The Great Ocean Road

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January 23rd 2007

Published: February 7th 2007

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Garrett

Logan's Beach

A little stop we did along the way for a break. Not much to see here in the summer but come during the winter time and chances are good that you'll be able to spot some whales.

The top location for anyone being in the State of Victoria is to go and see the Great Ocean road which heads along the southern coast west of Melbourne. There are numerous tour companies heading out this way and since it is one of the top attractions, you can just as easily find a group of people renting a car and split the costs that way too. I thought about going with some people from the hostel I was staying at but I like seeing everything I can in an area which you wouldn't know if you were getting by yourself because many of the interesting stops don't appear on the normal tour maps. I also like to get a little bit of history and interesting storie from the areas as well which usually means that I would rather go on a tour then tackle it myself when dealing with main area attractions. Most of the tours you'll find do the great ocean road in one day, meaning a 7:30am start and getting back into town around 10-11pm. These tours tend to run you about $100 and don't include meals either. I managed to find a couple tours that would spend

Tower Hill

We had lunch at Tower Hill which is a sunken volcanoe. The volcanoe encountered an underground lake and caused it to collapse in on itself. Later volcanic activity created a couple hills in the center which I climbed up to get this shot. Normally this shot would be of a little lake inside the crater.

a couple days on the road for a slightly higher fee but also included the one night's hostel stay, as well as dinner and breakfast for $150. Not to mention that with the added time, we were able to see quite a bit more then the one day tours saw.

I went with Ride Tours which is run by one guy who does all the work himself so was also the cheapest one in town. The start was still just as early as the other tours but instead of heading towards Torquay and Bells Beach to start the day as ump-teen other tours did, we did the long drive of about 3 hours (which every tour has to do at some point or another) first. Todd's (our tour guide) reason for this was to get it out of the way early so we could maximize our site seeing the second day and possibly squeeze in some extra side trips as well as get us away from touring every spot with 400 other people doing the tour and having to each location all to ourselves...or almost at least.

The 3 hour drive was broken up with a restroom break

Tower Hill

Shot towards the ocean. In the center of the photoe towards the top, you can see the layers of rock that formed from the old eruptions.

where tea, coffee and biscuits were also served and then we continued onto Logan's Beach which is just outside Warrnambool, which is the town at the far end of the Great Ocean Road when coming from Melbourne. Though there was only a couple surfers and a beach like numerous other places in Australia, this beach is one of the best places to come during the winter months to see sightings of right, blue, and killer whales as they migrate. They have a large lookout built up top of the cliff and many info boards of the types of whales you will see and how to help protect them. After this we went into Warrnambool to buy our lunch to eat at a volcanic crater and Todd bought the supplies for our dinner that night.

The crater we went to is called Tower Hill and is actually past the Great Ocean Road and another thing the one day tours would miss out on. Tower Hill is an dormant volcano which they estimate was formed at least 30,000 years ago when rising magma struck the subterranean water table. A violent explosion followed and created a funnel-shaped crater. Within the crater the

Tower Hill

I tried to get a good shot of the center of the volcanoe I climbed up but hard to tell that it goes down a good 30m or so.

explosion also formed a series of peaked-hills surrounded by a crater lake, though given the extreme drought, the lake is basically dried up but you can tell where it would be. The area is covered in trees and with the water, many Australian animals can be seen in the wild. We were able to see koalas, emus and geese. Some people saw kangaroos while walking around at lunch but they were keeping to the shade since the day was quite hot.

We ate lunch in amongst the peaked-hill that are basically in the center of the giant crater. There were 2 emu's roaming around the picnic area looking for handouts or to catch someone by surprise and just steal some food. The flies were a slight nuisance but I think I might be getting use to them a little now so was able to eat almost in peace. After lunch, I decided that I would make the trek to the top of one of the hills before havng to board the bus and see what kind of view we could get. Not sure how high the hill went but took about 15 minutes to get to the top where

Bay of Islands

At the far end of the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne is the Bay of Islands coastal park which has many great lookout areas to see the eroded limestone coastline.

I snapped a few shots to show the "lake" and some of the other scenery.

With lunch out of the way, we then proceeded to head to the Great Ocean Road and start seeing the portion known as the Shipwreck Coast. They estimate that around 700 ships were lost along the coast of Victoria yet less then a third have that have been found. Quite a few have been found along this section of coast, hence the name. We began at the Bay of Islands Coastal Park where we got our first good look at the eroded coast line. The soft limestone rock of the coast formed about 10-20 million years ago during the Miocene Period when this entire area was under sea. The remains of the marine animals of the time gathered and were eventually compressed by their weight to form the rock layers of varying hardness. As the sea retreated, the rock cracked forming deep verticle joints and at the end of the last ice age during the Pliocene Period, the sea level advanced again reaching its current level around 6000 years ago. The cliffs are formed when the sea undercuts the edge of the land causing

Bay of Islands Coastal Park

it to collapse. This is helped by the rainwater and ocean spray percolating down the joints dissolving the stone and making them wider. The stacks remaining out in the sea are the harder limestone that take longer to erode. They estimate that the coast line is eroding at a rate of about 2cm per year.

Another spot in the Coastal Park is Halladale Point which is named for the shipwreck of the "Falls of Halladale" which ran onto the reef in 1908. The spot is also known as Massacre Point where Europeans killed a group of Kirrae-Wurrong Aborigines by driving them off the cliff. It is also said the women and children of the group were killed in a nearby swamp which is nicknamed Massacre Bay though we didn't see where that was.

Next it was onto the Bay of Martyrs where you could get down to the beach and go for a walk. We had a bit of time so a few people went into the water, other sun bathed, while a few of us tossed a frisbee around for awhile. We then made a quick stop to the The Grotto which has steps that brought you

Bay of Islands Coastal Park

down almost to the beach so you could say that you were standing in a sink hole. This sink hole was formed by the rain water percolating through the limestone and into the sea.

From the Grotto it was onto London Arch where it use to be possible to see a connection between stacks and to the mainland but in 1990, the bridge connected to the mainland collapsed. Before the collapse, the formation was known as London Bridge due to the similarity to its namesake. On that day in 1990, nobody was hurt but 2 people were trapped on the stack. The wind conditions were to sever to attempt a helicopter rescue so they had to wait a few hours before they were rescued. During that time, word spread about the collapse and camera crews from all over showed up to tape the unfolding events. Once the man and woman were finally air lifted of the stack, they tried their best to avoid the cameras because, as it was later found out, they were both married but to different people and that they were both suppose to be at "business" meetings...not many people can say they got screwed over

Bay of Islands Coastal Park

by erosion, they should feel honoured!!

After that, it was onto Port Campbell where we checked into our hostel for the night and had a nice dinner of salad (regular and pasta) and steaks, chicken, and sausages. Then it was off to the local store to grab a few brewskies to have that night and to take to the 12 Apostles for our sunset date. Port Campbell is usually the last stop for the one-day tours and just from what we had done so far on the first day, everyone was already feeling as though we had already got our moneys worth so you know what my suggestion would be to you if you can't decide!

With a 6-pack in hand, I was all set to view the biggest draw of the Great Ocean Road, the 12 Apostles. The Twelve Apostles are a tourist attraction since there are quite a few stacks in close relation to each other. They use to be known as the Sow and Piglets but that was changed to the present one in 1950 to attempt to lure more visitors to the area. There were only ever 9 official apostles (there could be

Bay of Islands Coastal Park

You can see how the erosion takes place. The base gets erroded first causing the upper portion to collapse.

up to 13 or 18, I forget, depending what you count) and in 2005 one of the stacks that was 50m high collapsed leaving 8. You can see the rubble of the fallen Apostle in the photo. After taking a few shots of the Apostles and the sunset, we sat back having beer or goon (a very cheap wine, that I don't even think is wine, but it costs 10-15 for 5L and gets the job done) and awaited the little penguins to come back from the foraging expedition. We were quite high up so the Fairy penguins looked like little dots but you could still see them run back into the waves multiple times before crossing the beach.

With that done, it was back into town to keep the drinking going and hit the only open pub in town. I guess being the only pub open made it so that they could charge a bunch for drinks and not worry about losing out but it sure stopped me from buying more then a couple. The whole lot of our tour went there and picked a corner of the bar to play a little drinking game. For this one,

Bay of Martyrs

This bay is just outside the town of Peterborough and where we stopped for a little beach time.

someone writes a bunch of well known people (celebrities, political figures, etc.) onto scraps of paper and then the person who is "up" then selects one randomly. Without that person seeing who it is, everyone else gets a look at the name so they know who has to be said and to help with the next phase. The person has 2 minutes to guess the name and can ask any question they desire to try and figure it out. Usually you start out with finding out gender and then what area they are famous in but that is entirely up to you. If you don't get the name in 2 Minutes, you then have to skull your drink. The person before me had gotten an Australian person I had never heard of so said it wasn't fair if I got someone I didn't know. There was an American girl on the tour though and she said she would say whether or not I would know the person, so I chose my name and she said I would definitely know him. Now not to type-cast Americans, I have met a couple exceptions, but for the most part they never appear to

The Grotto

They built steps down so you can get up close and personal with this eroding site.

be too worldly and if it isn't prominent in the U.S, then they wouldn't know what you're talking about. So, given her ferverent acknowledgement of me knowing the person, I went straight to "Is it American?" for which there was a yes. I then asked if it was a president to which you can now get a true feel for the game. Any of the other people playing can answer your question and on occasion, the question is a little ambiguous or people don't actually know the person as well as they think they do and you get conflicting replies. This will usually cause much wasted time to clarify but I just decided to listen to the American so with a yes for president, a follow up on whether he was involved with someone other then his wife in the oval office and I had pinned Clinton in 34 seconds. Not bad for a first go at the game and nobody beat my time so never had to go again.

A few of us stayed until the bar closed and then went down to the beach to keep going with a big old box of goon. I think we

The Grotto

This is from up top of the Grotto

called it a night at around 3:30am, figuring that Good for me that I don't get hangovers still (at worst I'm still inebriated the next day) and can function just as well off of 1 hour of sleep as 8, at least that's how I feel, as my previous bosses if they noticed a difference! 😊 Unfortunately for most of the others, that isn't the case so there were a few rough looking people to comment on.

Following a simple breakfast of cereal and toast, we had a short drive to our first stop of the day; Loch Ard Gorge. Another location along the Shipwreck Coast named after the vessel that met its unfortunate demise against the reef. The Loch Ard was an iron-hulled clipper ship on its way to Melbourne from England in 1878. The captain was caught in a continuous dense fog off the coast and mistakenly though he was further out to sea. The bow of the ship ended up getting caught on a shallow reef and the waves bashed the ship on the rocks preventing the lifeboats being launched and eventually sinking the ship. Only 2 people of the original 54 passengers aboard the Loch

London Bridge

There use to be a bridge connecting the island to the mainland. It collapsed in 1990.

Ard managed to survive; an 18 year old irish immagrant, Eva Carmicheal, and a deck hand, Tom Pearce. They came to shore at what is now known as Loch Ard Gorge and waited out the storm in a cave. In the morning, Tom scaled the cliff and found help. According to our guide, the public was pushing both survivors to be together since they were the only ones to survive the wreck but that never came to be and Eva moved back to Ireland.

Near Loch Ard Gorge, there was a lookout showing the roch formation dubbed the Razorbacks. The sharp edges and bumps along the top are what give ithe rock stack its name and they are formed by the wind-blown spray that hardened small areas of the rock. Erosion removed the softer areas leaving the uneven surface. Along the bottom of the stack, you can see the smooth grooves just above sea level caused by the waves which come about once every 14 seconds. The Razorback use to extend much further into the sea but the waves undercut the front portion until vertical cracks formed in the rock, which were widened and weakened by rain water until

London Bridge

You can see the difference in erosion along this section of the road where the cliff faces are smooth and vertical.

it collapsed into the sea. You can still see whats left of that rock self.

Then it was back to the 12 Apostles to get another look at them though with full daylight. This was also a time for those who wanted to take the helecopter ride to do so. Since we were on the tour, we received a "special" rate of course and instead of $90 or something like that for 10 minutes in the air, we got 8 minutes for $60. I'll leave helecopter rides for things I can't even catch a glimpse at without an aerial view so just went back to the lookouts to see if the pictures would be better this time around. The wind was definitely stronger so I think the waves add a little more to the photos but basically the same as before. Too bad we couldn't witness another Apostle collapse or something!

With everyones helecopter rides out of the way, we then made another very short trek to Gibson's Steps which are just some man-made steps that will take you all the way down the cliff to the beach. We had a group photo taken here with one of

12 Apostles at Sunset

The one "Apostle" at the bottom of the photo collapsed only a couple years ago. They figure in 20000 years, they will all be gone, so hurry up and get out here before it is too late!

the Apostles in the back ground but aside from that, nothing else new from this stop.

Once we left the steps, we had a bit of driving to do but the views were fantastic as we followed the coast. Our next stop was at Maits Rest which is a temperate rainforest located just norht of the Great Ocean road. With all the brown seen everywhere due to the drought, it was refreshing to see so much green again. At the edge of the rainforest, you can see the definite devision between the Victoria Ash trees of the eucalypt forest and the myrtle beech trees of the rainforest. The man ferns in the rainforest grom at only 1 cm a year and some of them are roughly 500-600 years old! It's a good way to measure how long it has been since a forest fire has sweapt through the area. This is also the only place where you can find a predatorial snail! The Otway Black Snail preys on worms, snails and slugs and can only be found in this little bit of rainforest. I was actually lucky enough to see one of these glossy black shells with a brown

12 Apostles at Sunset

There is a debate on how many Apostles there really are, officially there were 9 (now only 8) but there can be up to 13 or so depending what you want to count. You need 2 shots to get them all in at the lookout.

and yellow tip while perusing through the forest.

After the rainforest it was onto Apollo Bay for a little lunch stop. Apollo Bay is right along the sea and has a good beach section though we were a little preoccupied trying to find a good place for lunch so didn't actually make it to the beach. A few of us decided to have lunch at a local fish and chips shop along the main street. I can't remember what type of fish I tried but I know that it tasted just like every other fish I've had deep fried and battered. Once lunch was complete, we continued along the coast some more enjoying the scenery and stopping at various lookouts for some shots along the coast.

Our last stop of our 2 day journey was at the famous surfing spot at Bells Beach. Although the beach was 'featured' in the final scene of the film Point Break, the scene was not actually filmed there. Bells Beach is a straight stretch and the beach in the film is a cove with pine trees atop a hill. The actual location of the film was a beach called Indian Beach, in

12 Apostles at Sunset

Oregon, USA. The main break is known as the Bells Bowl or Bowl section. It is a reef break and works through all tides depending on the size of the swell. It is surfable from 2' up to 15', and a north-west to west wind is optimal wind direction. Nearby surf breaks include 'Southside', 'Centreside', 'Rincon', 'Winki Pop' (Uppers and Lowers), Boobs and Steps. Although Bells is known internationally as one of the best breaks in Victoria, 'Winki Pop' often works better under more diverse conditions than the other nearby breaks. Our tour guide gave us the option of staying at the beach for awhile or heading into Torquay to hit the factory outlet stores for Ripcurl and Quicksilver prior to close and we elected to enjoy the waves.

With all the site seeing done, it was an hour or so back into Melbourne and back to my "home". Since I've spent about 6 weeks in the same hostel, I guess it would be the closest thing to a home in Australia. That night a few of the people from the tour decided to meet up at the casino for a little food and drinks. The Australian poker tournament