Three "g'days" on the Great Ocean Road

After enjoying a few days in Sydney, we made the short flight to Melbourne, ready to enjoy the holidays with great friends, Deb and John Voger.  Deb, John and their two boys (Josh and Ryan) were neighbors of ours in West Chester, PA for about 4 years (circa 2002 - 2006).  At that time, we often enjoyed an afternoon or evening on one another's deck with a glass of wine or a beer (Jen:  Seriously..."A" glass of wine or beer?  What alternate universe were you living in?), and the kids always enjoyed playing together.  With that in mind, we were excited to see our friends who graciously welcomed us into their home to spend Christmas and New Year's with their family.

Deb and Jennifer in 2006 - Oh the memories...

Truth is, our visit to Melbourne would have been complete had we spent our time sitting on the Voger's back patio, catching up on each other's lives (see forthcoming post from Jennifer for more on that part of our visit).  But, Australia is obviously more than half a world away from the east coast of the US, and who knows when or if I'll have another chance to experience the "Great Ocean Road" (GOR) and cross it off my bucket list.  So, after a few days visiting with the Vogers, we packed up the car and headed Southwest toward the Great Ocean Road and the beautiful coastline.

I've read that you can make the entire drive from Melbourne to Port Campbell (home of the famed 12 Apostles) and back in a single day.  However, I viewed such guidance the same as I do the stories I read about seeing "everything in Singapore"  in 3 days... a load of you know what.  Besides, the thought of driving in the dark along the rocky coastline of Southern Australia (on the wrong side of the road - see Right-side driving and sights around Sydney ) seemed like a REALLY bad idea.  (Jen:  Deb can attest to the fact that the day before we left I was having a panic attack thinking about Jason driving this road.  I thought we were going to die.)

My comfort with driving had improved tremendously since the excitement in Sydney, but we decided to book two nights at a great little place in Apollo Bay so we could take our time and enjoy the GOR safely.  Leaving Melbourne mid-morning, we planned to stop a few places along the way to check out the sights and have a lunch along the beach before arriving in Apollo Bay...and we did just that.

View from Surf Beach in Torquay

Our first stop was in Torquay, a coastal town known for great surf beaches and tons of surf shops.  There were plenty of both, but we didn't stay very long because we got a first glimpse of the brilliant sandstone cliffs further down the coast and decided the scenery ahead of us would be more spectacular.  Over the course of the next two hours we stopped several times to snap a few pictures and take in the scenery, which seemed to get more beautiful around every sharp turn along the coast.  We skipped right through Angelsea, which looked like a great little beach town, and made our next stop in Lorne.

Sophia posing in Lorne

After navigating the 400th "roundabout / traffic circle / death spiral" we had encountered since arriving in Australia, I found a place to park - I'm fairly sure, illegally.  (Jen:  I'm pretty sure the only thing that Australia and New Jersey have in common are traffic circles.  And tattoos.)  The small beach town of Lorne was a perfect setting for lunch and we found something for everyone (REAL fish and chips from the Lorne Fish and Chips for Sophia and I, and breakfast food for Jennifer and Cooper.  A side note: the guy who took our order at Lorne Fish and Chips had just recently moved to Australia - from his hometown in North Wales, PA...about 15 minutes from where I grew up.  Talk about a small world!)

After lunch, we hopped back in the car - next stop Apollo Bay!  Well, that was the plan, anyway.  Truth is we stopped another 4-5 times to snap a few more pictures along the coast before reaching our "home" for the next few days - the Rayville Boathouses in Apollo Bay.

We were a little late in booking a hotel along the GOR, but were very pleased with the Rayville Boathouses.  It's a small, family run outfit, with about a dozen small "cabins" located just off the GOR, and only a block from the ocean in either direction.  We had a two bedroom unit with a kitchen, dining area and family room.  The family room had a small wood-burning stove, which we expected to go unused during summer in Australia...but we were glad to have it, and started a fire each evening for warmth as well as atmosphere.  After living in Singapore for 10 months, the idea of needing and having a warm fire was wonderful! (Jen:  We actually had a fire each morning too, to warm up the place.  And one morning, we turned on the TV and an NFL game was on!  It made me really miss our winter Sunday Funday tradition with the Pattersons and Prestiannes back in Kennett Square.)


We arrived mid-afternoon, so we had plenty of time to take a look around town and check out the beach.   The kids ventured about ankle deep in the ocean before deeming it too cold to go any further...Jennifer and I both agreed.  I never expected this to be the case, but it makes sense that the water is so cold when you consider the only thing south of Apollo Bay is Antarctica!  After warming up by the fire in our room, we got ready for dinner at Chris's Beacon Point restaurant.  This was a recommendation from friends in Singapore, the Wihmann's, who view Apollo Bay their dream destination for retirement.  The food was good and the view of Apollo Bay from the mountain was amazing.

The next morning, we climbed back into the car, loaded with a few drinks, snacks and the warmest clothes we had packed.  (Mom and Dad, you would have been appalled at how few things we packed in the car for a full day of driving and sightseeing.  Probably a quarter of what you would have brought along....but then again, I could have eaten a few more crackers along the way had I only brought them.)  After only about 35 minutes, we reached the first stop of our drive - the Cape Otway Lighthouse.

Located at the very southern tip of the GOR, the Cape Otway Lighthouse was the second lighthouse ever built on mainland Australia, and today is the oldest remaining lighthouse in the country.  While the clifftop lighthouse and surrounding area was beautiful, the drive in (about 3 mile drive from the GOR) was probably the highlight.  We had read that you were likely to see Koalas along the way, but never expected what we saw.  About one mile in, Jennifer spotted 8-10 Kangaroos bounding through a field.  We stopped the car a little further along, hoping they'd hop right by us.  Sure enough, they hopped through the field, eventually coming only 40-50 feet away before hopping off again.

No more than a half mile further, several cars were stopped along the road, and passengers were walking around, necks craned, looking and snapping pictures of the Eucalyptus trees above.  We stopped, expecting to see a few Koalas....but there were literally dozens - maybe a hundred in total perched in trees for the next 1/2 mile or so.  It was really amazing to see so many, so close, and so active!  After taking a ridiculous number of pictures (Jen:  Ahhhh, that would be you.  I just took a few, QUALITY ones.  There is a reason your kids call you Ed, Junior.), we continued on to the Cape Otway Lighthouse itself.

We arrived at the right time, with only a few other visitors anywhere in sight.  After parking and paying admission, we came across a sign you don't typically see in the states.  "Warning!  Snakes are active at this time of year".  Active!  What the hell does that mean?  We cautiously made our way up the dirt trail to the lighthouse, half relieved/half disappointed not to come across a Black Adder along the way.....ok - mostly relieved.

We climbed the lighthouse, checked out the WWII radar station, and got the kids a snack at the cafe (I highly recommend the milkshakes!)  On our way out, we realized how glad we were to arrive when we did.  The gift shop and registration desk were packed, as was the parking lot.  As we drove back towards the GOR we stopped a couple more times, spotting a Wallaby (only 2 feet off the road) and dozens more Koalas - a few with babies.

Cape Otway Lighthouse (Jen: photo credit to me because
that's a damn good picture!)

Milkshakes!

One of many Koalas along the road

Back on the GOR, we continued toward Port Campbell and all the sights we wanted to see along the way.  Gibson's Steps came first, offering a great view from the beach - one of only a few spots in the area where you can get to the beach itself (I think).  Of all the spots we stopped along the GOR, this was the first where there was actually a "parking lot" vs. a slightly larger shoulder.  About two minutes further up the road, we came to the Twelve Apostles - here, the parking lot, welcome center, cafe, etc. are all actually on the opposite side of the road (away from the ocean).  It was also very obvious that safety was of utmost importance.  Visitors still get a great view of the ocean and cliffs, but fences and barriers make it nearly impossible to fall or get hurt...which was nice considering the wind and number of people in the area.

Twelve Apostles

FREEZING!

As beautiful and striking as the Twelve Aspostles are, a little further up the road we visited two more amazing spots...the aptly named "Arch" and "London Bridge".  At both locations, the ocean has torn a hole in the sandstone, leaving an open arch through which the ocean flows.  London Bridge was by far Cooper's favorite, after we showed him pictures and told him how one of the two original arches had collapsed in the 1990's.  After seeing it ourselves, it brought to life how scary that whole ordeal must have been.

Cooper posing by London Bridge (now London Arch)  Until
approx. 20 years ago it was a complete bridge.  When it collapsed,
people were stranded on the outer part and had to be rescued by helicopter!

At this point, we were all pretty hungry, actually a little chilly, (Jen:  A little?  My Singapore climatized body thought we were in Fargo in January) and had seen some amazing views.  We headed to Port Campbell for lunch and some shopping (Jen:  I had to buy another sweatshirt, that's how cold I was).  Port Campbell is a nice, quiet little town, with a bunch of restaurants and shops.  We sat down at the Twelve Rocks Cafe and Beach Bar.  (I recommend the steak sandwich - Scotch filet steak, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, bbq sauce, mayo w/chips).  A highlight of this lunch stop in Port Campbell, however, came from Cooper.  Walking through a narrow shop, we squeezed by other visitors, excusing ourselves along the way...behind us, as polite as could be, Cooper said "Excuse me, mate" in his best Australian accent.  Good on ya, Cooper!

Our last stop, before heading back to Apollo Bay for the night, was the Loch Ard Gorge.  Here again, we were able to get to the beach and the view was amazing.   There's only so much to say about each of these natural wonders.  They are amazingly beautiful sights and I found myself asking "why is it some of the sandstone washed away, while in other areas it was left behind?"  I'm sure Sophia would be able to educate me, but I probably wouldn't understand.  In any event, hopefully the pictures give you a sense of the beauty.

Once back in Apollo Bay (after a two-hour drive back from Port Campbell), we had dinner at Chill @ Apollo Bay, a tiny tapas restaurant about a block from the beach.  Eventually, we made it to bed...which was very welcome after the long day.

The next day, we headed to the small marina and checked out the beach at Apollo Bay.  It was a nice way to wrap up our stay in this part of Australia and the kids really enjoyed searching the tidal pools for shells, crabs, etc.  On the way out of town, headed back to Melbourne, we made one last stop at a small market set up on the grass lawn just off of the beach.  Here, local artists, photographers, candle makers, etc. were selling all kinds of items.  We found a great serving plate - a perfect souvenir from our visit on the Great Ocean Road.

Less then 30 minutes later, the kids were asleep and Jennifer and I had a very quiet drive back to Melbourne (Jen:  I finally was not terrified of his driving).  Pulling into the driveway at the Vogers, the kids woke up, ready to play with their friends again.  For Jennifer and I, we were just happy to be off the road - and ready for a beer on the back patio with our friends.