Great Ocean Road

Before leaving, Daniel helped me fly the kites on the beach.

Daniel flying The Penguin.

He was a real expert and showed me some new tricks!!

A kite expert at work.

After leaving Yambuk we drove through Port Fairy and Warrnambool before joining the Great Ocean Road. This road follows a picturesque sandstone coastline with lots of lookouts over arches and pillars.

'The Grotto', Great Ocean Road

One of the well-known views is that of 'The 12 Apostles' although I am sure there were only 11!

'The 12 Apostles', Great Ocean Road.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse when we took these pictures and we got absolutely drenched you will be sad to hear! Even though the weather was bad, there were loads of tourists visiting the sights. Since our last visit here 8 years ago, they have built a visitor centre and there was a heli-pad alongside it where you could take a sightseeing trip and it was doing good business while we were there.

We camped in the Otway National Park alongside the Aire River for a couple of nights. It is a nice site not far from the coast with loads of walks nearby. The 'facilities' comprise of one primitive dunny but the camping is free so we can't really complain.

From Otway, we visited Apollo Bay that was not too far away. The place was heaving with holidaymakers, quite a contrast from the National Park about 25kms away. The weather was been dreadful though, strong winds and heavy showers.

Apollo Bay ( in the rain).

The Otway area is supposed to be the wettest place in the State and we can quite believe it. Without the rain though, beautiful places like Maits Rest would not exist. This is a rainforest with its tree ferns, dense green vegetation and tall trees.

Rain Forest at Maits Rest.

Cape Otway also boasts the oldest lighthouse in Victoria. Near the lighthouse is a small graveyard where people who have died in wrecks are buried.

Cape Otway lighthouse.