Great Ocean Road

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Going on the Wayward Bus Tour.

Day 1 - Melbourne to Apollo Bay
First stop is Bells Beach, Lorne and then onto the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay, our overnight stop.

Day 2 - Apollo Bay to Port Fairy
Morning rainforest walk in the Otway Ranges the Australia's most famous rock group, the 12 Apostles. Loch Ard Gorge walks and coastal features before lunch in Port Campbell village. Tower Hill - where koalas, kangaroos and emus roam free.

Day 3 - Port Fairy to Robe
Bridgewater Bay starts the day with an optional seal colony boat trip ($25 per person weather permitting). The Blue Lake, Mt Gambier, is a complete surprise. Hike into Umpherstone Cave and a cliff-top walk at Canunda National Park.

Day 4 - Robe to Adelaide
At Coorong National Park our local Aboriginal hosts offer a Bush Foods and Medicines walk and prepare lunch (the $20 payment). Afternoon sights include: Lakes Albert and Alexandrina, pink salt lakes, a River Murray ferry crossing, and the scenic Adelaide Hills.

Thursday 13th
Up in plenty of time, but takes a while to pack away and I say goodbye to the ladies! Just about down by 10am checkout, but still have use of all the facilities so can have breakfast, go on the internet and have lunch before heading off around noon. Walk to the free City Circle tram - it's quite full but make it on with my bags and get to Federation Square with half-hour to find my meeting point. Bit confused about which is the Arts Centre building but see a load of bus areas and ask a couple of people hanging around if they are on the trip - they are, so I've already met Conrad and Katia from Germany and Jasmine from China (I later find out they choose their own Anglo names in English classes).

On time, the bus arrives, Grant is our driver and Janet, Fabian and Leah from Switzerland and Stefan from Germany are also on the trip... And that's it! We're off and outside slowly changes from city to countryside. In a couple of hours we're heading through Torquay (every surf shop imaginable here) and shortly after we're at Bells Beach which is a National Park for surfers (famous in Australia, often little known outside). Weather's not good for surfing so after a few photos we're back on the road.

Not too long after (maybe 20 minutes) we're at the official start of the Great Ocean Road - where there's a memorial to those who built it (with pickaxes and dynamite), mostly returning soldiers from the First World War. Soon we're on the 'snaky-twisty' road, so I grab the front passenger seat - some great views (through the bug smeared windows) too! Next stop is Kennet Tourist Park, with 'guaranteed' sightings of Koalas - and sure enough there's several asleep in the trees (they sleep 18 hours a day, to provide the energy to digest the Eucalyptus leaves - which are poisonous). A little further up there's a couple of babies, and even an active koala! After seeing some ducks/parrots we head back onto the road.

A little later we stop at Cape Patton Lookout, some great views of the Great Ocean Road. Not too long after that we're in Apollo Bay, our destination for the night. Grant books us into Illuka for dinner and we find Surfside Backpackers and make our beds for the night - having to settle for a top bunk but this one doesn't seem too bad to get up/down. Chat to some of the tourist lads in the lounge - truly doing the we'll try here for a few days then see if we can hitch a lift thing! We walk to Illuka, bit early so check out the beach - bit cold, but the wind's good for the kite-surfers. Into Illuka, cheap and cheerful ($10 pizza, special price for the bus) - and bit big! Taste a couple of local beers then 'the boys' head back and 'the girls' check out the beach and a pretty amazing sunset. Back to the backpackers, read trashy magazines for an hour, then to bed!

Friday 14th
Bit of an early wake-up call from some bag rustling (not talking cattle style rustling, just the noise!), good breakfast and we're on the road again. First stop is Melba Gully where we go for a walk through the temperate rainforest, checking out the trees/plants and huge palms. There's 'the big tree', about 7m in circumference, and shortly after that one which has been down for a long time, with a hollow... Possible for it to continue growing - and Aboriginals and people in the Depression lived in these.

Next stop is the one most people have heard of - the Twleve Apostles - large chunks of limestone in the sea. Originally Mother Sow and her Piglets, renamed, probably for tourism, to the Twelve Apostles - although there's never been 12 (and people argue over how many there are now, as some are underwater, and one collapsed into the sea in 2005). Can be photographed from several defined angles... Janet remembers coming here in 1988 and being a lot more free to walk the cliff-tops!

Next stop is more ocean & rock combos. Loch Ard Gorge, with various elements named after shipwrecks/shipwreck survivors. Some beatutiful limestone formations when we make our way onto the beach. Back up again for the Elephant's Trunk, the Lace Curtains and the Razorback rock formations. For lunch we stop at Port Campbell where there's options of cafes, bakeries or the supermarket. I had bread/squeezy cheese - but the squeezy cheese was disgusting (don't know what made me think it would be nice) so I find a little more. This place expects sandwich makers so is an option to buy small... Otherwise the Australians don't really do singles packs of food! After checking out the tourist information office which has a bit of a shipwrecks exhibition it's back on the road.

Next stop is 'London Bridge' - which used to have a perfect bridge arch over which people would drive for Sunday picnics. One Sunday in 1990 there was a loud rumble and the bridge section caved in. Fortunately only 2 people (no car) were left on the newly formed island and they were rescued by helicopter! So now, only specific viewing points are allowed. Again, Janet remembers walking on London Bridge in 1988. Next stop is a grotto, where a sinkhole has formed with some pretty views! Back up (through the countless flies which are plagueing us today) and we're off to the Bay of Martyrs.

At the Bay we go for a short walk, and a paddle in the sea. We stare at one of the patches of 'seaweed' and realise it's a fish. It emerges as a Ray, but not really possible to get a photo - we all try! Next, onto the Bay of Islands where we step over the dead and fly-encrusted lizard to see much nicer views. As expected, and as Grant describes it, there's a bay, and there's some islands. Someone has picked up a helicopter flight over it - we had the option but $60 for 8 minutes?!

After a stop for petrol in Woolongerung (sp?) we head for Tower Hill - a hilly area once stripped bare by settlers, but now being returned to the wild - with koalas, emus, kangaroos and other wildlife re-introduced. We only saw emus as the big animals, but avoided driving over a turtle, which retreated into its shell. Soon after we're on our way to Port Fairy, our night-destination. We get booked into the Royal Oak, settle into our (slightly strange) rooms in the YHA (there's no wall about 1/2 metre above the top bunk which I'd ended up with again). Short walk through town (photo with 'Rebecca's Cafe' and time for dinner - typical pub dinner. Pay at the bar, get chips with whatever, then a pile of salad/vegetables to the side. Only $8 if no meat! Small glass of local wine seems in order too...

We decide to go for a 'short walk' after dinner, find ourselves at 'Griffith's Island', heading for the lighthouse. We're missed the Manta Ray and the Shearwater Birds, but a walk is still good and we spot a few wallabies in the distance. As we get to the lighthouse a great sunset, and turning round a Wallaby close by! Soon after continue round the island - at some point we lose our way, which is not great in the dark, surrounded by protected lands which are full of holes for the unsuspecting. We make it back safely and sink into bed in relief.

Saturday 15th
Another early start, some problems finding breakfast, but we do. Jasmine checks her degree results online - all passed. Bonus, I get 7 minutes of her internet time! Back on the road and not too long before we're at Cape Bridgewater, where we'd been offered an opportunity to go see seals in a cave. I would have done it but no one else did, so we checked out the Blowholes (not active, weather not rough enough) and the 'petrified forest' - which looks quite like tree trunks frozen in sand, but is some kind of tubular manifestation. All around looks a bit like a lunar landscape.

We head back to the beach of Cape Bridgewater where we now have an hour to relax/drink coffee/whatever. I take my book to the beach and finish it off - great! Soon time for the bus and we're off to the State of South Australia (no passports needed!), where all fruit/veg is to be dropped in a bin. 32km later we're in Mount Gambier where we first check out the Umpherston Sinkhole, laid out by the English Victorians as a beautiful garden, and still maintained. Next is the Blue Lake, formed in a volcanic crater. Various theories as to why it turns Blue November-April, some involving crystals. Down into the town for lunch - a bit of a wander - wonder what a Dick Whittington statue is doing here.

Next stop, Southend - a small fishing port/town (apparently with 298 population, wonder how up to date that statistic is), and round to the Rainbow Rocks for a bit of a walk round. I'd expected to be bored of rocks by now but there's so many permutations, and this one looks like a ship, etc can cover many hours! Last stop for today is to Robe, where we check into the Lakeside Manor YHA. Very nice (and enough space to get a bottom bunk - great!). No lockers/keys or bedside lights but everything else great. A real 'old man's library', and a modern TV lounge/internet room. But tonight we're cooking for ourselves and have already been to the supermarket for salad/BBQ ingredients. Grant and the boys take care of the meat, we make up the salad. Boys are also doing the washing up!

After dinner Jasmine, Janet and I head down to the beach, catch another good sunset and head back round - a good hour's walk. I join some in the TV lounge and watch some film about Apartheid (later see that it's called The Power of One), before finding a chick-lit novel and enjoying a bit of that before an early night (remembering that we went back 1/2 hour in time when we crossed the border!).

Sunday 16th
After a good breakfast, back on board for our last day! First stop is to meet Larry who Grant has described as 'a big bloke, friendly bloke'. Turns out to be a giant fibreglass model of a rock lobster - the main local produce. Other areas had done this, so here (not sure where here is!) followed. A silly photo op and we're off to the Granites. Grant is just telling us the aboriginal stories associated with the area, that the big rocks are the body of a fallen area, when we are asked for help by a couple whose car has grounded in the sand. We dig/push until they're clear... And are offered a sliced loaf of bread in thanks! We don't need it and say we're happy to help before continuing with our photo opportunity. Here we run into an Adventure Tours Australia bus ... All belong to the same company.

As we're heading along the dirt-track to our next destination see a black snake disappear into the side-bushes. Grant tries to stop but the other bus is right behind and we miss it. Wouldn't want to mess around with it though - of top 10 poisonous species, 7 are in Austrlia (or was it this area?) - all around here are dangerous! Shortly after we see a Lizard. Stop for this, the next driver catches it and explains it to us - this Shingleback/Sleepy Lizard. It's 2 ends look much the same, when attacked by a dingo, it curls into a half-shape, makes its head large, so the dingo goes for its tail... It then poos, which hopefully makes the dingo let go! We all touch its back before it scurries off into the bushes.

Next stop, some large sand-dunes. Difficult to climb and quite surreal. Make our way to the beach - try a paddle, but these waters come from Antarctica, so rather chilly! Chat to Grant on the way back to the bus as he lived in Brazil for a month or so for work experience for his tourism degree. Conversation about travelling continues until we get to our lunch destination: Coorang Aboriginal Country. Our host, Gordon, first takes us on a 45 min bush walk where we taste a number of different plants... That is not our lunch! Lunch is fish, chips, salad, damper scone and 'kangaroo balls', which fortunately are kangaroo rissoles rather than anything else! Several of us to this off with an ice-cream... A Tim-Tam Cornetto none the less (and Walls is known as Streets over here... Wonder if the Walls Sausages advert would translate!).

We stop briefly at a pink lake, but it's dry... Well, apart from the bit where my foot goes through the crystalised salt to some rancid mud! An hour later we're crossing the Murray River on a small ferry, and on the road heading towards the Adelaide Hills. We have one more stop to come, a town named Hahndorf, as South Australia is an area with a lot of German settlement. Arrive there about 445, check it out, have an ice cream (liquorice flavour!) then drive to Adelaide!

Photos to come

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Photos

Viewpoint at the Twelve Apostles
Image taken from http://www.sxc.hu

Inside the trunk of another big tree...
people lived in places like this in the depression!