The Great Ocean Road and much more 🪨
We celebrated being back by the sea by having a surf lesson. The van came with a surfboard, we did once get it off the roof and look at the sea, but decided we weren't ready to head straight in. We had a great morning in Torquay learning what we're meant to do and catching some small waves, we then spent the afternoon in the same spot with our own board refining our new learnt skills. After, we set off on the Great Ocean Road, first stop Split Point Lighthouse which has a long history but was used for a telly show called Round the Twist, which has a really catchy theme tune so we got that playing in the van.
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We then arrived for the night at the Twelve Apostles, a series of stacks off the coast caused by erosion by wave and wind. There isn't 12, and there is some debate on whether there was ever 12, but it really is a wonderful view. Matt wanted sunrise and sunset photos and also went down in the night while I stayed in bed, incase the stars were good. The selfie at the end is at the Twelve Apostles 😀.
The next day continued with rock formations - Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge, Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands. London Bridge fell in 1990 leaving two tourists stranded on the newly formed island, they were soon rescued by helicopter. I think there are more restrictions in place now about where you can and cannot go. The sun was shining giving spectacular views of the deep blue sea and we were glad to finally be getting some of the famous Australian sunshine.
We then drove inland to The Grampians where it only got hotter and the fire risks increased. The Grampians had a bushfire only a month ago, started by lightening strikes it burned 76000 hectares of the National Park. As a result large areas of the park were closed and there was still a complete fire ban in place. We walked up Mount Abrupt which gave wonderful views and then drove north up to Halls Gap which really showed the extent of the recent fires. From Halls Gap we did a popular walk up to the Pinnacle lookout which takes you through rock gullys and then looks out over the town.
Next day and next stop was Mount Gambier, which is South Australia's second biggest city after Adelaide. We visited Umpherstons Sinkhole, a lovely garden just sat in the bottom of a sinkhole and then the Blue Lake, a lake in a volcanic crater where the city gets its drinking water. We were going to walk the full loop of the lake but ran out of time as we got chatting to a friendly Chinese man who, although friendly, had some strong opinions about a lot of countries around the world.
Just a short drive away is another volcanic crater, Mount Schank, where you can do a lovely little walk around the crater rim. Close to that is also another blue lake called Little Blue Lake in a sinkhole which you can swim in, a great way to finish the day, so we both jumped in.
Just down the road is a pub where you can park for the night in their carpark so we treated our selves to a pub meal and a drink which was just delightful after days of pasta and noodles in the van, they also had compfy sofas. We both had a huge Schnitzel and went to bed feeling very full.
We headed back to the coast to the town of Robe the next day to continue our surf journey. There is a lovely long beach called Long Beach which had some medium waves so off we set to try and catch some. Matts getting pretty good, I'm having some balance issues but I'm sure if I keep having a go I'll get better. I've got no photos of a surf journey as I always leave by phone in the van, I'll get some of Matt next time we surf.
We're very aware there is still a lot of Australia left to see, so we had a big drive to make it to the edge of Adelaide where we are now. Adelaide Fringe has just begun so we've booked some tickets to some shows in the city where we'll head later today. We're looking forward to being back in a city!
Lots of love,
Lisa and Matt 💕
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