On the Great Ocean Road

We have started our journey from Melbourne to Adelaide along the south coast. We stopped first for a couple of nights with new ATC friends, Bill and Noreen in Geelong, just south of Melbourne. We had heard that there was a big road race with road closures on the Great Ocean Road, and didn't want to have to detour. Instead we spent a couple of hours on Sunday watching elite cyclists at the 100 km mark climbing a steep hill on the outskirts of Geelong.  The entourage was almost as impressive...police cars and motorcycles just ahead of the racers as well as at the end; camera crews in helicopters, motorcycles, and cars; and the team cars with spare bikes on their roofs. 

We set off on Monday to drive the Great Ocean Road, billed as the world's biggest war memorial. Some 3,000 returned servicemen built this road between 1919 and 1932 using explosives, picks, shovels, small machinery and wheelbarrows. 

The sculpture "The Diggers"...

The route is 243 km long and snakes along the coast, linking the many small oceanside communities which previously had only been accessible from the sea or narrow inland tracks. It has been widened and straightened where possible, but still twists along cliff faces, with sheer drops to the ocean in places. There are lots of warnings about excessive speed, and pulling over if slow, warnings of course that the occasional drivers ignore. However we have been on far more challenging roads in New Zealand! 

We stopped along the way to walk up to Split Point lighthouse...

...and along a few beaches...

...and at Kennett River for our first look at Koala...

We arrived at our destination, Cape Otway, and have found out more about how the Koala are eating themselves out of house and home. They're the only creatures able to digest the toxic eucalyptus leaves, and the trees are dying here as a result of their unchecked eating.The Koala were introduced to Cape Otway in the Great Otway National Park about thirty years ago. They adapted to eating a particular variety of eucalyptus, the manna gum, and many of these trees are completely stripped and dead.

We have been staying in a cabin in Bimbi Park where all the eucalyptus have been wrapped with metal bands in a effort to keep the Koalas off, however some of the creatures have managed to get up anyway much to the amusement of us tourists. There is a plan to plant different species of trees, and possibly relocating some of the animals to another area.

On Tuesday we walked to nearby Station Beach, a rather difficult sandy walk except for this stretch of boardwalk...

Yesterday we had a pleasant wander along some short walks in the nearby rainforest...

...and particularly enjoyed driving the narrow and twisting Turton's Track. Not much traffic because the speed limit is low and it is not suitable for campers and trucks.

However at the end of the road, it is wider and becomes a shared road...

...and we did indeed meet a few empty trucks. There is a beautiful stand of California Redwoods planted in 1938 when they had logged out the native forest and were experimenting with planting different species. I suppose this was not commercially viable because subsequent plantings are the radiating pine, just like in NZ.

This was the view from our cabin deck!