Great Ocean Road

So next stop was Melbourne with a side trip on the Great Ocean Road, which hugs Australia's southern coast. And boy was it beautiful! Roughly a 440 mile round trip, you can take a tour bus and do the entire trip in a marathon 10 hours and have 30 seconds to click a photo at predesignated stops. We opted make Apollo Bay our base and  take 3 days so we could explore all the darling beach towns and take way too many photos of each increasingly impressive viewpoint. 

Apollo Bay

Apollo Bay

Split Point Lighthouse - "The White Queen"

A placard at the lighthouse said in the early 1900s the keeper didn't see why his duties should deprive him of a social life. So he scratched a small hole in the black paint on the back of the lantern, which prevents the light from shining inland. The keeper scratched the hole to line up with the town's pub so that he was able to imbibe and yet still know that all was well back at the lighthouse. I like his thinkin'!

What I imagine Ireland to look like--wasn't expecting this in Australia! Was so beautiful!

Mait's Rest--a gorgeous trail thru the Great Otway rainforest.

Great Otway was very different from the tropical Daintree, and we just loved it. Made up mostly of beech and eucalyptus, it was absolutely stunning. It was misty, so quiet and the air so crisp. It may have been our favorite part of the entire Great Ocean Road.

Convoy Australian style

Another highlight of the drive--koalas in the wild! There were about 10 or so along the road.

This one has a baby!

Have to include a wild kookaburra sighting!

Main attraction of the Great Ocean Road, the 12 Apostles.  Reminded me of Cannon Beach.

View from Apostle Whey Cheese. Cute owners, so-so cheese

Pulling back into Apollo Bay