3 years ago, when I was going through my old journal archives to rescue travelogues I had written, I completely forgot about my journal entries on The Great Ocean Road. However, a notification of Facebook memories popped up today which reminded me of this trip.
I did the trip 2 times. The first time was on a two-day guided tour on July 21 and 22, 2010. I took tons and tons of pictures. Too many pictures, as it turns out, because when I returned from the trip, the process of sorting through the pictures and uploading them onto social media proved to be too daunting. So I wrote the journal, but never added the photos. (I intended to add them later, but kept procrastinating on it, and never did. I think those photos are now lost--left on an old computer hard drive which died years ago.)
I did the trip again on October 1st, 2010 as a daytrip with some friends. This second trip actually has some pictures attached to it, because other people uploaded their pictures to Facebook.
Day one of the Great Ocean Road (W) tour (that I had signed up for on Sunday). The bus picked me up on Franklin street.
Because it was Winter and the off season, there were only 9 of us total on the bus plus our guide.
Because in part it was winter, the morning was a little foggy, but we drove through some more very scenic pastoral land. (In fact most of the driving over the course of the two days, when not on the Ocean Coast, was through scenic areas of rolling hills of green pastures.)
Stopped for tea and coffee in a small town early on (the tourist guide gave us the history of this small town, and many of the others we stopped in, but I have already largely forgotten it.) And we made small talk there and got to know everyone a little bit.
First big stop was at Logan's beach in Warrnambool (W) for whale watching.
This was one of the few advantages of doing the Great Ocean Road in the Winter, because apparently that's the only time the Whales come in.
The tour guide warned us ahead of time that whale watching would not be quite as exciting as we might picture it. "Most of the footage you see on nature shows is the highlights taken after days of filming," she says. "Most of the time the whales just lay their doing nothing. If you're lucky, you might see the blow hole spout. If we're unbelievably lucky, the tail might come part way out of the water."
We got to the beach, and joined a platform with a bunch of other whale watchers. We saw a gray blob out in the ocean, which we thought must be a whale. Then we lost it again.
(The tour guide said they only come up for air every 8-10 minutes, so you only catch glimpses of them during that time.)
Then, after scanning the ocean for several minutes, we saw it again. (Actually I pointed it out first.) Again, it was mainly just a gray blob floating below the surface. It didn't even poke it's top above water, except for a brief couple minutes when it spurted it's blow hole. And then it disappeared again.
As the tour guide had forewarned us, not terribly exciting. Still, I saw a whale out in the wild. I can check that off my list now.
We stopped in town for lunch and a bathroom break.
We got back in the bus and headed out to Tower Hill (W), and extinct Volcanic crater that had been turned into a national park.
We were assured by the guide we would see plenty of wildlife here. Specifically Kangaroos, Koalas, Emus, and maybe a wallabee.
Almost as soon as we got off the bus we saw a Koala sitting in the tree near the picnic area, and we all took pictures of it. (Koalas, it turns out, are incredibly lazy animals, sleeping 20 hours out of the day. So almost all the Koalas we saw on this trip were just sitting up in trees sleeping or moving very slowly. Not terribly exciting, but still, another check on my list for animals seen in the wild.)
We had 45 minutes to hike around and see what animals we could see. So I was moving as fast as I could, trying to find animals and photograph them so I could check them off my list of things seen in Australia. It almost seemed like more work than pleasure, but that's how a lot of tourist stuff is I suppose.
Walked up the path towards the top of the crater. Ran into one of the other tourists coming down the other way. "Seen any animals?" I asked him.
"There's a small one just off to your right in the bushes a couple meters," he said.
Sure enough, there was a Wallaby there munching on some leaves. I took a couple pictures.
All these animals in the nature park must be used to a lot of people coming, because they mostly took very little notice of us, even when they were only a couple meters away. This Wallaby would look over at us, and then just go back to eating the leaves.
I figured my chances of seeing wildlife were slightly better off the beaten path, so I went down one of the side paths.
I saw a few rabbits.
Rabbits aren't too exotic, but because I had read Bryson's book, and knew how rabbits had become a huge pest in Australia after being introduced from Europe, I was interested in them. (This was the first I had seen of them in Australia so far.) So I took a picture (or tried to, the rabbits wouldn't let me get very close.)
A bit further down the path I saw a bunch of Kangaroos.
There were about 4 or 5 of them all together. I tried to see how close they would let me get to them. I would take a couple pictures, take another few steps forward, and take another couple of pictures. They were pretty chill for the most part, but when I got within a few meters of them they would hop back.
Kangaroos, according to our guide, are nocturnal animals, so that's one of the reasons I haven't seen them before. (There not in the city of course, but in my few trips out to the suburbs--out in Bundoora campus, or Dandenong Mountains, there are signs for Kangaroo crossing near the road. But despite keeping my eyess peeled I never saw Kangaroos there.) So I was happy to see a few of them out hopping. And a bit further down I saw some more, and then some sleeping on the side of the hill.
By now the 45 minutes was just about up, so I was practically running to get to the top of the hill. Got a couple quick photos of the view, and then ran back down again.
There were still a few stragglers getting back to the bus, so the guide directed me to where the rest of the group was watching another Koala in the tree. I headed over there to see another Koala.
Whilst we were watching the Koala, an emu came out. It was a bit off in the distance, but we all tried to get pictures.
The guide then brought us around to where a Kangaroo was taking a nap under a tree in the sun. "It's unusual for them to be this chilled out," she said. "But this one's just sunbaking." So we all got pictures of that one as well.
On the way out, the bus slowed down by where their were a bunch of Emus on a grassy plain. And then we headed out.
So, to summarize:
Koala, check
Wallaby, check
Kangaroo, check
Emu, check.
It was satisfying to get so many Australian animals checked off in one stop.
Actually we would occasionally see Kangaroos grazing in some of the farm lands on the drive (especially as it got in towards the evening.) The guide assured us thought that Kangaroos were not actually farmed in Australia, they would just jump the fences to graze on the lands.
Stopped back in town for the guide to fill up the bus, where we got to participate in free cheese tasting at "Cheese World".
We finally hit the great ocean road. (The tour bus we were on opted to go around back and start at the end of the Great Ocean Road and then work there way back to Melbourne from there. The guide said this was the best way of doing things because you got to avoid the crowds this way.)
The start of the Great Ocean road was through farm land though (our guide said the reason the last part of the great ocean road was just through farm land was a mystery, but probably had something to do with just increasing the value of the land along the great ocean road.)
We then eventually got to the ocean.
Now that we were at the ocean, we just drove along and stopped at several scenic stops along the way.
Some of them were just for quick pictures. Others the guide had more of an elaborate story she told before getting to them.
I don't exactly remember the order of everything now (this may be more clear once I sort through my pictures). [Editor's note: Which I never did, sadly]
We saw several beautiful cliffs and rock structures along the ocean. Among them London Bridge (W) rock structure. (Appropriately named it turns out, because half of it fell down about 20 years ago. The guide had a funny story about how a couple having an affair got onto national news because they had to be rescued from the remaining structure.)
Also the Bay of Matyrs--So named because the Aboriginals had been forced by the British to walk off the cliffs and drowned here. (Having recently been reading a lot of Victorian history, and there moral uprightousness about the Slave Trade in Africa, or the French Revolution, or the Baltic states, I had almost forgotten how cruel they could be in their colonies. There's irony for you.)
Right during sunset, we went to see the rock formations known as the 12 Apostles.
The 12 apostles (W)is a series of rock formations that is one of the most famous tourists spots in Victoria. (Although out tour guide explained to us that this was largely because of a marketing campaign, and the clever idea to change the name from "The Sow and the Piglet" to the "12 Apostles".)
We took some pictures as the sun set.
Ordinarily it's possible to see Penguins coming ashore in the evening in the Winter months, but unfortunately that part of the park was closed off.
(Seeing Penguins in Australia--Still yet to do on my list.)
After the sun had set, we went to the lodge in Port Campbell (W) where we were staying the night.
We all helped cook dinner.
The guide had promised a big dinner, and indeed there was. A big feast.
There was one pub in Port Campbell where apparently people go sometimes, but we stayed around the table talking until late, and then clean up, and finally no one went to the pub.
Thursday July 22, 2010
Woke up, had breakfast, back in the bus for another day of sight seeing.
First stop was the 12 Apostles, again. This time in the daylight.
Then we went to Loch Ard Gorge (W). The tour guide had a story about a famous 19th century shipwreck that took place there (W). Then we all went down to look around and take some photos.
The tour guide said if anyone wanted they could go and explore the cave, but that they might get wet.
I was the only one who took her up on this offer.
The cave was inside part of the bay, so it involved waiting until the waves had receded to just the right point, running as fast as we could, climbing up on some rocks when the waves came back, and then waiting for the waves to go down again.
The tour guide, who had done this several times before, told me when to run and when to wait and I followed her lead.
We both made it to the cave more or less dry. (We each got one foot wet.)
On the way back, the waves weren't cooperating, and we had to wait a long time before we could run back. (Made various small talk on the rocks while we waited. The tour guide was somewhat getting worried that the rest of the group might get restless during this time as some of them were wandering off in other directions instead of still on the beach waiting for us. But eventually we made it back.)
Next, down to Gibson's Steps (W) for yet another view of the 12 apostles. But this was from the beach level (previously we had seen it from the lookout point) so we got a better sense of just how big these stone formations really are.
Next we drove into what is known as the Green Coast section of the ocean road. Lots of greenery there. Stopped at the rainforest to get out and walk around, while the tour guide explained to us various things about the rainforest.
(It was a temperate rainforest, not a tropical rainforest, so slightly different than the Hollywood image of rainforests, she said.)
Perhaps appropriately it was lightly raining when we went through the rain forest, so we all put on ponchos and I carried my umbrella.
Next we stopped for lunch at Apollo Bay (W). The tour guide had said this was the most beautiful town along the Great Ocean Road, and it lived up to its expectations.
We went next along the surf coast, where the tour guide put in some Beach Boys music on the stereo as we looked out the window at various beaches. Stopped a couple times for quick pictures.
Went through a Eucalyptus forest where lots of Koalas were visible in the trees. The tour guide slowed down the bus a little bit so we could see them, and then we also stopped at a park where we could get out and see more Koalas in the trees.
There were also many bright birds here, similar to the ones I had seen in the Dandenongs last week. The tour guide had some birdseed with her, so we all put birdseed in our hands and fed the birds.
Stopped at another park to have tea.
Back in the bus, and headed for Split Point Lighthouse (W). This lighthouse was apparently famous for appearing in an Australian TV series "Round the Twist" (W), which also aired in Britian and Ireland. So the light house was always a big hit with the British tourists, and indeed when the tour guide put on the theme music to the TV show, the British girls got really excited and started singing along to it.
We got to the light house and took pictures.
Finally we went to Bells Beach (W). The tour guide explained that this was the very same beach featured in the final scene of "Point Break." (Although, in yet another sign that we're getting old, the tour guide had to explain what Point Break was to the younger 20 somethings on the bus.
However, as the tuor guide explained, because of budgeting reasons, the film wasn't actual shot on location, and so in the actual film some beach in Oregon is supposed to represent Bells Beach.
It was getting dark now as we came up, so I took a couple pictures which didn't really turn up in the dark.
There were a bunch of kangaroos grazing in one of the farm lands near the beach.
Some of the girls really wanted to see the Kangaroos hop. (I guess at Tower hill they had only seen sleeping kangaroos, and hadn't seen any hopping.) The kangaroos however just starred back at us without moving.
"I bet if you jumped over the fence and started running at them, they'd start hopping," I said, somewhat tongue in cheek. But they actually asked the tour guide if they could do it.
"Um, I should let you do it, but okay, I'll be a bad tour guide," she said. "Just don't run up and freak them out. Slowly walk up to them."
They did, and some of the Kangaroos started hopping away. At which point the two girls squealed with delight, and startled all the other kangaroos into hopping.
It was dark now. The bus made a brief tour into Torquay (W), and The tour guide talked about the history of Rip Curl and Quicksilver, Australian surf companies which were based in Torquay.
And then we had a rather uneventful hour and a half drive back.
Friday, October 1st, 2010
First stop was the 12 Apostles, again. This time in the daylight.
Then we went to Loch Ard Gorge (W). The tour guide had a story about a famous 19th century shipwreck that took place there (W). Then we all went down to look around and take some photos.
The tour guide said if anyone wanted they could go and explore the cave, but that they might get wet.
I was the only one who took her up on this offer.
The cave was inside part of the bay, so it involved waiting until the waves had receded to just the right point, running as fast as we could, climbing up on some rocks when the waves came back, and then waiting for the waves to go down again.
The tour guide, who had done this several times before, told me when to run and when to wait and I followed her lead.
We both made it to the cave more or less dry. (We each got one foot wet.)
On the way back, the waves weren't cooperating, and we had to wait a long time before we could run back. (Made various small talk on the rocks while we waited. The tour guide was somewhat getting worried that the rest of the group might get restless during this time as some of them were wandering off in other directions instead of still on the beach waiting for us. But eventually we made it back.)
Next, down to Gibson's Steps (W) for yet another view of the 12 apostles. But this was from the beach level (previously we had seen it from the lookout point) so we got a better sense of just how big these stone formations really are.
Next we drove into what is known as the Green Coast section of the ocean road. Lots of greenery there. Stopped at the rainforest to get out and walk around, while the tour guide explained to us various things about the rainforest.
(It was a temperate rainforest, not a tropical rainforest, so slightly different than the Hollywood image of rainforests, she said.)
Perhaps appropriately it was lightly raining when we went through the rain forest, so we all put on ponchos and I carried my umbrella.
Next we stopped for lunch at Apollo Bay (W). The tour guide had said this was the most beautiful town along the Great Ocean Road, and it lived up to its expectations.
We went next along the surf coast, where the tour guide put in some Beach Boys music on the stereo as we looked out the window at various beaches. Stopped a couple times for quick pictures.
Went through a Eucalyptus forest where lots of Koalas were visible in the trees. The tour guide slowed down the bus a little bit so we could see them, and then we also stopped at a park where we could get out and see more Koalas in the trees.
There were also many bright birds here, similar to the ones I had seen in the Dandenongs last week. The tour guide had some birdseed with her, so we all put birdseed in our hands and fed the birds.
Stopped at another park to have tea.
Back in the bus, and headed for Split Point Lighthouse (W). This lighthouse was apparently famous for appearing in an Australian TV series "Round the Twist" (W), which also aired in Britian and Ireland. So the light house was always a big hit with the British tourists, and indeed when the tour guide put on the theme music to the TV show, the British girls got really excited and started singing along to it.
We got to the light house and took pictures.
Finally we went to Bells Beach (W). The tour guide explained that this was the very same beach featured in the final scene of "Point Break." (Although, in yet another sign that we're getting old, the tour guide had to explain what Point Break was to the younger 20 somethings on the bus.
However, as the tuor guide explained, because of budgeting reasons, the film wasn't actual shot on location, and so in the actual film some beach in Oregon is supposed to represent Bells Beach.
It was getting dark now as we came up, so I took a couple pictures which didn't really turn up in the dark.
There were a bunch of kangaroos grazing in one of the farm lands near the beach.
Some of the girls really wanted to see the Kangaroos hop. (I guess at Tower hill they had only seen sleeping kangaroos, and hadn't seen any hopping.) The kangaroos however just starred back at us without moving.
"I bet if you jumped over the fence and started running at them, they'd start hopping," I said, somewhat tongue in cheek. But they actually asked the tour guide if they could do it.
"Um, I should let you do it, but okay, I'll be a bad tour guide," she said. "Just don't run up and freak them out. Slowly walk up to them."
They did, and some of the Kangaroos started hopping away. At which point the two girls squealed with delight, and startled all the other kangaroos into hopping.
It was dark now. The bus made a brief tour into Torquay (W), and The tour guide talked about the history of Rip Curl and Quicksilver, Australian surf companies which were based in Torquay.
And then we had a rather uneventful hour and a half drive back.
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Went on the Great Ocean Road today with some friends.
They had an extra spot in on of their cars, and told me that I could come along if I wanted to.
I had deliberated briefly. Since I had already gone on the Great Ocean Road once, I wasn't sure it made a lot of sense to go twice. Especially when there were so many places in Australia I hadn't seen. (I've never gotten out of Victoria Province. Aside from my trips to the Great Ocean Road, Ballarat, and the Dandenongs, I haven't gotten out of Melbourne City. And to be honest most weeks I don't even get outside of the Melbourne Central business district. I can't help feeling from time to time that I'm wasting my experience here.)
Besides which I had specifically not planned any big trips this break because I needed to catch up on my schoolwork. That ended up not happening (as it turned out) but it was still hard to justify spending a whole day revisiting sight seeing areas I had already seen.
On the other hand though, a scenic area is probably worth seeing twice if it's worth seeing once. (After all, when I was in Japan how many times did I revisit the same spots over and over and over again? I did my Ajimu -Tours, or the Hita walk, or the Yabakei- Waterfall, and others more times than I can count.)
Besides, this trip was already all organized and ready to go. All I had to do was just say I wanted in.
So I decided to join them.
Previously I had did the Great Ocean Road as a 2 day tour, but this time around we were doing it as a day trip. Which meant a somewhat abreviated version. It also meant we had to get up really early to take full advantage of the day.
I woke up at 5:10, showered, and met my friends in the lobby at 6.
Being my usual sun-aphobe, I had on my usual sun hat and sun glasses. I also wore a long sleeve shirt to cover my arms. (It is still cool enough that long sleeve shirts are a good idea, and in fact in the morning and in the evening I still had on my winter coat.)
We caught the Train over to Box Hill. (One of the suburbs of Melbourne, famous for its Chinese community. I had never been before, and as we rode out there I realized just how big and sprawling the city of Melbourne really was, and felt it was a shame I didn't get out of the central city more often.)
The drive through the Australian countryside to get to the back of the Great Ocean Road was a slightly different route than I had taken before, and so this part of the trip at least was new to me.
(We drove through lots of green grazing farmland on gently rolling hillsides. No astounding scenery, but quite beautiful in it's way. The few time I've gotten out of the city and into the countryside here I'm always stung with guilt that I don't do it more often.)
Then once we got to the Great Ocean Road it was familiar territory to me, but territory I didn't mind retreading.
Given that I have lots of pictures from my previous trip that I still haven't sorted out and posted , I didn't see a big point in taking a lot of new pictures of the same stuff. But the rest of the gang was pretty camera happy, and during the day a lot of pictures were taken. Lots of them ended up on Facebook. Here are some of me.
We came in to the Great Ocean Road at Port Campbell. Stopped briefly at the beach to take pictures. Drove up the road to look at some caves. Drove back down again and went to the 12 Apostles. Had lunch.
(I neglected to pack something, thinking we would stop for food on the way, so just shared everyone else's food.)
Went down the road a little bit more to Gibson's steps, where we walked around on the beach. Drove down to the Otoway LightHouse.
(Stopped briefly on the way because we saw a couple Koalas in the trees, and stopped to take pictures. One of the Koalas was actually moving around a bit and climbing up parts of the tree, which was unusually because they usually sleep most of the day, so we felt lucky to see him actually move around a bit.)
Got to the Otoway light house, but they were closed for the day. (The brochure had said they close at 5, but apparently they were closing up shop early for the day because we had arrived with 15 minutes to spare.)
Went to Apollo bay. Stopped to admire the view a bit, even though the light was already fading by this point. And ate some of the award winning ice cream.
Decided to stop again at Lorne town.
Update: Since I still haven't sorted through all my Great Ocean Road pictures from the last trip (let alone this trip), I'm going to steal some of the scenery pictures from facebook as well. Hopefully this will give you a rough idea. Someday I really will sort through my own pics.
More pictures from the Great Ocean Road are popping up on facebook. I just got done writing about the trip, when I was tagged in close to 40 new pictures.
I hope everyone likes pictures of me in a funny hat, because there are a lot of them.
All of these pictures are from the trip described on the journal entry above
They had an extra spot in on of their cars, and told me that I could come along if I wanted to.
I had deliberated briefly. Since I had already gone on the Great Ocean Road once, I wasn't sure it made a lot of sense to go twice. Especially when there were so many places in Australia I hadn't seen. (I've never gotten out of Victoria Province. Aside from my trips to the Great Ocean Road, Ballarat, and the Dandenongs, I haven't gotten out of Melbourne City. And to be honest most weeks I don't even get outside of the Melbourne Central business district. I can't help feeling from time to time that I'm wasting my experience here.)
Besides which I had specifically not planned any big trips this break because I needed to catch up on my schoolwork. That ended up not happening (as it turned out) but it was still hard to justify spending a whole day revisiting sight seeing areas I had already seen.
On the other hand though, a scenic area is probably worth seeing twice if it's worth seeing once. (After all, when I was in Japan how many times did I revisit the same spots over and over and over again? I did my Ajimu -Tours, or the Hita walk, or the Yabakei- Waterfall, and others more times than I can count.)
Besides, this trip was already all organized and ready to go. All I had to do was just say I wanted in.
So I decided to join them.
Previously I had did the Great Ocean Road as a 2 day tour, but this time around we were doing it as a day trip. Which meant a somewhat abreviated version. It also meant we had to get up really early to take full advantage of the day.
I woke up at 5:10, showered, and met my friends in the lobby at 6.
Being my usual sun-aphobe, I had on my usual sun hat and sun glasses. I also wore a long sleeve shirt to cover my arms. (It is still cool enough that long sleeve shirts are a good idea, and in fact in the morning and in the evening I still had on my winter coat.)
We caught the Train over to Box Hill. (One of the suburbs of Melbourne, famous for its Chinese community. I had never been before, and as we rode out there I realized just how big and sprawling the city of Melbourne really was, and felt it was a shame I didn't get out of the central city more often.)
The drive through the Australian countryside to get to the back of the Great Ocean Road was a slightly different route than I had taken before, and so this part of the trip at least was new to me.
(We drove through lots of green grazing farmland on gently rolling hillsides. No astounding scenery, but quite beautiful in it's way. The few time I've gotten out of the city and into the countryside here I'm always stung with guilt that I don't do it more often.)
Then once we got to the Great Ocean Road it was familiar territory to me, but territory I didn't mind retreading.
Given that I have lots of pictures from my previous trip that I still haven't sorted out and posted , I didn't see a big point in taking a lot of new pictures of the same stuff. But the rest of the gang was pretty camera happy, and during the day a lot of pictures were taken. Lots of them ended up on Facebook. Here are some of me.
We came in to the Great Ocean Road at Port Campbell. Stopped briefly at the beach to take pictures. Drove up the road to look at some caves. Drove back down again and went to the 12 Apostles. Had lunch.
(I neglected to pack something, thinking we would stop for food on the way, so just shared everyone else's food.)
Went down the road a little bit more to Gibson's steps, where we walked around on the beach. Drove down to the Otoway LightHouse.
(Stopped briefly on the way because we saw a couple Koalas in the trees, and stopped to take pictures. One of the Koalas was actually moving around a bit and climbing up parts of the tree, which was unusually because they usually sleep most of the day, so we felt lucky to see him actually move around a bit.)
Got to the Otoway light house, but they were closed for the day. (The brochure had said they close at 5, but apparently they were closing up shop early for the day because we had arrived with 15 minutes to spare.)
Went to Apollo bay. Stopped to admire the view a bit, even though the light was already fading by this point. And ate some of the award winning ice cream.
Decided to stop again at Lorne town.
Update: Since I still haven't sorted through all my Great Ocean Road pictures from the last trip (let alone this trip), I'm going to steal some of the scenery pictures from facebook as well. Hopefully this will give you a rough idea. Someday I really will sort through my own pics.
More pictures from the Great Ocean Road are popping up on facebook. I just got done writing about the trip, when I was tagged in close to 40 new pictures.
I hope everyone likes pictures of me in a funny hat, because there are a lot of them.
All of these pictures are from the trip described on the journal entry above
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