So on Monday morning we picked up our hire car from a rental company just across the road from where we had been staying.
I thought this part of the rental office decor was interesting...
I was looking after our luggage while DH signed all the rental agreement papers...
And off we set, heading out of Melbourne to get on to The Great Ocean Road. As suggested by the name, the road follows much of the coastline with some amazing scenery and lovely towns. A bit about the road’s history later in the post.
So our first stop was a lookout overlooking Bells Beach. I believe a big surfing competition is held here but it was very quiet the day we were there.
Our next stop was at Anglesea which is on the Anglesea River...
It’s a small world. The lady in the Information Centre mentioned that she came from the town of Mortlake after I mentioned we would be visiting some towns where my mum’s family had lived. I said that we’d had a Rector of our parish whose hometown was Mortlake. ( but years before of course) Yep you’ve guessed it; she asked me for the family name and straight away she said ‘Neville?’ He and her older brother had been best mates since their schooldays!
Next stop along the coastline was at Aireys Inlet.
And high up on the hill there is a lighthouse. This lighthouse featured in the Australian children’s TV series Round the Twist. The family lived in a lighthouse and it was a zany series that’s for sure!
As a child I had always dreamed of living in a lighthouse but I think all those stairs could have soon made it a nightmare 😂.
The rocky outcrop in the collage was like a shorter version of the Twelve Apostles feature which are also a big tourist attraction on the GOR. Read about them here and how there are only 8 left! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Apostles_(Victoria)
Our next stop was the Memorial Arch honouring those soldiers who died in the war ( the First World War) and the building of the road is actually itself a memorial to the fallen in WW1. The road building commenced in 1919 and was completed in 1932. More details can be found here...
There were a number of fellow tourists there when we were there but many of them ignored the signs which asked people not to stand in the middle of the road to take photos of the Arch. It’s a major road with a speed limit of 100 kph! DH and I stood on the raised dais built at the side of the road!
And our final stop for the day was in the town of Lorne. It was our overnight stop and apparently we were sharing the town with ‘schoolies’, but they weren’t noisy really unlike the ones who go to the Gold Coast.
A lovely seaside town to walk around...
Even the bins were smart 😉
I just had to stop and check out this picturesque church with its beautiful gardens.
Interestingly it’s a combined Anglican Uniting Church Parish.
The lovely parks that ran down to the beach were very popular.
We had a bit of an ocean view from our motel room and with twilight we could admire the view well into the evening.
And the next morning we headed off again...but more about that in the next post.
3 comments:
In my teens I used to attend a summer camp at Anglesea for a week that usually ran over New Year. I wonder it they still have them? We had "camp time" which was an hour earlier than regular time, so we would try to get away with celebrating the new year 3 times. Once for "camp time", an hour later for daylight saving time, and another hour later for "real" time.
I loved out trip along the great ocean road - seriously thinking of doing again but taking a slower meander this time. Scenery is breathtaking. Enjoy Maria.
I used to work with a woman who along with her husband and kids lived on an Island as Lighthouse operators. It's hard to imagine how different that lifestyle would be.
That church and its garden are so beautiful. I haven't heard of a combined Anglican Uniting Church Parish before. It makes sense though in terms of parish management and maintaining the church and gardens.
The sea looks very inviting in your photos - I think it is too long since I have been to the beach.
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