February 13, 2023 - Koala and the 12 Apostles

For anyone posting comments on the blog, they come to us as “anonymous”. Please add at least your name and maybe email, and I may be able to respond. THANKS!

 

February 13, 2023 – Koala and the 12 Apostles 

We were some of the first ones off the ship this morning. Geelong (pronounced jih-LONG) is a tender port, but it was a quick 10 minutes between the ship and shore. And the water in this bay is very smooth. We were handed packets of information on the area by the local tourism office as we headed for our busses. We have a guide and a driver today (in many ports that we have visited, the ranks for both drivers and guides have been severely reduced due to Covid and its aftermath. The numbers are down drastically, and, in many instances, our driver and our guide were one and the same person. They’ve actually done a remarkable job. 

We are headed west along the southern shore of Australia. The section of road we will be on is named “The Great Ocean Road”. It was built between 1919 and 1932 by soldiers returning from World War I. And the road is dedicated to the lives lost in that war. It is the largest war memorial in the world. This was back breaking work with picks and shovels. They were able to clear only about 3 kilometers a month just in getting ready to lay the road. The road follows the coastline for most of its route and is rather narrow and very windy. During a couple of sections, we cut through very dense forest thick with tree fern, eucalyptus, conifers, etc. 

We stopped for a “comfort stop” after a bit at a little café. Just up a driveway next to the café a koala was spotted in a tree, just off the road. He/she/it was much larger than we had anticipated. Probably a couple of feet in body length. We couldn’t see the face, but after a few minutes it did stand up on the branch it was sitting on and reached above it for more leaves. How cool is that? We saw a koala! In the wild! Not in a park! We picked up a coffee to share and back on the bus we continued on our way.

 

 

The koala is in the center of this picture and is just a grey fuzzy patch.

 

We stopped for lunch on our own in Apollo Bay. Our guide suggested the scallop pie at the Bakery. It took us a few minutes to find it but took the recommendation and got a scallop pie and a pasty. The scallop pie was really good. Fun Fact: we’ve been noticing that disposable utensils “down under” are made out of wood. They work quite well and we have been surprised at how well the knife cuts.

 

 

 

More fun facts: We noticed in Tasmania some cockatoos and parrots. On our drive today, we’ve seen LOTS of white cockatoos and our driver pointed out a flock of black cockatoos. I asked a local about the cockatoos. She said they are a major nuisance. In the wild they maintain their beak by sharpening it on wood. When they move into a residential area, they tend to use deck furniture, the deck wood and window and door frames. They can completely destroy deck furniture.

 

Once the cockatoos land in the trees, they seem to tuck their heads under. Several cockatoos were in this tree as well as a soccer ball.

Time to move on. We reached the parking area for the “12 Apostles” rock formations. They are sea stacks and quite striking. There are now 8 rather than 12 due to normal erosion. But when you study the limestone cliffs, there are more forming. Lots and lots of people taking photos and cute young girls taking glamor shot selfies. After about 45 minutes we were back on the bus and heading to another lookout. This one is at the western end of the 12 Apostles and is named Loch Ard Gorge. There is a part fact, part myth story for this gorge but an amazing setting with more rock formations in the limestone, including one named “razorback”.

 

 

 

It is time to head back but we’ll be taking a different route back to Geelong. Some of it is still pretty windy, but eventually we got to a major highway, then zipped right along, returning to the ship about 7:00 p.m. On the way back we cut through farmland. Lots of cattle – both dairy and beef. Lots and lots of sheep. Grass pastures that are being cut and bailed. Throughout the day we also noticed agapanthus growing everywhere. Although they come from Africa, they seem to be growing wild here.

 

Another day draws to a close.