Well summer is over, the weather is noticeably cooler, and we have lost our long evenings with the end of daylight saving. On the other hand, the leaves are all turning yellow and red, the grass is finally becoming green again, and autumn is a nice time of year to be in this part of Australia.
Back in Melbourne, we got the Landcruiser damage assessed - rather surprised to find it would take over a week to repair!- so we decided to make the most of our extra time in Melbourne, and the rental car provided as part of our insurance. Once we had caught up with the chores, made a trip into the city to see the magnificent Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens, and spent a lovely day catching up with our "best man" and his wife, we headed down the Great Ocean Road for 3 days. A well travelled tourist route, but very interesting and scenic nevertheless! Can't believe the number of "Wicked" campervans we saw on this road - hadn't seen many before or since! The first part of the Great Ocean Road winds around (and around) close to the sea and is quite an engineering
feat for the time it was built. It was all done by pick and shovel by returned servicemen and the road itself is actually a memorial dedicated to the First World War. Stopped for the first night at Apollo Bay, staying at the eco-designed Youth Hostel there - it was only about 2 years old and very flash.
Day 2 of the GOR was quite different - it's known as the Shipwreck Coast, and starts with the famous 12 Apostles (except there are only 8 now as they have slowly crumbled into the sea!). The Apostles are a set of limestone stacks, of which there are several other groups along this coast. We actually found the limestone formations in the Loch Ard Gorge area more interesting than the Apostles in some ways, and the story around the shipreck of the Loch Ard adds to the character of this area. The Loch Ard came to grief as it approached the end of a 3 month journey from England to Melbourne, trying to "thread the eye of the needle", the main sea route through a narrow passage between King Island and Cape Otway into Port Philip Bay. All but two of
the fifty-four passengers and crew perished, with Tom the ship's apprentice rescuing Eva, a young Irishwoman, from the sea after hearing her cries for help. No happy ending for the couple though, apparently they were from different classes of society so romance was not on!
Anyway, there were more than 50 shipwrecks along this part of the coast and you can see why, it is very rugged with lots of rocks, reefs and high cliffs. We really enjoyed the Flagstaff Hill Museum at Warrnambool, there is a very interesting area devoted to the region's shipping history and migration in the 19th Century, and an excellent replica village of an 19th century sea port. Flagstaff Hill's most valued exhibit is a huge Minton porcelain peacock which miraculously survived the Loch Ard shipwreck intact (see photo).
We spent the 2nd night on the GOR at Port Fairy, which is a very picturesque fishing port, and the Youth Hostel was completely different to the first one - it was in a historic house with loads of little rooms everywhere and lots of character. A nice change from the caravan and the people staying there were an interesting bunch - funnily enough
they are mostly our age group or older these days - I think young people must stay in backpackers or "Wicked" campervans!
Back in Melbourne, we pottered around while waiting for the car - one day we found ourselves just near the historic house "Como" by accident while trying to avoid the crazy Melbourne traffice, so popped in for a tour, Blu was particularly impressed with the extensive vegetable garden (the home was rather cool too). We also had a Sunday drive out to the Yarra Valley which was quite near our caravan park, it is surprising once you get into the Melbourne Hills you could be hundreds of miles away from the city! This time of the year they do controlled "burn-offs" in the hills to stop bushfires developing in the summer months, so pretty much the whole of Melbourne city was covered in smoke haze for about 5 days. On our last day in Melbourne, we finally got to visit the Immigration Museum (had tried to get there a couple of times before but got sidetracked) - a highlight for us as we both really enjoy stories about the early migrants to the colonies.
Actually we
have been very impressed with the museums we have visited so far on the trip, a lot of time and effort goes into both visual and written presentation. And we have found that viewpoints and places of interest all have information boards or plaques about the history or significance of the particular area. Australians are also very patriotic as you probably all know, so every town no matter how small, seems to have a flagpole, at least one war memorial and one or two statues!
The Minton Peacocksalvaged from the wreck of the Loch Ard and now in Flagstaff Museum, Warnambool
Australia's Flag
Map of Australia