Advertisement
Published: October 21st 2012
Edit Blog Post
The coast heading south from Melbourne is one of the most popular scenic drives in Australia and the Great Ocean Road certainly doesn’t disappoint. We only went as far as the Twelve Apostles but over a weekend that is still a decent trip and with all the things to see along the way it was plenty far enough.
What we really enjoyed was getting back to nature and after a few years out of Australia to be able to see the natives is always a treat, even the more deadly sort. As winter is now pretty much finishing the snakes are starting to wake up and head out for a feed and the tiger snake we came across really did have a bad attitude.
It is this time of year that the snakes are a little more aggressive as they are hungry and the weather is not constantly hot. In the peak of summer the snakes are relaxed laying around in the sun after feeding as much as they could in the early parts of summer. The one we bumped into was up shaking, hissing and following our every movement. Great to see but not to hang around.
Around Apollo Bay we went and stayed in a place where kolas are well and truly in abundant numbers and it was a highlight to be outside cooking a bbq with three of these guys watching. In the five hundred meters around the cottage we noticed around 15 koalas, pretty much all sleeping as they do so well.
For us it was also our first time to visit the twelve apostles, well the seven or eight (we think) that are still standing. The first sailors passing though here must have got the numbers wrong as all the thousands of years they all were standing it is strange that in a couple of years five have gone. Anyway the whole coast line around the Twelve Apostles is very scenic with dramatic cliffs and caves that have been carved out by the ocean.
The other enjoyable part is heading into the bush and simply listening to the large variety of birds in the area. Most of the time they are all impossible to see but the noises that are coming out from the bush is fantastic. From time to time a bunch of them will land in a tree close
by with the most strong/bright colours which will properly be of the parrot species. Quite a lot will be seen along the road driving around in this area.
As you can see form some of the pics the weather was not on our side for the weekend except for when we returned to Melbourne it were sunny again of course. Even in October it can get really cold still but from day to day it changes, even during the day, so quickly. Best to be prepared for all sorts when heading down this way.
A weekend is no-way near enough time to see all the places down this area.. We didn’t even stop in Torque and the many other little towns along the way but the whole area is only a couple of hours out of Melbourne and does make a great day or weekend getaway.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 10; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0355s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dancing Dave
David Hooper
LOCHARD GORGE
Lovely place...saw Shakespeare's Mid Summer Nights Dream...in the caves & the beach here one evening...magic place