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The sea is treacherous along this coastline as wind and currents are variable and the shallow, 80 meter average depth of Bass Strait makes it a graveyard for ships. There have been 55 recorded shipwrecks between Cape Otway and Point Lonsdale since 1853. The Cape Otway Lighthouse made it a lot safer from 1848 but storms and human error have always dogged the region.
Today the Lighthouse is proudly open to the public for tours and adventures into the past. Emily and I were able to view the lighthouse from along the Great Ocean Road Walk at Lighthouse Lookout.
The most serious wrecks occurred in the nineteenth century with some loss of life. Rescues were made by brave local men in small boats or by firing a rocket onto the ships from land but survival was often a chance of luck. In 1940 the 5883 ton ‘MS City of Rayville’, hit a German sea mine just off Cape Otway and was the first American Ship sunk during the Second World War, even before the Americans had joined the war. The noise of the explosion alerted the nearby fishing town and local fishermen helped rescue the crew. Amazingly only one crew member died as he had returned to his cabin to collect his personal effects.
Getting supplies to the Cape Otway Lighthouse was always a dangerous challenge. Most of the supplies for the lighthouse keeper and his family were brought in by boat before there was passage across the mainland. Unfortunately due to the treacherousness of the coast three brave men lost their lives on this quest and they are commemorated at the lighthouse where they were laid to rest.
Next to the lighthouse stands a telegraph centre. This telegraph centre was a poineer in that it was the link, for a short time at least, to communications with Tasmania. They laid underwater cables which ran across the bottom of Bass Strait all the way across to Tasmania allowing telegraph messages to be sent to Australia’s colony. Unfortunately the rough seas and coral put an end to communications, destroying the cable but the telegraph centre stayed as a means of sending messages to major ports like Melbourne and Sydney to make them aware of incoming ships that would be arriving imminently.
Feb 25, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Australia, B100, beauty, campervan, Cape Otway Light House, Great Ocean Road, landscape, travelling, Victoria | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Cape Otway Lighthouse
One of the highlights without a doubt of our drive along the Great Ocean Road has been our visit to the Twelve Apostles or should I say visits! Having decided to stop the night in a caravan park with showers (much excitement!) in Princetown only 4km from the Twelve Apostles despite knowing we had the whole of the next day to enjoy the Twelve Apostles National Park, we couldn’t resist a sneaky premature peak! Having secured a pitch mid afternoon Emily and I headed down the road and pulled in at the Twelve Apostles car park and walked out to the cliffs and boardwalks that offer the best views of these magnificent stacks of limestone.
With the afternoon sun the Apostles were lit from behind, silhouetted and standing tall. The photographs that came out best were shot towards the east as the rock was detailed. I was eager to return in the morning when I could capture these awe-inspiring formations.
Before the morning there was evening though and we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Although we were late (due to the shower block and a new hair cut for me) we were in time to catch the Apostles as the sun set. I could have stayed there all night with the prospect of a starlit night but with the sun out of sight, the air grew cooler rapidly and my jumper wasn’t sufficient.
The next morning brimming with excitement I almost charged down the boardwalks to see the Apostles in what I knew would be the best light and they didn’t disappoint. Seeing the Apostles at three markedly different times of day was an experience I shall never forget. I do apologise for the cliché though!
Feb 25, 2011 | Categories: General, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: 12, 2011 Attraction, Apostle, Apostles, Australia, beauty, evening, Great Ocean Road, Marine, Melbourne, National Parks, Oceania, Places to visit, Princetown, Recreation, scenes, Sea, Sunset, The Twelve Apostles, tourism, Twelve, Victoria | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – The Twelve Apostles
Travelling around in our blue camper van has been a truly amazing experience. The other night we stayed at one of Victoria’s free campsites. Aires River East Campground is a fantastic place to stop overnight with good facilities. Toilets (with loo paper!) Fire pits and great surroundings that we have found common with these overnight stopovers. While we were sitting enjoying the arrival of the evening, reading our books next to our camper, we were treated to the arrival of Carlos the koala! He climbed up into the tree we were parked next to and proceeded to munch away! We were delighted as (the quickly dubbed) Carlos was the first wild koala we had seen and it was especially rare to have him to ourselves without a large audience.
Carlos spent the night with us sleeping in the tree and in the morning he woke when we did and proceeded to dismount the tree without an ounce of grace, landing with an undignified thump on the floor having fallen!
Feb 24, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, Aire River, Australia, Biology, Camp Ground, Campground, East, eating leaves, Flora and Fauna, Great Ocean Road, Gum tree, Koala, Nature, New South Wales, Overnight, Stop over, Tree, Victoria, West, wild | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Overnight stop with Carlos the Koala!
Well worth a see is Victoria’s Maits Rest Rainforest Walk. Maits Rest Rainforest is a cool temperate rainforest, it lies protected in a gully in the Otway Ranges, which provides it with its rare climate. The huge Beeches and Tree-ferns here would have been once common across the Otway Ranges. The walk takes about half an hour (allowing time to pose in the roots of the vast tree roots!) and there are boardwalks across the more difficult sections making it an even gradient and easy walk.
Maits Rest was named after the districts first forestry officer, Maitland Bryan. His family still live in the Otway District.
Feb 24, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, Australia, Great Ocean Road, Maits Rest, Rainforest, Sub-, Temporate, to see, tourism, Victoria | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Maits Rest Rainforest Walk
Cape Patton Lookout is a pull-in just off the Great Ocean Road. Whilst exploring this streatch of coatline in 1800, Captin Grant named this cape after a British admiral. The Cape Patton cliffs are some of the highest along the Victoria coast and are embedded with old dinosaur bones in the rock layers of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.
This section of the Great Ocean Road was built in 1935 by the GOR Trust. It linked the road in Apollo Bay that was built in 1919 to the road from Wye River. Construction on the cliff face was an engineering feat with the road being supported by tonnes of boulders and scree removed from the hillside. This sheerness of the cliffs was apparent especially was we were held up for half an hour along this stretch as a climber was dislodging any loose rocks that may fall on unsuspecting cars passing by.
The view from Cape Patton along the coast to the west was beautiful and well worth pulling in to see.
Feb 24, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, Apollo Bay, Apollo Bay Victoria, Apostle (Christian), Australia, Cape Patton, Great Ocean Road, Lookout, Melbourne, scenery, tourism, Victoria, views, Wye River | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Cape Patton Lookout
Teddys Lookout gave us a fantastic view of a section of the Great Ocean Road and although it was only a tiny portion of the road, the scenery from this vantage point up high above the coast was beautiful.
Teddy’s Lookout is located minutes out side of Lorne, take a right on the roundabout by the information centre in Lorne and follow this road up into the hills behind Lorne it its furthermost part.
Feb 24, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Apostle (Christian), Australia, beauty, Bells Beach Victoria, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Oceania, scenes, Teddy's Lookout, Torquay, Victoria, views | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Teddy’s Lookout
Erskine Falls just off the Great Ocean Road north of Lorne has a waterfall that is not to be missed. Freefalling for 30 meters the Eskine Falls Lookout provides you with a viewing site from the top of the waterfall and for the fit there is a 220 meter walk down to the base of the waterfall. The falls as well as the rest of the Great Otway National Park has a rich and diverse Aboriginal cultural heritage.
We enjoyed climbing across the rocks at the bottom of the falls and being so close to the waterfall itself.
Feb 24, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, Australia, B100, Erskine Falls, February, Great Ocean Road, Great Otway Park, Lorne, Victoria | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Erskine Falls
Having spent the morning and early afternoon around Torquay and at Bells Beach we pushed allong the road a little way to Aireys Inlet.
Here there is a delightful little lighthouse which boasts some fantastic views along the coast. The weather wasn’t so delightful but I snapped a few shots and we had a walk out along the cliffs.
Split Point Lighthouse was errected in 1891 to protect the ships that were navigating the treacherous waters of Bass Strait. It was built by a Melbourne company, Anderson and Sons, and stands at 34 meters. As well as serving as a lighthouse it was also a huge tourist attraction and the lighthouse keepers have always served as guides to their workplace.
Such a beautiful lighthouse has gained a reputation and has stared in a couple of films, including Mad Max and (the coolest part for me!) stared in television shows including Round the Twist.
My favourite fact of the afternoon was about the last keeper of the lighthouse, Richard Baker, who scratched a hole in the black paint on the back of the lantern so he could go off to the pub when he was on shift and still see a shaft of light so he knew that the lantern was still lit!
Tours do still go up the lighthouse regularly throughout the day but to book a private tour you can call 1800 174 045
Feb 23, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel | Tags: 1881, 2011, Aireys Inlet, Aireys Inlet Victoria, Australia, Bass Strait, Bells Beach Victoria, Great Ocean Road, Lighthouse, Mad Max, Melbourne, Rossdu, Shipwreak, Split Point Lighthouse, Surf Coast, Torquay, Victoria, views | Comments Off on Aireys Inlet – Split Point Lighthouse – The Great Ocean Road
After a couple of fortunate events which landed us a free powered pitch in one of the best caravan sites in Torquay (Mainly getting a buy one get one free deal in the reception of the caravan site and finding a $20 note on the floor) We woke refreshed and recharged, our laptops and camera batteries as-well as ourselves and full of excitement to start our first full day on the Great Ocean Road.
We kicked things off with a magical delve into surfing‘s past with the surf museum in Torquay itself. The museum was excellent and packed with memorabilia and history getting us geared up for a quick stomp around all the surf outlet shops which were treasure troves of discounted clothing and boards.
Lunch was devoured at the top of the cliffs above the world famous surf beach, Bells Beach, 4km outside of Torquay. There were a few locals down in the water which was too fierce for me to have a dip with the swells coming up high despite it being a calm day. Bells Beach will shortly be hosting the Rip Curl World Championships next month and it seemed queer that such a small beach would attract surfers from all around the globe.
There were a few people up on the cliffs struggling to get shots of the action so I climbed all the way down on to the rocks and coral where the surfers enter the water and went the extra mile to get as close to the surfers as possible. I may have got damp feet but I think the shots show its always worth getting as close as you possibly can. As for settings I played around and common sense dictated that keeping the ISO down as low as possible so I could crop the images later without too much noise. Shutter speed was always going to have to be kept high so I kept it around 2000 to 2500 to catch the fast moving water and surfers. As a result my aperture suffered and so I started shooting at 2.8 but wiped these pictures almost immediately because the surfers weren’t coming out sharp enough due to the depth of field being too low. After switching to an aperture of about 5.6-6.3 the surfers were coming out sharper and it was all down to the talent in the water.
In an ideal world I would have had a good 100-300 lens in my kit bag but as we are on the road travelling light those pieces of glass were all left behind. If I was staying for the competition though you can bet your bottom dollar on my driving all the way to Melbourne to hire a good lens for a couple of days and really nail some awesome shots!
Feb 23, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel | Tags: Australia, Beach, Bells Beach, Bells Beach Victoria, Curls, Great Ocean Road, Locals, Melbourne, Photographs, photography, Rip Curl, Rip Curl Championships, Rips, Rocks, Surf, Surf Coast, Surfing, Torquay, Turns, Victoria | Comments Off on Torquay – Bells Beach – The Start Of The Great Ocean Road
Memorial Arch at Eastern View is a tribute to those who built the Great Ocean Road. It was three thousand survivors of World War One who helped build the road. When they returned from war these brave men needed to find work which was a big part of them, being rehabilitated back into civilian life. Post war the GOR project offered these returning soldiers the chance to work out in the open, share comradeship and contribute to a young growing country. The current Memorial Arch is the fourth to be erected, Fire, Storm and redevelopment of the road removed the previous three.
The Arch celebrates the road itself and symbolises the sacrifice made by thousands during the First World War. It has been erected over the longest and largest war memorial in the world, “The Great Ocean Road.”
Feb 23, 2011 | Categories: General, New Uploads, Photo Shoot, The Great Ocean Road, Travel | Tags: Apollo Bay Victoria, Australia, Conflicts and Wars, Eastern View, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Memorial Arch, Storm, Surf Coast, Tribute, Twentieth Century, Victoria, visit, World War I | Comments Off on The Great Ocean Road – Memorial Arch at Eastern View
