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| Split Rock Beach, Airey's Inlet, Great Ocean Road, Victoria |
We were just starting our drive along the Great Ocean Road and saw this beach close to the eastern end of the famous drive. It was well named, as we saw the rock was indeed 'split' and it enticed to stop in to see what it offered.
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| Split Rock Beach, Airey's Inlet |
We found that crisp air, turbulent water, jagged rocks, and a deserted beach under clear skies was a recipe for us to go 'ah'! This was our introduction to the much touted Great Ocean Road on the south-west coast of Victoria. The only land between us and the Antarctic, is a small island south of here - King Island. We were surprised how cool it was as we travelled along this coast, but once we figured out that these winds were coming from the Antarctic, it made sense.
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| Split Rock |
The rock along this coast is 10 to 20 year-old limestone, which is soft and prone to erosion. The very active ocean here, has carved out many sea stacks, arches and caves. This rock looks as if it might be on its way to becoming a stack.
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| Split Point Lighthouse |
As this coast has been treacherous for shipping, it has five lighthouses along this stretch. The Split Point Lighthouse at Airey's Inlet, was built in 1891, is 111 feet tall and stands 216 feet above sea level. It is still operational, and was automated in 1919, so no more keepers live there. It is open for tours but I was intrigued to see people up on its balcony drying their beach towels. As there is no keeper and one can't stay overnight, I couldn't imagine what they were up to, but the photo will be added to my 'laundry' collection of photos!
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| Memorial Arch at Eastern End of the Great Ocean Road (Photo by Frances Peters) |
The 151 miles of the Great Ocean Road runs between the towns of Torquay in the East and Allanford in the West. It is a two lane road that was built between 1919 and 1932, by veterans returning from the First World War.
The construction of the road served several purposes. First it opened up an area of the state that had been previously inaccessible - revealing the beauty of the coastline, and providing new economic opportunities. It also employed soldiers who had returned from the war in Europe. They worked for good pay, lived in tents, and worked without the help of heavy machinery - using picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and explosives to carve out the road in difficult terrain. Not only were returned soldiers employed, but the project was dedicated to their peers who had not returned, making this the biggest War Memorial in the world. The funds for the memorial were organized and raised by the Great Ocean Road Trust, which received donations from return services leagues and local communities, as the state government was reluctant to fund the venture at that time. As early sections of the road were opened, tolls were charged for the single lane, unpaved road. Finally in 1936, tolls were removed and the Great Ocean Road Trust relinquished management to the state government. The road was sealed and eventually improved to its current condition.
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| Wire Mesh Protects From Rockfall |
The rock cuts through unstable limestone, and is subject to persistent and recurring rock falls, presenting a significant hazard to motorists. Many are stabilized by wire mesh, which you see in the photo above, or retaining walls.
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| An Important Reminder |
Many people visit the area on day trips from Melbourne. We saw fleets of buses at some of the more popular sites. Fortunately, there are many pull-off areas to allow people to enjoy the dramatic ocean, beaches and cliffs below.
There are many tourists from other countries who, like us, have rented cars, so this warning was well placed. I always have to remind myself that the steering wheel must be in the center of the road. I know when I get home I will have to really concentrate for a while, to check that I'm on the correct side of the road in the United States. Because Australians drive on the left, it was more convenient to travel from Melbourne toward Adelaide, which allowed us to could easily pull into the pull-offs and viewpoints.
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| Lorne |
Our first overnight stop was a small, touristy town called Lorne. To find accommodation, one must look beyond hotels, as there are only two in town, and they are small, older hotels. It is refreshing to see that the area has not allowed large hotels to dominate the scene, so one must also look to B&B's, apartments and cottages.
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| Picnic and Beach Area at Lorne |
At Lorne, the slopes were less steep than other parts of the drive, and one could access the beach, which is popular with surfers. If creepy crawlies in the water are not your thing, there's a very nice looking Sea Baths here, which offers a number of recreation, wellness and fitness activities. There is also a pier which is popular with fishermen and is a good location to watch whales migrating between May and September. Once you leave the immediate area of the town there are a number of walking trails, but time did not permit us to indulge.
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| Bushfire Place of Last Resort |
Health & Safety laws in Australia require towns and places of work, to designate assembly areas in places that are deemed safe. This is where people are asked to gather during an emergency such as flood, fire or other types of disaster, allowing improved communication, support and assessment of the impact on people. They are clearly signposted throughout Australian towns. I have never seen one quite as heartbreaking as this one in Lorne - 'Bushfire Place of Last Resort'! The image of people gathered here with fire raging all around them is fairly terrifying - it implies that all other efforts at sheltering have failed. Australia is very hot and dry, so bushfires are an annual, seasonal threat here. The eucalyptus leaves contain a lot of oil, which burns easily and the hot oil vapors help fires spread quickly. This sign was in a very open area, far from any trees and several hundred yards from the beach. If people assemble here, they may survive, but it means things have got pretty bad!
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| A Deserted Coastline Stretches On |
Ahead of us we could see the coast looping from one cove to another, yet there was no sign of people on the beach, in the water, or in the scattered, small settlements. What a feast for the eyes!
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| Looking Down |
Sometimes, it was a matter of pulling over to the lookout on the side of the road to look at the vista below. Sometimes the name of the overlook was named, sometimes not.
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| At Water Level |
In other places we were able to get onto the beach and enjoy watching the waves crash on the rocks. Today the ocean was fairly quiet.
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| The Other Side of the Road |
When we were able to see the land away from the coast, it was stunning. Green, rolling hills. Probably used for grazing, as it was too steep for crops. The green lusciousness was quite unexpected!
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| The Hinterland |
It was quite extensive. As we approached Cape Otway, the road moved away from the Ocean so we saw more of rural Victoria.
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| Eucalypts Line the Road |
Much of the time, the view was obscured by eucalyptus trees.
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| Why is There a Gaggle of Tourists Here? |
We were puzzled when we saw a group of people standing on the side of the road, looking up at this tree. It was like 'Looking For Waldo' to figure out why. Do you see it?
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| Our Hope Was Confirmed - Koala in the Wild! |
How happy we were to zoom in and see that, yes, it was a koala up in the tree. They can be devilishly difficult to spot, so whoever found it - 'Bravo!' Once again we relished in checking out this distant fellow, in his own home, not a zoo or reserve.
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| Moving On |
Eventually he decided to move on, and so did we.
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| Johana Beach |
We stayed near Johana, but there was no development near the beach, so there were no ocean views for us. It was about a 20 minute drive to get to the beach - but it revealed a beautiful pristine world.
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| Jumping For Joy, Johana Beach |
It was one of the few places we saw people on the beach. This person was walking dogs, and I agreed with the enthusiasm of the white dog who looked as if he loved the briskness, space and energy of the ocean.
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| Superb Fairy-wren, Johana Beach |
We also saw a sweet little blue bird. It was superb...and that is also it's name - the Superb Fairy-wren. It is native to Australia and quite common. This is a male - the female is a dull brown. You might look at him and think he's cute and cuddly. Clearly the females Superb Fairy-wrens find him appealing too, but they see 'hot and sexy'! Here are a few interesting fact about them that I found on the Australian Museum website:
'The Superb Fairy-wren was one of the first Australian birds to be described. Male Superb Fairy-wrens have been labelled as 'the least faithful birds in the world'. Females may be courted by up to 13 males in half an hour, and 76% of young are sired by males from outside the social group'.
Oh, my! Looks can be deceiving!
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| The 'Twelve' Apostles |
Finally we arrived at the 'pièce de résistance' of this route - the 'Twelve' Apostles - along with the rest of the world. The sight of the huge parking lot filled with many buses and cars was daunting! The walkways and viewing platforms were crowded with people who's appearance and accents revealed they had come from far and wide.
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| Another View |
When first sighted from the ocean, this collection of stacks was named by George Bass in 1798, the 'Sow and Piglets' - the larger one in front was the 'sow', the smaller ones in back, the piglets. In later years, it was also referred to as the 'Pinnacles', or just the 'Apostles', but eventually it became known by the name it still carries today. This was to appeal to the tourists who came to marvel at this beautiful sight. However, they were taking liberties with the name, as there there were only ever nine of stacks. In 2005, a 150 foot stack collapsed, and a second one disappeared in 2009, so now it's only seven of them. A sign told us that 'wind, rain and high energy waves of the Southern Ocean continue to carve these iconic old 'apostles', which will eventually disappear.'
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| Gog & Magog |
To the east of the more famous Apostles, were two others standing on their own. These are called Gog and Magog. I thought they were also rather impressive. There used to be steps down to the Beach close to them - called Gibson's Beach, but they were closed off - most likely due to erosion.
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| Near Loch Ard Gorge |
Happily, once we left the Twelve Apostles, there were no more crowds. We figure that it must be the turning point for the day trippers coming from Melbourne. Further west, we stopped at Loch Ard Gorge, but a navigation choice on my part, kept us from seeing the main gorge.....so here's just a glimpse of the cliffs nearby.
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| Loch Ard Memorial Plaque |
My 'error', however, did lead us to a small cemetery, which had this memorial plaque, naming the victims who sank with the Scottish ship, the Loch Ard, in 1878. There were 54 souls on board, and two survived. Some of the bodies were recovered and are buried in this little cemetery.
This part of the coast - 81 miles from Cape Otway to Port Fairy - is known as the Shipwreck Coast. One of the early explorers, Matthew Flinders, a very experienced sailor, said of it "I have seldom seen a more fearful section of coastline". He was right. It has seen 638 known shipwrecks over the years, but only 240 have been recovered to date. Waves are driven by the winds that come from the Antarctic. They hit the coast here, which is part of the reason the landscape is so dramatic. Add fog to the large ocean swells, along with a little human error, and one has a disaster like the Loch Ard, which foundered here. How sad that ships like this had succeeded in navigating the route from England, which took anywhere between four to eight months, only to come to their death so close to the end of their journey!
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| Port Campbell |
The end of our journey through this very beautiful area was at Port Campbell with its whopping population of 372. It is located on this lovely sheltered cove, which provides a safe haven from the wild seas. Before the railway and road came to this part of the coast, shipping was the only means for transporting goods from local farms, so this harbor was crucial to the area. It had been established by whalers in the 1940's and is one of only three such safe harbors along the Great Ocean Road, the others being Lorne and Apollo Bay.
There was a lovely grassy area down by the port, but I suspect the surfers would not have the same convenience to access the waves as they do in Lorne - they have to head over to Two Mile Bay, a short drive away to the west.
There was no merchandise for us here, just a nice cup of tea before we headed to Warrnambool where we enjoyed the luscious warmth of hot mineral baths before headed north to our next adventure. That's the next story - a squiggly one!
