Sunday March 14, 2010 – Great Ocean Road

Helicopter Flight

We were up and on the road by 8:15am. We are going to drive to the 12 Apostles first to arrange a helicopter flight. I wanted to do the low level flight this time. The place was very busy. We got some info from them then went up the road to where I had taken the flight before. It was closed and sent us back to the 12 Apostles visitor centre. It turns out that the two companies joined a year ago. We were able to get a flight within 25 min. This time we were going all the way to Otway Lighthouse a 45 min. flight.

We donned on our life preservers and headed for the helicopter. We thought we were to only ones going on the flight. However, a man joined us at the last minute. If I had know he was coming I would have asked to sit on the behind the pilot instead of behind Charles. The other man would have been able to get nicer pictures that way. It was too late. We left just after he boarded. It was a gorgeous day for the flight. The skies were clear and sunny.

What a wonderful flight. It was nice to do the low flying. You could see so much better. We went down as far as Port Campbell and saw all the highlights, like Bakers Oven, London Bridge, the Arch and the 12 Apostles. Charles got some good pictures of the area. You could really see how rugged the land was, as well as the coast line. There was a distinct change in the shore line as we go closer to Cape Otway. This area is not eroding as quickly as the shores to the west of it. The shore line to the west is eroding at a rate of 12-15 cm a year. At one time after the last ice age all of this area was cover by water. You can see some of the arches and caves left up high by the water then. What a fine start to a day.

Loch Ard Gorge.

This was our next stop after the flight. Loch Ard was the name of a ship that went down off the coast at this spot. The gorge has a small opening to the sea that expands into the sight we see. You can climb down the stairs to the beach below. A number of people went swimming. Because of the narrow opening the water inside is quite calm. We walked out to the lookout at the opening and then went on another walk to the east to see Razorback Island. Everything was beautiful to look at. Also it was so different to see from the air earlier. These comments apply to the rest of the time in this area.

Part of this area also had The Blow Hole and Thunder Cave. We drove the 1km to see these. We still had 950m to walk to see them both. It was getting so hot. There is little shade as the vegetation was kept short by the wind. The Blow Hole was not that active as the tide was not in full and the seas were quite calm. The Thunder Cave was making noise but maybe not as much as when the seas were more active. Charles went and got the car from the other car park when we got back. It was so hot and I was slowing down a lot.

12 Apostles

We sat in the parking lot here and ate, lunch in the car with the AC on. One thing that was sadly missing was picnic tables. We find out that there are no picnic tables from Apollo Bay to Port Campbell. Not really sure why. After lunch we went and looked at the 12 Apostles viewing platforms. I felt a lot better after lunch. Since it was so hot, we decided to go to the Otway Lighthouse tomorrow. We decided then to go to the Otway Fly Tree Top Walk. It was a back road on our way home.

Otway Fly Tree Top Walk

This was like the other tree walk we did In Tasmania just higher. I found it harder to do this time. I wondered if my ears were having a problem after the helicopter. In the middle of this one is a 47m high lookout. There was no way I was climbing it. In fact I hardly moved away from the large center pole holding it up. The heights were once thing but there were 113 stairs up. Charles said ``It was beautiful from the top``. However, he still was not above some of the trees. The trees here grow so tall and straight. It was a good experience and cooler amongst the trees. Along the way back down, from the lookout in the middle, you could repel down. Not likely!! At the end there were lots of steps down to the forest floor. I decided that I could do the trail back to the beginning of the fly walk. From there we could get a lift back up on a cart. We set off and it was a beautiful walk on the forest floor.

As I can trip over the smallest of things I tend to look down when I walk. I was taking a step when the twig below my foot fall was wiggling. I stumbled and yelled out ``OH``! Charles wondered what was wrong. I had almost stepped on a small snake. It quickly slinked off across the path and into the forest. It was a black snake which is harmless. Harmless or not I don`t think it would like to be stepped on.

One more thing that happened was I lost my clip on sunglasses. This could have been terrible as my eyes are so sensitive to the sun light. I went to check in the washroom to see if I had left them there. A lady we had met while waiting for the cart to bring us back said she remembered seeing them on the bench back at the cart stop. Charles rode the cart back down and retrieved them. I was so thankful. They were not easy to get in NZ and we would probably not get a chance to get another pair until Adelaide.

Trip Back to Apollo Bay

I found a back way back to the coast from the fly walk. So instead of doubling back and returning on the Great Ocean Road, we took the back road. I should have known something was up when the road drawn on the map was squiggly. We have been on roads that look straight on the map and were not. The first part of the road was okay All of a sudden it said ``Curvy road for the next 12km and a speed of 20km/hr``. The road also got very narrow. It was quite the ride. Charles had to concentrate so hard. It was crazy. We laughed. Charles is not sure he can trust my shortcuts anymore. The rest of the road down to the coast was wider but just as windy.

We arrived back at the park by 5:20pm. I took the laundry down while Charles asked at the desk about the sunset cruise we had booked for. We found out there was a message on our cabin door. So down to the cabin, read the message, back up to make a phone call to confirm we were going. We went back to pick up our jackets which turned out to be a good idea. So with no supper we went on the sunset cruise out of Apollo Bay.

 

Sunset Cruise.

The cruise turned out to be a family affair. There were 3 other people that paid as well as us. The rest of the people were related to or friends of the owners. It turns out we were going up past the Otway Lighthouse. Along the way we saw a seal colony. Some of the seals were in the water. They were fun to watch as they dipped and dived. We saw the beach where the boats brought in the parts for the Otway Lighthouse. They were brought by ship from the UK, and then loaded onto row boats to be taken to shore. From there they were taken overland by ox cart to be assembled at the lighthouse. We saw an old limestone cave that had been uncovered by the sea. You could still see the stalagmites. We were taken to see rainbow falls.

Soon we were out of Bass Strait and into the Southern Ocean. We stopped while we watched the sunset. The guests brought out food. They had supper while the sun was setting. They shared a bit with us which was very nice. When the sun had just about set we headed back. It was so beautiful. A great night to see the sunset. By the time we got back it was dark. The captain got us back without a hitch. We were able to pick up take away for supper at 9 pm.

What a full day but we had so much fun.