The Twelve Apostles

First you should understand that there are actually not twelve "apostles" here, and there never were - the actual number is currently about seven.  However these huge limestone stacks were named the Twelve Apostles because someone felt that sounded better from a tourism point of view than the original "sow and piglets" !  These pillars are in a continuous state of change as the soft rock is worn away or fractures and falls into the sea, so they each shrink and disappear over time.  However there is the possibility of new ones forming as the sea cuts into the mainland further along the coast.

In 1990 two tourists were stranded (lucky to survive) when the stone bridge linking one pillar to the mainland collapsed into the sea just after they had walked out across it.  They were left standing on the pillar and were eventually rescued by helicopter.

We first stopped at the "Gibson Steps" which form a steep path down the cliff to a beach at the bottom, just east of the first of the Apostles.

Sue descends the Gibson Steps

Brian on the beach below the steps.

We drove on and came across the main visitor centre and carpark for the Twelve Apostles, where there are spaces for hundreds of cars and tour buses.  From there it is a walk of about a kilometre out to the furthest lookout, which gives a great view along the coast to the west.

Looking west along the coast.

Don't expect to see twelve of them!

Obligatory selfie.

As you can see the weather was still nice.  Cold but sunny.  There is a constant circuit of helicopters taking off from the visitor centre, but they seem to fly past out to sea a bit so are not too intrusive for the rest of us touring the site on foot.

Helicopter!

The outermost lookout position.

That selfie (above) was taken from the lookout on the promontory in this photo, which will one day be another pillar but today provides the best vantage point for looking back along the coast. You can see the pile of huge rocks which has fallen off the side into the sea.

We returned to the car and pressed on, now at risk of hallucinating due to the lack of a good coffee.  Even the visitor centre didn't seem to provide that, so we decided to keep going to Port Campbell.  On the way we stopped one more time at "Loch Ard Gorge" because that sounded interesting.  This turned out to be the area west of the Apostles where the land is in an earlier stage of erosion by the sea.  It's hard to completely visualise from ground level, so here is a shot from Google showing how the sea is carving deeply into the mainland:

Land in the early stages of carving out the future new "Apostles".

This is on the coast just east of Port Campbell if you are trying to find it on the map.  Those cliffs are about 30 metres high, so it's all on a grand scale.

Port Campbell provided the coffee we had been hanging out for, and a delicious brunch!  That was the end of the main attraction and we had a couple of hundred kilometres to go to get back to Melbourne, so we turned inland and drove through farmland to join the A1, which took us through Colac and eventually became the M1 heading back into Melbourne.  Afternoon tea was on the outskirts of Geelong, and we stayed overnight near the airport and flew home early on Monday morning.

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Cape Otway Lightstation

Cape Otway Lightstation (1848) was one of the first light stations on the Australian mainland, built to guide ships coming in from England towards the port of Melbourne.  It originally burnt whale oil, then later kerosene, before converting to electricity in 1939.  In 1994 the main lighthouse was replaced by a new much smaller solar-powered lighthouse which now sits a few metres below the original tower.  Cape Otway is the approximate boundary at which Bass Strait meets the southern ocean.

The road out to Cape Otway.

Today the old lighthouse is preserved and open during the day as a tourist attraction.  Accommodation is offered in the old lightkeepers lodge and other original buildings.  We stayed in a small "studio" style room.

From the air (borrowed from www.lightstation.com).

As you can see the lightstation is a small settlement.  We stayed in the building furthest from the lighthouse, at top left.

Cape Otway Lighthouse

The lighthouse is not particularly tall, because it sits on a cliff about 90 metres above the ocean.  It could be seen from about 40 km out to sea, and together with another on King Island in Bass Strait marked the northern and southern limits of the safe channel leading into Melbourne.

Our quarters in the foreground, with the cafe and lighthouse beyond.

Our room was quite "compact" and had no outlook to the sea or the lighthouse, although that is probably because it is designed to provide shelter from stormy weather.  We settled in then went down to climb to the top of the lighthouse.  It is not a particularly tall structure so is easy to ascend, and at the top is a tiny museum with some artifacts from the past.  The lighthouse lamps and lens assembly weights about 2 tonnes and rotated about once every 90 seconds.  To eliminate friction the whole 2 tonne assembly floats in a bath of mercury!  The guide told us that once an earthquake caused the mercury to slop out of its container and run down the stairs.

The steps up the last part of the ascent to the top.

Fine brass air vents circle the room at the top - ventilation for the burning whale oil?

The view from the top.

At 5 pm the lightstation closes to the public, and soon after that the staff lock the gates and go home leaving any guests there with the whole place to themselves.  There did not seem to be any other guests, but early next morning I did see one woman with a toddler emerge from another house.  We went down to the lighthouse that night, and again early in the morning (up at 5 am because we are on Wellington time).  It was great having no-one else about, and so far from the nearest town.

The lighthouse is floodlit at night.

Sue off looking for Pokemon in the early morning light.

The site was also a lookout for spotting whales which come quite close to the shore here, but we could not see any that day.  The main lighthouse is no longer operational, having been replaced by a much smaller automatic light which sits nearby.  The old light had a 1,000 watt light bulb; the new one has a 35 watt bulb which is brighter!

Cape Otway was also a whaler's lookout.

The much smaller modern lighthouse in front of the old one; solar panels nearby.

We enjoyed our stay at such an unusual location, especially as we had such nice autumn weather.  The room was small and modestly equipped, but had everything we needed.  Except for the on-site cafe during the day there is nowhere to buy a meal, so you need to take your dinner with you.  We were warned there is no cellphone or TV reception, but in fact we did manage to get both.  I think it might depend on where you stand!

Next morning we set out early(ish), before the site opened, back up to the main road and turning west to head for the Twelve Apostles.  We had a couple of small scares with wallabies, sitting in the shadows on the edge of the road.  The worry is that they will hop across your path at the last moment and do serious damage to your car, and themselves.  Fortunately neither wallaby made that mistake this time.

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The Great Ocean Road

We left Melbourne on Friday evening for a couple of days exploring the Great Ocean Road (GOR) which heads along the coast from south of Melbourne in the direction of Adelaide.  Our route would take us along the coast about 300 km to Port Campbell, before turning to return to Melbourne along the inland route, a total of about 550 km over three days.  The highlights of the trip were the stay at the Cape Otway Lightstation, and the spectacular "Twelve Apostles" rock pillars near Port Campbell.

Our route showing Melbourne up at top right, Cape Otway at the lowest point.

Out first night was not far from Melbourne in Geelong (with a soft "G" I believe), the second largest city in the state of Victoria, with about 250,000 people.  As we often discover when visiting somewhere in Australia for the first time it is much larger than we had expected.  There were palms along the waterfront giving it a tropical look but it was a very chilly 14 degrees.  We had clear, cold weather which we thought is pretty good for this time of year.

Geelong Waterfront at dusk.

Next morning our first stop along the road was at Torquay, our first encounter with the actual south coast of Victoria.  We were surprised to find a surfing town with extensive beaches, and plenty of old guys out surfing even in this crisp weather.  The waves were a good height for learners or some gentle practice.  We lunched in the town centre at morning tea time, trying to stay on NZ time as far as possible.

Sue enjoying the view from "Danger Point" at Torquay.

Surfers at Torquay.

Further along the coast at Aireys Inlet we missed the hourly lighthouse tour by a couple of minutes.  There were quite of lot of other tourists on the road seemingly following the same route, so the driving was slow, and the carpark at the lighthouse was full.  At least we had a beautiful clear day!

Split Point Lighthouse, at Aireys Inlet (Not Cape Otway!)

There were many stop/go roadworks along the coast, with heavy machinery working on numerous locations where the bank above or below the road needed work, reducing the road to single lane.  Reminded me of the Kaikoura coastal road.  There are many large, architectural houses along the coast built for expansive views out over the ocean - perhaps weekend places for the better-off folk from Melbourne?

Home with a view!

We passed through a nice little town called Lorne, with a bay and beach tucked in behind a headland, and agreed we come back there for a holiday one day!  It felt like a holiday sort of place.

At Apollo Bay the highway leaves the coast, and does not return to it for 80 km (apart for a brief moment at Glenaire).  We stopped for a cup of tea, aware that this is the nearest place to Cape Otway where we could buy a meal.  With that in mind we had stocked up on something for dinner and breakfast at the supermarket back in Geelong.

I had expected the Great Ocean Road to stick much more to the shoreline.  From Apollo Bay it winds up into the hills through tall forested areas, in the middle of which is the turn-off to Cape Otway where would spend the night.

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