Friday, November 6, 2009

The Great Ocean Road: Apollo Bay to Port Campbell Oct. 5, 2009

We started the morning with a walk into town for breakfast and supplies for the day.



There were some high vantage points from which to get a pretty good look at the town of Apollo Bay. The place where we had stayed that night was on the narrow spit of land just beyond the down town section.



Next we drove to a rain forest and did some hiking. We stood beside and in some cases in large trees.






There were some pretty nice board walks with interesting details like curved hand rails.




We saw some interesting development of ferns as they started to open.







We even found a specimen of a carnivorous snail that had been purported to be in the area.



We got back on the road and very soon spotted some Koalas (we probably saw 30 or more) and an echidna. That was an interesting distraction.






The Echidna found in Australia is the Short-beaked Echidna and along with the Platypus are the only members of the monotreme family which are Mammals that lay eggs and produces milk for its young. Echidnas (pronounced "E-kid-na") sometimes referred to as Spiny Anteaters resemble the Hedgehog and the Porcupine in that they are covered by sharp spines. The Echidna is found all over Australia and can survive a range of temperatures and habitats Though mostly nocturnal, in mild weather they can be seen during the day, but if the weather is extreme (either very cold or hot) Echidnas will stay in shelter. (under rocks, fallen timber or burying themselves in the ground)




Next we headed to the next site a 1848 lighthouse that was right at the point where the distinction between the Tasmania Sea and the Southern Ocean. The building complex that originally supported the lighthouse included a weather station, housing, maintenance building and a store had been restored in converted into a museum full of nautical items and photos of shipwrecks and rescues.





We stopped for a bit of coffee and hot chocolate


Back on the road we next stopped at the Madsens Track Rain Forest where we experienced both rain and forest.














Further down the road we got to another high vista area. Cool view of the ocean and an interesting route to and from the lookout point. There is actually a trail that parallels the highway more or less. This was on the trail and is intended to allow people through but not the cattle.






Eventually we got near to the area where we anticipated seeing some of the rock monoliths that were where we were heading as a point of interest. We would eventually get to a place that was an entrance into the Twelve Apostles (several rocks close together) but this was pretty cool anyway.











Once we got the Twelve Apostles National Park we stayed a while. The weather was not all that good, but we were there long enough to be able to see the rock formations in a variety of light conditions that seemed to be constantly changing.




There was a fairly large area from which you could view the rocks. Karen and Clarice stayed out on the main observation point while Jon and I went back and forth from one end of the walkway to the other.

















Karen’s pink rain coat made it easy to keep track of where she was. We stayed there for quite a while until the light began to dim and decided to head on to Port Campbell a few miles down the road where we were going to stay for the night. Our plan was to return early the next morning to get hopefully get some sun rise pictures.









Accommodations that night were certainly welcomed. A place to sleep and relax for a while was just what we needed after a long day.



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