I got out semi early this morning for a day of driving west - along the Great Ocean Road (GOR). There were tons of cars out also doing the same thing, and stopping at all the lookout sites. A lot of these tourists were from Asian countries. I meet lots of nice Indians and Chinese and Japanese people. I guess it was school holidays for them also. I noticed a couple of things -- most Indian families were in cars/vans traveling on their own, most Chinese were young couples in cars and most Japanese came on tour buses.
It was a beautiful day out about 70 degrees and no sign of a cloud in the sky. My first stop was going to be the Cape Otway Lightstation, but on the road there cars were stopped on the side of the road. People were out on the sides of the road looking in the trees -- for koala bears. There were about 5 out on the way to the lighthouse. I stopped also and took photos - I know at some point this might get old but not right now.
At the Lightstation there was a nice walking path -- a haunted telegraph building, a memorial to a pilot who saw a UFO and disappeared, then the lighthouse. It wasn’t that high to get up and had great views over the water. Tasmania was right across the Bass Strait from where I was. Looking down I saw a black wallaby (or so the Western Australian man told me).
I stopped in the old keeper’s cottage for a chicken and salad wrap and there was a singer who looked like an old sailor hocking his CD’s outside.
After getting back on the road again, more cars were stopped. This time the koala was on a branch so low everyone could get a photo with it. The Aussies were even excited. Of course, I got out and got my pic made too.
Driving through the Aire Valley, you can’t miss the sheep grazing on the hills and the beautiful green pastures. At first you are in the Great Otway National Park Forest and then all of a sudden you are in a picturesque landscape.
My next stop was at the Gibson’s steps. There was a nice Slovakian tourist there and we traded off cameras for photos. You could walk down to the beach and out to look towards the Twelve Apostles (of which only 7 are left). There were lots of people there, and surprisingly lots of seaweed. This was the first time I had seen this.
At the zoo, otherwise known as the Twelve Apostles, there was a policeman at the parking entrance doing a breathalyzer of the entrants. He didn’t want me to and waved me on. I was wondering, really, how many tourist get drunk then drive their children up the GOR? Then I thought about that more -- being stuck in a car with your whole family for however many hours, maybe it was a good idea to check there.
You park on the north side of the road and take an underground walkway across the busy highway to the overlooks. This was the most populated site, I have visited yet in Australia. Almost as many tourists as the Penguin Parade (and that I considered nighttime theater not a tourist attraction).
Loch Ard Gorge, my next stop and the most walking I have done in a few days, was different. I should have had my workout clothes on. This is the site of a bad shipwreck (they had a few different wreck sites along the coast) where only 2 people survived. They have quite a few paths and overlooks here and a descent to a small cove that had cave like formations in the sides. There was a cemetery for the dead of the shipwreck. One of the overlooks was very secluded and had at great view of London Bridge, one of the stone formations on the shoreline. The walking paths were at least 2+ miles. Good little workout or stretch of the legs after a long drive.
Got to the end of the line at Port Campbell. Made a brief stop and then back on the road. There was a Hot Rod conference going on along the coast and I saw quite a few classic cars there. Also there were lots of people still out at the beach and on the main street enjoying ice cream.
I had the worst moment so far of my trip -- I came up very quickly on a horrible accident. I was the 6th car in line of a squished vehicle. It flipped with four young Chinese tourists. Thankfully all were out of the car and not seriously injured. Luckily there was a doctor in a car in front of me. I think he was Russian. He helped medically and the other men just went to work. Many people called the police, others started organizing how they were going to feed the people around the wreck. Another one made sure the vehicle was off. I was quite impressed with their impromptu organizing. It was very fortunate they were not killed or hurt more badly, but it was a big lesson to go slow on this dangerous road (there were warning signs everywhere about excessive speed).
The accident really shook me up, I drove very slowly all the way back and crawled into bed immediately. I love going to sleep listening to the surf, it calmed me down. I will NOT be driving fast on this trip. There but for the grace of God go I.
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