Downshift Musings

On Thursday morning we set off on an adventure to the coast. The Great Ocean road is a fabulous coastal route that was hand-built (picks, shovels and horse-drawn carts) by soldiers returned from World War I. Prior to the completion of the road in 1932 the coastal communities were very isolated, with travel by coach inland to railway, or by sea. The route reminds me of the Pacific Coast Highway in California, and at times, some of the routes around the big island in Hawaii.

The coast is very rugged at times and is infamous for shipwrecks. Some of the world’s best surf beaches and the rainforests of the Great Otway National Park are some of the other attractions.

Of course the main apprehension of undertaking this road trip was the fact that Australians drive on the left! Thank goodness Rich was willing to be the driver. The steering wheel is on the right, with the turn signals on the wrong side of wheel where we would expect the windshield wipers. However there are so many tourists in these parts that it’s expected that some folks will end up on the wrong side of the road.

We also got see some really fun geology. The Otway Group rocks are volcanogenic sediments (formed from sediment of ancient eroding volcanoes). The volcanism is probably a result of the rifting of Australia from Antarctica. Some of Rich’s Australian colleagues had sent us off with some field guides and suggested locales to look at.

The Otway Ranges

Friday morning we departed Apollo Bay in light rain toward Cape Otway and the rainforest. There is a walking trail from Apollo Bay, The Great Ocean Walk, that stretches over 100km that I’d been hoping to do. We met two ladies walking the trail and they said it was beautiful. I need to get my foot healed up and see if we could do this walk another trip. Rich noted that, unlike Spain, we’d need all of our rain gear for this walk!

The Otway rain forest was like a step back in time to when Australia was cooler, wetter and closer to Antarctica. The tree ferns are basically unchanged from geologic ages past.

Driving to Cape Otway we entered Koala territory. We did manage to see some up in the trees but you really need a telephoto lens to get a good photo. For some reason this fellow was at the side of the road drinking from a puddle. He was tagged and had a collar and was quite comfortable with people and cars. A black kangaroo hopped across the road in front of us, but was too quick for a photo.

Unfortunately, we were time-boxed by the need to get the rental car returned to the train station in Melbourne by 5pm so had to hurry along the coast to the final must-see locale, The Twelve Apostles, a series of dramatic limestone stacks off a rugged coast near Port Campbell.

And so, much to our relief we made it safely back to Melbourne. Rich was sorry we didn’t have time to visit the town of Timboon on the way back for some famed whiskey and ice cream. Hmmm, I’m sorry too.

Next up we’re heading to the far north, up to Cairns (sounds like “canz”) in Queensland to visit The Great Barrier reef, Daintree rain forest, and hopefully some indigenous culture.