My Australian holiday - you asked for it !

[Snatcher]

There were a couple of impressive bronze statues outside the stadium,the first one was that famous fast bowler Dennis Lilley

 

 

This one is Sir Donald Bradman

 

 

Just around the corner was the Rod Laver Arena

 

 

After that it was a fair trek to our next port of call Melbourne Cenotaph.The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s principal war memorial and the focus for commemorative ceremonies and marches.

 

It was built between July 1928 and November 1934 in remembrance of those 114 000 men and women of Victoria who served, and those who died, in the Great War of 1914-1918.

 

 

It is open to the public and well worth seeing with a lot of artefacts inside.We just had to climb to the top for a view of the city

 

 

Well that was our whistlestop tour complete apart from one thing. Steve Harrison who comes from Perth had a year out around the world. He managed to finish up in Whitley Bay and loved the place. We became real good mates and he has been back to Whitley Bay a few times now.Well I found out that he was currently living and working in Melbourne so had arranged for us to meet up for a few sociables in the city.This is the pair of us !!

 

 

The next installment sees us heading off along the Great Ocean Road towards Apollo Bay.

[Snatcher]

We said are farewells to my cousins Les,Robert and the family and headed west making Torquay our first stop.It was cool and breezy but we went for a stroll along the beach.

 

 

Was quite facinated by this guy windsufing and the speeds he was getting up to

 

 

After that it was back into the car and onto the Great Ocean Road.I cannot believe how many turns/bends that road had.If you suffer from car sickness I would give it a miss!! It was Split Point next.

 

 

And Belis beach

 

 

Our next destination was Lorne.If you ever want to "discover real Australia" hiring a car is by far the best way to do it.I am pleased I went for that option.

 

 

At Lorne we found the local supermarket and stocked up on a few things ready for our overnight stay at Apollo Bay.

 

We then had a stoll on the beach

 

 

From there it was a short drive to Apollo Bay.The lodge was excellent and overlooked the sea.

 

 

We had just been there minutes when the local parrots turned up for a nosy

 

 

 

After a good sleep were were up early as had a few things planned for the day and quite a few miles to cover. First up we headed to the Great Otway National Park.Cape Otway lighthouse was to be our first stop off.The Cape Otway lighthouse is located 222km south west of Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road. Built in 1848 to a design by the Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis, the Cape Otway lighthouse is the second-oldest on the Australian mainland, the oldest on the Victorian coast, and the oldest operational lighthouse with unbroken service on the mainland Australian coast until it was decommissioned in January 1994. It stands on the 100-metre headland, is 15.6 metres high and can be seen for 22 km out to sea.

 

Had one photo of it but its "lost" in my filing system somewhere.Now we were told that we would see koalas and lo and behold we seen quite a few kipping in the trees by the lighthouse.It has to be said they are rather cute.

 

 

 

 

From here we headed off to a place where I came face to face with my nemisis!!! all will be revealed in the next episode.

[Janet]

all will be revealed in the next episode.

 

Aw come on!!! You can't keep us hanging on....it's worse than "Who shot J.R."......

 

Janet

[Snatcher]

The next part of our tour took us to Triplet Falls,still in the Otway National Park. There was a map by the car park indicating that the round trip would take about one hour.It never mentioned the hundreds of stairs you had to climb.I was fair done in by the time I got there.

 

 

They were impressive falls though!

 

 

After returning back to car and getting our breaths back we headed for Otway Fly Treetop Walk.My cousin Robert said it was impressive and not to miss it out.Well I am sometimes a bit "iffy" with heights and I knew that these treetop walks were very high !!!!

 

 

The views were terrific from the top.

 

 

 

 

There was even the option of climbing higher up a tower

 

 

 

 

Even though I felt very apprehensive about it I decided to climb to the top.The girls decided not too.I tell you on the way up my legs were shaking and at the top I felt extremely uneasy !!!

 

Anyway this is the view from the top.Well I had faced my nemesis and came out on top quite literally.

 

[Snatcher]

After coming down from the "fly" the walk back to the entrance took you through the rainforest.The natives were a bit frightning to say the least.Check out these guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it had been most enjoyable and we just had one more thing to see that day - the famous "Twelve Apostles"

[Bobj]

Most interesting, mate. The Otways certainly are scenic.

[nursejudy]

excellent

[Colin Brett]

Your nemesis??

 

I thought you going to say a pub with a closed sign outside it??

 

Great stuff! What's next?

 

I hope you didn't photoshop those Koalas into the tree images

 

Colin

[Snatcher]

From the Otways we headed west towards the famous Twelve Apostles. At first glance the Twelve Apostles may not appear to be 12 apostles. From the lookout, you can only see a number of the twelve apostles. The others are located behind the rocky headlands that line the Victoria coastline, or hidden by other rocky outcrops.

 

The Twelve Apostles were formed by erosion of the original coastline. The constant action of the sea on the limestone slowly wore down the rocky cliff, gradually leaving individual rocks. The cliff is still being eroded at a rate of about 2cm each year, and in the future is likely to form more 'Apostles' from the other rocky headlands that line the Victorian coastline.

 

When we arrived it really was a photographers nightmare,grey leaden skies and it was bitter!! Anyway here are the best pictures we could conjure up.

 

 

 

 

 

After that it was a further drive west to our overnight stay at some lodges in Port Cambell.The lodge was lovely and right by the river but it was very cold.Check out the ice on the car next morning and I wonder who scraped the heart on ??

 

 

In this photo you can see the location is spot on,the lodges are in the centre of the picture

 

 

First port of call was to be Loch Ard Gorge.

Loch Ard Gorge is named after the sailing clipper Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878. She was nearing the end of a 3 month voyage from England to Melbourne. Only 2 of the 54 passengers and crew survived. Both were 18 years old. Tom Pearce, a ship's apprentice, was washed ashore here and heard the cries of Eva Carmichael, an Irish emigrant whom he pulled from the water. Tom then climbed out of the gorge to find help from local people.

 

This was a perfect day for taking photos with full sun and blue skies.These are the resulting photos of the place

 

 

We even climbed the numerous stairs down to the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this we head off to "London Bridge" and the Bay of Islands.

[Bobj]

As usual, stunning, mate!!