Renaming the 12 Apostles

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One of the big things to see on the Great Ocean Road between Melbourne and Adelaide is the famous 12 Apostles, a poorly named tourist attraction. The 12 Apostles is a made up of freestanding limestone rock formations carved out the cliff side by the ocean waves and rain. It was originally called “The Sow and Piglets” but I guess they wanted a more grandiose name for the attraction. The current name would be fine if there were 12 rock formations visible at one time, but from the ground you can only see up to eight from the north and four from the south. The only way to see all 12 at once is from a helicopter or plane. And of the eight you can see at once, it is really just seven and pile of rubble where one of apostles crumbled last summer. There are two more rock formations just around the next headland that will probably be adopted as apostles if another one of the original 12 falls down. I think the whole thing should be renamed and if a number must be used, maybe they should use a series of numbers as formations fall and new ones are formed over time. I was thinking of using the 12 Days of Christmas. It still has the Christian connection they seem to want and it can change over time. This year would be “The 11 Pipers” and if another one falls it would be “The Nine Lords” and so on.

Another impressive rock formation is called the London Bridge, which did fall down in 1990. Basically London Bridge was created as ocean waves carved an arch through the headland. (Note: when the bridge fell, it technically created another ‘apostle’ or ‘piper’) The funny part about the bridge falling was that a couple was stuck on the newly formed rock formation for about five hours until they were airlifted out. That was plenty of time for news vans to arrive and cover the story. Apparently, the stranded guy spent much of the five hours with his coat pulled over his head in attempt to prevent his wife from finding out that he wasn’t on a business trip like he told her but instead enjoying the great ocean road with his mistress. No one could tell me what happened to the marriage.

I saw Bell’s Beach where Patrick Swayze surfed off into the sunset in Point Break, although the filming was actually done in Hawaii. There were plenty of surfers out despite the chilly weather and some were quite good. I saw a southern right whale or a least the top part with the blowhole and part of its tail. Later in the winter you can see the whales with their babies. The highlight of the trip from Melbourne to Adelaide was seeing my first koalas in the wild. This was something I never expected to see and I saw three! One was only around 10 feet away on a branch and looked completely annoyed that we were there. I also saw kangaroos in the wild for the first time. I got close to one of the adult males and he began to sort of snort at me. I backed away; these guys are about six feet tall and pretty powerful. Once again the landscape was beautiful and the hikes were wonderful and peaceful. I would’ve loved to go swimming at some of the beaches but I think the serenity of the area would’ve been marred while packed with summer tourists.

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Photos

Some Apostles
Three standing and one crumbled

Bell's Beach
Couldn't see Patrick or Keanu

The annoyed koala
A koala in the wild...grrr

A shot in the Grampians
New growth after a forest fire cused by lightening

Comments

[Angela]

Here I am...
Wow...it's already August...who knew? Anyway....breathtaking...even if it does have a funny name :)