As our second longer trip from Melbourne we decided to visit Phillip Island. I had already been there once on a dive trip but didn’t have much chance for sightseeing back then. The others were also quite keen to see the penguin parade and Aleksi was hoping to try out some surfing.

We started with a visit to Smiths Beach, one of the best beginner surfing beaches in Victoria. Unfortunately the waves weren’t the best for surfing and there were plenty of people waiting for the few decent waves. So Aleksi decided to give surfing a pass this time around and wait until Sydney with it.

Then we moved on to Nobbies center. While the coastal scenery is certainly quite nice, the visit was still somewhat disappointing. The seal colony is just barely visible from the lookout, fully zoomed in my 70-300mm was just able to resolve individual seals. Tarja had binoculars with her but they didn’t fare much better. And the Nobbies center itself felt way too commercial, at least there was no entrance fee.

Next we drove over to Rhyll for a barbecue lunch. Timo stayed there fishing and the rest of us did the coastal walk along Rhyll Inlet to Conservation Hill. Then it was time for us to split up. Timo dropped me at Cape Woolamai for some bushwalking and the others headed to Penguin Parade.

The only major issue was actually finding the track. It took me quite a while to figure out that to reach the track itself I had to first follow the beach for almost a kilometer! This was stated in the description of the shortest track but not for the longer tracks I was planning to do. Eventually I figured things out and got on my way.

The walk was certainly excellent and over pretty easy terrain. The main attraction there are the Pinnacles, a group of rock formations next to some coastal cliffs. The cliffs are quite spectacular and the area in general is really beautiful. The walk also visits the highest point of Phillip Island, from there you can see all the way from San Remo to the Nobbies. It would have made an excellent panorama shot, too bad I didn’t have gear for it.

In addition to scenery itself there were also lots of wallabies and some birds around. My only real complaint was the somewhat disappointing sunset. Still, I got away with some excellent shots so I am really happy how the walk turned out.

I was carrying a couple of lights just in case but I didn’t really need them. Near the end of my walk it was getting pretty dark but as the final part of the return trip was on the beach anyway I had no problems with navigation. It was a pretty windy day and it actually got quite cool while waiting for others in the Cape Woolamai car park. Luckily I had plenty of warm clothes with me. Still, I had to wait quite a while as the Penguin Parade starts around dusk. Eventually I got picked up and we headed back to Melbourne after a nice day out.

2012-12-29 Phillip Island

33 Photos

Great Ocean Road is one of the major attractions in Victoria and certainly worth a visit for anyone spending more than a few days in Melbourne. While the drive itself is not terribly long in kilometers, there are numerous sightseeing stops along the way. For the most part I stuck to the successful plan we used during Eija’s visit. Basically a two day trip with an overnight stop in Apollo Bay covering almost all the major attractions. In summer time there was some more flexibility due to extra day light hours. So I added a visit to Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale to the first day and return trip through the Grampians to the second.

After that we moved on to Torquay and the official starting point of the Great Ocean Road itself. After a very pleasant walk on the beaches and some surf/beach shopping we got back in the car and started the drive towards Apollo Bay. We did brief stops at Bells Beach and Point Addis, both have lookouts with great views of the coastal scenery. Next stop was Anglesea Golf course, one of the easiest places to spot kangaroos in the wild.

From there we drove onward to Aireys Inlet and the Split Point light house there. Next up was Lorne and Erskine Falls. The falls were as nice as I remembered and a great spot for some photos. After the falls we moved on Teddy’s Lookout with a spectacular views down the coastline and the winding Great Ocean Road itself. It was certainly lot nicer than my last visit, at this point of our journey with Eija it had already started raining heavily. 🙁 On the way to the lookout we also spotted a lone kangaroo in the middle of Lorne and stopped to take a few photos on the way back.

After at least couple of hours of sleep (we were all sharing the room with Timo 🙂 ) we woke up and prepared for the second and final day of the trip. The day was really hot, so we decided to keep walking fairly minimal. Our first stop was Marriners Lookout in the Apollo Bay itself. The walk up the hill is nice and the views down to Apollo Bay are great.

After Apollo Bay our next stop was Maits Rest where we did the rainforest walk. Even on the hot day the walk was quite pleasant and cool. Then we drove on to Cape Otway for some more koala spotting. Plenty of koalas in the trees, everyone had plenty of chance for great koala shots. In the end no one was too interested in the Cape Otway lighthouse itself so after a brief visit in the tourist shop we drove on.

Next up was Melba Gully. The rainforest walk there is quite similar to Maits Rest, we did the full walk and afterwards had a quick lunch. The next stretch of the Great Ocean Road is perhaps slightly less interesting and we didn’t do a proper stop until Princetown.

Then we moved on to Port Campbell itself for a short break and some swimming. I also did some snorkeling around the Port Campbell jetty. There was one large stingray but otherwise not that much marine life.

Our last two sightseeing stops along the coast were London Bridge (or London Arch these days) and Bay of Islands. Both are nice spots for photos and lot less crowded than the Apostles. Then we drove on to Warrnambool covering the rest of the Great Ocean Road.

After some quick dinner there we turned inland and started the return drive. There were couple of quicker routes but I wanted to do the drive through Grampians to finish up the trip. I had only seen the mountains from the distance and was itching for closer look. Obviously we didn’t have time for much proper sightseeing this time either, we were just able to get through the mountains to Halls Gap by the time the sun had set.

I need to get back there some day for the walks and photos, but even this short drive through the region was very nice. We had to be really careful with kangaroos and wallabies though, lots of them around at dusk. As sun had already set there was not much point in picking further scenic routes after Halls Gap. So we just took the quickest road back to Melbourne and I did my best to keep Timo entertained and awake.

My second Great Ocean Road was even more enjoyable than the first, it was certainly nice to have great weather. And the longer summer days also made the two day trip lot less rushed.

2012-12 Great Ocean Road

45 Photos