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Last year we watched an episode of the ABC Series Back Roads, in which Heather Ewart visited Port Campbell, covering the sad loss of lives in a rescue attempt by Port Campbell Lifesavers. A father and son lost their life trying to rescue a tourist who had been caught in a rip at nearby Sherbrooke River. Despite the tragedy, it was inspiring how the small town of Port Campbell came together to support the family left behind. Port Campbell is central to the iconic cliffs of the Great Ocean Road, and it was a great place to base ourselves to explore the area.
On our drive from Apollo Bay with caravan in tow, we stopped off at the famous Gibson Steps, which are bolted onto a high sandstone cliff face and lead down to the beach. We climbed down the stairs and walked along the beach, gazing up the towering cliffs, the wild surf and a sandstone monolith rising up from the ocean. From there we drove a short distance to see the Twelve Apostles, and they were as awe inspiring as what one would imagine.
Next stop was Loch Ard Gorge, the scene of a tragic
shipwreck in 1878, in which only two of fifty four passengers survived after their ship struck nearby Muttonbird Island. A young sailor by the name of Tom Pearce washed ashore in Loch Ard Gorge, and hearing the cries of young Eva Carmichael, he swam out into the wild surf and battled for an hour to bring her back to shore. After resting in a cave, Tom bravely climbed the sheer crumbling sandstone cliffs and went for help, eventually finding a farmer, who helped Tom lift Eva to safety. A fine porcelain peacock that had been on the ship headed for an exhibition in Melbourne, washed ashore in a wooden crate two days later intact, and this is now displayed in the Warrnambool Museum.
There were around 700 ships wrecked along the Great Ocean Road coastline, hence its alternate name as the Shipwreck Coast. The gap between King Island and Cape Otway is just 84 kms, and to sail between them was referred to as “threading the eye of the needle”. I was contemplating what was so difficult about sailing through such a large gap in the early days of the colony, but realised there was no GPS, in a
storm there were no stars to guide by, Bass Strait has an average depth of just 60 metres, which means waves from the Southern Ocean rise up massively, the wind howls from the Southern Ocean, driving sailing ships towards the cliffs, and many of the ship captains were not familiar with our southern coastline.
With our caravan in tow, we continued driving west, stopping off at Muttonbird Island and the famous London Bridge, following which we drove to Port Campbell to check in to our caravan park.
The next morning we walked across the suspension bridge in Port Campbell, and proceeded to take the steep steps to the lookout over Port Campbell. After returning, we drove to The Grotto, Peterborough, Bay of Martyrs, the Bay of Islands and Boat Harbour. Someone we met on our travels had informed us that the Bay of Islands was superior to the Twelve Apostles, and we would have to agree.
With the weather the next day not looking too flash, we decided to experience the Twelve Apostles Gourmet Food Trail, which certainly did not disappoint. We commenced driving to Timboon, where we stopped at Schulz Organic Dairy Farm and Creamery Café.
Also at Timboon were the Berry Farm and Timboon Fine Ice Cream. I should point out that dairy is the dominant industry in the area. We skipped the Timboon Distillery and Winery, and drove to Dairylicious Farm Fudge and sampled a range of fudges over coffee. From there we visited Gorge Chocolates and then Apostles Whey Cheese Factory. After “gorging” ourselves, we walked some of what we consumed off by revisiting the Twelve Apostles, Mutton Bird Island, Loch Ard Cemetery (commemorating those lost in the shipwreck), Thunder Cave, and Broken Head.
The next day we drove to revisit The Grotto, London Bridge, Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands, before heading to Childers Cove Goat Cheese Farm, to purchase a range of Goats Cheese for Kim. Just to inform our readers, we are averaging over 10,000 steps a day, so we are justifying (at least to ourselves) sampling the produce of the Great Ocean Road Gourmet Food Trail.
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