Cape Otway

It was a cool and sometimes drizzly day but we decided to embark on a tour of parts of the Cape Otway National Park. In these areas if you wait for a perfect day you will miss on seeing anything if you only have a short visiting time.

We had followed a decline in the path into Elliott River and reached this small stream running through the forest. As you can see there are many ferns growing in the damp atmosphere of the forest.

The path arrives at a fork and one must make a decision! The left fork leads to Shelly Beach. This is a very small beach and is devoid of shells. I am puzzled as to the name for the beach? The sea was very quiet today but I can imagine waves pounding the sandy beach on wild days.

We back-tracked along the path from Shelly Beach and then followed the path option to the right. Along the way we caught this glimpse of the southern coast and Cape Otway through the trees.

Very close to the mouth of The Elliott River there is a small but pretty waterfall. There is a track that will take you to the falls.

This is the unspectacular entry to Bass Strait by The Elliott River. You can make it out through this pile of rubble.

About 10 km further along the Great Ocean Road you will arrive at the entry to 'Maits Rest'. This is a small reserve very close to the main road and it is only about 20 to 30 minutes to walk through. What this park lacks in distance it makes up for in being a great example of a temperate rainforest. You are walking through a forest of massive tree ferns. This photograph is of the beginning of the path, I didn't take my camera into the walk as it was very wet and there was a drizzle of rain.

We arrived at the Cape Otway Lighthouse only to discover that there is a substantial fee to enter the grounds to get a close-up view. A fee that we and many others were not going to pay. Hence, all you get is this far of photograph from a distant look-out point. The lighthouse sits on the most southerly point of the State of Victoria. We did hear later that if you tell a little white lie and state that you are from the town of Colac or some other nearby town you will be granted free entry. We never got to test that theory.

As you enter the Cape Otway National Park, there is a large colony of Koala. Some are photogenic, like this one, and struck a pose for the many cameras.

Another Koala wondering what I am doing at the base of his/her tree.

Apollo Bay Agricultural Show

The home of the Annual Apollo Bay Agricultural Show is the Recreation Reserve. We and many others are camping in the large area of the Reserve, that meant that we had a frontline view and access to all the proceedings. We were very fortunate indeed to be able to take in all the events and the atmosphere of the Show.

One of the featured 'exhibits' at the show was the live creation a massive timber sculpture by the chainsaw artisan, Rob Blast from Seville, Victoria. Comments as to the eventual finished appearance ranged from Hammerhead Shark to Dolphin but not Whale. This is strange from people who live on the ocean coast with migrating whales passing close by.

This South American Macaw was also in attendance.

An overall photograph showing the colour and action of the Main Arena.

Beside the Main Arena, squeezed in to every corner were supplementary activities such as sheep handling with dogs and childrens' high slide.

This young female Koala was lapping up all the attention from many children wanting to pat her.

The delicate finishing touches to the Whale.

The finished article. The whole project took about 8 hours to complete. The piece was later auctioned and fetched a price of $800.00

The final event at the Show was the canine fence jump. This Whippet was the 'Runner-Up' contestant, seen here scaling a height of around 2.35 metres.

The winner of the canine fence jump was this keen contestant, seen here scaling the height of 2.4 metres, the only contestant to achieve that feat.

Apollo Bay Foreshore

Apollo Bay was always one of our favourite destinations during the time we lived in Geelong. This town was always going to be a "must do" destination for us. We camped in the Recreation Reserve and met so many wonderful travellers during our stay.

Went on our maiden cycle ride with our fold up bikes from Aldi. They have experienced some inclement weather here at Apollo Bay and some of the foreshore cycle/walk path has been destroyed, like this section here.

The view across the foreshore towards the town area and the marina.

On our cycle ride we came across these guys playing a game with one rubber thong. The idea is, there is an inner circle drawn in the sand, one person is in the centre with the thong, the others are on the circle, the centre person tosses the thong into the air and the others gain as much distance as they can before the thong lands on the sand, the centre person then attempts to contact one of the others with the thong, if successful, that person then takes the centre position and the game goes on.

The tide is out at this time and we are closer to the town.

This is the Tourist Information Centre. It is situated on the foreshore reserve at the east end of the CBD.

On the foreshore reserve there are many pieces of wooden sculpture, including these great seal pieces.

There are also 'totem' like sculpture pieces.

This is the beginning of the CBD approaching from the eastern end of town.

There are other inclusions along the foreshore park, like this relic from the sailing ship days. That's the ship's anchor I'm talking about, not Judy.

This view from Marengo, a satellite suburb of Apollo Bay, looking eastwards towards Apollo Bay. Notice the rolling hills behind the town.

Another angle from Marengo taking in Seal Rocks and the paddle boarders in the middle ground.

This fantastic view is from Marriner's Lookout at Apollo Bay, looking eastwards towards Skene's Creek. Unfortunately crews were burning-off in the valleys beyond Skene's Creek and the smoke-haze has obliterated the extended view.

From Marriner's Lookout looking westwards towards Apollo Bay and Marengo, you would almost think that you are flying in an aircraft the lookout is that high.