Port Fairy's quite a pretty little town, so we took a few pictures
of the place before heading out on the road again...
Click
to see colour version
Camels,
in Australia? You'd better believe it!
The section of the Great Ocean Road from here to Cape Otway National
Park contains all the famous bits of the cliff hanging around in
the water looking very spectacular.
More parts of the cliff in the sea...
The following pictures are taken in and around the Bay of Martyrs.
Colour
version
These pictures were taken in The Grotto:
And here's a picture that was taken just a couple of kilometres
down the road at London
Bridge. There are lots of these bizzare formations scattered
all the way along this section of the road. Each is well signposted
and serviced with tracks, information points - and tourists.
Here's another arch
for your enjoyment.
All of these impressive rock formations are but pretenders compared
with the Great Ocean Road's greates claim to fame - The Twelve Apostles.
More apostles' pictures:
The best time to see the Apostles has got to be dawn rather than
sunset. You can't really see that much as the sun sets right behind
the rocks. The pictures are okay, but the rocks just look like a
hole bunch of silhouettes. But why are they called the 12 Apostles?
'To attract tourists', is a cynical, maybe even cruel answer, but
having read several guide books that 'umm and err' over the whole
issue, it seems like the best offering. Simply, there aren't 12
rocks at the moment. However, the name's certainly got a certain
ring to it and it does attract lots of people to the region, so
what if the guys have used a bit of dramatic license?!
The road between the Apostles and Cape Otway is impressive at dusk.
More pictures:
Why did I take so many photos?
Em's spider experience is yet to come...I'll let her tell the story
in her own words:
We were running late to set up our campsite
after we had visited the 12 Apostles, and it was dark by the time
we arrived at our campsite.
Em the next morning.
It was the third place that we'd tried to get into. Everywhere
that we tried was either full or inaccesible. So
we were ferreting around trying to look for a spot. Finally, we
found one right under a tree (it was Easter, and all campsites were
very very busy). We had dinner etc, and then it was time for bed.
So I get changed, and try to snuggle up in my sleeping bag, when
I feel this bite under my shirt! Arrgghhh! It gave me a real shock.
Anyway, Dan and I sat around for about 20 mins working out what
to do - we couldn't bl**dy find anything, but I wasn't sure if it
was a spider bite or not. Then I started to feel a bit funny. So
Dan wasted no time, and pushed me out of the tent into the car.
It was probably around 11pm and it was pitch black. The nearest
place was about 30 mins away [It took 24 minutes to get there,
but 45 minutes to get back! I drove at a slightly more sensible
speed on the way back] on a winding road and
we couldn't get any reception on my mobile. All I remember is rolling
around in the front of the car while Dan was driving around the
bends of the road. It was pretty scary. Then we arrived in Apollo
Bay and Dan asked a pissed local for directions. Dan was so wound
up he forgot to put the car back into drive, and he slammed the
accelerator down while in neutral. Needless to say, there was a
pretty load screeching, and then all of a sudden we took off! [Hmm,
My story is that the auto slipped out of drive - needless to say
there was a rather impressive wheel spin when it finally kicked
in!]. We found the hospital a few minutes later,
and just as I was entering the front entrance, I saw a car pull
up behind ours, and two guys stepping out. Dan and I both initially
thought they were ambulance guys, cause we'd actually rung the ambulance
number about 10 mins before to get directions to the hospital. However,
we then looked at their holsters and saw guns. As I was being whisked
away by the nurse, I left Dan talking to these two burly police
officers, trying to explain why he had been driving at about 120kms
in the town centre!! [It was only 100 through the town centre
and there were no other cars on the road. It was 120 - 160km/hr
on the country roads]. Meanwhile, I was admitted
to the hospital and the doctor was woken up and dragged in to check
me out. (What is it with me, travelling and hospitals??!!). It was
decided that I would have to stay in for 4 hours while they monitored
me (the bite could have been a spider, but they weren't sure. They
were pretty sure it wasn't a redback
[picture]
spider. The doctor suggested it may have even just been a caterpillar
which I had a bit of a reaction to!!). It all worked out fine though,
Dan got off from any driving charges, although I did get
breathalised - again, I was fine and spent 4
hours on a hospital bed trying to sleep and we drove back to the
campsite at 4am. Very exciting night.
The hospital where we spent half the night.
To tomorrow
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