Otway and Great Ocean Road

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A holiday within a holiday.
The Great Ocean Road is one of the greatest attractions in Victoria and one of the 'must see' places.
We decided to take the ferry to the other side of Port Phillip Bay and drive south to see the famous road.
One of the main features are the rock formations in the sea known as 'The Twelve Apostles' but we discovered a lesser known feature 'The Bay of Islands.'
Before we even got this far we had another adventure.
Following instructions from new found friends, we made a detour to the Otway forest. We had been told about the Otway Fly a fairly new project in the forest. If you get the chance do go.
The Otway Fly is a 600-metre long walkway, 25 metres above the forest floor, made from more than 120 tonnes of steel. A series of walkways lead to a central tower 47 metres up above the forest floor, amongst the tops of the gum trees.
The forest is alive with animals and birds, but many of them are nocturnal or very shy. We did see the second largest tree as well as some of the oldest,but not many birds or animals.

Leaving the forest behind we made our way back to the coast and the lovely scenery, it was here that we spotted a koala walking by the side of the road, but we were too late to get a photo.

What looks a short drive on the map can turn out to be a long drive on the day.
By evening we were pretty exhausted and found a decent motel for the night.

On the return journey we decided to travel inland, the ocean road had been quite tortuous and very tiring, so a leisurely drive inland was appealing.
The roads in Victoria are excellent, and well signposted.
We stopped for a picnic at one of the many dedicated sites and met our first magpies, we were later to learn how common they are
. Another common bird is the Galah, which are usually in flocks and very noisy, they can also be destructive and a nuisance, but to us they were wonderful with their grey and pink plumage.
We were yet to meet lots of other birds and animals.

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Photos

The Twelve Apostles
Dawn and Sunset are the best times to see the Apostles, we missed both.

The Bay of Islands
Not at their best but still impressive

The Otway Forest and the Fly
It was a tough climb but worth it

The Great Ocean Road
One of many views

Australian Magpie
To us it was exotic and it's carolling call thrilling, not a bit like it's British cousin

Acorns
I saw more oak trees here than at home