On Monday, May 3, 2010, I took a 13-hour tour on the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is a 243 km (approximately 151 miles)stretch of road along the southeastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The highlights of the road are the spectacular coastline views, seeing Koalas and other animals in the wild, walking through the cool temperate rainforest, the beautiful limestone Twelve Apostles, and the Loch Ard Gorge.
Our first stop on the tour was to Bells Beach, famous for its international surfing competion and its feature in the movie, Point Break.
We stopped at Great Otway National Park, Maits Rest Rainforest Walkway, which offers spectacular views of huge, extremely old tree ferns, Myrtle Beech, towering Mountain Ash and Blackwood trees.
Our tour guide stopped along the Great Ocean Road at a spot where he had previously sited some kaolas. We were lucky and spotted three! It was very exciting to actually see kaolas in the wild!!!
Views from Cape Patton Lookout
This arch commemorates the building of the Great Ocean Road as a memorial to Victorians who served in the First World War, 1914-1918.
I was fascinated by the foamy suds on the beach!
Loch Ard Gorge is part of Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia, about a 10-minute drive west of The Twelve Apostles. It is a visible example of the process of erosion in action. The gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground in 1878; of the 51 passengers and crew, only two survived.
One of the options on the tour was to take a helicopter ride over the Twelve Apostles which I decided to do and it was awesome! The views of the coastline was magnificent and I couldn't snap pictures fast enough. The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Cambell National Park. Originally the site was called the Sow and Piglets. The name was changed in the 1950s probably to lure more visitors to the state. Despite the name, there are not twelve individual stacks visible in any one location.
The stacks have been formed by erosion, and are all different heights and thicknesses. A 50-meter tall Apostle collapsed on July 3, 2005.
This formation is known as the Seahorse.
It was an exhausting day but so very worth it! One more weekend which I am spending in Sydney and then this fabulous trip comes to an end. It has been more fantastic than I ever thought it could be.
Judy, this is my hands down favorite of all your blogs! This is something I wanted to see, even more than the Great Barrier Reef, and now I have, thanks to you! V
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