easily deterred, we proceeded down the narrow, twisting 'road' and came to the shallow lagoon's shore.
We did feel that the message on the
sign was a warning we should heed; however, noticing a little alcove that
Cinderoo could easily tuck into, we took advantage of a shorefront camp with a
stunning view of the lagoon and the coming sunset. Having an hour or so
before we lost our sunshine, we actually walked on water and crossed the entire
lagoon to reach the sand dunes and a view of the ocean. It was the coolest
thing to see a 'herd' of Emus (parent and kids) crossing the lagoon as well
right alongside of us.
Emus helped us judge the depth of the lagoon
Walking on water crossing the lagoon
Pelicans keeping an eye on us and Cinderoo
Sand dunes and view back to Cinderoo (white dot)
Cinderoo at moonrise and sunset - what an awesome spot
The next day we were off with our compass set on Adelaide, where we planned to stay several days and find some old friends.