Day 69 - Tuesday 7 March- Traveling the Great Ocean Road

DAY 69

TUESDAY

7 March 2017 –

Warrnambool – Port Campbell – Twelve Apostles – Cooriemungle- Timboon

Today was a day to get out and explore the great outdoors. We woke to a glorious day, blue sky beckoning us to come out and play and that we did. Eager to get on the road earlyish, we ran through our usual morning routine and were out the door by 9.15am, me in the car and Paul following behind on his bike. The GPS was set to Port Campbell, a town almost on the Twelve Apostles and then it was off following the B100 heading in the direction of Apollo Bay.

I watched for the tourist signs, eventually coming across, The Bay of Islands. We stopped, Paul disrobed for the first of many times today, leaving his riding gear in the car as we followed the paths to the various lookouts to take in the majesty of the views before us. The sheer, yellow-red cliffs that stretched out in great curves along the land’s edge were incredible. The waves pounding into their footings below, carving away at their bases which will eventually see pieces crumble and return to the sea, as so many have done before. Evidence scattered throughout the bays demonstrates what is to come.

At one spot here we were able to walk down the very steep boat ramp and onto the beach, which we did. It is hard to believe they can actually get boats up and down from this point, but I guess they do. 

 

We returned to the car, after the challenging walk up the boat ramp, Paul layered on his riding gear and we drove on stopping again at Massacre Bay, Bay of Martyrs and Worm Bay. I took photos at all of these spots, but once at home could no longer remember which spots were which. The bays were all very secluded and sheltered from the onslaught of the Southern Ocean. If it had have been warmer and I had my bathers with me, I could quite easily have had a swim, but I had put my hand in and it was cold, so it wasn’t happening today.

Only a little further down the road is the spot known as The Grotto. The last time we stopped here, back in 2003, I remember the place smelling of pee, thankfully today it was fresh smelling, though there were a few extra tourists around. WE walked the boardwalk and stairs to the bottom where there is a hole in the rock looking through to the ocean. It is one of the more beautiful spots along this road and well worth the hike to the bottom as one overly enthusiastic Chinese tourist could attest to, making sure to show me his photo and say down down to me.

Back on with the riding gear and we were off to London Bridge, an apt name for the rock formation. We wondered how many more years it has before it collapses into the water below, but for now we were glad it was standing. 

Just down the road from this is the Arch. Here the limestone is much more bulbous looking and white, almost like marble. The arch is quite pronounced and stands out almost like the white, Greek homes of Santorini. 

 

With the arch ticked off the list we drove into Port Campbell, pulling up and grabbing our lunch and finding a spot to sit on the sea wall over looking the secluded bay area. It was a gorgeous day to be out, 25 degrees with a slight breeze, perfect for sightseeing. 

 

When we finished our lunch we moved on, knowing there were only a few more stops to take in, the net being Loch Ard Gorge. This was named after the ship that ran aground, the one that had the peacock on board that was salvaged and is now shown at the maritime museum in Warrnambool. The narrow passage between the cliffs demonstrates the treacherousness of this place. The ship itself ran aground on a reef just outside after trying desperately to avoid it, all but 2 died.  It is a spectacular piece of scenery. 

 

We chose not to walk all the way to the bottom of the stairs and onto the sand, as so many others were, including an old duck using crutches being left behind by the rest of her family. At the back of the gorge is Thunder Cave that can also be seen from the vantage points above. 

We walked the shipwreck trail to a point where you can see where the ship would have hit the reef and then it doubles around to Razor Back, an interesting rock formation that looks like the back of an ancient dragon with razor fins traversing the length of its spine.

Almost at the end of the line, we stopped first at Gibson’s Steps to check out the view, but did not walk own to the beach and then it was off to join the hoards of Chinese tourists here to do one thing, check out the Twelve Apostles.  You could do it by helicopter if you so chose. I think it would be an awesome way to see the coastline, but it wasn’t happening today. There were certainly plenty going out, judging by the number of choppers in the air buzzing around constantly.

The car park was almost full, there were so many large tour coaches trucking them in, I was glad this was our last stop and I am sure Paul was too. We did our best to dodge and weave where we could, swimming up stream, dodging those on their phones, with their selfie sticks or those who just stop dead in front of you completely oblivious to the world around them. Gotta love the Chinese. 

We did manage to battle our way through, take our own photos and then with heads down, barrel our way back through the crowd to the carpark, stopping for the loo, here was the unmistakable piss smell. Gross.

 

I was glad to have the haven of the car to return to and we were finally moving away from the hustle and bustle and into the countryside. From this spot we were going to begin following the 12 Apostles Gourmet Trail and our first stop was GORGE Chocolates in Cooriemungle. The shop front is only small, nothing like Margaret River Chocolate Factory, but there was a small sample to try and we came away with a selection of goodies for later.

Next on the trail was the Apostle Whey Cheese. We liked this place as soon as we were out of the vehicle. There was a cute dog to greet us on arrival, a playful garden and the ladies inside were happy to show us what was on offer and run through a tasting of twelve delicious cheeses and then tempt us with the home made gelato. Oh it was all too good.

We sat watching over the Mooternity ward while enjoying a cup of the gelato and then we picked out three cheeses, brie, garlic Havarti and a blue and made our way onto Timboon and the local distillery.

The distillery has 2 single malt whiskeys to try but at $140 for 500ml they weren’t selling that to us. What they did have that was of more interest to me was vodka, limochello, strawberry schnapps and two Irish creams. These were all delicious and we came away with the schnapps and an Irish cream along with a variety 6 pack of Prickly Moses craft beers. 

Now feeling warm and fuzzy and being 4.30pm, we followed the country roads back to Warrnambool for a rest.

By 6pm we were feeling peckish so the cheeses came out along with the olives we bought the other day, gee they were delicious, though we did manage to hold ourselves back and save some for another day. Instead opting to do dinner.

Once finished we made our way to the spa to enjoy the soothing bubbles. We were fortunate to have it to ourselves and today it was lovely and warm. We had two runs of the jets, paying a dollar each time it ran out.

Once suitably pickled we returned to the van where I continued to plug away at the 203 photos we had taken today, our biggest hall yet. I have now taken 4452 photos. I wonder what it will be by the time we finish. All I can say is thank goodness it is no longer the film age!