What no Koalas? Day 14

We have already seen many kangaroos, but Marion is insistent that no trip to Australia will be complete with seeing koalas at first hand. Today looked promising, on our tourist map there are little koala logos indicating areas where these elusive animals can be viewed. So we diligently scan trees looking for the slightest movement. I went beyond the call of duty by walking some trails, and then success….. However this koala is a Canadian hoax, two tourists whose luck is the same as ours had decided to recreate the koala experience. We will continue our hunt, any tips gratefully received.

Today we drove the part of the Great Ocean Road that hugs the coast from Apollo Bay where we are staying to Lorne, about fifty kilometres away.

The road was built both as a memorial to the soldiers from Victoria who died in the First World War and as a job creation scheme. As it winds around the coast wonderful vistas open up, and as today’s weather was very clear these are framed in an aquamarine coloured sea. This was a very leisurely drive with an early stop for coffee at the small beach resort of Wye River. Here you can see Marion showing her age.

Lorne is a bustling seaside resort, but surrounded by wonderful country. The deep narrow valleys are dotted with waterfalls that tumble through wooded glades. The one in the photo is the Erskine Falls. From there we visited a place called QDOS, nothing to do with the Scarborough entertainment company, but an art gallery come sculpture park, with importantly for us a lovely café attached. It was beautifully set in the wooded hills above the town. A stones throw away was Teddy’s lookout high in the hills above Lorne looking over the Ocean Road and the Otway Hills. Today the view was breath taking. 

 The return trip along the Ocean Road allowed us to appreciate the scenery from the opposite direction. At one point you can still see the remnants of a wreck from 1891, tragically five men lost their lives, not the voyagers but those on three successive expeditions to salvage the wrecked ship.

Before Apollo Bay we turned off into the Otway Hills and took a tourist route through the temperate rain forest. It is difficult to convey the density of the vegetation and the immense height of the trees. This trip had an added bonus; in the isolated village of Beechwood Forest there were many railway artefacts from the part of the long closed Victoria narrow gauge system. This had opened up the area in the early 1900’s allowing the natural resources particularly the timber to be exploited. You can still make out the balloon formation, a loop on which trains were turned. These are very rare although we have actually travelled on one in Antonito in New Mexico.

Finally I took a stroll around Apollo Bay finding the brew house to buy a local beer to have with the homemade supper that we had tonight. Tomorrow we leave the coast after two weeks to strike inland north of Melbourne.