Indelible Adventures: The Great Ocean Road

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During our trip to Australia my best friend Craig took Zach and Sami to Melbourne for the day shopping which gave me an opportunity to head down the coast with my camera. Not only was a wonderful gesture but the kids loved the time they spent with him exploring a couple of new locations in the wonderful city. So all in all a win-win!

For me, it was an opportunity to explore on my own with no time line or pressure to be anywhere special for an entire day. It’s not that I don’t love my family and friends in Australia but two solid weeks, especially for those unused to being in such close proximity for a long period of time can be a bit much.

I had decided that this was going to be a day to the ocean so that I could capture some of its natural beauty. However, the tricky part was that I was some two hours from the closest beach, which was fine but if I was going to be there for a sunrise then it was going to be a very early morning when I left.

And indeed it was as I made my way quietly out of the house at 5:30 am after an ultra early wake up alarm at 5:15. And just when I was beginning to get over my jet lag too! :-)

Not to worry, a sunrise over the ocean would heal all of my ills I assured myself as I headed through the empty street, and getting on the highway bound for Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula the traffic started to pick up and by the time I was on the outskirts of Geelong it was pretty busy, however once on the other side toward the ocean it dropped off significantly. Ah, a Thursday was all I could think to myself as I sped toward the early rising sun.

To have caught the first rays of the sunrise I would have had to have left Ballarat at 4:30 am, so I compromised and hoped that traffic would be light so I could be there as close as possible to capture the early light, but without adding to my already jet lagged and groggy disposition.

My first port of call was Point Lonsdale at the tip of the Bellarine Peninsula, and which overlooks the infamous “rip”. This relatively small channel is the entrance to Port Phillip Bay on which Melbourne is situated. The bay provides a large and well protected harbor from the wilds of the Tasman Sea and the Great Southern Ocean that buffets the south coast of Australia with wild and woolly weather year round.

Ships must navigate the “rip” with its ebb and flow of tides and large waves from Bass Strait in order to gain safe haven to Port Phillip Bay and clearly the perfect place to begin my day of photography!

Indelible Tip #1: Point Lonsdale lighthouse is truly fascinating in that it one of many lighthouses that dot this part of Australia’s southern shore. It’s role has been and will continue to be an important one especially given the high volume of ships that ply their trade to and from the Port of Melbourne. In addition, the other interesting thing I discovered are the myriad of abandoned WWII pillboxes that dot the dunes.

For a moment it felt like I was in Normandy and facing the English Channel. These pillboxes were built during the early part of WWII as a defense to the real and imminent threat of invasion by the forces of the Empire of Japan.

Indelible Tips #2: Great Ocean Road One of Australia’s true natural wonders are its 25,760 kilometers of beach…and with 85% of its population living within 50 km’s of the coast its no wonder Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world. Clearly when I was growing up my family didn’t get the memo!

One of the most scenic and iconic ocean drives in Australia is the Great Ocean Road from Torquay to Port Campbell. This winding 240 km stretch of road provides you with cliff top vistas and via some of the most natural beauty Australia has to offer, including: The Twelve Apostles, Great Otway National Park, Loch Ard Gorge to name but a few.

What I didn’t account for was the traffic by late morning as I slowly made my around this dazzling coastal road, I had forgotten about the Easter break and because it was the Thursday before Easter and many holiday makers were on the road to garner an early long weekend. It didn’t really matter as I meandered along at a graceful 50 km per hour, with nothing but sensational ocean views… I can hear you all now – such a tough life dude!!!

Indelible Tip #3: Feathered friends By lunchtime I had finally made my way to Lorne and decided to sojourn for a light lunch, but rather than eat indoors I decided to get some good Australian “tucker” (food) and eat it on the lawn overlooking the beach, couldn't think of a nicer way place to have lunch. However, I wasn't alone...

The entire cockatoo population of Lorne were most interested in my lunch and decided to form up tightly around me in the hopes that I may drop a morsel or two of food, talk about claustrophobic! There I was sitting on a park bench, absolutely surrounded by these inquisitive and loud, boisterous birds, not surprisingly I had lots of people looking at me...and I could just imagine them looking at me with envy and mouthing "bird whisperer" as they strolled by. Yeah, not so much - I think they were laughing!

My day of exploring the Great Ocean Road was just what the doctor ordered in terms of getting some time to myself, and so I took full advantage of the beautiful natural setting that surrounded me as well as the briny salt air that I slowly breathed in - it was a day to remember.

If you go to Australia, the Great Ocean Road is a perfect day trip and not to be missed!

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“Hanoi Posting”

A series of fictional micro-stories by Terence Wallis

Episode 38: Finally

John endeavored to be the peacemaker between Lea and Glenda, but to little avail. Glenda had resigned herself to the fact that Lea was impossibly headstrong and so unable to stop her, but still held out hope that the Australian would come to his senses and ask her not to come, after all it had been almost a year since they'd parted.

Her initial anger had turned into a sea of tears as the memories of her first love came flooding back to her, she just wanted to ensure Lea didn't make the same mistakes as she had made when she was young and forgoing her dreams for love or what she thought was love.

After Lea had told Glenda and John about her imminent travel plans John had decided to submit her paperwork as though he was transferring her to the Hanoi desk, reconciling himself with the fact that if she and Bill made a go of it she'd likely want to stay anyway. It would be a nice surprise he thought...

The company solicitors had interviewed Lea and completed all of the paperwork before sending her file to the Vietnamese consulate in Paris. Surprisingly, the French had been one of the first countries to recognize Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Subsequently, the French government had invited the Vietnamese to open an embassy in Paris late in 1979 and so all European visa applications and business dealings were funneled directly through the consulate in Paris.

When the package finally arrived and Lea opened it she was speechless. John had never mentioned that he was transferring her to the Hanoi desk as a new correspondent. On the one hand she desperately wanted to see Bill to see if she could rekindle their relationship, but at the same time didn't want to move to Hanoi. No, she wanted to bring him back to London.

In those few indeterminate seconds she felt the shards of doubt and panic start rise in her chest as she turned the situation over in her mind.

"Damn it" she spat reaching for the phone...

Next week: Episode 39: A dark place

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This week's photos are from my day trip down the Great Ocean Road.

Enjoy!

The Point Lonsdale lighthouse at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay

Direction marker at Point Lonsdale

Early light over Port Phillip Bay

Point Lonsdale Pier in the early morning light

The reef surrounding the pier at Point Lonsdale - so colorful!

It was brilliant - strangely I don't remember reefs being so
accessible in this part of Australia before

Yes, I was right by the cliffs near the rip

The "rip" is the channel between I'm standing the the coast over in the near distance
and the main shipping channel into Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne