Wednesday 20th April 2011

Another cool day with clouds scudding above.  We head out again towards Apollo Bay, another stopping off place along the Great Ocean Road.  This time our road to the coast takes us through much greener pastures than yesterday as it passes through the Otway Ranges. 

Part of the Otway range 

There is obviously much more rainfall as we travel further along the coastline.  We stopped off (for our cuppa) at Forrest at the Barwon Reserve around the water storage facility built in the 1960’s to supplement the water supply for Geelong.  We chatted to a couple who were hoping to catch some fish in the dam for their Good Friday lunch.  They had both lived in the local area for most of their lives so proved to be quite an interesting conversation.   They showed us the dragonfly larvae they were using as their bait.  Another ‘first’ for us to see.

trees at the entrance

We continued to twist and turn as we headed to the coast we pass through beautiful rainforest and tall timbers again.  This mountain range is wonderful to drive through with hints of sunshine coming through the clouds every now and again.  Apollo Bay was full of holiday makers, folk in the surf and others checking out the variety of stores along the main esplanade.  We found ourselves a quiet spot overlooking the water and enjoyed the picnic lunch we had brought along.

The road leaves the coast soon after here and heads a little inland however we were sure to take the turnoff to Cape Otway Lighthouse.  We had visited here previously and remember the lighthouse being surrounded by thick vegetation so that you couldn’t get to it without the use of a machete!  Well what a difference this time.  There is visitors centre at the parking area and then you have an entrance fee if you wish to walk out and around the buildings.  Needless to say we didn’t bother doing that however the highlight for us was seeing the koala colony along the road.  On our way out we had noticed cars stopped by the road and folk pointing up and came to the conclusion that there must have been koalas there so planned to stop and have a look on the return trip.  Of course that sounds simple but can you really identify that same spot that easily?  Well we stopped where we thought might be the ‘spot’ and yes there were 3 koalas up trees quietly eating or sleeping.  A minivan stopped with 3 English tourists and they told us about the group just a km or so further along, so we hadn’t been far out with our guess.  We certainly stopped at the next spot and we found 7 perched up in the gums.  One was a youngster who was having a feed and was quite alert, with mum sitting quietly in the background possibly keeping an eye on him/her.  Another was having a good scratch and was in a clearer spot so easier to catch with the camera.  What a delightful time we had just standing there watching these favourite Aussie creatures.

The section of coast between Cape Otway and Port Campbell is where the well-known limestone features are found such as The 12 Apostles, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge and The Arch. 

The Arch

London Bridge

This was joined to the mainland but collapsed in 1989 leaving two people to be rescued by helicopter.

We called in to view quite a few of these as we travelled the road.  The road is very close to the coast and with it being holiday time the road and each viewing area was quite busy.  

Loch Ard Gorge

 Loch Ard Gorge is where in the mid 1800’s the Loch Ard was wrecked at night with only 2 survivors from a total of 58, a young man Tom Pearce the ships apprentice and 18yr old Eva Carmichael.  They were washed ashore into the gorge where they sheltered in a cave.  A bottle of brandy that washed up from the wreck was used to keep them warm and in the morning Tom set off to climb out of the gorge and go to find help.  He came across two stockmen and they arranged for the rescue of Eva.