Great Adventures on the Great Ocean Road, Australia

Monday, January 16
C decided we'd leave a day early for our trip to the Great Ocean Road since the weather forecast indicated that our best chance for blue skies was right now. So, in about an hour's time, the W and Smith clans had packed and loaded in the van our necessary baggage and our even-more-necessary snacks to sustain us for our travels.

On the way, we enjoyed gazing at the picturesque vineyards, rolling pastures and the Yarra Mountains. Once we arrived at the Great Ocean Road, it became abundantly clear why the W's have taken almost all of their visitors here. The tortuous road enraptures its drivers with breathtaking views of the ocean, alternately bordered by sandy or rocky beaches, cliffs, or farm land. The azure skies and the white-capped turquoise waters were captivatingly picturesque. 

From Wikipedia:
"The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometre (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Toquay and Warrambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I. It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including the nationally significant Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations."

Our first town on the Great Ocean Road was Lorne. We were a bit early to check in to our hotel, so we stopped for a picnic lunch and explored the rocky beach near where we parked.

C had reserved a spacious and well-appointed two-story, three-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen and laundry. We were thrilled. Once, we checked in and rested a bit, we suited up in our bathers and walked to the beach. The children had been eager, to say the least, to get into the surf, as it had been one of the hotter days of our trip. The sand was soft, and the sky was still sunny at four in the afternoon. I have to admit that I never did venture into the ocean any further than my knees while we were in Australia. The water off the southern coast of Australia is bitingly frigid, regardless of the air temperature. It was jarring to feel the top part of my body, near baking, while my legs felt as if they'd been plunged into ice water. For this reason, many beach-goers wear wet suits to tolerate the water. I can't say we minded the increased modesty that naturally comes with this fashion choice.

For dinner, we attacked a feast of fish and chips that was quite good and energized us for our evening walk on the beach. J was delighted to find an orange plastic shovel left behind on the beach. The setting sun cast a beautiful light on the ocean and tide pools which were teeming with life.

We enjoyed watching the waves crash into the rocks and exploring the crevices and pools in hopes of adding to Big Brother's sea glass collection.

On our return, we squeezed in a few games of Combat Uno and I tried my first and only Tim Tam Slam before heading to our rooms for bed.

Tuesday, January 17
The next day, we packed up our bags and pointed the van in the direction of Apollo Bay, our next overnight stop along the Great Ocean Road.

On the way, we made a few worthwhile stops, the first being the Mait's Rest Rainforest Walk, which we were glad to find out would also be a new experience for the W's. The trail offered a shady and surprisingly cool relief from the heat of the day. Although an easy hike on a gentle and well-cleared trail, we couldn't help but feel transported to a land of fairies and gnomes as we were enveloped in a thick verdant forest of ferns and Eucalyptus with no fellow tourists to snap us back into reality. The kids (and the moms) especially enjoyed the many trees that offered hideaways and hobbit homes beneath their towering trunks.

Upon re-entering the world of parking lots and paved roads, we headed toward our next destination: the Cape Otway Lighthouse. Truthfully, it wasn't the lighthouse that had us most excited; it was the promise of what was to be seen on the road that leads to the lighthouse: koalas in the wild.

Big Brother, the most eagle-eyed among us, frequently burst out, "There's one!" as I strained, in vain, to capture a glimpse of anything sitting in the stands of eucalyptus trees lining either side of the road. Whenever it was safe, C dutifully pulled off to the side of the road, often along with several other koala-loving tourists, and Lizard and I strained our necks searching unsuccessfully until Big Brother, C or some other tourist with a more trained eye than mine, could manage to get us to spot the koala of interest. All told, we must have seen at least 20 koalas on that road. They lazed in the forks of trees, sometimes dizzyingly high above us. One young fellow sat so low in his tree, we felt certain we could touch him if we tried. As we pointed and snapped photos, the koalas, in turn, boredly blinked at us, not particularly interested and certainly not afraid of all the attention they routinely received.

At the end of the koala-laced road, we finally reached the Cape Otway Lighthouse, the oldest surviving lighthouse in Australia. Its pristine white-painted sandstone facade provided a Grecian color contrast with the turquoise waters beyond. After ascending the narrow spiral stairway, we were rewarded with a stunning view of the cape, with waves crashing into the nearby rock islands below.

Interestingly we had been extremely hot at the bottom of the lighthouse, but up here, the wind was icy. It was an unusual southerly wind, coming from Antarctica, the guide explained. It was easy to imagine forgetting one's sunblock with such a wind and ending up with a nasty sunburn as the temperature at this point in the day had entered the 90s. Fortunately for us, C, with the expertise of both accomplished tour guide and devoted mother, always made sure we wore sun block and, most of the time, a hat to ward off any uncomfortable surprises.

With each step down the lighthouse stairs and back outside, our internal heat levels rose a notch, until we were all feeling hot, dusty and damp. It was one of those moments when a cold bottled drink was worth any price and we didn't resist the indulgence. I downed a ginger beer and Lizard chose a carbonated lemonade, a popular Australian alternative to lemon-lime soda pop.



I think Big Brother's expression here represents well how hot and tired we were.

When we arrived at Apollo Bay, we found that the hotel situation, although sufficient, wasn't quite as pleasing as that in Lorne. Here, the seven us would need to split up into separately booked rooms. One of the two (the suite), in fact, just wasn't going to cut it as the bedrooms were swelteringly hot. Ever the resourceful and capable traveler, C wasted no time in finding an alternative hotel for our second much-improved-over-the-first accommodation.

Once C settled the hotel situation, we took the kids to Apollo Beach for a swim, because you can't stay with kids at any beach in the world on a hot day and not go swimming each and every day. C and I certainly had no complaints about sitting on the gorgeous beaches and catching up on the years that we've been apart while the kids played. In addition to playing in the surf, the kids built an elaborate sand village with complex fortifications to keep out the rising tide. As far as we know, it's still there. (And this must have been the point where my camera battery died, as I have no photos of Apollo Beach.)

Dinner this night was an absolutely scrumptious pizza with several different meats and barbecue sauce. While it cooked, I took the four younger kids to the playground while C and K moved the luggage into the newly reserved hotel room. Exceptionally equipped playgrounds and skate parks seem to be requisite child-friendly features in the towns of Victoria. This was just one of many playgrounds that we happily visited on our travels.

Wednesday, January 18
Wednesday morning greeted us with the only drizzly gray prospect of our two-week visit. With the poor weather in mind, we couldn't decide if we should attempt the Otway Fly tree walk, on our way to Port Arthur, or not. By the time we got there, however, the sun began to shine and blue skies were returning. We were truly blessed with the ideal weather conditions our entire time in Australia.

I stole this description of the Otway Fly from lonelyplanet.com:

"Deep in the rain forest north of the Great Ocean Road (take the turn-off towards Lavers Hill), the Otway Fly is a 25m-high (approx. 82 feet) elevated tree-top walk. The views of the forest canopy are wonderful and you can go even higher by ascending the spiral staircase to the 47m-high (154 feet) lookout tower. There’s a visitor centre and cafe."

Besides the somewhat frightening height of this metal-grated, partially transparent, walkway, what impressed me most was the incredible height of the eucalyptus trees and the enormous size of the ferns blow (some as big as a small house). Most of the endemic trees of Australia are eucalyptus. This certainly doesn't mean the forests lack variety. There are more than 700 species of these flowering trees and shrubs, mostly native to Australia. The stringy bark variety, with its long thin strands of bark hanging all along its spindly trunk, certainly didn't look to me to be in the same family as the majestic mountain ash of tremendous girth.

Inspired by J, who loves anything involving numbers, we started taking photos of the kids next to the numbered points of interest along the Otway Fly that matched their ages. Big Brother and Lizard, just five months apart, were both 11 at the time.

After descending from the treetop walk, S, Lizard and I took a quick detour through a dinosaur-themed forest before meeting up with the rest of the gang for the walk back to the Otway Visitors' Center.

Out of sheer tiredness and hunger, we decided we'd get snacks in the cafe, but as we waited in line, we agreed that the menu and prices looked promising and that this would actually be a good place for lunch. Boy, was it! I enjoyed a lamb wrap, while Lizard sampled a sausage roll and a meat pie, all of these being favorite Australian casual fare. C treated herself and me to two deliciously prepared coffees which was much appreciated after the hike.

One note about ketchup in Australia. They don't particularly like it. Rather, they prefer tomato (say tu-mah-toe) sauce which is basically catsup with little to no seasoning. Also, the fast food variety packets that hold tomato sauce are downright tricky. I had all five kids laughing hysterically when I managed to squirt myself in the face while opening Lizard's packet.

On our way to the parking lot, C spotted a splendid fairy wren and Lizard ran through the dandelions, which don't quite look like the dandelions we have here in the U.S. We also saw one of several interestingly painted vans, presumably owned by young adults taking off a year or two before planting roots.

I am not able to tell you what word was painted in large letters on the back of this van,
a word that puzzled one of our kids enough to innocently ask,
"What does @8#% mean?" Unfortunately, we followed this van for
several kilometers before it turned off in a different direction.

From the Otway Fly, we continued on to Port Cambell where we would culminate our trip with a visit to the famous Twelve Apostles, a collection of eight (not twelve) limestone rock stacks rising from the water at Port Campbell National Park.

Once in Port Campbell, we made a quick stop. While we waited, Big Brother and J found a tree to climb. When we realized that it was literally covered with ants, only Big Brother remained on the tree. Lizard, meanwhile, played a game with the wind called something like "Steal Your Hat."

At the Twelve Apostles, at last, we encountered for the first time a large numbers of tourists. No worries. The view was worth sharing. The overlooks were simply breathtaking. I'll let the photos tell the story.

Next, we drove a short distance, in order to reach Loch Ard Gorge, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I found the history of the naming of the gorge so fascinating, I've copied it from Wikipedia below:
"The gorge is named after the clipper ship, Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Of the fifty-four passengers and crew, only two survived: Tom Pearce, a ship's apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman immigrating with her family, both of whom were 18 years of age. According to memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help. Pearce then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists who immediately set into plan a rescue attempt. The arch of the nearby Island Archway collapsed in June 2009. The feature now appears as two unconnected rock pillars. They have since been officially named Tom and Eva after the two teenage survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck."

K, Big Brother, Lizard, S and I ventured into the fairly deep cave that beckoned to us in the gorge. That was a great adventure for all of us.

We stayed quite a long time in the gorge. I doubt one could ever get bored of the views here. Nevertheless, it was necessary that we begin the drive to Melbourne, this time by the quicker and more direct highway route, along which we saw sheep, cows, more sheep and more cows.

Fortunately, we eventually came upon a town that offered us a quick food option: McDonald's. Here, for the name alone, I ordered an Oz Burger, which seemed to be a quarter pounder with cheese with the addition of a slice of beet root. It was, surprisingly, quite nice. Another pleasant touch at this McDonald's was the addition of a pastry bar where one could order espressos and cappuccinos, as well as freshly baked pastries.

As a side note, there aren't many fast food restaurants in Victoria, which I certainly didn't mind. Besides McDonald's, I only saw two other fast food places our whole time in Australia: Kentucky Fried Chicken and another called Hungry Jacks.

I don't remember what happened when we finally reached the W home. I suppose we unloaded the van and fell into our beds. The Great Ocean Road had provided a most extraordinary adventure and surely we fell asleep with contented smiles on our faces.