Road trip.... Part 2

After saying farewell to our lovely Melbourne friends, we we continued west with our aim - the Great Ocean Road.  But before that, I had to see the famous Bells Beach.

To be honest, it really wasn't what I was expecting.  The beaches I am used to have vast amounts of sand, sometimes dunes, are pretty large and normally have a surf club or some kind of kiosk nearby to satisfy those ice cream cravings.  No, Bells Beach is definitely a surfing beach.  Still, I'm glad I have seen it.

 

Bell's Beach from the road.

Soon after Bell's, we were officially on the Great Ocean Road.  This is something all Australian's need to see before they die.  It's pretty awesome.  I had been given a hot tip from a good friend that there was a gorgeous waterfall just near Lorne called Erskine Falls.  So we detoured there to the bush to explore.

Mum wasn't interested in climbing down to the bottom, so I had to go by myself.  It was wet, slippery but gorgeous!  A little daunting by myself.  Especially since there weren't a lot of other people around, but it is definitely worth walking down and back up.



Just one of the hundreds of photos I took while I was at Erskine Falls. 

At the time I only had one battery for my camera.  Because I had taken so many photos at the falls, I needed to stop somewhere to charge up the battery.  We ended up staying the night at Apollo Bay. 

Again, more carved sculptures in Apollo Bay, Victoria.

I don't know if it was the time of year we went, but everywhere was just so beautiful and peaceful.

Apollo Bay.  There was a bit of a haze, but it gave it atmosphere.  The trees along the beach are really unusual. 

The next day we were up early to head to the Twelve Apostles.  We were up quite early so we beat the crowds. 

Twelve Apostles

Stunning



This is "London Arch", previously known as "London Bridge".  Quite amazingly there were people over on that bit when the connecting part broke away.  They had to get a helicopter to go and save them.  Only last year the arch collapsed in the middle, so now it is only two large rocks out there.   I tell you people - if you haven't seen it yet, you need to get there before there are no formations left!!! :)

 

There are many other formations and cool things to view along the GOR.  This is the Grotto.  Again, I was on my own to walk down there, cause mum didn't like the look of getting back up to the road. 

We then drove on to Portland and braced ourselves for another border crossing... in to South Australia.