Day 21 - Phillip Island
Well, let’s face it. The Great Ocean Route was sort of a letdown. Compared to last year’s drive along Pacific Coast Highway, the weather did suck.
So we did not bother any longer, and went for early breakfast in Apollo Beach (The Lonely Planet recommended a place which we can now fully agree with). Then westwards towards Melbourne and Phillip Island. Took the vehicle ferry from Queenscliff which cut our travel time down by about two hours and arrived late on Phillip Island.
Went straight to the penguin parade which is the coolest thing by far. Right after sunset, hundreds of small ( ~ 30 cm) penguins come waddling out of the sea and up the beach towards their nests. Cute and cuddly, boys, cute and cuddly. No photos allowed, though so I have no images of them (no, I did not try and sneak-grab some as some of our fellow German and Chinese tourists did).
australia great ocean road penguins phillip island travelDay 20 - The Great Ocean Road (and Hinterland)
Still foggy today. Nevertheless, we drove from Johanna towards Apollo Beach (which is tourist trap and we mostly avoided it) and then back through the Hinterland to the Twelve Apostles. Had to take about 20 kms of unsealed road to Beech Forest to get to the Otway Fly national park. Once we were a bit away from the coast, the weather cleared up immediately. However, no luck on the road itself.Went to the tree top walk, which is really recommended if you have some time to spare, and then back a bit westward to the twelve apostles (the most famous view on the Victoria coast).
Until now, Victoria has let us pretty much down. We’ll be traveling east tomorrow and we hope for a change.
australia great ocean road johanna otway travelDay 19 - Hall’s Gap to Johanna
To the Great Ocean Road! Off we went early from Hall’s Gap, right into … fog?!? Through a pretty eerie scenery (with some more ‘roos and some deer on the road) we drove straight south towards the coast.Stopped off at Tower Hill National Park to look for more animals. Saw some Emus and even Koalas (now we seem to have collected the whole set: Emu, Roo, Koala. Wait, the Croc is still missing).
Later that day the fog rolled back in from the sea. So the first look at the Great Ocean Route was again pretty foggy. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow.
Ended up in a place called “Boomerang retreat”. We have a ‘modest’ place of ~ 100 square meters with a great view over hills towards the sea (still foggy, though). If only they had broadband, I might just move in here.
australia great ocean road johanna the grampians travel