UK Edition
Reports surfacing earlier this year from deepest Down Under indicated that five new Apostles had been discovered – a development, surely, of biblical proportions.
Then it emerged that the Apostles in question were additions to the sensational series of craggy rock formations sticking out of the sea along the stretch of coastal road running from Torquay to Allansford in the Australian state of Victoria – long considered one of the world’s great natural wonders and universally referred to as the 12 Apostles. Rather than standing tall, waves swirling around them, the five new Apostles were located underwater, four miles out to sea. Using state-of-the-art sonic radar equipment to map the ocean bed, PhD student Rhiannon Bezore had noticed that some 165ft beneath the surface were a number of rocky stacks bearing an uncanny resemblance to their much admired kinsmen above sea level. They were not nearly so big (15ft rather than 150ft), nor as readily photogenic. But, like the others, they were made of limestone – and they were considerably more ancient (some 60,000 years old); arguably they were even more venerable.
Way beyond the scientific community, the discovery of the five new Apostles spread ripples of excitement across the global travelling fraternity. After years of wonderment at those spectacular craggy pillars, might there be something new to explore at what is already one of Australia’s most popular sights?
Clearly, further research was needed. It was time to hit the road: the Great Ocean Road.
Spas and cellar doors
As one of the world’s most celebrated drives, the Great Ocean Road is something that should be savoured. You can do it as a day-trip from Melbourne, belting down the M1 motorway and then covering the 150 miles between Torquay and Allansford (stopping for the obligatory selfie-fest at the 12 Apostles), before racing back. Thousands do it this way every day, which seems a shame given how much of interest and beauty there is in this part of the world, and how much more there is to the story of the road. If possible, give yourself two or three days. And try not to get to the Apostles between 1pm and 3pm, which is when most of the coaches arrive.
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One lovely alternative to the motorway dash is to begin the journey by driving south-east out of Melbourne, hugging the shoreline around Port Phillip Bay before heading inland into the eucalyptus and gum tree-lined avenues of the Mornington Peninsula. It’s all so familiar – Australians drive on the left for a start, and the roads have names like Shoreham and St John’s Wood (though the signs warning of kangaroos are a bit of a give-away).
The Mornington Peninsula boasts many excellent wines and lovely places (“cellar doors”) in which to sample them. It is also home to the Peninsula Hot Springs – a sprawling outdoor bathing complex containing a magnificent array of warm-water pools in which you can unwind, enjoy scenic views, tune into the chatter of sauna-savvy regulars and generally contemplate life and the universe. As a preparation for the Great Ocean Road, it doesn’t get better than this.
Surf’s up
Another advantage of travelling via Mornington Peninsula is that you get to take the ferry linking the pretty port of Sorrento with Queenscliff on the other side of the bay. If you are lucky, the wind will be bracing and the water a thrillingly clear blue; sailing boats will bob, masts clanking gently, and in the receding hills you will catch glimpses of the villas of the great and the grand. As the anticipation mounts, breathe in the fresh, briny air.
The Great Ocean Road formally starts at the seaside town of Torquay, a short drive from Queenscliff and the place (second only perhaps to Bondi Beach) where surfers come out to play. In high season (December and January) the streets are packed with the bronzed and the brave carrying their boards to the waves. The less bold, but curious, admire from afar while strolling through the town’s beautifully manicured lawns. True enthusiasts pop into the the town’s stellar sight: the Australian National Surfing Museum.
There is lots more Bondi-style bravado going on a few miles along the road at Bell’s Beach, where we stopped to marvel at the wetsuit-clad figures waiting patiently in the water before rising and riding magnificently. If it had been up to Mrs Bridge, we might have spent the rest of the day here, but I was impatient to get going, as was our motor – a splendid Australian Holden. Although we were travelling in the Antipodean winter (August), the sun shone brightly. “In 200 metres turn left and rejoin the Great Ocean Road,” purred the satnav, nicely in tune with her feminine side.
The longest war memorial
Travelling in winter meant that for much of the journey the road was almost completely clear: we drove mile after mile alongside sweeping bays and jagged cliff formations, blissfully free from the pressure of the impatient. On the way to the historical resort of Lorne we stopped to head down a bush-lined track that led to a deserted yellow sand beach, at the end of which winked the lighthouse at Aireys Inlet. We stopped again at the arch across the road that serves as a memorial to those who built the Great Ocean Road – 3,000 Australian soldiers and sailors who, in 1918, returned from the First World War, shell-shocked, shattered and uncertain how to pick up the pieces.
Step forward Howard Hitchcock, the Mayor of Geelong, who brilliantly saw that the huge benefit of linking the coastal communities in this part of the state of Victoria by road could be married with finding employment and new purpose for the returning soldiers.
“After the trauma of the trenches, building the road gave them something useful to do,” explained Doug Stirling, a sprightly 94-year-old local legend who remembers when the road formally opened in 1932. “It wasn’t easy; in places they had to blast through solid rock – but it restored them to vigour and health and offered camaraderie. It also led to the creation of the longest war memorial in the world.”
A display in Lorne’s main tourist office contains black and white photos of the men at work and pays tribute to the visionaries behind the enterprise – some of whom, even then, foresaw that the Great Ocean Road would offer one of the most scenic drives in the world. Few who have driven the mesmerising stretch of winding road between Lorne and Apollo Bay would disagree.
Room with a view
A journey along the Great Ocean Road can involve a lot more than driving: there are beautiful stretches to walk and great spots for surfing and swimming; there are zipwire thrills in the Great Otway National Park, a stretch of forested road that takes a delighful detour inland. There are encounters with koalas and whales, dolphins and seals; Aboriginal art trails and adventures of the culinary kind.
Our highlight in this regard came at Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant & Villas, a stylish refuge high in the hills above Skenes Creek. Here, in a multi-tiered dining space, owner Chris (originally from Greece) wines and dines his guests with dishes such as Tasmanian ocean trout gravadlax, baby squid stuffed with pine nuts, sultanas and spinach, baklava infused with walnut and pistachio.
“This shiraz is drinking really well,” the waiter advised as I sought something full-bodied from Western Australia to complement a slow-braised lamb shoulder. By the end of the evening, I was drinking pretty well too.
In the morning we woke to the sight of brightly coloured parakeets perched on the rim of the terrace beyond our villa window and the faint sound of the Southern Ocean in the distance.
“This is the best room with a view I have ever stayed in,” my wife declared.
The 12 Apostles
Funnily enough, you don’t get a brilliant view of the 12 Apostles from the road itself – but you do if you pull off to the side and wander through the gorse and wattle-lined walkways that bring you almost to within touching distance of those iconic outcrops. Here we learnt that despite being known as the 12 Apostles, there were in reality only ever nine, a number which dropped to eight in 2005 when one of the stacks collapsed as a result of the constant battering from the waves.
Standing close to the cliff edge you sense the raw power of the Southern Ocean and appreciate just how perilous it was for ships to navigate this particular stretch of coastline in the days when transport by road was not an option. Not for no reason was this known as the Shipwreck Coast, and at the perfectly formed Loch Ard Gorge we learnt of the night in June 1878 when a clipper ship engraved with the name Loch Ard came a cropper on the rocks and how a damsel in distress was saved by a courageous young boy.
Locals talk affectionately of their prized Apostles and have given them nicknames such as “Salt and Pepper Shaker”, “London Bridge”, “Thunder Cave” and “Razorback”.
They are astonishingly beautiful, something we appreciated with perspective when we took a 15-minute helicopter ride over the whole area.
Waters run deep
So what of the five new “Drowned Apostles” discovered earlier this year? Almost at journey’s end, we turned into a small road leading to Hopkins River to join Dr Daniel Ierodiaconou, a marine ecologist at Deakin University, for an exploratory trip upstream.
On board the vessel was all the state-of the art equipment deployed by Rhiannon Bezore for her sonar mapping of Victoria’s southern coast. We watched spellbound as lines flickering across a screen revealed the contours of the river bed, imagining just how much more exciting it must have been when scanning the floor of the ocean four miles offshore from Port Campbell.
“The stacks that were found were smaller and flatter on top, but they were definitely limestone and were unique to this section of the coast,” enthused Dr Ierodiaconou. “Divers who have seen them say they have very colourful encrustations and sponges and are even more beautiful than a coral reef.”
And when will we be able to see them? “It is possible that in tens of thousands of years there will be another ice age and water levels will sink,” he said with a wry smile.
“More immediately, while I don’t think there will be commercial dives any time soon – those stacks are pretty far down – there is no reason why we couldn’t get cameras down there and produce some videos.
“Visitors to this part of the world could then, in addition to enjoying the drama of what you see above sea level, get some sense of what lies beneath.”
Essentials
Adrian Bridge was a guest of Visit Victoria: for more on travelling and driving round the state, see visitmelbourne.com and australiaroadtrip.co.uk
Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant and Villas (chriss.com.au/home) offers studio apartments from AUS$ 240 (£140) a night; breakfast included.
Two places on a 15-minute helicopter tour over the 12 Apostles costs from AUS$290 (£170) though 12apostleshelicopters.com.