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Oct 18, 2007
After leaving the Grampians, we drove through some beautiful countryside, studded with yellow, purple and white wildflowers. In some areas there were entire fields of color. It was quite beautiful. It was a full day of driving, but by late afternoon, we had once again reached the coast and after some searching, we found an incredible spot to camp.
Following the signs to Childer's Cove and Buttress Point, we found a small dirt track and squeezed the Fuso past the overhanging bushes to a flat open area on a cliff top overlooking the beach. Just off shore was a miniature version of the Great Ocean Road's Twelve Apostles. We hiked down the steep trail, the last bit of which was very deep sand, and arrived on the beach where we stood in absolute awe of the beauty of the small cove that we had all to ourselves. We hiked to the ends in both directions and then sat on the sand and watched while the sky changed colors with the setting sun. What a magical spot!
Oct 19
Today dawned windy but clear and was the perfect day to start our drive along The Great Ocean Road (GOR). One of the great drives of the world, this was one of the major sights that we wanted to see in Australia.
The GOR is complemented by a series of parks that provide for parking along its length and trails to view all of the outstanding features. Our first stop was the Bay of Islands Coastal Park where we got our first view of the huge limestone stacks standing offshore that characterize the western end of the Road. We did every hike available there and even stopped at the boat ramp because it also had a nice view.
Next up was Port Campbell National Park which contains some of the most photographed portions of the park. Here is where you can find the monuments called London Bridge, the Arch and the Grotto.
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London Bridge
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The Grotto
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London Bridge was a huge double arch, unfortunately one side collapsed several years ago. Amazingly, it trapped two people on the remaining arch for several hours until they could be rescued. There is also Loch Ard Gorge which was named after the ship Loch Ard which ran aground here in 1878 with the loss of 53 people. It hit the rocks on the last night of its crossing from England. There were only two survivors and they washed up on the beach in the gorge.
The most famous of all of the monuments along the road is The Twelve Apostles. But by the time we reached The Twelve, the sun was low in the sky and the monuments were in shadow. The wind had also gotten very strong and cold, so we decided to camp at a park down the road and come back in the morning.
Oct 20
| After doing a short hike in Otway Nat'l Park we headed back to The Twelve Apostles. Even though it was a little hazy, our view was much brighter and the hikes much more enjoyable in the warmer temperature. And yes, the view was as spectacular as the guidebooks claim. |
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We then continued along the coastal road (which actually climbs up inland over the mountains) and came back down to the water at Apollo Bay. From there the road squeezed in between the crashing waves and the mountains and the views were magnificent. The drive brought back memories of past drives along Highway 1 in California through Big Sur.
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At one point we saw a sign that indicated that we needed to watch for koalas. Not having had much luck seeing any, we didn't put a lot of stock in the sign until we came around a corner and saw cars and people stopped on the roadside. Looking up, we saw our first wild koala. We parked the truck and headed off into the bush to look for more. And there they were, a half dozen of them sitting in the trees, three of them holding babies. We stood around, gazing from tree to tree in awe for about twenty minutes, slowly coming to the realization that no one else had walked away from the road to see these koalas and when we walked back out to the road, all of the cars were gone and the cars driving by weren't stopping. What a shame for them. |
We ended our day at the mouth of the Cumberland River, where a beautiful campground is situated right along the banks and the beach is just across the road.
Oct 21
As it was Sunday and we knew the traffic on the GOR would be heavy, we decided to take the day off and relax at the river/beach. We were able to do hikes up the river and along the beach and spent the day enjoying the outdoors.
Oct 22
| It rained pretty much all day today. Being at the end (or the beginning) of the GOR, the towns we passed through were little more than weekend getaway places for the people of Melbourne and many of the homes were vacation homes. There was little to stop and see, but we did do a short hike in the rain to the Split Point Lighthouse. Unfortunately the weather prevented us from seeing much of the view along the coastline. |
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We then drove out along the Bellarine Peninsula to see some of the old buildings in Queenscliff. Shortly before town we took a break from the routine and actually went to a restaurant for lunch. This one was right on the beach with great surf views. Then we headed up towards the old gold mining district at Ballarat, but only made it to the small town of Bannockburn where we found a nice spot to camp at the town lagoon.
Oct 23
Most of the countryside in the south is made up of small villages and large ranches with miles of rolling countryside and lots of cattle and sheep. Being early spring the pastures are all green and full of wildflowers.
| Ballarat was one of the main gold towns of the last century and the prosperity brought about from the gold is reflected in the large number of impressive Victorian era buildings. Wandering up and down the streets was the best way to see the buildings. We'd even cross over and walk down the opposite side of the same street just to see all of the buildings. We then spent some time at the library taking full advantage of their free internet and wireless connection. The downside to spending the night in a city is the inability to always free camp. If we try, we might get a knock on the door telling us to move on. So we decided to go to the only caravan park in town and got a rude shock as we had to pay what amounted to the highest charge for any camp in the country. |
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Oct 24
We spent the entire morning at the Ballarat Library, using their free wireless internet to do research.
In the afternoon we headed off to Melbourne to meet up with our friends and sponsors from Maxtrax and Dirty Weekends who were in town to display their great traction recovery gear at a booth at the Melbourne 4X4 Show. We spent a fun evening wandering through town and having dinner with our friends. In the ultimate example of city camping, we spent the night parked on the street in the Melbourne CBD (central business district) where it was extremely noisy until about 2:00am when it quieted down, only to get noisy again at about 4:30!
Oct 25
In the morning, while the commuters headed into Melbourne to go to work, we drove out to the seaside village of St Kilda. St Kilda has been a popular getaway destination for Melbournites for over one hundred years. There were indoor swimming pools, a pier with a pavilion, an amusement park and lots of restaurants.
We found a convenient place to park where we could stay overnight in relative quiet, right on the beach at the foot of the pier. The trams ran right down the street all of the way into Melbourne so we wouldn't even have to drive anymore. We then walked along the beach passing the amusement park, Luna Park with its famous laughing clown face entry. The park has a large wooden rollercoaster that looked like a lot of fun, but the park is only open on weekends and school holidays.
So we continued down the street looking for a breakfast shop, having a hard time choosing between the many, many pastry and coffee shops. After eating we took an electric tram into the city and went sightseeing.
The most interesting stop was the State Library of Victoria. The Library is also a museum with loads of historical books, but it also has a display regarding the famous highwayman (robber), Ned Kelly. The story behind Ned Kelly is difficult to actually determine as his life and death have been turned into a folk hero reminiscent of Robin Hood. Ned Kelly apparently had hoped to be the catalyst for a revolution against the local police and English rule in general. To protect himself and his men, his group stole metal plow shares and beat them into suits of armor to protect them when they robbed banks, actually only two banks. He got his Robin Hood status when he allegedly destroyed the mortgages and documents held by the banks on the farms of the local landowners, mostly Irish immigrants. He was eventually caught, after a large gun battle (remember his suit of armor) when he was shot in the hand and foot. He was tried in the courts and sentenced to death. In the Library is Ned's suit of armor, the story of his life, all 24 years of it, and a death mask made after his execution.
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Ned Kelly's armor with his photo and
death mask hanging on the wall behind
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| Across the street from the Library is a covered shopping mall built around an old brick shot tower. From the top of the shot tower, molten lead would be dropped into water. The tower was built to the right height so that the lead would turn into small pellets used as shot in shotguns. Really interesting, how did they figure this stuff out. |
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To end the day, we took the free trolley around the CBD getting a free tour of the main sights that we'll explore when we come back into town tomorrow.
Oct 26, 2007
After our quiet night in St. Kilda, we headed back into Melbourne to visit the 4x4 Show. It was very interesting and we enjoyed looking at all of the ingenious tent trailers that have been developed for Australian off-roading. These tents really become a home away from home, with all the rooms that fold out and the elaborate kitchen set-ups. But the prices reflect their ingenuity. They ranged from $20,000AU to a whopping $70,000AU!
After visiting the show, we headed out to the north side of Melbourne where we met with our newest sponsor, Honda MPE who provided us with a EU20i generator to help with our electrical needs. Thank you Honda.
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