Day #40 The Great Ocean Road

May 03, 2024

Day #40 The Great Ocean Road

We departed Apollo Beach and started to make our way to Port Campbell. A few kilometers out of town, we took a detour to visit the Redwood Forrest in the middle of the Great Otway National Park. The Redwoods were planted in 1936 as an experiment to see if they would grow fast enough to be a source of lumber replacing pine which is the current source. They did not grow fast enough to satisfy commercial lumber needs. So today, there exists a grove of Redwoods about 18 kilometers down a dirt road in the Otway National Park. It is quite spectacular to see these neatly planted Redwoods.

Redwood Forrest

Then it was on to Otway Lighthouse. We headed down the Great Ocean Road and found our way to the lighthouse. Currently it is not possible to enter the lighthouse. In October, there was a mild earthquake that caused the mercury lubricant in the bearings to leak out. This caused the closing of the building until a clean-up can take place. It was still an interesting visit. During WWII, a radar station was established a short distance from the lighthouse. Both German and Japanese submarines skirted the southern edges of Australia. More than 40 merchant ships were sunk by both aggressors.

near the Otway Lighthouse

always a sound suggestion

WWII bunker at Otway Lighthouse

Otway Lighthouse

Leaving the lighthouse, we stopped at some of the dense eucalyptus groves along the highway. As crazy as it sounds, we spotted koalas up in the eucalyptus trees. I saw 3; they were resting and avoiding the heat which got to the upper 90s today.

koalas in the wild

koala

beach just past Otway

vista along the road

Heading to our spot for the night, Port Campbell, we stopped at vistas to view some of the Twelve Apostles. Only 8 are visible from the view points. We saw them all.