The Great Ocean Road
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2008
1
18
44
Trip End
Jun 17, 2009
Warrnambool,
Victoria,
Australia
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The first interesting site we've seen on the Great Ocean Road was actually on land: a huge wind farm close to Millicent, South Australia. This is supposed to be the largest wind farm in Australia and had well over 200 wind turbines, enough to power several tens of thousands households for one year. And we can testify to the huge potential these wind turbines have, as the wind blew relentlessly throughout our trip on the Southern coast. At any rate, it was a sight out of this world, looking at these huge (45 m/140 feet high) white birds flapping their 40 meters wings over the green pastures where cattle graze peacefully, totally oblivious to the purpose of these amazing technological devices. We found the picture even more fascinating in its illustration of the contrast between the agrarian and the industrial Australia. In South Australia and Victoria, wind farms seem to be very popular despite the controversy that surrounds them. While they produce clean, renewable energy, the farmers do not always appreciate them, arguing that the wind farms ruin the pastoral scenery and produce a high level of noise. We didn't consider either one of these objections as being annoying, our only regret being that no one thought of organizing tours for visitors who would be interested in visiting them up close.
Another worthy site to visit are the volcanic lakes at Mount Gambier. These lakes are situated within the volcanic cones of some recently extinct volcanoes. The lakes are remarkable for several things: first, they are very deep (up to 100 m/300 feet) and, in consequence, have some very beautiful blue water. The photo of one of these lakes, with incredible beautiful blue water, is a well-known Australian icon. Unfortunately, our photos don't look that spectacular, as it was cloudy and windy the day we've been there. Secondly, these volcanic cones are very dense in the area and, probably for this reason, they did not manage to rise higher than 200 m/600 feet above the surrounding plains. Thirdly, they are very easily accessible to tourists being situated a couple of miles from Mt Gambier city center. We enjoyed the lakes very much and we regretted that swimming was not allowed (understandably though, since the town of Mt Gambier was taking its drinking water out of this lake).
However, the biggest surprise of the trip was the Maritime Village at Flagstaff Hill, next to Warrnambool. The museum recreates a coastal village from the 19th century, using beautifully-restored historical buildings. The most remarkable thing about the museum is that it is a non-profit organization, a grass-roots initiative of the local community that wanted to preserve and share their history.
01 - One of the many wind turbines
Therefore, the people that are wandering around the village dressed-up in Victorian clothes are all local volunteers that also contributed to the restoration of the buildings. They are very informative to talk to and you can get many interesting details about how the museum came to being. The museum's displays emphasize the hardships of life at sea for sailors and immigrants alike. Actually, the introduction to the museum is made by a short movie recreating very vividly the 60 day passage from London to Australia of a family of immigrants, using information from their diary. Terrible storms, unbearable heat, disease and the prospect of getting to an unknown land made the trip quite an ordeal and those who made it to Australia never dared to go back even if the hardships encountered at the destination proved to be more than they bargained for. And we're complaining about the lack of leg room in economy class!A good chunk of the museum is dedicated to the hundreds and hundreds of shipwrecks that littler the coast. A combination of unpredictable winds, strong currents, poor visibility and sharp underwater reefs made this coast one of the most dangerous maritime areas in the world for sailing boats and named, for this reason, the Shipwreck Coast. However, once you get out of the dark halls of the shipwrecks museum, the village also has its fun parts, like a 19-th century bank where you can write your own "checks", a tea house with yummy scones and Devonshire tea, a pub with all kind of public announcements/postings/advertising, a church, a school, a boat shop, pretty much everything you could find at that time in a port town.
Finally, and probably the most remarkable, we have visited the things we came here for in the first place: the rock formations that make the Great Ocean Road such a spectacular drive (the Bay of the Islands, the London Bridge, the Loch Ard Gorge and the Twelve Apostles). The coast in this area is very high and ends in steep cliffs made of mostly sedimentary rocks. These rocks erode pretty quickly (geologically speaking) under the relentless action of the waves and winds and the shore leaves behind in its retreat an arrieregarde of rock formations coming straight out of the sea in some of the most intriguing shapes. It is also a wonderful place to see how nature still works on these pieces of art, especially when you count the 12 apostles: only about ten are left and a couple of those still standing "aren't feeling too well" either. And although the Twelve Apostles stone monoliths are the most photographed and well-known of the rock formations of the Great Ocean Road, we were equally (if not more) impressed by the Bay of the Islands and the Loch Ard Gorge. While the rocks in the Bay are not as high as the apostles (see pics), they do build a more romantic landscape (and probably the smaller number of tourists that make it here also help with that particular mood), particularly as the sunset approaches. The Loch Ard Gorge is quite remarkable in itself as geological formation (a long gorge dug by the action of the sea alone) but it is also famous for being the site where Loch Ard, a 19th century sail ship crashed against the steep cliffs taking down with it all but two of its passengers. Against all odds, a young sailor not only survived the crash, but also helped a young lady passenger get safely to the shore and then climbed the currently un-climbable cliff and reached the nearest town to get help. The media of the day detailed the story (and romanticized it big time, of course) and an overwhelming show of support from the public followed. However, the story doesn't end Hollywood style. The young sailor went on to become a well-known and respected ship captain in his own right but the two never married, as a good Hollywood move would have had them do. The young lady actually left for her native Ireland and they never saw each other again...
02 - Old tech and and new tech in South Australia
To the public's great disappointment, we might add :-)No trip to the Great Ocean Road is complete without exploring some of its white sandy beaches so, after overhearing some locals talking about the Melanesia beach as a hidden gem that tourists have not discovered yet, we decided to ask for direction from a local information desk. Reluctantly, we've been instructed how to get there (sneaky little hobbitses ;-) and, after driving for about 40 minutes on a very narrow country road (appropriately marked as you can see on the attached road sign photo; don't believe the other part though: there was access to the beach), and walking another 5 km/3 miles through a beautiful eucalyptus forest, we finally reached the beach. Now we understand why the locals are trying to keep it a secret: it is absolutely divine. If you managed to make abstraction of the horribly annoying Australian flies, of course. The beautiful white sand beach surrounded by green hills bears no traces of human touch and did make you think of those places described in Robinson Crusoe or the Adventures of Captain James Cook. We've spent an hour watching the huge waves and the gulls fighting for food and we would've spent even more if wasn't for those omnipresent flies (the wind was blowing from inland that day; unfortunate meteorological development). So we've packed our stuff, walked the 5 km back to our car and decided it was time to finally get to our destination. And to Melbourne we got that night but not before having our first encounter with the Australian Police: a random paper check and a breathalyzer. Everything was fine after paying a hefty bribe (OK, we're joking! No money changed hands, only G had to spend a night in the local sheriff's jail :-) and we've finally made it into Melbourne just as the sun was coming down..
03 - Mt Garnier's volcanic lake
