Ginger Without Borders

The Great Ocean Road was built by Australian servicemen returning from the Great War (now know as World War I) as a memorial to their comrades who were lost in Europe. It is the world’s largest war memorial. It is 152 miles long and was built from 1919 until 1932, largely by hand. Parts of the road were carved out of the rugged mountains of the southwest coast of Victoria, an area that was previously only accessible by sea or bush track.

Most folks start from the Melbourne side of the GOR, but we began on the Adelaide side. Our first stop was a slight back track from Warranbool to Port Fairy, the first real estate development in Australia. Originally named Belfast after the Irish immigrant solicitor’s (yes, attorneys do build places) hometown. He drained a swamp and sold leases to other immigrants (and engaged in a war with the aboriginals) and by 1857, Belfast had become one of the biggest ports in Australia, catering to the whaling industry. Its name was changed to Port Fairy in 1887. When the whaling industry left, it became a sleepy village, now championed as one of the most livable places in Australia.

The folks at the tourist office were quite helpful and directed us to one of the best lunches we have had in Australia overlooking this beach just outside of the historic town. After lunch, google maps tried to send us on another one of its short cuts that would have taken us off the GOR. We have become a little wiser to google’s tricks and just turned maps off since the GOR was well signed. We had seen pictures of the Twelve Apostles, but that was in the middle of the GOR, so we were amazed at the first stop, the Bay of Islands.

This is only a partial view of the 270 degree view of these cliffs and towering islands. It was the coldest day we have yet had in Australia (around 60 degrees) and windy. Out at the edge of the cliffs, the Pacific wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult just to keep the camera steady to take a picture. We decided to hurry back to the car for heat and head to a well known stop. The name London Bridge no longer works for this feature because the arch connecting it to the coast collapsed several years ago, stranding some folks on the new island (a helicopter was called in for the rescue).

But I believe our favorite spot was the lesser known The Arch. We must have stayed for half an hour just watching the huge waves crash into the base of the arch, while trying to stay out of the cold blowing wind. Dawn had by now found her earmuffs only to have the wind actually blow them off her head, so she tied her scarf over her ears to hold the earmuffs in place.

As we left The Arch, a light rain (a Scottish mist as the Kangaroo Island guides called it) started to fall. But within five minutes, it became a downpour and the winds drove it in sheets across the road to the point that it was difficult to see the two lane road and the mountains around us disappeared into the mist. We almost abandoned the stop at the Twelve Apostles but the rain mercifully became a light drizzle by the time we got to the enormous parking lot for the Twelve Apostles. There were tons of oriental visitors here, unlike our other stops. The rain must have contained some small hail because it stung as it hit our faces as we walked out to the Apostles. We had seen lots of pictures of the Twelve Apostles in the sunshine but we got to see them in the mist.

There are no longer twelve because, like London Bridge, the relentless Pacific has undermined a few. The smaller rocks in the middle are former Apostles. The path for viewing the Apostles leads out to a point where you can photograph the Apostles to the west. We found the view to the east to have equally impressive cliffs.

But by now, we were both cold and somewhat damp and only wanted to get to our hotel, so we headed down a twisting part of the GOR that reminded us of some of the smaller side roads in our NC mountains, except there were tree ferns growing in these rainforests. In the distance at the top right of this picture (the white line of the coast) is Apollo Bay and our hotel as the GOR drops down to sea level. But at Apollo Bay, we are only halfway down the GOR.

PS, Lena, this was another amazing day spending your inheritance. And your Mom is cold and needs me to keep her warm, so I am safe for another day.