Blogs from Port Campbell, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

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. ... read more

On Day 10 I left Apollo Bay for Port Campbell to see the iconic Twelve Apostles rock formations. First stop, however, was another short hike through a rain forest at Melba Gully. The Madsen Track is about two km long and takes about 40 min. A lovely trek through the rain forest. The first stop in Port Campbell National Park was to tackle Gibson Steps. 89 steps takes you down to the beach where you can view the rock stacks of Gog and Magog. It was fun walking next to these mammoth structures with the waves rushing in. Then came the Twelve Apostles; the iconic rock formations associated with the Great Ocean Road. These are what you see on all the postcards of the area. Although there are now only seven rock stacks, they are observable ... read more

Daar is ie weer! A brand new blog van ThuisAroundTheWorld. We zijn indertussen in het zuiden van Australië beland en hebben meer dan 4000 km gereden. Ons campertje houdt het nog goed. Sinds de vorige blog zijn we via Canberra door de snowy mountains naar de zuidkust afgezakt. In Canberra hebben we wat culturele dingetjes meegepakt. Vooral het war memorial museum was zeer indrukwekkend, nu er extra aandacht wordt besteed aan de eerste wereld oorlog aangezien het 100 jaar geleden is. In de snowy mountains hebben we Mt. Kosciuszko beklommen waar sommige van jullie wellicht de foto van hebben gezien op Facebook. Na deze beklimming hebben we een helse tocht van 150 km over onverharde wegen dwars door de bergen doorstaan. Hierbij kwam nog een extra verrassing dat onze tank bijna leeg was. Maar, we hebben ... read more

I woke up with cold feet which was very strange. I looked around and noticed that the window (right next to my feet) was open and a cool breeze was blowing in. In fact, it was almost cold and there was mist swirling around outside. This is quite common (sea mist) along the coast. We had a quick breakfast and drove to the Loch Ard Gorge carpark and explored the area, including the famous gorge. The gorge is named after the clipper ship, which ran aground in June 1878 after three months sailing from England. Only two of the 54 passengers and crew survived. Tom Pearce, a fifteen years old ships apprentice, was washed ashore and, hearing cries for help, went back into the water to attempt to save Eva Carmichael, a 17 year old Irish ... read more

Hi blog followers. After spending a coolish night (see photos of our first camp fire), we have moved yet again from Kennett's River. This time we spent a night "free camping" at Johanna right at the bottom of Victoria. It was recommended to us and it did not let us down. What a great place. Well kept by Victorian Parks with good facilities and the grounds are well mown etc. See photos. Johanna appears to be visited by the dedicated surfers (see photo) as it is not far off the Great Ocean Road and close to the Twelve Apostles etc. We only stayed one night as the weather turned bad on us with the wind blowing up over night and then steady rain today, so we decided to head for Port Campbell and do our laundry ... read more