The Great Ocean Road – January 2007

The Great Ocean Road
We had lost a lot of time waiting for me to get better, and so we decided to take a bus 170 km. from Mt. Gambier in South Australia to Port Fairy in the state of Victoria, so that we would have time to bike the famous Great Ocean Road. I sure was glad that we did – it was absolutely fabulous and way beyond my expectations!

The entire stretch of road was absolutely spectacular! I hadn’t expected anything so impressive or majestic. The Great Ocean Road, which was sculpted into the cliffs of the Southern Sea by servicemen after WWI, held spectacular natural beauty, a diversity of seascapes, and rugged coastal scenery. All along the coastline were steep cliffs towering above sandy shores, coves, bays, natural harbors and inlets, sinkholes, ancient limestone pillars anchored offshore, and caves and grottos that undercut the cliffs. The majestic coastline is a work in progress, with new rock stacks and pillars breaking away from the coastline and existing ones crumbling into the sea and disappearing (rock pillars and natural bridges crumbled as recently as last year).

With its tall cliffs and soaring rock stacks, the coastline and sea off the Great Ocean Road is like a colossal natural sculpture park. The sea is stunningly clear, ranging from a brilliant turquoise to a deep blue. It is as clear as the waters off a paradisiacal island, although prone to be more violent. With huge waves, strong undercurrents, and riptides, the water is often unsuitable for swimming. But it is the delight of many a surfer, who ride the waves along its coast. The most famous spot is Bells Beach along Surf Coast, where the most famous Australian surf competitions take place and where a young surfer was attacked by a shark when we were in South Australia.

The first part of the Great Ocean Road, starting at Port Fairy, is called the Shipwreck Coast because of all the ships that crashed along its shores, especially during the 19th century. Our first stop, after breakfast and a shower offered by a local farmer, was Childers Cove, which was our first taste of what was to come, and whose beauty took our breaths away. The cliffs and limestone pillars in crystal-clear turquoise water were beautiful enough, but to make it even more magical, the beach below was deserted. We descended for a picnic lunch and Stephane intended to go for a swim, but chickened out when his toes felt the icy waters. It would have been paradise had it not been for the swarms of pesky flies, and so we made a brave effort of eating underneath our fly nets.

We divided our time between camping in the wild (beautiful scenery and fabulous camping in forests or on cliffs overlooking the sea) and pitching our tent at caravan parks (which had the advantage of showers). The weather was generally good, except for the very strong wind, which often blew so fiercely at night so as to keep me awake from the sound.

A lot of the most spectacular scenery was centered around the pretty seaside town of Port Campbell: the the Bay of Islands, the Grotto, the Arch, London Bridge (which actually did fall down in 1990), the 12 Apostles, and the Loch Ard Gorge. Each place was impressive, but my favorite was Loch Ard Gorge, site of a famed shipwreck. A dozen trails led through the bush to stunning rock cliffs and pillars, caves, arches, coves, bays, sinkholes, and even a swimming beach sandwiched in between two enormous rocks forming a protected inlet. Only nature could trace something so beautiful.

The road left the coastline then, and headed inland to Lavers Hill, a slow and difficult climb on a very hot day. After cycling for a bit on the unpaved, but unfrequented, Old Ocean Road, we sweated our way up a couple of steep “walls” and through forest before starting a descent down the other side, made difficult because of the strong headwind. A couple of more steep “walls,” and then we entered the green and forested Otways National Park, which is known to house a large number of koalas in its eucalyptus trees.

We camped for two nights in Bimbi Park, where koalas slept in the trees above our heads, making grunting sounds throughout the night that sounded like a very funny cross between a wild pig and a donkey! We biked throughout the park, spotting koalas everywhere around us in the treetops. It was awesome! On two different occasions, a koala even jumped out of a tree and walked 2 feet in front of us! One of them stayed next to me for a good 10 minutes, just taking a look around before it sauntered off and climbed up a tree. Seeing all of those koalas close-up like that was a definite highlight of our trip to Australia!

After the Otways came the Surf Coast, from Apollo Bay to Lorne to Anglesea to Bells Beach and Torquay, the last seaside town before Melbourne. The road followed the coast faithfully for the entire 88-km. stretch, in what many consider the most beautiful part of the Great Ocean Road. It was spectacular in that the road really was carved into the cliffs above the ocean. We passed many beaches, some small and rocky, others long and sandy. The relatively large town of Lorne (pop. 1200) was a popular seaside resort, with a beach in the center of town where people swam, surfed, kayaked, rowed, and bodyboarded all on top of each other. They must have been trying to encourage God to send warm weather, because it was really cold – I sat on the beach huddled in my winter jacket and hat.

The Great Ocean Road took us from the bush to the coast, past coastal heathlands and through rainforest with ash and gum trees. We saw koalas, wallabies, kangaroos, and echidnas close-up – enough to keep me really happy. The road was difficult, not so much for the mountains as for the strong headwind. But the days were long (we had sunlight from 5:30 AM to 9:00PM) – perfect for cycling. The camping was easy, caravan parks were located about every 20 km., and the public toilets that were found in even the smallest of places were always clean and had toilet paper. In addition – and this is huge and worth mentioning – traveling is very easy in Australia because everyone speaks English! It is the first country we have traveled to in the last three years where we haven’t had to deal with a language barrier on a daily basis. How sweet!

Australia caters very much to the outdoor enthusiast. People practiced many and diverse outdoor sports, and camping and caravanning is popular among both the younger and older crowds. In addition, every tiny village and larger town had a picnic area with barbecue grills available to the public. They are free to use more often than not, and are often located right on the beach or in another pretty location. We could buy steak or kangaroo meat from the grocery (half the price of chicken and much tastier!) and walk across the street to grill it up for lunch or dinner! Who could ask for more!

Melbourne
We met Aaron and Adelaide in the Otways National Park among the koalas, and they offered to put us up while we were in Melbourne. They were a fabulous couple and we were happy to take them up on the offer. They showed us around town and took us to one of the city’s beaches, which is located right in the center of town. It was scorching the day we arrived, and so we spent the day on the beach – our first and only day that it was hot enough to swim, after having spent several weeks along the coast!

Melbourne is a pretty city and is very bike-friendly, with a lot of cycling paths and free and easy transport for bikes on trains and other forms of public transport. Many people have told us that it is Australia’s most international, cosmopolitan, interesting, and vibrant city. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know the city. We had plane tickets already booked on January 12, two days after we arrived in Melbourne, and we were anxious to fly to New Zealand to meet our friend Belou, who was traveling all the way from France to spend two weeks with us. So we said good-bye to Melbourne and Australia and to Aaron and Adelaide, hoping that they’ll get a chance to visit us one day….