Cruisin'

Well finally the chaos of life subsided and Mistress P and I took some time off. A trip down the coast to experience the winter wildness of the Great Ocean Road and Shipwreck Coast. Apollo Bay was the first port of call, where we stayed in a lovely little cottage about 4 km out of town, in amongst the mounatin ash and king parrots. Bootiful.

Days were spent exploring... Day one was the Otway Fly - where you walk along in the treetops - which was spectacular in its own way, but i still found the nearby Triplet Falls more inspiring and natural. Home via some bouncy bush tracks to "indulge my rally driving fantasies" said mistress P.

Day 2 early was a trip to Mariners lookout above Apollo Bay. Now this is a speccy spot - the views over the bay are amazing and we could have sat there for hours. We stayed long enough for a little picnic lunch, and only saw a couple of other people the whole time (the joy of a winter holiday to the beach...). Afternoon was a trip to the Cape Otway lighthouse. We did a guided tour (arghh... the horror; nah, it was actually quite fascinating) during which the guide said the weather observations would be read at 3pm. We thought "great".. the rest of the people thought we were nutbags. The view from the lighthouse itself was superb, but at 3 we tootled off to the weather hut and caught up with Malcolm Brack, the observer. After introducing ourselves we proceeded to chat for well over an hour. Not only had he been the observer there for some 30 odd years, but he was the son of a lighthouse keeper and had lived in, near and around lighthouses all his life.

The third day was a little different... we'd heard about a mountain bike loop near the town of Forrest, at a place called Lake Elizabeth. Heard about indeed... but couldnt get any details from anyone. The closest we got was "a friend did it and its very hard so maybe you shouldnt do it". And this was from the information centre! In the end we just threw caution to the wind and headed up the Skenes Creek Rd to Forrest. Lunch needed... dropped into a cafe where we were greeted by a bizzare collection of 40's paraphanalia, a women cutting out a can-can dress on a big table, and a man behind the counter who just said with a large lump of surprise "ohh... customers" when we walked in. We sat and chatted for a while and wished can-can lady luck (she was quitting her job in 4 weeks and moving to Forrest to do... she didnt really know). Off to Lake Elizabeth and bikes out for a lap of the lake - which indeed was very noice, but hardly a day ride (was 5km all up). We couldnt for the life of us work out where this MTB loop was supposed to be, so in deperation we cycled up a track that looked like it just lead up from the car park to a loo. Now i should say her that the bush here was spectacular - tall mountain ash, blackwoods and rich green soft treeferns. Anyway.. loo track. Along we went... then saw some wheel marks,.. then some more track... and after around 2km of consistent climbing reached the road again. "Oh boy, that'll be a hoot to descend" i remember thinking. "Hey, wonder if it keeps going on the other side".. so we checked, and indeed it did. So over the road and the ridge, and down the other side. and indeed this was truely hoot-worthy. We dived off the main track a few times to what was probably the original (and far more technical) singletrack. On and on we went, gradually descending, and tackling some great little (and medium sized) jumps that just had me salivating for more. But alas and alack, winter also means the sun sets earlier, and that, coupled with the increasing risk of rain (indeed we did get a little wet) meant we werent able to find out if there was indeed a full loop, so we bactracked up the ridge and then did the fern track descent back to the car park. Bwilliant. Just bwilliant.

The fourth day was a cruise along to Port Campbell to check out the shipwreck coast. On the way we visited the cool rainforest of Melba Gully (near Lavers Hill) and also tried to find "The Gables", which i had read about being a spectacular cliff top ocean view. Our maps sent us every which way, but eventually, after taking the dirt road to Moonlight Head, discivered what we were looking for. A short walk and there we were - 130 metres above the ocean and a view well worth the bounce down the track. Back on the tar and a stop at Gibsons Steps, were indeed steps have been cut in the cliff and you can walk down to the beach. Finally Port Campbell, our new home.

Day five was the tourist day, exploring alon the coast and the spectacular scenery of the Bay of islands, Loch Ard Gorge and all the various stops and views along the road. There was more than enough people about - all in little hyundai getx hire cars! - so i shudder to think what it would have been like in summer. Day six was much the same, though it was our travelling home day. But we took the time to drop into the 12 Apostles - which are indeed spectacular - and shipwreck bay. Shipwreck bay is again down the rough tracks towards Moonlight Head, and involved a walk down 366 steps to the beach. Once there the place was truly wild and deserted, woth crashing surf, towering cliffs and rocky shore platforms. We wandered west and soon came across one of two anchors from shopwrecks that, depsite being around 100 years old, are still visible, stuck in the beach. Mind boggling to think of the stories they could tell. Also discvered a little fairy epngion that had been washed up and looking decidedly done for (though still alive).

Home - but thats another story...