Category: Great Ocean Road

After such a long day yesterday, the prospect of some long walks today wasn’t terribly inviting, but I got up early to face the music anyhow. On my way to the bathroom I spooked some kangaroos that were hanging around the campground, and watched them hop away.

We had a quick breakfast and made our way to Hollow Mountain, which was a nice, somewhat technical (although not very challenging – even Natalie, who only had flip-flops on her feet managed), hike up the mountain. Later, we went on another walk, this time to the Pinnacles. It was a simple walk, but uphill, and therefore a little tiring. Some great views at the top, which helped make it worthwhile.

We stopped for less than a minute to take in the Giant Koala, which was hardly worth a picture. Australia is fond of big things, it seems. We did our best to eat all the remaining food at lunchtime, near Mackenzie Falls, then descended a few hundred steps to check out the falls themselves. The climb back up from the falls was listening to Tatiana express her hatred for stairs, and mine and Philipp’s general agreement. We rewarded ourselves with some ice cream treats, then headed back to the bus and on our way to Reid’s Lookout, which was reminiscent, but a little nicer, than the Blue Mountains near Sydney.

Last stop on the tour was Brambuk Cultural Centre. I thought about bringing my camera, while I checked it out, but decided against it. The reward was a bunch of kangaroos hopping about, as well as a deer, which was quite surprising to see. So I didn’t get a picture, but they were nice to see regardless. They seemed very tame, so I can’t really say I’d seen them in the wild.

Half of the tour group (Brittany, Tatiana, Katrine and Martin, Jonas, and the Diggler) were heading to Adelaide, so we dropped them off in Ballarat to catch their connecting bus, then headed back to Melbourne. I was hoping to catch a bus to Canberra that night, but we arrived too late, so I booked a room in the same hostel as Leen and Philipp (The Nunnery), so as not to add a third guest to Amy’s roster (her sister had arrived over the weekend). We picked up Dean’s brother, Max, freshly pickled at the St. Kilda festival, then headed to the hostel. Philipp and I went and grabbed some cheap pizza at a place called Bimbo’s on Brunswick Street, then went to bed. It had been a long weekend.

The day started as most do, with breakfast and the breaking down of tents. It had rained in the night, but everything was mostly dry now. First stop of the morning was Gibson Steps (Nothing to do with Mel, as far as I know), where we walked down to the beach and frolicked for a long while and took a bunch of group pictures.

From there, we drove not too far away to the limestone rock formations known as the 12 Apostles, the most popular stop on the Great Ocean Road, and apparently the third most visited site in Australia (I’ll go out on a limb and guess the Opera House and Uluru round out the top three). A few of the apostles have collapsed into the sea, one as recently as July 2005.

Next up was Loch Ard Gorge, which was named after the Loch Ard Clipper Ship, which ran aground at Muttonbird Island and became just one of the thousands of ships that have been swallowed up by the ocean south of Australia.

I’d been contemplating it myself, and it wouldn’t happen if there weren’t at least two people doing it, so when the Diggler needed someone else to join him I decided to tag along. It was a helicopter ride over the area we’d just covered by bus. I was interested more in experiencing a helicopter flight itself, and the weather had cleared up enough to make it all the more alluring. In the end, Ruth decided to join us as well, so we got weighed (I’ve lost a kilo in the past week, although they were rounding the numbers, so it might have been less), given a quick rundown on what not to do (mostly stay away from the fast moving blades)., then got strapped in. As luck would have it, I got the front seat, although the three of us, plus our pilot, all had a spectacular view. It was a short trip, but definitely something I was glad I’d done in the end.

Writing this all down, it’s really kind of overwhelming how much we saw – but it never really seemed rushed. We hadn’t even had lunch yet. Next up was the Great Ocean Road’s version of Nature’s Window in Western Australia. Just a hole in the rock that lets you look out on the ocean. Pretty nice. Lunch was next. Sandwiches, as usual.

We visited another casualty of erosion, London Bridge, which used to be one long bridge, but collapsed on my mom’s birthday in 1990, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer section, but no doubt making for a wonderful story to tell their grandchildren.

We visited the Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands, next. Tower Hill was the last stop of the night. It’s a dormant volcano, with lots of wildlife. Spotted some kangaroos, and got up close and personal with some emus as well. Much of the area used to be a lake, but Victoria has suffered a long period of drought, so any signs of it were gone.

We set up camp at a lovely campground called The Asses Ears Lodge, nestled in the Grampians, which is where we’ll be doing much of our exploring tomorrow. I was in need of a shower, but there were none to be had. Ruth cajoled me into going for a swim with her in the pool. I was reluctant, as it was a pretty cool day (by Australian standards, at least), but the water wasn’t so bad. It was definitely a little brisk when I got out, though. We had kangaroo tacos for dinner, took in some of the koalas around the campground, and played some cards in the evening.

Got up before Amy today. Had most of my stuff packed already, so I freshened up in the bathroom, then got ready to leave. Said goodbye to a just-waking-up Amy, and a quite-possibly-still-sleeping Gregor, then walked down the street to the pick up location for my Great Ocean Road tour.

There were a few of us waiting, but when the bus pulled up the driver only asked for me, so I hopped on board. Everyone on the bus seemed to be packed lightly, as if for a day trip only, and not the three day trip I was expecting, so I was a little concerned that I was on the wrong bus, and just happened to have the same name as the person who should be on the bus. At the next stop, I asked the driver to confirm I was on the right path, and he assured me I was. Turns out the bus picks up passengers for a bunch of different tours then drops them off at a central place, where they then meet up with their actual tour.

After a few minutes, our actual tour bus arrived, and the eleven other passengers and I got on board. They didn’t know each other, but most of the group ended up being German.

The German’s:
Philipp, who was doing a bit of travelling before doing a surgery internship in Tasmania;
Another Philipp, who, in an effort to distinguish him from the other Phillip, quickly received the nickname Diggler (as in Dirk Diggler) from our guide;
Pia, who was studying to be an English teacher;
Ruth, who was travelling in Australia before heading to Germany to study physiotherapy;
Jonas, who had been spending time in Melbourne playing poker professionally;
Tatiana, who seemed to survive solely on chai tea and cigarettes, and spent an ungodly amount of time texting her (to use her word) lover in Perth, and listening to her headphones at such loud levels that everyone on the bus was able to enjoy it as well.

Rounding out the group were:
Katrine and Martin, a Danish couple who were going to live in Adelaide while Katrine studied, and Martin worked in a museum;
Brittany, a fellow Canadian from Golden, B.C;
Natalie, from Oxford, England, who had been in Australia for a year and was heading home the following week;
Leen a Belgian flight attendant and masseuse who was travelling around Australia, and completely unwilling to offer free massages;
Me, in desperate need of a shave.

There were only 3 single traveller’s on the Uluru trip, but this group was mostly single travellers, so it made for a slightly different dynamic. It was also almost half the size, which was nice too. Once again, it was a delightful group, and our guide, Dean, really seemed to love what he did, and I hope I’m fortunate enough to get some other guides who are as enthusiastic in the future.

Our first stop on the tour was Torquay, where it started to rain just as the bus holding my raincoat drove off. The stop was mostly to check out the various surf shops in the area. The company, Rip Curl, apparently got off the ground in Torquay, which is a sort of hub for all the surfing beaches in the area. Still after shirts, I took a quick walk through, but wasn’t really wowed by anything, and the prices weren’t great for outlet stores. Leen, Ruth and Britney had gotten some cakes at a small cafe, so I popped in there to avoid the rain and introduce myself to Ruth and Britney (I’d met Leen already). Next stop was Bells Beach. The water was pretty messy, so there were no surfers, but if it sounds familiar, perhaps it’s because Bells Beach is where Patrick Swayze rides his last wave in “Point Break”. There’s also a big surf tournament there every year.

We visited Split Point Lighthouse next, and I silently debated with myself on whether I ought to bring my sunglasses or my raincoat while we had a look around. It looked relatively nice out, with only a few clouds over the ocean, so I opted for the sunglasses. I suppose I don’t have to tell you that I was soaking wet when I got back on the bus ten or so later. The weather really does turn on a dime here. I was sure to bring my raincoat with me for the rest of the time off the bus.

I never mentioned the terrible flies while in Uluru, but they truly are a different beast here in Australia. They aim mostly for the face, favouring the eyeballs, eardrums, and nostrils, and when swatted away, return again quickly. They hounded us in Uluru, and people had warned me that it only got worse in Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. Johannes, the Austrian I’d met in the Blue Mountains, had shown me a picture of a friend’s back covered in flies at Bells Beach, so I was not looking forward to seeing more of them. As luck (or possibly fly-unfriendly weather) would have it, the flies were hardly a problem at all today, thankfully.

Next up was the lovely seaside town of Lorne. As you can imagine, I spent a bit of time taking pictures of signs with the name Lorne on them, and even tried to decide if the real Lorne would want a t-shirt with his name on it, but in the end I figured he probably wouldn’t. We spent a bit of time there, but there really wasn’t an overwhelming amount to do.

At Erskine Falls, the hill was too steep to take the bus, so we had to walk it. I always dread having to walk down to the base of a waterfall, because often times you only see a trickle of water when you reach the bottom. I’m tempted to ask the people we pass, who are walking up the steps, whether it was worthwhile or not. Erskine Falls actually turned out to be quite nice, and quite worthwhile, but, yes, the walk back up was pretty long. Rudyard Kipling even mentions it in a poem of his. We drove on and prepared a much needed lunch (sandwiches) at a small park near the ocean.

As we drove to our next stop, a small lookout at Mount Defiance (which is where the two starting halfs of the Great Ocean Road met up in the middle), we passed the first group of cockatoos we’d see on the trip. There were a few more groups of them as we got further down the road. Eventually, Dean stopped at a small shop with a campground attached. He said it was very likely we’d see some koalas, so we went searching through the trees and spotted quite a few. Mostly sleeping, but a few were eating as well. There were also some parrots, so it was a worthwhile stop. It’s much nicer seeing animals in their natural habitat.

Sugarloaf Mountain, and the town of Apollo Bay were next. Bimbi Park Campground, in Apollo Bay, was our stop for the night. We set up our tents and had dinner (sausages), then left the camground and headed to a small park where we took a night walk and searched for some glowworms. The worms were in abundance, and definitely glowing. Dean had us shut off our flashlights at various times so we could really see them. The worms were pretty small, and apparently not as nice as the New Zealand glowworms, so maybe I’ll get a chance to see some of those.

There was talk of a fire after the night walk, but everyone was pretty exhausted – myself included. Most of us were camping, so we settled into our tents. I had a tent to myself, which was pretty nice. There were koalas in our campground as well, and they woke me up a few times growling (surprisingly loud) and carrying on.