After a nice breakfast, back on the road again… up to Port Campbell with the Twelve Apostles.

Unplanned Stop

My first stop was planned to be at Cape Otway Lightstation, however, I had an unplanned stop before getting there… Driving along the relatively narrow road, I suddenly spotted a group of people in the road, all looking up and pointing at something, some even taking pictures… What could be so important to see that people would even get out of their cars for?

A closer look revealed the cause, and made me copy their behaviour: I parked my car, grabbed my camera, and joined the group of spectators… to take the following picture:

Really glad I b(r)ought my extra zoom lens! He/she wasn’t quite asleep (yet), but didn’t seem to have plans for moving about much either. But then, as I’d learned earlier: koalas sleep 18-20 hours per day…

Telegraph Station at Cape Otway

After this short interlude, Cape Otway Lighthouse was my next stop. It appeared to be a very interesting site with much more than “just” a lighthouse to visit. To begin with, there was the telegraph station (1859), which connected the island Tasmania to mainland Australia using a 386 km long cable under the sea (ok, that’s about 240 miles… if only just everyone started using the metric system consistently…).

But already after 2 years, the cable failed, after which the building was used as signal station to communicate with ships that sailed passed in the Bass Strait using signal flags that were flagged from the flag pole in front of the building:

• 

• 

Signal flags could be used for many different things: to communicate where the ship came from and was going to, if it was an immigrants’ ship: how many people on board, births, deaths, diseases (so the ship could be immediately quarantined upon arrival), but also personal messages from passengers. These would then be passed on to Melbourne (and beyond) by telegraph – it would take 4 minutes for a message to arrive at Melbourne. It was also a means of getting the “latest” news from eg Europe, and pass on the latest news from Australia to the passing ship.

A very informative board in the telegraph station told me the following interesting information about communication in the late 19^th and early 20^th century:

• In 1872 Australia was connected with Europe by a submarine cable from Darwin in North Australia to the island of Java, while overland cables carried the telegraph messages to the cities in the south
• This was a vast improvement: the congratulatory message from the Mayor of London to the Mayor of Adelaide in South Australia took “only” 7 hours – compared to several months by ship
• In 1876 Australia and New Zealand were connected by cable
• In 1902 the loop was closed by a cable under the Pacific Ocean

As great as these improvements were at the time, it is unimaginable at the moment with a flight from London to Sydney taking only about 24 hours (including stop over), and instant access via mobile phones and internet!

As telegraphy is basically sending messages by electric signals over long wires, telegraphs need to be powered by a large bank of big batteries, all filled with sulfuric acid. To prevent that any spillages would leak everywhere, the floor of the battery room looks a bit like a bath tub:

The telegraph station was also used as Lighthouse keeper’s lodgings, and even as school. As I used to play the organ a bit, it was good to see this nice example… if only my house was big enough…

It is not clear how this organ came into the telegraph station (from Canada…!), but one story is that it was on board of the “Eric the Red”, a ship that brought exquisite exhibits from New York to Australia for the first “International Exhibition”. The ship was shipwrecked at Cape Otway, however, and it is thought that the organ was a survivor of that shipwreck… Not too sure about this story: I mean, I didn’t try to play it, but I’m sure salt water isn’t exactly improving the sound of an organ…

Cape Otway Lightstation

Let’s get on to the actual lighthouse:

The lighthouse was built between 1846-1848. Each stone of the building was hand carved by stone masons, and fitted together without any mortar, by locking each stone into surrounding ones.

At the top, there was a curved dome, which carried the actual light, weighing about 4.5 tonne – that is 4500 kg, or if you really must know: nearly 710 stone! (Which reminds me of a story a colleague told me: her son started to learn about weights, and wondered how many “pebbles” were equal to one stone…). Great craftmanship was used in the actual lantern room: with the round valves the amount of air could be regulated so the light would burn with optimal fuel efficiency.

• 

• 

Visitors could climb up to the lantern room in the top of the lighthouse to admire the view:

Some other buildings

Scattered around the site were several other buildings. A radar station from World War II, that was used to track Japanese submarines:

The antenna could be swept round 360 degrees, while looking out for “blips” in the signal. Any suspicious signals would be passed on by phone or radio to Air Defence Headquarters in Melbourne.

In the bushes surrounding the lighthouse was a (newly built) aboriginal hut:

Note how the rain is lashing down… Whilst the weather was mainly nice, I did have some heavy showers every day during this week. As they were just very short, most of the time I just stayed in the car until the rain stopped before getting out to visit the next attraction along the route.

Lastly, the oldest surviving building – the dwelling and workshop of the assistant keepers and their families, built in 1850:

On account of one of the inhabitants, it wasn’t the greatest of accommodations, “on account of the damp coming through the end wall, as the plaster is all hanging with moisture”…

Twelve Apostles

After all the delights at the museum of Cape Otway Lightstation (well worth a visit!), I finally made my way to the Twelve Apostles… The road had moved away from the ocean, and went through lovely rolling hills:

And finally I arrived at the attraction that the Great Ocean Road is so famous for… the Twelve Apostles:

• 

• 

They are – or rather: were… five have collapsed over time – twelve limestone stacks along the coast near Port Campbell. I had hoped to be able to get to the beach, however, when I was there the tide was coming in, so I couldn’t walk round the base of the Apostles. The pictures above are therefore taken from a viewing platform at the top of the cliffs, which doesn’t quite show how majestic these 45 m tall structures are…

Razorback, Loch Ard Gorge, Arch, London Bridge

But the Twelve Apostles aren’t the only limestone stacks along the coast at Port Campbell. And having been there, I’m not yet sure which one is my favourite… Take a look for yourself. To begin with, here is the Razorback:

The edges and bumps along the top of the rock are formed by spray from the ocean below: softer rock is eroded away, leaving the harder areas, which form the current razorback shape. The grooves that are visible at the bottom of the stack, are similarly formed by waves.

Next is Loch Ard Gorge, named after a ship – the Loch Ard – that was shipwrecked nearby.

• 

• 

This time I went down to the beach, to see the rocks and the erosion close up.

After dinner I decided to do 2 more sites – firstly the Arch:

And finally – sunset at London Bridge:

But… London Bridge is fallen down… At least, partly… Until 1990 it was a double spanning bridge that was connected to the mainland. However, unexpectedly the part closest to land collapsed, leaving two visitors stranded on the outer part. They were saved, uninjured, by helicopter not too much later. And needless to say, the viewing platform is now a lot further away and London Bridge itself cannot be accessed any longer.

So far my adventures of this second day driving the Great Ocean Road. The next day I’d see some more great limestone stacks. Perhaps even the best one is left for last…

So: more again next time!