The Great Ocean Road

Today we flew from Kangaroo Island to Warrnambul on the mainland to start our drive on the Great Ocean Road. Our first stop was Tower Hill, a park inside the caldera of a volcano that last erupted about 30,000 years ago. Aboriginal artifacts have been discovered beneath the ash layer, a testament to the longevity of human occupation at this location. In the nineteenth century the area was stripped of native vegetation. Species from England were introduced to create a familiar-feeling park. Then in the 1960s an effort began to restore the land to its original condition, using an oil painting of the area from 1855 as a guide. Our aboriginal guide showed us many edible plants in the landscape and told both happy and sad stories from the history of his family. The pattern of treatment of indigenous people by later settlers sounded all too familiar.  We also saw seven Koalas, including three pairs of mothers-and-joeys of different ages. The joeys were much more active, perhaps because of the cool rainy weather. It was a surprise to see so many, as our Kangaroo Island guides had predicted that we wouldn’t see any koalas on the mainland. 

Our afternoon was spent appreciating the beautiful sandstone cliffs along the “shipwreck coast”. The narrow Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania shortened the voyage for ships coming from England, but 170 ships did not navigate it safely, and sunk along this section of the coast. Some of the more famous landmarks along the coast look a lot like a sandstone version of the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland.  

The next section of the Road ducked inland through dry forest and then temperate rain forest, the so called “green coast”, which we will explore tomorrow. Finally we rejoined the coast at Apollo Bay, the center of the "surfing coast".  Our lodge sits high above the coastal plain and the views are outstanding.  After a fabulous dinner (the best so far on this trip), we spotted a Swamp Wallaby (which are very dark in color) on the grass near our room.

We brought the rain and wind with us from Kangaroo Island, but it didn’t interfere too much with our activities. All the same, we are all looking forward to wearing fewer layers in the days to come!

Pictured: Koala Joey (2 months old) swinging in the breeze, our room at Apollo Bay, cliffs at the Twelve Apostles