The "great" is modifying the "Ocean Road". . . I'm not making a grand statement about the trip. It was a very good trip, though. Glad I did it, though it DID remind me of visiting National Parks in the U.S. It's not that they aren't really amazing places. They are. But they're crowded, full of signs that sound like scolding, and (not unrelated) usually packed with tourists who probably need the scolding. Fortunately, we are in the off season, so it wasn't as crowded as it would have been when our friends, D and S visited. John craves all things ocean more than I do, probably because I grew up close to the coast, and vacationed there every year. Don't get me wrong. . .the ocean, especially at this end-of-the-earth feeling place, still inspires awe. I love the sound and the smell of it. And I seem to be able to get sand into every part of my being, even when I don't go swimming. Not terrible. Just the price one pays.
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| Apollo Bay, long view from Mariner's Outlook |
John and I drove the Pacific Coastal highway (along the California coast) many years ago, during our last sabbatical leave. Ok. More than 20 years ago. I remember it being much like this road. . .winding, curving, absolutely breathtaking views at every turn until you just get tired. Time to stop. There are several little coastal towns along it, my favorite being Apollo Bay, though Lorna, with her hundreds of Cockatoos, was pretty wonderful too. Both of these towns seemed less tourist weary, more open to wonder.
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| Sunset at Apollo Bay |
Lorna was our first stop, other than the stops along the way to walk along the beach and view the long stretches of lovely, mostly deserted (translation: too cold for swimming) beaches. We stopped at the Lorna information center, where we had a wonderful chat with a lady about the area, who described the hundreds of cockatoos as "vermin". Smile. These birds are truly beautiful, from a purely aesthetic point of view, but after watching them for a while, I could see her point. They are LARGE. Twelve to 14" long, at least, with wingspans of maybe 16-20". They are mostly white, but have yellow undersides, and an impressive yellow crest. Honestly, the image below doesn't do them justice.
The other important thing that we did in Lorna was talk to a very fit young man about mountain biking in the Otways (a temperate rainforest just north of the GOR). We stayed in a nice Airbnb in a small town outside of Apollo Bay. We had to get John ready for his mountain biking adventure in the town of Forest, the next day. We had some weather that night. As fit, determined Americans, we were determined to walk down to the moonlit beach in the evening, but the winds were so strong that we had to back down. We were being sandblasted by the sand and the wind. Still. We got to sleep to the sound of the ocean and wake up to the sound of the Australian Magpies. I swear, I think that's the sound of heaven. I'm not kidding. Their sound is so unbelievably soothing. . and alluring at the same time.
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| The rascal I found at Elizabeth Lake. |
So. After confidently taking a wrong turn on our way to Forest, Victoria, we eventually got John to the mountain bike outfitter. It was a kind of shack with a woman who had come it to help John (the only biker of the day). This sounds like kind of a slapdash outfit, but John tells me that the trails were great and well marked. I, not wanting to mountain bike, but deciding that sitting all day at the brew pub across the street was probably not the greatest idea, either, went to find a hike. Elizabeth Lake! Yay. Follow the signs, right? After getting lost a few times (remember, I'm driving on the left side of the road on roads that are only a little wider than a car width), I finally crawled down to the trailhead at Elizabeth Lake. And look who was there! I parked, and we hiked down to the lake. In Australia, nothing is ON a lake. It always involves a fairly substantial hike (this one was about 1.5 miles), up and or down. Through fern and eucalyptus forests. It's really tough. John posted the "beware of snakes" sign for our Grand Children, with a caption something like "Grandma Idaho doesn't always read signs very well". . . the Aussies do respect their snakes. All poisonous.
The other important thing that we did in Lorna was talk to a very fit young man about mountain biking in the Otways (a temperate rainforest just north of the GOR). We stayed in a nice Airbnb in a small town outside of Apollo Bay. We had to get John ready for his mountain biking adventure in the town of Forest, the next day. We had some weather that night. As fit, determined Americans, we were determined to walk down to the moonlit beach in the evening, but the winds were so strong that we had to back down. We were being sandblasted by the sand and the wind. Still. We got to sleep to the sound of the ocean and wake up to the sound of the Australian Magpies. I swear, I think that's the sound of heaven. I'm not kidding. Their sound is so unbelievably soothing. . and alluring at the same time.
So. After confidently taking a wrong turn on our way to Forest, Victoria, we eventually got John to the mountain bike outfitter. It was a kind of shack with a woman who had come it to help John (the only biker of the day). This sounds like kind of a slapdash outfit, but John tells me that the trails were great and well marked. I, not wanting to mountain bike, but deciding that sitting all day at the brew pub across the street was probably not the greatest idea, either, went to find a hike. Elizabeth Lake! Yay. Follow the signs, right? After getting lost a few times (remember, I'm driving on the left side of the road on roads that are only a little wider than a car width), I finally crawled down to the trailhead at Elizabeth Lake. And look who was there! I parked, and we hiked down to the lake. In Australia, nothing is ON a lake. It always involves a fairly substantial hike (this one was about 1.5 miles), up and or down. Through fern and eucalyptus forests. It's really tough. John posted the "beware of snakes" sign for our Grand Children, with a caption something like "Grandma Idaho doesn't always read signs very well". . . the Aussies do respect their snakes. All poisonous.
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