Twelve Apostles
Upon landing in Melbourne, we headed southwest to explore the stunning scenery of the Great Ocean Road. Due to our late (11am) start from Melbourne, we decided to take the more direct inland road to Port Campbell. Our first stop was to visit the 12 Apostles. Supposedly there were 12 of these magnificent columns jutting out from the sea at one point, but I could only count 9? maybe. No matter how many are left, they are still magnificent. Unfortunately, they are overrun with tourists. It was a bit like viewing them from a conveyor belt of tour groups- nearly impossible to move faster than the flow. I highly recommend getting here early to be able to enjoy the beauty in peace and quiet.
We managed to escape the crowds by heading just down the road to the Gibson Steps. It seems the rain had deterred most people from taking the steep journey down the cliff to the beach and we almost had the place to ourselves.
We truly got away from the crowds at the Loch Ard Gorge. This park area has lots of trails to explore along the coast. We took the thunder cave trail and stopped to listen as the waves crashed into the rocks. It reminded me of listening to the waves crash in the tunnel by the Cliff House in San Francisco. We continued on until we found a small river. We waded through to our own private beach! It was fun to watch the waves crash against the shore, but we didn't stay too long as the tide was coming in and we didn't want the river levels to get too high.
After a nice respite from the tourists, we headed to the main site of the Loch Ard Gorge- the cove where the ship wrecked many years ago. Even though there were lots of people there, it was big enough we could wander around and not feel trapped.
A great start to our Great Ocean Rd road trip. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings, not to mention the drive back to Melbourne via the actual Great Ocean Rd!
Port Fairy and Tower Hill Reserve
The second day was a jam packed day with spectacular scenery and amazing animals. I think I'll let the pictures mostly speak for themselves on this one.
 |
| London Bridge has fallen down |
 |
| Port Fairy lighthouse |
 |
| 1st kangaroo sighting!! He ran in front of our car in the reserve |
 |
| Volcanic crater lake hike |
 |
| The emus were pretty friendly, I didn't dare to get too close though! |
 |
| Return to London Bridge for sunset and... |
 |
| ... March of the Penguins (yes, there are five little penguins waddling in from the sea down there) | | | |
|
|
Driving the Great Ocean Rd back to Melbourne
The drive home was filled with more animals and a beautiful drive. It was a fun road to drive! Just a glimpse in photos below.
 |
| Active koala scratching his head |
 |
| Cockatoo |
 |
Koala... and baby!! highlight of my koala sightings
|
No comments:
Post a Comment