We drove the second half of the Great Ocean Road
yesterday, from Apollo Bay to Warrnambool, all 100kms of it passing through
places like Peterborough, Port Campbell and Princetown. It was spectacular.
Actually, what we really did is stop every 300m in a car
park to walk the 200m down a track to the outlook point to gaze out over the
Southern Ocean and photograph stacks of
rock, all with great names: like “Gibson's Steps", "12 Apostles”, “Bay of Martyrs”, “Grotto”, even the bay where a brave lad once climbed down to save the only
other survivor of the Loch Ard shipwreck when she was washed into a gulley.
All heroic stuff.
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| Gibson's Beach |
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| 12 Apostles as deflation hits |
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| The Grotto |
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| Lpch Ard Gulley |
We were accompanied most of the way by a Chinese tourist
coach and a free-love, hippy VW van from the 1960’s. I know which one I wanted
to be on. It meant that we each had to wait our turn for the best photo
opportunity which is what you spend most of your time doing. The thinking seems to be: why look at such
great sights now when you can do it later in the comfort of your own home?
In the tourist literature this is rightly called “one of the
world’s best coast road rides.” Note how they are modest and say “one of”.
Other countries would just go for it and claimed global supremacy. I like
Australian understatement.
It was a great day and I would really recommend that you
plan on making the trip yourself sometime. However, until that date, here is a
handy tip: arrange a re-enactment in your own back yard. Just take a few
bricks, stack them up and throw a bucket of water at them. Clearly it won’t be
the real thing but you have probably caught 70% of the magic. And you will have
seen it with you own eyes, in the comfort of you home, and not through the lens
of a camera.
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| Do try this at home |
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| It's a DIY version |
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