A family holiday for 6 months around Australia. Switching off for a while to remind ourselves of why we are doing what we do. Enjoying time with our little family that we have created. Creating some great memories and taking some awesome photographs as well.
Today we left the van at Princetown Reserve and headed up to the well known 12 apostles for some photo time. We stopped first at a roadside set of steps and there was a nice steep set of steps all the way to the bottom beach which you can walk along and see 2 of the apostles first hand up close and personal. So of course it had to be done.
My Workout for the day!
Having a 3 & 4 year old is the only problem on these big walks. you just have to hope they are in a good frame of mind and ready to go. The beach walk was easily 1\2 a kilometer in the sand but you cannot go to see them and not do it. Most tourists go down the steps and go no further, missing the real cool pictures. The cuttlefish bones were entertaining enough for the girls to stick with us and Heather had some fun with them while i could snap some decent shots. Because we knew the day was going to be a long one I decided to carry them both back up the stairs "together" to save some time and energy. This endeavour i felt that night when we were showered and back at rest.
The girls and I
Difficult exposures with the sun on the Apostle and me in the shade
The seabed used to be at the top of these structures.
On to the Apostle kiosk and viewing area to see the best view of all. The kids were hungry and tired so Heather decided to sit at the kiosk and let me go on to see and photograph the rest of the sights. I spent about 45 minutes running up and down the ramps photographing all the angles i could. When i arrived back at the kiosk i told Heather that the view was not to be missed and whether the kids liked it or not she had to witness the view and these amazing structures, off we went again. A sight not to be missed.
The start of a new apostle
Curious onlookers
Further up the coast a little where many great inlets with crashing waves and so we chose a couple more and walked all the tracks that led to them.
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We then jumped in the car headed back to the Princetown Reserve to pack up and thought we would try to get as close to Ballarat as possible and after about 2 hours or more we stopped for lunch at a place called Lismore. A quick picture at the Lismore Bakery for my Brothers sake (he lives in Lismore NSW).
Because the roads were not steep and winding we made excellent time and thought "bugga it" lets go to Ballarat anyway. We arrived in the afternoon and checked into the best caravan park to date. The Gold fields Big 4 caravan park, heated floors in the bathrooms and heaps for the kids to do. Neat and tidy with a close drive to the town centre. Checked in for 3 days with the main attraction for us being Sovereign Hill. Whew what a day!
Disaster strikes! (read the next post to hear about it)
Today we want to see many things and so left the van at Johanna beach for the day. It should be safe because of its location, well of the road and away from any main roads.
We drive down to cape Otway Lighthouse where we were told of Koalas being easy to find on the roadside. We were only into the park for minutes when we spotted dozens of koalas in the trees.
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You could tell when to look up as they created droppings on the road underneath themselves. Every hundred meters we were stopping for a photo.
The closer to the Lighthouse we came the more koalas we spotted. Very difficult photos because you are aiming your camera upward to the bright sky and so it has trouble getting the lighting correct, but we managed.
We arrived at Otway lighthouse walk. It costs you to get in but well worth a look. All the staff are dressed in clothes of the period and this help to relive the times a little better. Alot of history for the history buffs and old buildings to see,.The lighthouse was built in 1848 and still operates for tourists.
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The Lighthouse Entry view
A Great Rainbow as we started the walk
Lovely Seascapes
Cheeky Monkeys
Although it is not in service for the waterways. We took some lovely shots of the coastline from up in the lighthouse and also the surrounding sites. In the kiosk we bought Mia and lily a koala rattle each as their token gift which we are trying to collect along the way from each significant place we travel to. This way they may remember each place a little better and be able to tell their friends about the place when they return.
After leaving the Otway Lighthouse we wanted to go and see the tree top fly over and walk in the treetops as we had promised the girls for a while now. it was quite a distance to the flyover but we managed it ok.
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When we arrived it looked quite a set up and themed well. The cost was $49 dollars for 2 adults and well worth it. Firstly we had to eat because we were all hungry after the mornings events. We dined at the kiosk here which was expensive but we had a carefree attitude at this stage and you can't deny yourself a treat all the trip. Coffee and lunch behind us we head on in for what was one of the highlights of our trip so far.
Little ponchos for the rain
We bought the girls a poncho each which you can see in the photos, due to the light rain that was teasing us. When you walk down the long entry track you coma across the most beautiful rainforest area dense with tall trees and plants. There was a side track which showed us a dinosaur historic area and allows you to see the way dinosaurs lived in these area. Great for the kids as well to spot the dinosaurs along the way.
Moss on every tree
Life size dinosaurs throughout the prehistoric area
Little splashes of colour
Then as we approached the bottom of the track the ramps lead you into the tree canopies. Slowly at first up and up higher and higher. fantastically built. The video shows this well. After a short time you find yourself so high its giddy to the stomach. Once you think you are as high as you can get there is a 20meter tower to climb to take you to the very top of the canopies. The girls had to be held tightly on the walk up this tower.
After a while of sky high magic we came down the tower to start the walk back down another set of ramps through all the breeds of trees you can imagine and slowly back to the starting point. all up about an hour or so walk through the entire park. Great photos and video for us to keep.
Quiet Giants of the forest
Giant ferns
Buckleys chance
Forest floor shapes
Top of the tower
Man made tree
Waiting for a ride to the top of the park
Heathers favourite bird
We decided on the way back to Johanna beach the it was a little hard to spend another night here as there was no water and this is hard for us with showers needed etc. We new if we were quick enough we may just make a little spot called Princetown reserve a few kilometers away. We arrive back at the camp in the later afternoon and packed up as quick as we could and drove off. It was about an hours drive to Princetown reserve and we made it nicely. Powered site on a local football reserve which when we arrived was covered with about 150 kangaroos all eating the grass.
Lots of vans here so it felt a little safer. Power is a nice add on to a nights stay. we can put the heater on with these chilly nights as well.
Today started with rain, again. I did promise the girls a ride on the family bike that you can hire from the caravan park but the weather has kept us indoors for what seems ages. However just as we packed up our unit to leave, the sun popped out and so i decided to stretch our departure out a little and take them for a tour of the park by "Pedal Power".
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Heather needed to be on board with me because the leg power required to push 4 people is pretty heavy. Off we go and the giggles from the girls was non stop from the time we left til the time that mum and dad were exhausted from it and we took the bike back. Through the huge puddles and all around the park extremities. Now we set off for the Great Ocean Road.
King Of The Road
The Road itself is quite thin and care must be taken all the time. Signs everywhere saying "high accident area. take care". Stopping for a couple of pictures at the beginning to record it and also because we were assuming that it may keep raining. Fortunately for us the weather holds and the view is lovely.
Beach Stop photo
Dad & The Kids
Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch
All along the edges are what are called 'cut off areas' and this is for slow vehicles (that means us) to pull off to the side to allow others past. I did capture some video from the drivers seat by holding the camera against the side pillar and driving one handed. This may sound extremely dangerous but in fact as long as you concentrate on only the road and forget the camera, you drive no worse than if you had 2 hands on the wheel. I only captured when there were no other cars oncoming. (see video)
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Our goal today is Johanna beach camping ground for an unpowered site. 50 sites available with no drinking water, but close to the beach. This also puts us right in the middle of the Otway National Park. Great area for tree top walks, Wilderness walks and Lots of koalas.
The Sun Breaks through
Mia's Windy Lookout!
Catching Salmon, The easy way.
During the trip heather caught sight of some Dolphins jumping in the surf at Apollo bay and so we stopped at the next roadside Cut off. There were 2 other cars there at the time and one of them happened to be a professional fisherman. His wife explained to us that he was using a special lure to catch Salmon off the rocks. I shot some video and if you notice he catches a salmon every cast into the water. His wife offered us some of them and so we took her up on it.. beautiful fresh from the ocean fish for dinner. This irritated me alot because of the luckless fishing attempts i have made along the way. ( see video)
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Salmon Fillets for dinner!
We make a couple of stops for fuel and sightseeing and arrive at about 3.15pm. After setting up we shoot up the road (about 8kms) to grab some fresh water, coffee and to take a look around.
There is a BIG TREE for viewing at Lavers Hill and so before it gets dark we thought we would take a look. A 45 minute round trip through the very wet and green rain forest we discover that the tree had fallen last year due to wind and erosion so we only got to see the BIG FALLEN TREE, But it was a good energy burner for the girls who walked really well and complained very little. Lily needed a piggy back ride toward the end but all in all a cool little nature walk. As we left it was dark and so back to camp to eat dinner (yummy salmon) and warm up for a chilly night by the sea.
