We were back on The Great Ocean Road after our encounter with koalas the previous day. This time we were heading to see the 12 Apostles. These iconic limestone stacks have been pounded by the Southern Ocean so much that only seven and a little bit, of the twelve pillars remain. They’re literally just crumbling away. In 2005 one of the stacks collapsed dramatically so it’s anyone’s guess as to how long the remaining seven will last.
The picture below was taken from the main viewing platform.
As you can see from this next picture there’s quite a few steps down to the beach but it was well worth going down there. Once on the beach we could really appreciate the size of these crumbling stacks. You have to laugh though …as a professional photographer shooting family celebrations I’m used to taking pictures of couples so when this guy asked me to take a picture of him standing on the beach with his girlfriend I was happy to oblige. Cheeky devil looked at the picture I’d taken and in broken English said …”Again please, no big rock behind us.” I guess he hadn’t come to admire the stacks!
With my pride still intact we walked up the steps to the top with the wind battering us sideways. There are quite a few designated viewing areas so we walked along to a smaller, less crowded one which gave us fantastic views of this stunning coastline.
A few pictures later and it was time to head to our B&B to get sorted before finding somewhere for a meal. We didn’t want to be too late eating as we had a date later with with some fairy penguins.
Our aptly named B&B, 12 Apostles, was only a five minute drive away. Robyn Wallis has three rooms for guests at her cosy farmhouse. The views are lovely as is her garden with lots of interesting artistic objects around the place. It was so peaceful there and we were told that in the evening we would see a stunning array of stars as there was absolutely no light pollution.
Having off-loaded our things we headed into Port Campbell to find somewhere to eat with hopefully some good Aussie beer on tap. Five minutes later we found just the place down at the Foreshore. ‘Hearty pub style food with local beer’ is what the sign outside said and it was right. 12 Rocks Beach Bar is unpretentious; the meals are reasonably priced and the local beer is good if just a little too cold for us Brits. Pleasantly full we headed back along the road to the Visitor Facility at the 12 Apostles.
Dawn for the sunrise and dusk for the sunset are the two times to view the 12 Apostles. We weren’t surprised therefore that with half an hour to go before sunset the parking plot at the Visitor Facility was pretty full. The seagulls were in force too, landing on cars and making a heck of a noise. They seemed to prefer certain vehicles, no idea why. Had to take picture of this lot on the car roofs.
With the light fading and a beautiful orange glow forming on the horizon we headed to the main viewing area. I can’t deny that there were lots of visitors there all waiting for the sunset but there was enough space for everyone.
Here is just a couple of the shots I took as this wonderful sunset slowly lit up those majestic rocks along the coastline …just magical.
So having this magical time enjoying the fabulous glow on the rocks you’re now given a new show ..penguins. These fairy penguins waddle their way onto the beach about ten to fifteen minutes after sunset. They play in the foam along the shoreline then go back into the water, come out again and then waddle a little way up the beach. It would have been fantastic to have had a longer lens with me but I didn’t so I had to be content with the pictures I got however these little penguins are so cute and we loved watching them. We stayed until it got dark until we couldn’t see them anymore.
We rounded off this amazing evening by sitting on the porch at our B&B just watching the stars and sharing a very pleasant bottle of Australian Chardonnay. This is what holidays are all about.
Travels with the Booths.blog 