Great Ocean Road

Weather: - Warm, mostly sunny (feels like my nose got burned again . . . . )

Just when you think that you have seen all the good scenery, BAM, you turn the corner and bump into a shed load more.  Seriously.  And so it happened today on our trip from Warrnambool to Geelong.  It is a relatively short drive, but it took us as all day due to the fabulous scenery that just had to be photographed.  This particular coast is the last resting place of many souls who perished at sea, their boats crashing and disintegrating on the jagged rocks that are the focus of many of these pictures.  A savage beauty.  

But first - we stopped the car and jumped out to take this - hilarious!

First (proper) stop was the 'Bay Of Islands':

I love how Dad looks as though he has been 'photoshopped' on this last pic!

The next stop was the 'Grotto'.  Beautiful:

We stopped for lunch in Port Campbell - a lovely seaside town:

We then stopped off at Loch Ard Gorge, where the Loch Ard (the subject of the show that we had seen in Warrnambool the night before) had crashed and sank;

Our last stop off was to view the Twelves Apostles, created by the erosion of the limestone cliffs by the erosion of the sea.  The first couple of pics had the sun shining directly into the camera, so the pics look like B&W silhouettes (er, I planned it that way!!)  Yet again, stunning!

Pretty amazing.  It would have been great to have followed the Great Ocean Road for a few more miles, but we had to head inland, and finished the day in Geelong, before driving to Melbourne tomorrow and our flight to Auckland NZ.  It really is difficult to take a bad photograph when the scenery is so lovely.  Australia - you have been a great hostess and I have enjoyed visiting you.  I will be back.  I promise . . . . . 

I hope that you will continue to follow this blog - a least for a few more days as there are some more adventures to be had in New Zealand!

Adelaide - Warrnambool

Monday September 23rd

Weather: - Hot & Sunny (again!)

Today we arrived in Warrnambool from Adelaide, a small town on the coast, on the way to Melbourne.  We stopped here to break up the journey, but also to visit a Shipwreck light show.  It was great fun, and introduced us to some of the history of this area – there were many shipwrecks of the boats that came from England carrying immigrants who were all excited about starting a new life in Australia.  Being an immigrant myself (from the UK to Canada) it is hard to imagine what these people went through.  When you think of all the preparation that you would do nowadays – visiting the new country, researching on the internet, talking to people who live there already, applications etc., it blows your mind to think that these people packed their one suitcase and set forth, not knowing what they would face.  All very brave.  Here are a few pics of our walk to the Shipwreck show.

The last two are of the accommodation that we stay in in Warnambool - we had the top two floors of the left hand side of the Stonescutters Inn -  a fabulous apartment and I would strongly recommend it.  It even had a cute (!?) gargoyle on the roof!

I have to share a few photos with you that we took en-route – this is from Keith, you’ve got to love a place that displays a Land Rover in such a manner.  As I walked up to take the photo I thought that Harry Potter may have a flying Ford Anglia – but here in Australia they have Land Rovers!!!

We also stopped at Mt Gambier to look at this lake in the middle of a volcanic eruption.  The water is a lovely deep blue – and is around 70metres deep.  It would be great to have been able to go for a swim!!

Tomorrow we drive down to Geelong which I believe is just outside Melbourne and we will be going along the Great Coast road which will be fabulous.  Looking forward to that :)