Since we weren’t in a hurry and wanted to appreciate many of the stupendous sites along the way, we took three days to drive the Great Ocean Road, which originates in Warrnambool and ends in Torquay. OK, to be completely accurate, we didn’t drive the entire length because we turned north 13 kilometers before the official eastern end of the infamous road. The popular tourist driving route follows the contours of the road by dropping down to the coast for access to the beaches and climbing to the top of cliffs for spectacular panoramic sights.

Beautiful rock stacks at Bay of Islands, part of Bay of Islands Coastal Park

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Bay of Martyrs at Bay of Islands Coastal Park

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The Grotto at Port Campbell National Park includes a cave and sinkhole about halfway up a cliff from sea level. We followed the walkway to the view the sinkhole, but did not locate the cave.

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Loch Ard Gorge at Port Campbell National Park, part of Shipwreck Coast and named after the boat that broke apart here.

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The Twelve Apostles at Port Campbell National Park – Only nine rock stacks, formed by wind and waves, originally stood here, not a dozen.  Two eroded completely away from rainwater and the remaining ones are slowly disappearing.

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Cape Otway Lighthouse, the second such structure built on mainland Australia and strategically placed along Shipwreck Coast, started operation in 1848 after two years of construction by about 70 men. Masons hand carved each stone at the cliffs of Parker River Inlet, a few kilometers way from the lighthouse location. Then bullock teams hauled the stones to the construction site where more masons locked the stones into place without cement or mortar. Whale oil fueled the original 48 kilometer-range lantern, which was later replaced by kerosene, followed a change to electricity in 1939. The lighthouse at Cape Otway has helped many boat captains navigate through a narrow 90 kilometer gap between King Island and the mainland where the treacherous waters of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean collide. About 25 years ago the historic structure was decommissioned and a nearby automatic, solar powered beacon now assists captains of vessels in avoiding shipwrecks.

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We stayed one night in Marengo, a small town of about 250 residents, and couldn’t resist photographing the beautiful birds we saw during our walk just before sunset.

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Swallow Cave in Great Otway National Park – Yes, the birds nest here.

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Sheoake Falls in Great Otway National Park

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Erskine Falls, with a cascade of 30 meters, is one of tallest falls in Great Otway National Park.

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We saw amazing views of both the Otway Range of mountains and the Great Ocean Road, plus a few entertaining birds at Teddy’s Lookout. We never did learn who Teddy is or was. 

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The timber Memorial Arch was built as a tribute to the 3,000 Australian soldiers who returned from WW1 and then spent four years (1914-1918) building the Great Ocean Road, mostly with axes, shovels, and wheelbarrows.  They had to carve out the road surface, build bridges, and clear extensive rock falls on previously built sections of road. The timber arch we photographed was a replica of the initial memorial because a 1983 fire destroyed the original one.

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Built from concrete rubble on a clay foundation in 1891, Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet stands 34 meters tall. The locals refer to the structure as the White Queen and, like her “sister” (and now replacement beacon) at Cape Otway, this lighthouse provides navigational assistance through the narrow Bass Strait. Its beam of light is still visible today at distances up to 33 kilometers. Before the lantern became fully authomatic in 1919, keepers lived in houses on the same cliff top as the lighthouse. The last keeper, Richard Baker, scratched a hole in the black paint on the back of the lantern so that when he was in the local pub at night he could see a shining shaft of light and be reassured that the lighthouse was still operating. Maybe he had already figured out that his job would be ending, regardless of how well or poorly he performed.

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