Towards Melbourne

Unlike the road up to Apollo Bay where the road is along the cliff tops,  the road  after Apollo bay is some ways down the cliff.

Added much to gek's driving pleasure!!!!

 The wind was strong and off shore and with quite heavy breaking waves created the effect of white horses manes blowing out behind them.  Remind you of anything?

 An extraordinary effect.

This coast is and was very dangerous to shipping.  To reduce the number of wrecks, lighthouses became a feature of this coast line.

 We were really fotunate with the weather again.  19 deg C and a cloudless sky. Blue was the colour of the day.

 But there is an end to the Great Ocean Road.   This was our end. Portarlington.

 and in the last rays of the sun.

there is Melbourne.  Some where over there is a bed with our name on it!!!

Apollo Bay

 We stayed over in Apollo Bay for three nights.  Gek took advantage of the excellent accomodation to paint. 

 But we did get out and about.  This is the way we left Apollo, heading towards Melbourne.

Very quiet at this time of year.

Twelve Apostles.

 These famous structures are subject to a Southern Ocean wave every 14 seconds.  Not surprisingly,  there are casualties. The pile of rocks in the foreground was once a pillar similar to the others.

 To the West

To the East

 And the waves keep coming.

Very beautiful they are too.

Towards the twelve Apostles

 On the road along the Great Ocean Road.

 Along this section of  coast line are some extraordinary looking weathered rocks sticking out of the sea.

London Bridge  The waves coming through the arch created strange wave patterns.

Waarnambool - Day 2

 The first of many waves.

 And surfers, no doubt.  Look behind you.

Granny’s view from Granny’s grave.  Granny died in 1848, being the first European woman to do so in Warrnambool.  She was moved here in 1904.

Warrnambool - Day 1

 A three night stop in Warrnambool.

 War memorials are as evident here as in the UK.  A sign of shared traumas.

Having a Mr. Bean moment in the Warrnambool Library having found a free WIFI connection to the internet.  Not cheap here you know, Web access.

To Warrnambool

 Caught a rainbow.

 Dropped into Portland

And Port Fairy.

Route 1 here we come.

 We did start this road trip in Adelaide and we did sort of take Route 1  to our first stop at  Mount Barker in the Adelaide hills, but now we were feeling we were really on our way around Australia.

 A little weather ahead.

Our over-nighter was at Robe.  An Obelisk  to guide sailors,

and these strange hollows in the cliff top  lime stone.  Need to find out how they were formed.

Victor Harbour.

As we were soon the discover,  Autumn along South Australia coast  is decidedly the out of season time.  Most places we have visited are very, very quiet.  So we decided to walk across the causeway to Granite Island,  on the off chance we might see the penguins.  A bit chilly.

 Could have taken the tram but felt for them poor horses.  Not unlike a Blackpool tram without an engine.

 And the first of many, many wavescapes,

Before training  it back to Goolwa.

Goolwa

 Pinch a picture of the river mouth.

Goolwa is at the mouth of the Murray river, the river that has caused so much flooding hundreds of miles to the north of here in this year (2011). Where the river water flows into the sea is unexpectedly very narrow. The mouth has had to be dredged continuously for the past 4 years, just to keep the passage open for local boats to pass between the river and the sea.

 Pinch a picture of the river mouth.

This more what it should look like but it is much fuller now.  Sorry no photo.

 Goolwa  the starting point of the Victor Harbour train.  Not that I am that interested in trains!  Oh,  really?

Waiting for the depart whistle in beautifully refurbished cars.  Looking so chilled.

Our Hills home from home.

Our terrace view,

Where Gek first got out her paints and brushes.

But more on the paintings later.

 Always with the watchful by Harry.  The ever hopeful Harry. Why won’t you throw my ball?

Pam and Dave, our hosts and now friends, invited us to dinner on our last night at Rainbow End. If we manage our intended circumdrive of this big island, we will be back to see them in 2014!  They made our stay in the Hills totally brilliant.

Adelaide hills - Botanic Garden

Our visit to the Hills was timed to coincide with the Autumn.  We wanted to catch the colours.

 

And weren’t disappointed.

The Botanic Gardens are on the slopes of Mount Lofty on the side away from Adelaide.  Not really formal in the style of the Singapore’s Botanic Gardens, giving these gardens  a much more ‘natural’ feel to them.   

Don’t think holly indigenous to Australia ,  but clearly thrives here.