Apostles on the road

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When you visit Australia, it is said that you must do the three R's: the Reef, the Road, and the Rock (Great Barrier Reef, Great Ocean Road, and Ayers Rock, now known as Uluru). On this day, we did the Road.

The Great Ocean Road stretches along the southern coast of Victoria roughly from Geelong to Warrnambool. For all but a short traverse in the Great Otway National Park, it follows right along the coast, offering stunning views of cliffs and sea. When we were here in 2003, there was an arch we photographed. Several years ago, the arch collapsed, stranding some visitors on the seaward end, requiring helicopter rescue. Smaller arches are still around. The other thing that has changed is we did not see kangaroos this trip. We saw several along the road previously. Actually, we did see a few this trip, but all were posing as roadkill.

At the tip of the large peninsula is Great Otway National Park with its iconic lighthouse. In the first of the park there are numbers of koalas, which we did not see, but we did see a few in another area along the road.

The most recognizable site on the Road is inaccurately known as the Twelve Apostles, with only 7 visible now. They are gradually eroding and at some time the number will decrease further.

We ended our day at Mt. Gambier, a lovely little town further inland. It is well known for its Blue Lake. This crater lake turns over its contents once a year. From December to March, during the warm weather, the surface of the lake warms and this results in precipitation of calcium carbonate crystals. This causes diffraction of sunlight in such a way that the lake takes on a deep cobalt blue color.

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