The Twelve (approximately) Apostles are a major tourist attraction drawing thousands of visitors from around the world. The government has spent a lot of money building a large carpark for cars, vans and buses on the inland side of the road. It has constructed a sealed, smooth path that goes under the road to new viewing platforms that cater for a large number of tourists. There are even wheelchairs available for hire, but my mother did the 1km return walk with her walker.
I am grateful that so much care has been put into making this an accessible experience.
Each column of rock in the ocean is an 'apostle'. There never were 12 Apostles - there were fewer. But who cares about numerical accuracy? Not the names of these rock formations it seems. I wonder if they were someone religious seizing a chance to remind people of a Bible story?
One thing that I have noticed along the Great Ocean Road is that often there is no explanation of why some feature got its name. Or maybe that would just prompt an awkward conversation?
See that dark brown thing projecting out over the tip of the rock on the left of the photo? That is actually a very large, cantilevered viewing platform that can hold a lot of people. We walked out there.
Be prepared for a lot of wind when stepping outside your vehicle on the Great Ocean Road. Today was a blustery westerly wind. I was very glad for the hood of my jacket.
Have a look at this Tiger Snake cruising next to the path walked by hundreds of people while we were there.
The small blue bird in the tree in this photo is a [edit] Superb Fairy Wren. It is hard to photograph because it jumps around very quickly.
In the low, thick bush next to the path were a lot of birds. We only saw a couple, but we could hear beautiful chirping and twittering all along the walk.
[Re edit: thank you to @ecoscore for telling me I had identified the bird incorrectly!]
The Twelve (or so) Apostles are made of limestone which is a soft rock that is prone to significant erosion over time. The coastline is constantly changing. We found this rock with some holes, inside which some plants had taken hold. These holes have possibly been created by rain.
This is one of the typical plants in the area. Its common name is Cushion Bush or Leucophyta Brownii.
I enjoyed taking stacks of photos and stopping along the Great Ocean Road. It was good that we did it in a couple of short trips on different days rather than trying to cram it in all on one day. It was also great travelling at a non-peak time. I drove this road in summer years ago and swore that I would never do it again. There is so much traffic in summer which makes for stressful driving, particularly as you inevitably encounter caravans and people who are inexperienced driving in Australia and who are taking in the scenery instead of concentrating on the road.
I was rather surprised at the condition of the road given it is an international attraction and we are coming into peak tourist season. It has pot holes and other bits which are sure to become pot holes with the increased traffic of summer. Add to this the presence of wallabies and this road becomes a tricky place to drive. There were a lot of signs all along the way telling drivers that in Australia we drive on the left. Honestly, I think it would be best for international tourists to take a bus tour of the road. We saw many international tourists who were doing exactly that today.
I also think that it is disappointing that there is no dedicated cycle path. Surely this should be a priority as it would make a wonderful cycling trip. We saw some cyclists. There is no verge, so they have to cycle in the road with cars. It just takes one driver who is distracted by the scenery to create an awful accident.
The Twelve Apostles was our last stop on the Great Ocean Road before returning home. Here is another thread with some photos and comments about sights along this iconic road from the other day: https://aus.social/@perkinsy/115389176982146575
Thanks for following along.
Attached: 1 image We drove to Port Campbell on the coast and then headed west along the Great Ocean Road, stopping frequently along the way to see the views. Yes, we got the photos and there were a good number of overseas tourists. However, it is great travelling at this time of the year when school is in and it is not summer. The traffic along the road this afternoon was very light compared to during summer. This photo is of the 'London Bridge'. The gap is where an arch of rock stood until it spectacularly fell into the sea a few years ago. 'London Bridge' has indeed fallen down. #GreatOceanRoad
Yvonne Perkins