Our first stop of today was at Tower Hill. It’s actually a large 20,000-year-old volcanic crater, circular lake and hilly island. We drove over the rim, descended to the lake and crossed on a causeway to the island. We followed the narrow road around and stopped often. The first thing we saw were three Koalas having breakfast in three neighboring trees. These are the only ones I actually saw in the wild. They are the sweetest, cuddly looking creatures but the wild ones can do vicious damage to anyone who gets too close. Some of the park rangers here have some terrible scars from encounters with them. The island started with a population of 16 pairs. They now have about 600 and have captured and relocated 600. They breed prolifically here. I never did see a mama and baby though. This is a sanctuary of flora and fauna. The Koalas sleep 20 hours a day with the other four hours spent eating and mating! 50,000 a year – mostly school children, visit this little park. We passed the park folks as they were heading in to work. They capture about 6 Koalas a week to relocate. The Koalas only eat a handful of varieties of Eucalyptus. The trees are so dear in many places and that’s what keeps the numbers of Koalas down. We passed several groups of emus grazing. They are interesting to watch as well.

We were back on the Great Ocean Road with lots of stops today. Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs, which is sometimes, called Massacre Bay. The Aborigines and whites fought here and lots of Aborigines were killed. There aren’t many Aborigines living along the coasts anymore. They were gradually pushed into the heart of the country in the harshest of environments. At almost every overlook they told of some ship that wrecked in the area. One was the Hallandale. With the steep cliffs you would wonder how anyone ever got back up on land if they survived. Some of these beaches are ONLY accessible from the water and they’d have to be small crafts. It’s just sheer drop-off straight to the water.

London Bridge is one of the famous arches along the coast. It was so named because of its perfectly formed two arches. On January 15, 1990 the side closest to shore collapsed. Two tourists were stranded out on the newly formed island and had to be helicoptered off. What a story they had to tell! There are arches all down the coast. It's all so beautiful but after while you almost get "arched" out. It will be close to impossible to identify exactly where we took any one picture! It was just so beautiful you wanted to just keep snapping! The coast is just indescribably rugged with so many strange formations. The sandstone is eroding two cm a year so over time the structures are left in the sea having been detached from the main coast and over time some of those collapse into the ocean. This area really has severe winters and wild seas.

Port Campbell was next – another fishing village. What views these people have every day of their lives! The fishermen and their families live in very simple small houses with million dollar views. Lock Ard Gorge was next. It’s named for the Lock Ard that shipwrecked here. The ship had been at sea from England for three months and was so close to Melbourne. Fifty-four were on board and only two survived. They ended up on one of those small beaches and found a protected cave. Homesteaders found them by way of their dog. Port Campbell National Park has many little scenic areas protected along this great coast. Again we saw lots of little fishing villages – all quaint and scenic.

Even after all the sandstone formations, pillars, and arches we had seen the Twelve Apostles were still magic. I was just heartsick I didn’t have the camcorder. The wind off the water keeps the air cool and crisp. You just don’t do much swimming on this coast with all these beautiful beaches without wetsuits.

Melba Gully State Park was our lunch stop. After all the desert and farmland we’d covered in this trip we all of a sudden found ourselves in a cool temperate rain forest. So much has been cleared over the years that much of the rain forest is in small patches like these. It’s degrees cooler in there and lush with fern etc. We walked all through it and saw the waterfalls etc. After lunch it was time for an Aussie rules footie game to the guitar music of another group nearby. None of us wanted to leave!! This had just been GORGEOUS weather for us.

We went through a large area of Mountain Ash trees (Eucalyptus variety) It’s the second tallest tree in the world behind the Giant Redwood. These guys are 300-400 years old. Lots of them have multiple tops. In the severe winds on this coast the tops break off and a new shoot goes up. It’s also the tallest flowering tree. They are white and blue gum varieties. Logging has been a major industry from Adelaide to Melbourne. We’ve seen so many replanted tree farms. Trees of all sizes.

Apollo Bay was the next seaside country town. There’s a fishing fleet of course but dairy farming and tourism are important too. Logging is very limited now. I’ve never seen as much hay baled as I’ve seen in the last three days! Rolling hillsides FULL! Today the road was winding through rainforest and farms. The contrast was amazing. This is the area of Otway Ranges if you’re using a map. The next village was Lorne. Just a few kilometers from there we noticed concrete squares with steel bits in them on the mountainsides. These are the pins that hold back the hillside from landslides. This coast road took 16 years to build. Returning soldiers from WWII as a work program did it. It was done with pick and shovel and dynamite – all by hand – no modern equipment. This section had a landslide in 1971and the road was closed for 6 months to get it cleared and stabilized and safe for travel again.

As we drove these three days the road constantly rose, fell, and seriously twisted and turned. The headlands, beaches, gullies, streams, sea, skies, and forests constantly rearranged themselves in an ever-changing pattern. You were never sure which direction to look!

Bells Beach was one of our last stops. It’s famous for the Bell’s Beach Classic (Surf Champs) every Easter. It’s a small beach made famous in the movie "Point Break" – but in the movie they actually were filming in Canada! Ten thousand fill this tiny place for the Classic. We stopped to watch a few surfers from the scenic overlook and then hiked down to walk on the beach a bit. Geelong was the next port and it was good sized. The only port between here and Adelaide, remember, was Portland. Geelong was founded in 1835 – the same year as Melbourne. Lots of industry is evident here – wool stores, car assembly, Shell Oil Refinery and aluminum smelting. We were soon in Melbourne. Back to a big city and back to people watching. Everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere. We parked for a minute near the cultural center where folks were gathering for some performance. It took almost a couple hours to drop everyone off where they were staying so we had window-watching time. I was soon ready for countryside again!