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Published: March 15th 2014
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Wednesday 26h February 2014. Port Campbell to Port Fairy, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia
After breakfast of toast, tea and coffee (included in the price) we loaded the car and drove to the start of a short walk which overlooks Port Campbell harbour. The walk was about 1 hour return but we did not have time to do it all. We walked for about 20 minutes - so we could see the coast around the corner and then returned to the car. The weather was a little bit better than last night but it was still a bit iffy. We were now on the Shipwreck coast - having left the surf coast behind us at Airey's Inlet.
Once back in the car we continued on to a Rock Formation called (imaginatively as always by the Aussies) "The Arch". Located 6km west of Port Campbell this naturally sculptured arch stands at 8 metres high. The different swells and weather conditions can add to the drama of this backdrop. There was a sealed walkway that descended steeply down to the viewing platform offering views of the Arch and back towards the spectacular 12 Apostles. It was now raining so we rushed
it a bit, took some snaps and made for the dry car.
We continued on to the next 'site' which was another rock formation called London Bridge. This was once a double arch which rusulted in its resemblence to the iconic bridge in London. A much more imaginative name by Aussie standards. Unfortunately one of the arches has since collapsed. On the evening of 15th January 1990 the main arch connecting London Bridge to the mainland cracked and fell into the sea. Fortunately no-one was injured. Two people marooned on the new island were rescued hours later by helicopter. How lucky were they?
The next stop along the coast was another rock formation called "The Grotto". The Grotto is a sinkhole geological formation on the Great Ocean Road outside Port Campbell. We parked the car and negotiated the Wooden steps that wind down the cliff face to the bottom. As it was low tide we had a great view of the sea beyond a pool.
We continued on the GOR until we came to the last stop before we were due to drop Chris off in Warrnambool. This was the Bay of Islands Coastal Park
which is a 32 kilometre long coastal reserve located on the Great Ocean Road between Peterborough and Warnambool. M thought that this was the best stop yet for rock formations. There were hundreds of Islands and Stacks as far as the eye could see. We stopped at a lookout over the Bay of Martyrs which forms part of the Bay of Islands Coastal Park.
We continued towards Warnambool when M spotted a sign saying that there was a whale nursery. So off we went. Turns out it was the wrong time of year, but apparently this is one of the best land based whale watching platforms in the world. Every year, from July to September, Southern Right Whales come to mate an nurse their babies in the wateers off Logan's beach. It was worth the detour to read the blurb and see the beach.We made our way into town and dropped Chris off so he could hook up with his mate. Then we went to the tourist office and found a pub for lunch. After lunch we climbed a hill and took some snaps of the coast before going to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village.
This is a
museum which replicates a typical coastal village of the late 1800's and brigs to life the extraordinary era of Australian settlement. The precinct is home to historic buildings and vessels, the Lady Bay lighthouses and a huge collection of historical objects housed in its museums. We strolled around the village which is a living historical village that displays the life of a 19th century port and town, and holder of Victoria's largest maritime shipwreck collection, it occupies a beautiful site, tumbling down the bluff towards Lady Bay. The village area has over 40 buildings and vessels spread over 10 hectares. There was even a pig pen with live pigs! The complex also houses two of the Warnambool Lady Bay lighhouses. We were able to climb the upper one to get great views over the bay.
Flagstaff hill is also the home to the Warnambool Garrison. In 1887, as part of the colony's response to the fears of a Russian invasion, a fort was constructed near the lighthouses to house two rare muzzle-loading cannons with a range of 5½ km. The fort and the cannons have been restored. We went to take some snaps.
We left Warnambool and headed
towards the Tower Hill NP which Chris had told us his mate said was a 'must do'. Tower Hill is an inactive volcano on the south-west coast of Victoria just short of our destinaton of Port Fairy. Within the crater, the explosion also formed a series of small cones (known as scoria cones) and spheres surrounded by a crater lake.Tower Hill volcano is roughly 4 km wide and 80 m high. It has a gradient altering between 10% to 80% at the higher points. he area has been reforested with native flora, and repopulated with
native fauna over the past 40 years. More than 300,000 native trees have been planted over the past two generations. This has created an environment capable of sustaining native animals such as Koalas, Emus, kangaroos, Magpie Geese, Echidnas, possums, and waterbirds – all of which can be seen within the crater walls of Tower Hill. We did two of the 4 walks and saw black wallabies, loads of emus and birds. It was really lovely.
We left the park and decided to take the scenic route to Port Fairy by driving along the volcano rim. We stopped at a couple of lookouts to take
some photos.We arrived in Port Fairy and found the YH with some difficulty. For the first time there was no record of our booking - but D had the receipt. There was a room available anyway. We dumped our stuff and went out for a stroll on Griffiths Island which had been recommended by the warden. The Island is reached by a causeway. The island is home to a population of sheerwaters (they were still out feeding when we were there though). We did see some wallabies and black swans. We didn't complete the walk to the lighthouse as it was freezing and the wind was blowing hard. We took some pictures of the surf and returned to the YH where we had pasta for dinner.
THe GOR has been the highlight of Australia so far.
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