Day 77 Nar Nar Goon

We’d been looking forward to seeing the Great Ocean Road for such a long time now that when we woke up at Portland, we were all keen to get started. Jacqui and I were looking forward to seeing the 12 Apostles and Zach, Tom & Jake were just as curious to see what we were so excited to see. We pulled the van down and prepared for what we expected to be a fairly long day of Driving. The hand pump on the van had stopped working somewhere near Broome and we’ve been dragging 250 litres of water around the country ever since so with the fairly bouncy roads here in southern Victoria and the new front suspension highlighting the softer rear suspension, I took the opportunity to drain the tank just before we left the van park and thankfully, it’s helped making the driving much easier and less bouncy. I probably should have waited for level ground before draining the reservoir but who knew the ground was so hard.
We stopped off for coffee at Port Fairy about an hour after leaving Portland and got our first glimpse of the old English feel this south eastern corner of the country is known for. It’s a very pretty little town with lots of well cared for homes and boutique shops set on wide, tree lined streets.
With coffee in hand, we continued east and after about an hour, we passed through Allansford and the old Dairy Farmers Cheese making facility. It now has Warrnambool Cheese & Butter signage all over it and we were tempted, but resisted the urge to stop in at Cheese World to see if the Monty Python team were right when they said Blessed are the Cheesmakers.
Once through Allansford we began to get our first sightings of the spectacular limestone formations resting just off the rocky coastline. The sky was overcast and the wind cut through us as we parked and made our way along the well worn foreshore tracks. As we began our journey from the western end, The Grotto was our introduction to what we’d be seeing further along on the Great Ocean Road. It was OK and it was interesting, but not quite the spectacular stone formation we were anticipating. Thankfully, our next sighting at London Bridge was much closer to what we expected to see. This was followed by the Arch, then Sentinel Rock and Razorback, and at a single parking location, we saw Loch Arid Gorge, The Blow Hole and Thunder Cave. As we moved further east, we passed through Port Campbell which delivered the much anticipated pretty coastal village we expected to see as we travelled across the windswept peaks towards the 12 Apostles.
After Port Campbell, we finally arrived at the 12 Apostles and they delivered everything we expected. The overcast conditions spoiled the pictures a little but never-the-less, we saw what we were anticipating and while only 8 of these monoliths remain, I’m glad we came before there are only 7, or even 6.
After the 12 Apostles, it was off to Apollo Bay for a late lunch and for the boys to have bit of a play with the other kids in the park. While they played, we tried to find a camping ground but with everything booked up, it was off to Lorne. As we drove along the coastline, we began to see the type of landscape and scenery for which this road is famous. Up until Apollo Bay, all the action is off shore at sign posted stops. The drive itself is nothing special but this all changes once you arrive at Apollo Bay. The road winds and dips along the very edge of the ocean and feel that your living in a Vic-tourism television commercial. The views and the road are everything we’d hoped for. Amusingly, even with the cold and overcast conditions, every little beach we came to had holidaymakers playing in the waves in their wetsuits. Not surfers but people playing in the shore break wearing wetsuits. If you need a wetsuit, why would you do it?
We were immediately impressed by the scenery and the ambiance of Lorne when we arrived and its obvious why this town is so much loved by Victorians. We could easily imagine ourselves holidaying here somewhere dow the track, but not today. All the caravan parks had the house full sign out so we decided to head closer to Melbourne.
Not long after Lorne, we came upon a sign pointing us to a national park and with it getting dark, we decided to investigate the opportunity for a bush camp. About 5km along, we arrived at Point Adis and with the boys getting hungry, we set up in the car park at the lookout where we were joined by two other cars. We had coffee and dinner but then the wind picked up on the point and with Jacqui wondering if we might get blown off the point, we packed up and moved on, looking for a more protected location.
We made or way off the Great Ocean Road and headed north through Geelong, then Melbourne, and then Pakenham before finally pulling in for the night at a service station just off the highway at Nar Nar Goon where we slept in the car from midnight.
Cheers,
Jorg