Spending some time on the coast of Victoria over summer was a wonderful experience. Our first base was the idyllic sea-side town of Lorne. From here, we had the opportunity to visit some beautiful beaches, waterfalls and rainforests. Our second base was Port Campbell where you can marvel at the magnificent and iconic coastal scenery.
East of Cape Otway
Lorne was a fabulous base for this part of our trip. It has a nice swimming beach and pier, lots of local walks and great places to try the regional cuisine. Just a short drive from Lorne you find yourself immersed in the Otway National Park with numerous waterfalls and some lovely forest walks. A coastal drive along this section of the Great Ocean Road took us through the lovely towns of Wye River and Kennett River. The Wye River General Store Cafe does a fabulous ham and cheese toastie! A bit further along is the fishing village of Apollo Bay, where the obligatory lunch-time meal is freshly cooked fish and chips by the sea. Then there is the Great Otway National Park with its resident koala population and sensational rainforest scenery. If you look closely at the first koala image, you will see the leg of the joey that she was cuddling. From there we were able to check out the beautiful Aire River as a future camping destination. We will be back!
Another drive took us through the mountains and forest up to Lake Colac where we were able to watch lots of different water-birds enjoying the lake and the summer rain. Jim was very excited to photograph lots of crested grebes in full plumage! We then travelled south to the lovely township of Forrest which is perched a short distance from Lake Elizabeth. What an inspirational place! It was wonderful to walk slowly through the lush rainforest on a drizzly day and marvel at the calm and tranquil waters, massive tree trunks and ferns and mirror images of the forest surrounding the lake on all sides. Complete with a resident platypus. We stopped here for a gourmet picnic lunch and a glass of sparkling shiraz to celebrate the day.
West of Cape Otway
Our next destination was the most iconic section of the Great Ocean Road where magnificent cliffs and ancient rock formations meet the Southern Ocean in a spectacular clash of might and power. Our base was the seaside town of Port Campbell. With its safe swimming beach and easy access to the famous Apostles, it's a popular destination for people seeking a coastal holiday. A spectacular clifftop walk gave us a birds-eye view of the town and surrounding coastline. This was followed by a refreshing swim at the beach. There are loads of nice cafes and a quick trip into the hinterland found us at the pretty village of Timboon, where dairy foods reign supreme. Of course, a delicious creamy ice-cream was on the menu.
We had lots of fun photographing the fabulous rock formations and coastline at different times of the day, to capture the variations in the light. On this trip we witnessed tones of gold and orange in the morning light, with dusky blue, pink and grey tones in the evening. Bellissimo!
On one day trip, we made our way westwards to the gorgeous heritage fishing village of Port Fairy where we watched a surfing competition and checked out the colourful and quaint historic buildings and architecture. Another day's adventure included a visit to the spectacular Bay of Islands, that stretches 32km between Peterborough and Warrnambool. The limestone sea stacks and rugged beauty of the coastline is comparable to the more famous and busy Apostles and other features such as Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge. It's easy to see why it's called the Shipwreck Coast.
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