Tuesday November 9th
The sun was shining and all was right with the world!
Our plan today was to drive west along the coast, stopping first at the Twelve Apostles.
We stopped earlier than that though when we saw a large shape plodding along the road towards us. Paul’s first thoughts of a wombat were wrong. It turned out to be a koala with baby clinging on to her back. By the time we stopped the car and walked back we couldn’t see them. An American couple who also stopped, finally spotted them trying to hide behind a pitifully thin tree. Mum looked a little worried so we left them in peace.
We made a second stop at Castle Cove viewpoint. Like so many points along this road it was stunning (there – said it again!).
Next stop was the Twelve Apostles. This is one of THE tourist attractions in Australia but it not only lives up to but far exceeds all the publicity. Yes it was stunning – beautiful and wild.
It seems there are only 8 Apostles now, but it is easy to see where new ones may be formed. The sea hits the rocks and cliffs with incredible force at a rate (apparently) of 1 wave every 14 seconds. Cracks are formed and the sea and storms do the rest.
We next visited Loch Ard Gorge, another beautiful location but with a sad story.
The Loch Ard was a sailing ship carrying settlers from Britain in the year 1878. It was almost at the end of its voyage when it struck a reef and sank. Of the 54 crew and passengers on board, 52 drowned.
One of the crew, a young apprentice named Tom Pearce hung on to an upturned lifeboat for hours in the storm. At dawn he was swept into the gorge.
As he lay there, he heard the cries of a passenger, Eva Carmichael – a young Irish girl and one of a family of 8. Tom swam back out and one hour later managed to bring Eva to shore.
He then climbed the cliffs to fetch help.
Sitting on this beautiful beach it is difficult to imagine it in the middle of a stormy winter’s night that long ago.
We visited the cemetery where the graves of the only 4 bodies to be recovered are buried. Astonishingly, 2 of them were from Eva’s family.
From Loch Ard Gorge we drove into Port Campbell which is a holiday town set on a lovely bay.
There were a couple of places we still wanted to visit. The first was The Arch – a rock formation which is still being shaped by the sea.
Nearby is London Bridge which used to be a double arched rock formation linked to the mainland. In 1990, one of the arches collapsed into the sea, leaving two people stranded. They had to be rescued by helicopter.
Although it was tempting to go further and see more of the coastline, we decided to turn back. We wanted to visit the beach at Gibson Steps, which we had missed on the way out.
When we got there we were glad we’d left it till late afternoon because there were so few people around and the light was incredible.
We made our way down the steep wooden steps to the beach below. Not for anyone suffering from vertigo!
We drove back to Apollo Bay past rolling hills, rainforest and beautiful beaches. Perfect!
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