Wanderung 22

Return to the Land of Oz

November - December 2009

Saturday, December 5th, Drive from Phillips Island to Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road

Bob:

We finished breakfast, packed the car, and checked out of the Seahorse Motel by 8:30 to begin working our way back off Phillip Island. Once back on the mainland we circled around Western Port, the bay lying between Phillip Island and the southern shore of the Victoria mainland. Monika informed me that the ferries from Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula to Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula on the other side of the bay left every hour on the hour, so I made every effort to catch the 11 o'clock ferry. But in the end I was defeated by a string of roundabouts that kept slowing me down. At first I tried to keeping up the pace even in the roundabouts, but after hearing my tires screeching on the pavement as I passed a tractor trailer truck in a roundabout, I decided to back off even at the expense of missing the ferry, probably a wise decision.

But even wise decisions have their natural consequences, and so it was that just as we pulled into Sorrento we saw the 11 o'clock ferry chugging slowly away from the wharf. Sigh. After getting information on the costs of the ferry at the ticket kiosk ($45 for the car and $7.50 per person), we killed a half an hour by checking out the bar and cafe on the main drag of Sorrento, which is a very small main drag! We ultimately ordered a chicken burger for me and hamburger for Monika at the bar where we had a nice view out over the bay, but the service was glacially slow and our entrees arrived too late to consume there. It was one of those days, and I'm sure that the Gentle Reader has had them, where pretty much nothing seems to go exactly as planned! We hurriedly picked up our meals and carried them along with us when we returned to drive onto the ferry.

Monika:

Today we were going to start driving the Great Ocean Road which starts at the western side of Port Phillip Bay, which is the bay which lies at the south side of Melbourne. From Phillip Island we had to drive to the north end of Western Port. From there we could have gone up to Melbourne and around Port Phillip Bay. Instead we chose the alternate route of driving down the Mornington Peninsula almost to the headlands where the bay opens into the ocean, where we could catch the Sorrento to Queenscliff ferry that would take us to the other side of the bay. Anyone who knows me, is aware that I love ferries and so any half-ways good excuse (like this is 100 km less driving and elmininates a lot of driving in a big city--Melbourne) will work.

So off we went around 9:00. I knew we had to drive about 150 km to get to the ferry. The land was flat and not too interesting. There were some nice four-lane road stretches, but surprisingly one of those stretches had several round-abouts. Nothing is as obnoxious as driving along at 100km/h and then having to suddenly slow down and often even stop to negotiate the round-about. I am not sure, but stop-lights probably would be better.

I had made the mistake of telling Bob that the ferry left every hour on the hour, so he naturally tried to make the 11:00 AM. If the road had continued to be four lanes, we probably would have made it, but the last 20 km were through little seaside villages and we finally arrived at the ferry dock at about 11:05 and could only wave as the 11:00 ferry was leaving. We inquired about tickets and when to get ready, and were told that the gate opened at 11:45 and we would buy our ticket at the gate. So we parked our car and took a look at the little seaside town of Sorrento and also looked for some food. After taking some pictures of the harbor we looked at the offerings of a small cafe and were dismayed at the prices. But across the road I saw a Fish and Chips place that had just opened. They also had chicken and beef burgers so we ordered one of each. Unfortunately, it took much longer to fix them than we thought (had to pluck the chicken?). When we finally got our burgers, it was already time to get on the ferry. The burgers were nicely packed and we figured we could eat them on the ferry.

Bob:

Once we parked the car as directed on the ferry's lower deck, we carried our sandwiches and a water bottle up to the forward lounge area and had a nice, comfortable meal as the ferry edged out of port. Monika always enjoys a ferry ride and this was no exception. After lunch we spent most of our time out on the deck trying to get pictures of the cliffs on shore, other ships passing us, and finally the port area of Queenscliff as we neared our destination.

Once in Queenscliff we drove off and through the town, which proved to be much more substantial than Sorrento, with many more shops, restaurants, etc. However, the astonishing thing was that we saw literally thousands of bicyclists both on the road and camped at what looked like a little tent city on the village green or common area. Goodness. Clearly some kind of bicycle rally was in progress and it appeared as if they had just completed all or a part of the Great Ocean Road, which must have been quite an experience!

We continued to pass pelotons of bicycles, often with a support van with flashing yellow lights right behind them, as we also worked our way onto the Great Ocean Road. Fortunately we were going in the opposite direction so I didn't have to cope with continually passing the pelotons and isolated bicyclists, because they were almost a continuous stream during the first 10-15 kilometers.

But by the time we reached Torquay (pronounced "tor-key" apparently. English is such a wonderfully phonetic language!), the bicyclists had all passed us by. We stopped at the Information Centre for maps and advice and received both in plenty from a nice lady who also spoke fluent German. She recommended staying two nights in Apollo Bay and taking a loop in Otway National Park during the intervening day so that we could see the waterfalls and natural beauties of that area more thoroughly before moving on. Since it was Saturday night, traditionally the busiest night for vacation areas, we were concerned about finding a place to stay and the lady nicely called the hotels in Apollo Bay until she found a place that fit the bill and had a room for two nights. I really should emphasize here how helpful and informative all of the tourist centers were all across Australia during our trip, saving only the one at Lakes Entrance where the staff were brusque and dismissive.

Monika:

So we got into the car, drove to the gate, bought our ticket and got in line to drive onto the ferry. It was a rather large ferry that even had two stories for cars. But this morning, there were not that many cars. We walked up to the lounge and settled ourselves at a table. Of course, we did go out to take some departure pictures but then came back to finally enjoy our burgers.

We then did go back out on deck to watch the sea drift by. We saw one container ship coming in and in the distance we could see the skyline of Melbourne.

We drove off the ferry at Queenscliff and where surprised to see a large tent encampment with many, many bicyclists. Driving through town there were even more of them. I tried to keep my cool and navigate, but that was not easy. The Great Ocean Road proper starts at Torquay and to get there involved again a bunch of minor road. Between the maps and the GPS there was not always an agreement as to what was a major or minor roads. Luckily most round-abouts had signs to the Great Ocean Road, however, at the one that did not, I promptly told Bob the wrong direction and we had to work on getting back.

Back on the main road, we passed lots of bicyclists heading toward Queenscliff. This was obviously an organized event and not only involved serious riders, but also couch potatoes and even children. It was a really large event, we guessed at well over 1000 riders. I thought it might be a ride for a charity of some kind, but we never did find out. Obviously, the bicyclists' goal for this day's leg was Queenscliff, but where they had started from and how long the event would be going on we never did find out.

By the time we reached Torquay, the official start of the Great Ocean Road, it was 2:00PM. We stopped at the information centre and had a wonderful woman, who had really good suggestions on what we could do in the short time we had. We decided to spend two nights in Apollo Bay about 90 km up the road from Torquay, with a stop in Lorne to see a waterfall. Audrey even called a couple of motels in Apollo Bay, since it was Saturday and places started to fill up. We reserved a room at the Beachcomber Motel, and I did feel a lot better, knowing that we had a place to put our weary heads.

Bob:

Then we began our journey along the Great Ocean Road in earnest. We soon had great views of waves crashing onto beaches between rocky headlands soaring above the deep blue ocean. And at first the road wasn't too bad and we made such good time to Lorne that I felt we had enough spare time to drive up to Erskine Falls and walk the fairly short trail down to the falls.

Monika:

The first 50 km of the Great Ocean Road from Torquay to Lorne was relatively easy driving with some beautiful scenery of high cliffs and white beaches. We turned off a couple of times into lookouts to take pictures. What was interesting was that for the first time we saw signs that said "Drive Left in Australia". Obviously, the Great Ocean Road is a tourist magnet for non-Australian folks. And indeed whenever we were parked I saw a few rental vehicles.


 

Bob:

The road up the mountain out of Lorne was, however, the steepest road grade I have ever seen outside of my son Judson's driveway. I couldn't even keep the car going in second gear; it would repeatedly bog down. So I philosophically kept it in first gear and just kind of churned up the hill, but then some dad-blamed fool put a stop sign right on the main road! You have to understand that stop signs are actually quite rare in Australia, unlike the United States. The Australians are much fonder of roundabouts or if that doesn't work, yield signs, and either of those I could have handled by slowly chugging through it in first gear. But no, some noodle-headed bureaucrat had to put an honest-to-god STOP sign right on the side of the hill! Well, okay, despite the temptation to run the dratted thing as there was no car within blocks of me, I dutifully complied with the law and came to a full and complete stop. That left the problem of how to get the Getz moving again, and I knew that wasn't going to be easy on a 30% or so grade. In desperation I revved it up and dropped the clutch, and with those little wheels spinning like mad and burning rubber we once again started to edge up the hill.

Fortunately the grade evened out a bit as we got away from Lorne and into the National Park area to the North. The paved road ended after a few kilometers but the gravel road that replaced it wasn't too bad, so we persevered and found the parking lot for the walk to the falls. The walk itself was mainly a series of about "billions and billions" (Monika's phrase) of steps down to the falls, but the view of the falls at the bottom was worth it. Erskine falls is a tall, narrow type of falls. The water had carved kind of a grotto all around the falls and the cool, damp micro-climate in the grotto led to a profusion of ferns and mosses covering almost every surface, even the sheer cliff behind the water cascading down from the lip of the falls. It reminded me a bit of the tall, narrow falls set in lush, tropical foliage that we had seen on the Big Island of Hawaii a few years back. Very pretty.

Monika:

In Lorne, we decided to break up our drive by walking to the Erskine Falls. The road to the falls started in the middle of town and went straight up. At the end of the first block the city fathers had the forsight to put a Stop sign (one of the few I have seen in Australia). What are they trying to do? Help the local garages? Honestly, who puts a Stop sign on a road that goes straight up? Bob did not burn out the clutch and rolled back only a little and we were back going up, up, up. The drive to Erskine Falls was about 10 miles and we were soon driving in the beginning of the Otway National Park, that stretches from Lorne past Apollo Bay along the coastal mountains. The walk to the falls was not that long but quite steep. There was an upper viewing platform that was just about 50 steps down, but the walk to the lower platform was a few hundred steps or more down.

The falls were quite pretty and we took a lot of pictures, before walking back up-up-up the stairs. We rested a couple of times, we called it "taking pictures of trees", while various members of the younger generation surged uphill past us. But we did make it back to the car to drive on.


 


 

Bob:

The Great Ocean Road from Lorne to Apollo Bay is one of the most scenic, but also one of the most demanding, roads I have ever driven. Neville had told me about how convicts had hacked the road out of the side of the mountain with pick and shovels over the course of many years, and the way the road hugged the coastline was simply amazing. The scenery continued to be a rugged and absolutely stunning sequence of panoramic seascapes with the white foam of the surf crashing against rocky headlands sandwiched between a deep blue sky and even deeper blue ocean.

Some idiot, however, had posted the speed limit for that section of the road at 80 kilometers per hour. I am here to warn you that if you try to drive that stretch at 80 kph you will certainly die by either hitting another car head-on, running into the side of the mountain on your right, or running off the mountain into the sea on your left. I don't know which will happen to you, but one or the other fate will almost certainly occur; take your pick! After one close call where an oncoming driver lost traction and slid over the center line into my lane, I became even more cautious and drove that stretch at a maximum of 60 kph. For many of the tight, blind curves and 180-degree hairpin turns you must really gear down to 20 kph or so to be safe because you will unexpectedly come upon bicyclists in your own lane as well as oncoming cars who want to, or absolutely have to, borrow part of your lane.

The curious thing is that the Powers That Be have also posted numerous signs about how that stretch is a "High Accident Area" and warning you to be careful, but they don't take the sensible next step and actually lower the speed limit. Go figure! If you do drive that stretch of the Great Ocean Highway, pay absolutely scrupulous attention to those yellow speed warning signs for each curve. I absolutely, positively recommend that you set your speed at exactly that or no more than 5 kilometers per hour more than that recommended speed, and if the pavement is damp or adhesion is compromised for any other reason, you should jolly well drive under the recommended speed limit. You might also want to practice driving two lane roads in the mountains before you attempt the Great Ocean Road in Australia. 'Nuff said.

Monika:

Signs like "High Accident Area for the next 40 km" and "curvy road next 40km" should have warned us. The brochure says that the stretch between Lorne and Apollo Bay is the most scenic, it forgets to say that it is also the most difficult to drive. There probably was not a straightaway in that whole stretch. At times we were perched right over the Pacific at other times the road went up into the mountains with hairpin curves and all. Bob did a magnificent job driving, but he told me his shoulder muscles were aching from constantly having to shove the steering wheel from full-lock left to full-lock right. Luckily traffic was not all that high and there were no logging trucks on the road (Bob's mountain road nemesis). But it was an interesting experience. [Ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times."]

Bob:

After having had the drive of my life in several different respects, we reached Apollo Bay almost exactly on the dot of 5:00 p.m., which is when I had told the proprietor of the Beachcomber Motel we would arrive. After signing in and moving our gear into our motel room, we drove over to the a Foodworks store for necessary groceries for our evening meal. I found a loaf of what I would call "super raisin bread" that had at least two different kinds of raisins and other fruits embedded in it, almost as much as a fruit cake. Fortunately our motel room had a refrigerator, water heater, and even a microwave was available in the laundry room next to us, so we had everything we needed to prepare and eat dinner, after which we read and worked on the computer until it was time for bed.

Monika:

The road finally straightened a tad and we drove into Apollo Bay. When I saw that most motels and B&Bs had No Vacancies sign out, I was happy we had our room reserved. We stopped at the Beachcomber took a look at our room, nice with refrigerator and water heater, and went to the local food store to get some essentials, like bread, meat, cheese, milk, cereal, and, of course, wine. We now were all set for a nice quiet evening back in our room.


 

Copyright 2010 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt
Index
Prolog Map of Cruise around New Zealand Map of Drive through Victoria Epilog

November 2009
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8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
December 2009
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1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30

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