The Great Ocean Road
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                                                                                                                            View of Apollo Bay from Mariners Lookout
                                                                                                                             It was just amazing watching the sunset

After Lorne I continued to Apollo Bay.
The First Night at Apollo bay I camped on the foreshore at the breakwater. There was an amazing view of the small harbour and all the ships with the beach town and hills in the background. (see below)
Yes, it is illegal to camp on the foreshore but there were already others camped there when i arrived so i joined them. They had already been there a few days and not been moved on. the next day a man from the council did come and move us on...DOH the view was so nice too. The next nite I stayed in the caravan park with a good view of the toilet block!
I don't usually pay to stay in caravan parks but I needed to recharge my batteries in my phone and laptop and do some washing.

Left: Every evening a large stingray would follow the fishing boats in looking for scraps.
 

"4WD ONLY" said the sign...ooops!

I ventured off down this rutted old track out into the great expanse of Cape Otway. It was very sandy and the kombi wouldn't have made it through some of it if I had to stop. This is a part of the track in better condition where I could stop.
It was worth the trek in the end. because this is the view I got from where I camped at Point Lincoln (below)

I went for a wal down to the beach and out on to the rock where the waves were crashing. There ain't nothing south of here till you get to Antarctica. the wind was blowing so strong off the Southern Ocean that I had to lean right over into it just to walk over the rocks. I was worried the wind might blow me off the rock and into the sea...  that wouldn't have been good... the camera would have got wet!
From as south as you can get on Cape Otway I travelled to the North of the Otway Ranges to find the Otway Fly.
The Otway Fly is a huge 600 metre long walkway that is suspended through the tree tops of the Otway Rainforest. The walkway starts at ground level and quickly has you walking over 25 metres above the ground through the tree tops. And if that is not high enough, there is then a spiraling stairs case up a tower another 25 metres. At the top the tower sways in time with the trees!

Near a river in the Otway Ranges I found a large plantation of Californian redwoods with a stream trickling through it. It was awesome standing on the soft pine needles and looking up at the trees that went up and up and just kept going up.

With the sun creeping through the foliage high above and the drift smoke trail from my small camp fire and the sound of the stream, it was like something out of Lord Of The Rings. It rained the evening while I was reading a novel by the light of the fire. I heard it first and could see it out beyond the trees, but under the trees it was completely dry.






Now this is a sight we have all seen before. Those great rocks, known the world over as icons of Australia.
The Twelve Apostles




The Arch






 



Below: London Bridge 2004 and below it is a photo of the same my father took in 1977 before it collapsed.

 

 

 


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I made it to Warrnambool but I was out of money and out of petrol. I had to wait 48 hours till I got paid again. I had cooked tea using the BBQs at the coastal park and was sitting in my kombi reading my book again when there was a tap on the window....
It was a security guard form the local council telling me I wasn't allowed to camp there. I hadn't planned to camp here, I usually find somewhere more secluded. But this was a nice security guard. He let me know that campervans were allowed to stay the night at the breakwater where there were 24 hour toilets.
There are hardly any towns that allow you to sleep in your vehicle overnite anywhere, so i usually hide in a back street or better yet some little nook with a scenic view. But three cheers for the Warrnambool Local Council for providing us campers somewhere to pull up. 

Near the Breakwater is a small island that you can walk out to when the tide is out. Penguins live on this island and come home just after sunset. You can walkout and watch them, but you have to watch the tide as well or you will have to swim back.

Below:  It was dark when I got to the breakwater but I was greeted with a great view in the morning as the sun rose.
Left:  They caught the biggest sea-horse I have ever seen...
Early that morning horses from a local stable where brought down to the beach for a swim. They swam behind the row boats out around the small harbour.
Breakwater at Warrnambool

 

See more photos of my adventure along the Great Ocean Road.
 

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  This site records the odyssey of Stuart Taylor
  and his Kombi  Adventures, with Peter Oakenful
  or whoever else wants to tag along.
  We are based in Bendigo Victoria.
 


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