Cape Otway - Day 13

It was a return to rain this morning. Whilst having breakfast overlooking the delightful harbour in Port Fairy, I noticed the heavy rain disturbing the tranquil waters of the harbour. The hotel was beautifully situated right on the inner harbour. It was an old ice store that has been converted to a hotel.

I wondered why it was called the Belfast Ice Store, but reading an old map found that Port Fairy had originally been called Belfast. I still have not found out the reason for the name change.

So we left in the rain and along the first part of the Great Ocean Road it was decidedly murky, so ever the pragmatists we stopped in the small village of Port Campbell for an excellent coffee. We were thankful that we had enjoyed the coastline yesterday in brilliant conditions. Further east the road transitions to being surrounded by giant eucalyptus trees, reputedly the home of koala bears, though we did not see any. Marion tells me that they are asocial and sleep a lot because of a poor diet. I asked her where they slept at which point her animal knowledge failed. 

This was a side road to Cape Otway at the end of which there is a heritage park themed round Australia’s oldest surviving lighthouse. It was most interesting helped by an excellent interpretive guide. In the days of sailing ships coming from Europe they headed as far south as possible to catch the roaring forties to approach the coast of Victoria from the South West, in order to thread the channel between King Island off Tasmania and the mainland. This saved five days compared to sailing south of Tasmania but after a long voyage was navigationally challenging. A significant number did not make being blown directly onto the rock of the south coast.

Hence the reason for this isolated lighthouse. Originally it could only be supplied by sea twice a year, so had to be largely self-sufficient. Even in the 1930’s the new schoolmistress had to travel by horse and cart the thirty kilometres from the nearest railhead. During the war it was the site of secret radar station, secret not so much because of the technology but because the Australian government did not wish the populace to know of the threat from enemy submarines around its coast. There was also a plaque to an airman who disappeared of the coast, whose last radio transmission seemed to refer to a UFO, apparently Australia’s most creditable sighting.

 

We then drove the few miles to our next stop at Apollo Bay, a pleasant seaside town that acts as a gateway to the Great Ocean Road.

After our gourmet delights last night it was a simple, but good pub meal tonight. The odd thing about Australian pubs is that you order your food and pay at one counter, then order your drinks and pay at another counter. More coastal scenery tomorrow.