Halls Gap to Port Campbell

Tuesday 4th October

I seem to be having more iPad problems. I can't post anything with pictures in it using BlogPress, though it has worked perfectly for some time. It doesn't seem to work using either 3G or wireless, so I am back to using both the iPad and the PC. I will try again with a good wireless connection - this one I am using is rather weak.

We woke this morning to find it was absolutely freezing. So I started the day wearing a vest top, a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved warm shirt and a fleece. So much for Australia being a hot country!

We began the morning at 7 a.m. by climbing the mountain behind the little town of Halls Gap. It was both steep and rocky, so I didn't find it easy, but there were some spectacular views from the top.




We were back down by 9, and set off on our long drive to the coast. We drove along the southern part of the Great Dividing Range, and eventually we passed the most southerly mountain in the range. Then we were onto a volcanic plain, where the only hills were extinct or dormant volcanoes.

We visited one called Tower Hill, which is now a National Park. The crater sides are made up of layers of ash from progressive eruptions.

The crater is quite wide and contains a lake.

You can drive right in and there is lots of wildlife. We stopped to photograph emus, but the real treat was the little koala. He was sitting quite low down in a tree beside the road, and didn't seem to mind people, he didn't even object to being patted by everybody. He really just wanted to sleep.

Our next stop was the town of Warnambool for lunch, then right down to the coast for the start of the Great Ocean Road. Our first stop on the road was to photograph what is called the Bay of Islands; the islands are stacks, the coast is limestone and has been gradually eaten away by the sea, until only some really hard islands of rock are left.

East of that is the Bay of Martyrs, so called because of all the shipwrecks that have taken place there.

Along this coast there have been Over 600 shipwrecks, mostly between the Bay of Islands and Otway. In the days of sailing ships, maps were poor, and the coast is notorious for very thick fogs.
The town of Peterborough, through which we drove next, has most of its streets named after the wrecked ships.

Our next stop was to photograph something called London Bridge. It was originally a headland with two arches which were completely undercut by the sea, but quite recently, one of the arches collapsed, so only one is left now, and it is no longer a headland but an island.

Apparently a couple were marooned on it when it collapsed, and had to be rescued. Press arrived to take photos which caused the couple some embarrassment, mostly because they were married, but not to each other!
We drove through Port Campbell, where we were later to stay, in order to walk around Loch Ard Gorge, which is so named after the ship the Loch Ard which was wrecked just off the coast there. Only two people survived the wreck, and were washed up into the gorge.

Our last stop was to photograph the Twelve Apostles, some stacks just off the coast which are a popular tourist spot. There aren't twelve, there are 8, or 9 if you count the remains of one which fell down recently. Alternatively, if you count some others nearby, there may be about 16!

By the time we had walked all round and taken photographs, and 2 of our number had taken a short helicopter trip, it was time to return to Port Campbell where Paul and I are in a very nice motel.