We had a lot to squeeze in today before we reached Melbourne. Initially, we headed back to Loch Ard Gorge,
right by Mutton Bird Island, for a walk. We followed this
up by tackling Gibson steps down and back to the beach.
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| On the sand in Loch Ard Gorge and, below, the view down from the cliffs |
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| The view along towards the twelve apostles from the bottom of Gibson Steps |
I had found another koala hotspot on our TA App so we stopped
off there, finding it more of a haven for wild parrots. Though I’m not a fan of humans interfering by
feeding wildlife, the mount of seed discarded on the ground certainly attracted
a wide variety of birds for me to photograph!
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| Bird watching.... me. Cockatoos picking scraps from the floor. |
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| Seb made a good perch |
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| Then we all had a go.... |
And, just like last time,
the best spot for koala was right next to where the humans were… the toilet
block at the adjacent campsite to be precise!
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| Split Point ligthouse |
Also on the list today was an important televisual stop from
mine and Simon’s childhood. Split Point
Lighthouse was the prime filming location for Australian kids series, Round the
Twist, which centred on the Twist family who lived in the lighthouse. Our enthusiasm for the series was totally
lost on Sebastian and Natalia, so we played them the intro’ on YouTube to try
and explain the significance of the TV show!
They agreed the theme tune was catchy and had no choice but to embrace a
visit to the landmark and surrounding lookouts.
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| The view from the lookout at Split Point Lighthouse |
Lucky, our Chilean guests had the next choice of stop in
return, having heard about a golf course teeming with kangaroos. Despite signs at the location asking
roo-spotters not to enter the grounds of the golf-course, they still managed to
get some decent footage of the marsupials.
Our last detour off the Great Ocean Road was to World Famous
Surf Beach, Bells. This is the place in
Point Break where Patrick Swayze comes to surf the ‘Fifty Year Storm’ but in
yet another example of movie-makers LYING to the viewer, it was filmed in
Oregon, USA (but we visited there too so it’s ok!). The surf wasn’t looking too extreme today but
we stopped for a while to watch.
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| View down to Bells Beach |
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| Some of the surf dudes |
We’d managed to accomplish everything we’d set out to see
today so it was time to head into Melbourne.
Seb and Natalia have booked an Airbnb for their first two nights, whilst
they are looking for work and somewhere more permanent for the next couple off
months over the busy summer/Christmas period.
We dropped them and their belongings off and wished them well. They have been great company.
We were booked into the Ibis Budget Hotel out near the
airport. This is the best location for
us because we need to return the minibus there in the morning and then we are
flying to Tasmania from there on Thursday.
However, we managed to secure a room with en-suite bathroom for only $78
a night which is cheaper than our hostel room was last night! We arrived there,
having washed the mud from the Ocean Road off the minibus, at about 730pm. Our room is basically a box with a smaller
shower cubicle box fitted inside it. It
has no character or features. But it’s
clean and has the basics we need.
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