Blogs from Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Today was another two-hands-on-the-wheel-and-no-texting-as-you-drive day. I was heading inland and of course that meant the typical narrow, winding roads of the Otway Ranges. First stop was a short hike through a rain forest - Maits Rest. A wonderful short stroll, perhaps 2 km in length, through a rain forest. The lush greens, ferns and trees native to the area were in abundance. To add some ambience, there was a light mist of rain as I completed the walk. Next, off to Cape Otway Lighthouse which they market as "Australia's most significant lighthouse". A lovely piece of land with numerous exhibits and obviously the lighthouse as the main attraction. As one would expect, very windy, and one had to be careful walking around the outside of the top of the lighthouse. However, the views were quite splendid ... read more

Monday 25th. The morning was bright, even some short lived blue sky, but we were determined to see the lighthouse before making ready to leave Bimbi Park to travel west tomorrow. The first thing that struck us as we crossed the first cattlestop on the road to the lighthouse was a small forest of dead trees. We enquired of a local about the destruction, and the response was koalas. Some years back 80 were released and they grew into a strong and expanding population. About 9000 now, and eating themselves to death. The damage over the last three or four years will take years to recover. Mean time, the population is spreading out, and maybe not out breeding the food supply. Local farmers are protecting trees and trying to limit the population per tree. At the ... read more

Friday 22nd While we slept well, the gusty winds which had reaped havoc on on Melbourne overnight, also rocked the boat at Wye River, but not as severely. The rain continued overnight, but not as heavy, and by morning we had sprinkles of drizzle. What we have found is that as we go south and west, the combined effect of daylight saving and location has the sun rise at 7.30 am, good for photographers who sleep in! So around that time I wandered down onto the Wye River foreshore and took a couple of happy snaps. I walked the 50 meters back to the MH and called out to the others that there was an interesting sunrise to photograph. One member of the team was heard to say that they were having breakfast. The response was ... read more

Ciao Ragazzi, siamo appena tornati a casa della zia dopo 4 giorni in giro nel OTWAY RANGES. url=http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Great-Ocean-Road/Activities-and-attractions/Nature-and-wildlife/National-parks-and-reserves/The-Otways.aspxhttp://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Great-Ocean-Road/Activities-and-attractions/Nature-and-wildlife/National-parks-and-reserves/The-Otways.aspx Ecco il riassunto...... Il Mare: Il mare era bellissimo, di un colore intenso e con onde spaventose. Abbiamo visto i famosi 12 Apostles mentre eravamo in viaggio. Il campeggio http://www.bimbipark.com.au/ Il campeggio era bellissimo, e ho conosciuto tanti bambini. Di notte giocavamo tutti insieme a nascondino fino a tardi. Ogni mattino si faceva le partite di calcetto ed era gratis!! I Koala: Il campe... read more

Today we covered the final length of the Great Ocean Road. The first stop was Cape Otway Lighthouse - we walked around the cliff top where they had several small museums telling stories about the families that had manned the lighthouse over the years, and the ships that had been wrecked on the rocks below. It was also the point from which the first telecommunications cable was laid under the sea to connect to Hobart. You could walk up the lighthouse which gave some impressive views of the coast line and they also had a small café in the grounds where we stopped for a coffee and some scones and cream. Will also enjoyed some chocolate cake which he pilfered from the table next to us after seeing that they had barely touched it!! We saw ... read more