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Day 295 (16.1.08)
Before we settled down into trying to find jobs and a flat we wanted to make a trip down the Great Ocean Road. But before we were to get ourselves together we were accompanying Tiana to the jetty at St Kilda beach to help her with the penguin research she’s doing for her PhD.
Waking like overexcited kids on a day trip, we got up and put on our jumpers and coats (well it was pretty early and cold). Tiana picked us up and we made our way to the beach parking near the jetty. Tiana opened the massive security gates with a big bunch of keys (it was a bit like getting into a prison), and when we got there we set about our search for the penguins Tiana had been monitoring.
Finding the first fluffy little fella’s burrow, Tiana checked it out to see who was home using the technical Penguin tool of choice, the extra long shoe horn. The penguin that was home didn’t seem overly pleased to see us and Tiana was satisfied with who was there so we left them alone.
The next nest we were checking was one
Boroka Lookout
Looking over to Halls gapwhere they had laid some eggs, and we were going to see whether they had hatched. After another poke around with the shoe horn Tiana called us over excitedly saying that all three had hatched and were all alive and well. We both peeked in to see mum looking after three shaking bundles of black fluff - it was amazing! Next Tiana had to see how mum was doing, so she gently eased her out of the nest. Apart from being a little upset having been removed from the nest she seemed well. Both of us then helped Tiana place the little madam in a bag and weigh her on the scale. Satisfied that the penguin was the right weight, Tiana carefully placed her back with the little ones in her nest to go about their penguin day.
Back at the flat we packed our things, jumped in the van and went over to pick up Kayleigh and Spence who were joining us on our Great Ocean Road adventure.
Hitting the road, it didn’t take long for us to be on the highway out of the city. The road to the Grampians is a pretty quick expressway and
albeit a long way, we managed to eat up the miles and arrived in Halls Gap in the centre of the mountains by lunch.
Settling down for a picnic we planned out our time in the mountains to fit in as much as we could before we had to move onto the coast. Packing up the lunch things we went back in the van and drove over to McKenzie Falls. We took the walk to see the falls from a good vantage point. The walk was great and even through there was not much water flowing over the falls when we were there it was impressive none the less.
On the road again the rest of our afternoon was a tour of excellent lookouts over the incredible views the Grampians offer. First was Reed Lookout where the mountains seemed to be endless and then up Mt Difficult Road (how could we pass up the opportunity to drive along a road with a name like that) to Boroka Lookout which looked over the Halls Gap valley and right over the small town nestled in the middle of it.
Back down in Halls Gap we stopped off at a
bottle-o to pick up some brewskies for dinner before driving on our most familiar compass bearing, south, toward the coast and our camp for the night in Port Fairy.
With Kayleigh and Spence having a nap, we didn’t really know where we were going and, with the absence of a good map, decided that heading as close to south as we could should get us where we wanted to get to. We found some great rural farming communities to drive through and what we believed to be a wombat bottom disappearing into the grasses on the side of the road.
Eventually, after finding that we had only gone a little out of our way, we arrived onto the highway and quickly made our way to the camp in Port Fairy. Leaving the guys to set up the tent the ladies went off in search of the camp kitchen to start making a big chilli for dinner. On the stroke of 10pm and half way through cooking a delicious feast the lights in the kitchen went off - oh dear. We finished off cooking and ate dinner by candlelight - how romantic! The evening was topped off with some
goon and top trumps!
Day 296 (17.1.08)
We had brekkie and jumped back into Nora to have a look around the town. We had arrived a bit late the day before to see the area. After topping up on petrol we then went on a tour of some of the most impressive coastal geography we have ever seen.
We started our tour with a couple of lookouts with some stunning views down the coast. The rock forming the coastline in the area is clearly layered and has the most incredible examples of all of those coastal features you learned about in GCSE geography. The coast is peppered with arches, caves, stacks, stumps and islands.
Further down the road we stopped at the Grotto and the Arch before stopping at the small town of Port Campbell for lunch, once again taking advantage of free gas barbies. The afternoon promised the most exciting scenery as we were due to visit the two most famous parts of the Great Ocean Road, Loch Ard Gorge and the Twelve Apostles. The views at Loch Ard Gorge were breathtaking and we were able to walk right down to the beach to appreciate
the full scale of the rock formations. However the best views of the day were still to come as we arrived at the fantastic Twelve Apostles. Originally twelve huge rock stacks formed along the coast by weathering and coastal erosion there are now less then 12 still visible (people will argue as to how many they think there are left!) and the path that takes you out to a headland to see them provides you with an amazing vantage point from which to appreciate them. A truly spectacular view.
With our coastal tour finished for the day, we headed inland to find a camp for the night. Determined to find somewhere we could camp with a local ale house close enough to get a pint in, we ended up in a little place called Lavers Hill. Camping in a field, pretty much behind the local pub, we cooked up some dinner and went up to what was obviously a ‘pub for local people’ for a cheeky pint or two and a chat.
Day 297 (18.1.08)
After a bit of a disturbed night of sleep from our neighbours in the campsite partying until early hours, we packed up
and got on the road. On the way back from a trip to see the Cape Otway lighthouse (we didn’t go in as it was a bit pricy) we saw a load of cars parked on the verge in a seemingly pointless place. We thought we’d stop to see what was going on to find a Koala having a wander along the side of the road. He was superb!
Rejoining the main road we saw a rainforest walk and thought we’d give it a go to stretch our legs. It turned out to be a superb path and a great walk well worth the stop.
Another stop to see a group of Koalas who had chosen a spot just off the road and Spence found he had a new found skill and subsequent role within the group as chief koala spotter.
We had a walk around Apollo Bay, a nice coastal town on our route, before continuing on to Kennett River. We had read that there is a dirt track originating from behind the campground in Kennett River where a lot of Koalas live. Even though we had seen a couple already we thought it worth a visit.
Spence’s new found skills were put to the test as there were koalas everywhere. If you are on the Great Ocean Road it is definitely worth a visit to see these sleepy little fellas snuggling in the trees. Back at the bottom of the dirt road we caught our breath and had lunch.
Continuing on our way we had a quick stop at Bells Beach where the world surfing championships are held. We then had a walk around the nearby beach town of Torquay before making the last leg of the trip back to Melbourne. We went back to Tiana’s flat to stay for the next few days and loved the fact that her cat Taiga was staying with us - it was great to have a cat around again - we miss our BeeBee so much!
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