Monthly Archives: November 2019

Old Melbourne Gaol (Australia)

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The Old Melbourne Gaol

One of the highlights of our last day in Melbourne was our Old Melbourne Gaol – Crime and Justice Experience (in 2010, it won the heritage and cultural tourism category at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in Hobart) which included the Watch House Experience. The Old Melbourne Gaol, consisting of a bluestone building and courtyard, is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildings.

Exterior of the Old Melbourne Gaol

In 1957, the Old Melbourne Gaol was listed by the National Trust of Australia on its heritage register and, as of 2010, was recognized as Victoria’s oldest surviving penal establishment.  It attracts approximately 140,000 visitors per year.

Check out “Watch House Experience”

Historical plaque

It was first constructed starting in 1839 but the present Melbourne Gaol is the second on the site. Though it was used briefly during World War II (the gaol was used as a military prison for soldiers found to be absent without leave), it formally ceased operating as a prison in 1929 when the conditions were no longer deemed acceptable.

National Trust of Australia (Victoria) plaque

This is the only remaining piece of the cell blocks still standing but other remaining buildings from the prison complex, as well as the original arched jail entry gate (around the corner off of Victoria Street) are now part of the RMIT University complex.

The only penal fortress in the area and an imposing symbol of the city’s unforgiving justice system, the jail became the holding house for everyone from short-term prisoners, mentally ill lunatics to some of the colony’s most notorious and hardened criminals and serial killers.

Scaled Model of Old Melbourne Gaol

It also housed up to twenty children at a time (including those imprisoned for petty theft or vagrancy) or simply those staying with a convicted parent.

The youngest prisoner recorded was the three-year-old Michael Crimmins, who spent 6 months in the prison in 1857 for being idle and disorderly. Babies under twelve months old were allowed to be with their mothers. In 1851, the 13- and 14-year-old O’Dowd sisters were imprisoned because they had nowhere else to go.

Edward “Ned” Kelly, an Australian outlaw, gang leader and convicted police murderer, was one of the last bushrangers and, by far, the most famous. He is best known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armor during his final shootout with the police.

During its operation as a prison from 1842 to 1924, it held and executed (a total of 135 people were executed by hanging) some of Australia’s most notorious criminals, including bushranger Ned Kelly (executed November 11, 1880) and serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming (executed May 23, 1892).

Frederick Bailey Deeming Exhibit. An English-born Australian gasfitter and murderer, Deeming was convicted and executed for the murder of a woman in Melbourne, Australia. He is also remembered today because he was suspected, by some, of being the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

Along with co-accused Julian Cross and David Gedge, Elizabeth Scott became the first woman to be hanged in Victoria (November 11, 1863).  The last person to be executed was Angus Murray on April 14, 1924, the same year the gaol was closed.

Emma Williams Exhibit. Hanged on November 4, 1895, aged twenty-seven, the anguished Emma drowned her baby son, on August 1895, because he was a “nuisance” and cried when she had clients (she was a prostitute).

The three-storey Old Melbourne Gaol, reopened as a public museum (under the management of the National Trust of Australia, Victoria) On March 2,1972, displays information and various  memorabilia of the prisoners (including death masks, an iron mask and a pair of leather gloves designed to prevent inmates from practicing self-abuse) and staff.

Death masks. A likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person’s face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse.

At one time the museum displayed what was believed, at the time, to be Ned Kelly’s skull, before it was stolen from its glass cabinet in 1978; as well as the pencil used by wrongly convicted Colin Campbell Ross to write a letter protesting his innocence (which he threw over the prison walls), before being executed.

Death Mask of Ned Kelly

Throughout the three floors, we explored a number of cells with displays of various bits of historical information regarding the prison and its inmates on display.

The Lashing Triangle. In the 1800s, the most common form of punishment was the lash where prisoners received 25 lashes for minor infringements and 50 for more serious crimes. They were tied to this 3-beamed triangle (known as being “married to the three sisters”) and dealt the blows which would often strip the flesh from a man’s back. Many became seriously ill or died as a result.

In addition to information, it also includes memorabilia. Notably, it still includes Ned Kelly’s death mask, pistol and replica of his suit of armor.

Locks

While inside the jail, we also took time to look at their gross (some have hairs sticking out of them) and fascinating collection of death masks, plaster casts made from the executed prisoners as part of the phrenological study of hanged felons.

Basilio Bondietti Exhibit. He was executed on December 11, 1876 for the murder of his mate, Carlo Cormisto, at Sandy Creek, near Seymour.

Fatta Chand Exhibit. This 24 year old Indian man was executed on April 27, 1891 for murdering his Hindu partner Juggo Moll near Healesville last November 1890.

Notable for me is the mask of Filipi (Felipe?) Castillo, a Filipino migrant (Filipinos settled in Australia as early as the 1880s). Born in Manila in 1869, he was sentenced to death on September 16, 1889 for the theft and murder of Annie Thornton.

Filipi Castillo Exhibit

The hangman’s beam, which claimed some 133 lives, has a rope dangling eerily above the trap door. You even can try on replicas of Ned Kelly’s famous armor suit, which makes for a fun photo opp.

Replicas of Ned Kelly’s famous armor suit for children to wear

Old Melbourne Gaol: 377 Russell Street (between Victoria Street and La Trobe Street), Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Open daily (closed Christmas Day and Good Friday), 9.30 AM to 5 PM (Last entry suggested at 3:30 PM). Tel: 03 9656 9889 (Mondays – Friday). E-mail: bookings@nattrust.com.au. Website: www.oldmelbournegaol.com.au. Admission: $28 (adults), $23 (concession), $15 (children, 5-15 years), $65 (family, 2 adults + 2 children), $48 (1 adult ++ 2 children) and $5 (extra child on family tickets). A Virtual Reality headset is available for mobility challenged visitors courtesy of the State Trustees Australia Foundation. Note: the old entrance archway sits on the university campus, so please be respectful of the students that may be in class.

How to Get There: For bus, use the Old Melbourne Gaol stop directly in front of the compound. For the City Tram, you can use either the RMIT University stop or the Russell Street stop off of the No. 30 & 35 tram. There is no on-site parking available but paid street parking is offered along La Trobe Street.

Melbourne Chinatown (Australia)

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Melbourne Chinatown

Melbourne’s Chinatown, an ethnic enclave in the Central Business District (CBD), is centered at the eastern end of Little Bourke Street and extends between the corners of Swanston and Spring Streets.

Little Bourke Street

Established in the 1850s during the Victorian gold rush, it consists of numerous laneways, alleys and arcades and is still home to many Chinese restaurants, a number of Asian grocery stores, Chinese medicine and herbalist centers, cultural venues and places of worship. Today, Little Bourke Street is a bustling collection of Asian restaurants and cafes mingled with an eclectic mix of Chinese run businesses, car parks and building sites.

Another entrance arch to Chinatown. The building on the left houses the Da Fu Peking Duck Restaurant

There are also bookstores, fashion boutiques and other retail outlets in arcades such as the Village Center, The Target Centre and Paramount Plaza. A number of nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings, often with recently designed Chinoiserie facades, also still stand. Some of the older clan societies, political societies and Chinese churches are still operational.

The author with grandson Kyle

Here are some interesting trivia regarding Melbourne’s Chinatown:

  • Chinatown is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western World
  • It is the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Its Chinese Museum is home to Dai Loong and the Millennium Dragon, the largest Chinese dragonin the world.
  • In the 1880s, Tom Roberts, one of the leading figures of Australian Impressionism, created sketches of life in Little Bourke Street.
  • Fergus Hume‘s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab(1886), one of the most famous mystery crime novels of the Victorian era, is based largely on the author’s observations of life in Little Bourke Street, including the Chinese Quarter.
  • Little Bourke Street is featured prominently in Charles Bradley‘s 1891 crime novel The Belgrave Place.
  • Elinor Mordaunt‘s 1919 novel The Ginger Jar, set in Little Bourke Street,  is about a love affair between a Chinese Australian hawker and a European woman.
  • A pivotal scene of the 1911 silent film The Double Event, directed by  J. Lincoln, takes place in Melbourne’s Chinatown.
  • The 1997 Hong Kong action film Nice Guy, starring Jackie Chan, is set in Melbourne, with several scenes shot in Chinatown.

Playing an important role in establishing the culture of Chinese immigrants in Australia, Melbourne’s Chinatown is a major tourist attraction known for its architectural heritage, annual festivals and cuisines of Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Korean origins.

One of Chinatown’s 5 arches

Chinatown’s 5 key arches, which clearly announce the entrance to Chinatown, are an important statement of the City of Melbourne’s commitment to Chinatown.  They have been restored to their former glory with added modern touches including red neon lighting on the columns.

Chinese Museum

The Chinese Museum  or Museum of Chinese Australian History, housed in a 4-storey building built by the Cohen Bros in 1890 and used as a warehouse for the manufacture of furniture, is a history museum  established in 1985 and refurbished in 2010.  It presents the history of Australians of Chinese ancestry and, since 2010, its ground floor has also acted as a visitor centre for Melbourne’s Chinatown.

A pair of fu dogs at the museum entrance

Its extensive collection of Chinese clothing and textiles, photographs, documents and artifacts reflects the social fabric and activities of the Chinese community in Australia from the 1850s.  The museum also has a temporary exhibition space in which local and international artists can present work that engages with the Chinese culture.

Statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen

Outside the Museum’s entrance is a memorial statue of Dr Sun Yat-sen, unveiled in 2011 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. The traditional Chinese New Year Lion Dance has always ended at this spot, but will now end with a blessing of the statue.

One building of architectural and historical significance in Chinatown is the 2-storey Chinese Mission Church.  Built in 1872 by the Wesleyan Methodists, it is known today as the Chinese Parish Office of the Uniting Church.  This Gothic-style church has simple pointed arch windows and slate roof by architects Crouch and Wilson, and is an early example of polychromatic brickwork incorporating diaper work to the facade and polychromatic voussoirs to the windows.

Chinese Mission Church

Chinatown: Little Bourke St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: +61 474 043 600.

Chinese Museum:  22 Cohen Place, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9662 2888

Chinese Mission Church: 196 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia

 

Royal Parliamentary House (Melbourne, Australia)

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Parliament House

It was our last whole day in Melbourne and, after an early breakfast, we checked out of our Airbnb apartment at Empire Apartments by 10 AM and consigned our luggage at a storage facility nearby.  We still had a full day for touring so we decided to complete what remained in our bucket list of places to see in the city.  We opted to first visit Parliament House, getting there by tram.

The meeting place of the Parliament of Victoria (one of the parliaments of the Australian states and territories), Parliament House is located on  the edge of the central city grid, its grand colonnaded front dominating the vista up Bourke Street. Designed by John Knight and Peter Kerr , its construction, commenced on December 1855, was done in stages (owing to its vast size and cost).

L-R: the author, Jandy, Grace and Kyle

The first stage, consisting of the two chambers (one for the Victorian Legislative Assembly and a smaller more ornate chamber for the Victorian Legislative Council), was officially opened, to great acclaim, on November 25, 1856 with the first session of the Victorian Government in the new chambers. With various sections completed over the following decades, it has never been completed with the planned dome one of the most well known unbuilt features of Melbourne.

In 1858, construction of the Library and eastern wing began and was completed in 1860. Freestone from Bacchus Marsh was chosen for the exterior but this decayed rapidly and, within a few years, large parts had to be replaced with stone from Tasmania. Upon completion of the library, the two legislative chambers were joined at the rear, resulting in a `U-shaped’ building. For 18 years, no further construction took place. Circa 1877, the first set of electrical bells, used to call members to divisions, were installed

In 1879, the Great Hall (used for formal receptions and banquets, it was renamed Queen’s Hall in 1887) and vestibule were completed. The vestibule, a formal entry to Parliament House, was completed up to the base of the proposed dome. However, for another decade, the grand front steps were not to be completed. In 1888, imported Minton were laid on the tiled floor of the Vestibule, spelling out “Where no Counsel is the People Fall; but in the Multitude of Counsellors there is Safety” (a quote from Proverbs 11:14).

In 1889, the grand classical colonnaded front of the building, using suitable sandstone from Mt Difficult in the Grampians National Park (where a quarry was opened up) as well as the grand front entry stairs was completed. In 1890, the final interior decoration was completed and, over the next year, final elements like the ornate wrought-iron fence around the grounds and the elaborate cast-iron lamps and the bronze lions of the entry stairs were completed.

There was no free tour as Parliament House was closed that day, it being a holiday (Melbourne Cup Day)

The last major additions, the refreshment rooms occupying the northeast corner, were paid for by the Federal Government after the Federal Parliament relocated to Canberra in 1927. The exterior, completed in 1929, followed the 1877 design.

Between 1901 and 1927, when Melbourne was the temporary national capital (the new capital city envisaged in the Australian Constitution did not yet exist and there were long delays in finding a site and commencing construction), it served as the first home of the Commonwealth of Australia‘s Federal Government and the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia. During these years the Victorian Parliament met in the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.

Check out “Royal Exhibition Building“

Plaque commemorating the centennial of the First Seating of the Federal Parliament of Australia (May 10, 2001)

Some of the major events of the early federal period that took place in this building include:

In 1928, the building resumed its original use as the Victorian Parliament chambers. In 1982, the building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and, from 2005–2006, it celebrated its 150th anniversary.

From 2016 to 2018, a $40 million two-storey office building, for MPs’ use, was constructed in the gardens of Parliament House. To specifically reduce its impact on Parliament House and other nearby buildings, the new building is embedded into the landscape.  

Royal Parliamentary House: Spring Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia. Open Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM.  Admission: Adult: 15AUD, Child: Free

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: The Gibson Steps (Australia)

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View from The Gibson Steps

Loch Ard Gorge was supposed to be the last item in our Great Ocean Adventure Tour itinerary but our Bunyip Tour guide/driver Jake Smithers said that, as we still had time, we were in for another treat to explore – The Gibson Steps.  From Loch Ard Gorge, it was just a short 5.1-km. (8-min.) drive to the Gibson Steps, another area of cliffs.

The Gibson Steps

For travelers heading west along the Great Ocean Road, the cliffs are actually the first sightseeing stop-off in Port Campbell National Park, a 1-km. (2-min.) drive from The Twelve Apostles. Set along the glorious stretch of Great Ocean Road, the Gibson Steps refers to the staircase, leading down the 70-m. high vertical cliffs, to the lush stretch of beach below.

The boardwalk leading to The Gibson Steps

Like most of the Great Ocean Road’s attractions, the Gibson Steps has a fascinating history dating back hundreds of years as it was originally thought that the steps were cut out by the Kirrae Whurrong people, a local tribe who called the area home.

However, it was only in 1869 that the steps got their full use and their name as local settler and pioneer Hugh Gibson, who built nearby Glenample Homestead, as well as fishermen and other seafaring workers, regularly used the 86 steep steps, carved into the face of the cliff, to access the beach and the water below.

The beach below

Gibson is most famous for his role in the Loch Ard shipwreck as Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael, the two shipwreck survivors, regained their strength at his homestead.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Loch Ard Gorge”

From the viewing platform at the top of the steps, we marveled at the natural scenery on offer – Gog and Magog, the nicknames given to the two jutting giant limestone rock stacks rising up out of the Indian Ocean (or Southern Ocean according to Australian geographers). Spectacular natural wonders like the Twelve Apostles (however, they are not considered part of the Twelve Apostles), they were also sculpted by weather conditions.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: The Twelve Apostles”

Gog (or Magog?)

The beach at the bottom of the Gibson Steps is popular for recreational fishing (Australian salmon, sweep, trevally, gummy shark, etc.) at an exclusion zone east of the steps towards Princetown (Clifton Beach).  However, despite the popularity of fishing, swimming here is highly unadvised, as the ferocious reefs and rip holes make for incredibly choppy waves.

The disappointing sign…..

Jandy and I wanted to make my way down to the beach via the steps to view the stacks in a different perspective but, halfway down, the path was barred as the area has been subjected to widespread storm and flood damage and will remain temporarily closed until required safety works are completed.

Our visit to The Gibson Steps marked the end of our Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour and  we were in for a long nearly 3-hour (226.9-km.) drive, via Princes Highway/A1 and M1, back to Melbourne. An hour (74.5 kms.) out of Gibson Steps, we made a short stopover, for dinner, at the Noodle Canteen in Colac before continuing on our way back to Melbourne. 

Noodle Canteen (Colac)

The Gibson Steps: Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia. Tel: 1300 137 255. E-mail: pcvic@corangamite.vic.gov.au.

For those bringing their cars, park at the 12 Apostles and walk to Gibson Steps via a 1.1-km. gravel path section of the Great Ocean Walk which departs from the back of the kiosk at the 12 Apostles and safely underpasses the Great Ocean Road near the Gibson Steps viewing platform and beach access.  Coordinates:  38°40′06″S 143°06′43″E.

Noodle Canteen: 243 Murray St., Colac, Victoria 3250, Australia.  Tel: +61 3 5231 2807.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Loch Ard Gorge (Australia)

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Loch Ard Gorge

From The Twelve Apostles Visitor’s Facility, it was just a short 4.1-km. (5-min.) drive northwest, again via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to Loch Ard Gorge, one of the best-loved stop-off points along the road and the site of the most famous shipwrecks on the aptly named Shipwreck Coast.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: The Twelve Apostles”

Jandy (in green jacket) making his way down the gorge via the stairway

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the gorge:

The Tom and Eva Pillars

Part of Port Campbell National Park, the gorge was named after the 3-masted clipper ship Loch Ard, one of over (since 1797) 800 known shipwrecks in Victoria, of which only 240 of them have been discovered.

On March 2, 1878, the clipper ship Loch Ard, on its fifth and final voyage, left England for Melbourne. Captained by the 29-year old newlywed George Gibb, it had a 36-member crew and 18 passengers. On June 1, 1878, approaching the end of a tumultuous three-month journey, it got lost in a pea soup type of fog, collided with a rock reef and ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island. Of the fifty-four passengers and crew, only two survived – 15 year old Tom Pearce (a ship’s apprentice) and 17 year old Eva Carmichael (an Irishwoman emigrating with her family).

The bruised and dazed Tom, who jumped off the ship, clung to an upturned lifeboat and was washed ashore.  After hearing cries for help, he swam back into the ocean for an hour to rescue Eva, who was clinging on a chicken coop and ship’s spar, from the water. Tom dragged the barely conscious Eva into a cave and then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists. Two stockmen from the Glenample Station, three miles away, rushed to their help and immediately set into plan a rescue attempt. However, only four bodies were retrieved and buried. Eva’s parents, three sisters and two brothers drowned that night.

The world wanted a satisfying ending and thousands of people sent letters and telegrams calling for Tom and Eva to be married. However, they hailed from different social classes (Eva’s father was a doctor) and they went their separate ways. After three months in Australia, Eva sailed to Ireland where she went on to marry an aristocrat Captain Thomas Achilles Townshend. Tom, hailed as a hero (he received £1000 for heroism and the first gold medal struck by the Victorian Humane Society), returned to England and lived until age 49 and was buried in Southampton. Eva died in 1934 at the age of 73. 

The author at Loch Ard Gorge

To soak up the incredible rugged scenery, a flight of stairs allow us and other visitors’ access to the picturesque gorge. We descended down to an undeveloped, orange-colored beach surrounded by jagged cliff tops.  A sharp sea breeze was blowing inland. The beach was fronted by a smooth, pearlescent bay and an inlet of clear, blue water flanked by two yellow-washed unconnected rock pillars, with tufts of vibrant greenery, of the nearby Island Archway.

The author, Kyle and Grace

A clear example of the process of erosion in action, the pillars once formed a natural bridge over the gorge but collapsed in June 2009.  They are officially named Tom and Eva after the two teenage survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck.

Tom Pearce’s Cave

The loch also has two small caves which served as shelter for Tom and Eva and are aptly named Miss Carmichael Cave and Tom Pearce’s Cave. After getting to shore, Tom and Eva spent most of June 1st sleeping in the same cave but Victorian sensibilities demanded that they could not spend this time together unsupervised. Thus that cave became Miss Carmichael’s Cave, while the big cave to the east became Tom Pearce’s Cave.

The weathered cliff face

Unusual for this section of coast, Loch Ard Gorge has a relatively calm interior. Its low energy beach has a moderate sloping dune that, in most tide and ocean conditions, makes the beach accessible with caution.

A pathway also allowed access to the eastern side of the gorge. There are also numerous plaques (detailing geological features), a small museum (detailing the site’s history as well as housing some artifacts salvaged from the wreck), a rest area and a cemetery housing many of the people that died.

Loch Ard Gorge: Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell National Park,  Victoria 3269, Australia.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: The Twelve Apostles (Australia)

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The iconic 12 Apostles

From the Cape Otway Lighthouse, it was a longer 1 hour 15 min. (77.2- km.) drive, again via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the Twelve Apostles along Victoria’s coastline, the highlight of our day-long tour and the jewel in the crown of the Great Ocean Road.

Koala on the ground. Though poorly adapted to walking on the ground, when disturbed, they can break into a bounding gallop, moving at speeds of up to 30 kms. per hour.

Along the way, we made a short stopover to observe adorable, spoon-nosed koalas, in the wild, on the ground or perched between the forks of eucalyptus trees.

12 Apostles Visitor’s Center

Interior of Visitor’s Center

The 12 Apostles are a collection of magnificent limestone stacks off the shore of Port Campbell National Park and their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. The road going there was breathtaking in its rugged splendor, with its dramatic, rugged cliffs carved from the sea and its panoramic views across the rich and azure waters.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Cape Otway Lighthouse“

Until the 1960s, the stacks were originally known as the Pinnacles and then, later, nicknamed the Sow and Pigs (or Sow and Piglets), with Muttonbird Island being the sow, and the smaller limestone rock stacks being the pigs or piglets.

The boardwalk leading to the viewing platform

For marketing purposes, they were then coined as the Apostles, which slowly turned into the 12 Apostles (although you could only see eight at the time of the name). In fact, there are thirty different limestone masses stretched along the coast.  However, the only visible ones from the viewing areas are the eight apostles left.

Grace, Cheska and Kyle at the viewing platform

Upon our arrival at the Twelve Apostles Visitor’s Center (has toilets, coffee shop and souvenirs), we walked, along a wooden boardwalk, towards the viewing platform where we were awestruck in wonder at their size, splendor, myth, mystery and beauty.

However, only seven of the original eight stacks, spread out along 17 kms. of the Shipwreck Coast, have remained standing tall and proud along the shore, after a 50-m. tall (160 ft.) stack collapsed in July 2005.

The additional stacks located to the west

Though the view of the Twelve Apostles, from the promontory, never included twelve stacks, additional stacks, not considered part of the Apostles group, are located to the west within the national park.

Beginning 10–20 million years ago, the iconic as the incredible  Twelve Apostles were formed by constant erosion (up to two centimeters a year) by harsh and extreme weather conditions from the blasting winds, powerful surf and the salt of the tempestuous and stormy Southern Ocean which gradually eroded the soft limestone, carving out cavernous caves in the cliffs.

These caves then become arches that eventually collapse, leaving rock stacks or columns up to 50 m. (160 ft.) high which were left isolated from the shore and susceptible to further erosion from waves.

In the future, due to wave action also eroding the majestic, 70 m. high cliffs, the existing headlands are also expected to become brand-new apostles emerging from the coast in the near future.

The reason for the irregular shape of the erosion is due to the stacks being made up of layers of varying soil types.  The main layer is limestone but the other layers are a mixture of clay and mudstone. Because of the lower density of the mudstone and clay layers, they tend to be more narrow and much more easily eroded by the weather than the slightly denser limestone.

A glorious photo opportunity of the Apostles, in all their splendor, is during sunrise and sunset when the 12 Apostles change color, from dark and foreboding in shadow to brilliant sandy yellow under a full sun.  As the sun rises on her mast, the golden colors, with flecks of rose and red, spill across the rocks.

As the sun starts to fall, the sky explodes with burnt oranges and lavender hues, and the same colors drip across the rocks, adorning the apostles with rainbow colors before they look into foreboding shadows.

12 Apostles: Great Ocean Rd. and Booringa Rd., Princetown, Victoria 3269, Australia. Tel: +61 1300 137 255.

How to Get There: The 12 Apostles are located 275 kms. west of Melbourne, approximately a 4 to 4.5-hour scenic drive, along the Great Ocean Road, from Melbourne via Geelong. You can return to Melbourne on the 3.5-hour inland route along the Princes Highway.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Cape Otway Lighthouse (Cape Otway, Australia)

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Cape Otway Lighthouse

From Apollo Bay, we continued on our way for the short 30-min. (28.2-km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to a turn off. Turning left, it is a further 15-min. drive from the turn off to the Cape Otway Lighthouse on Cape Otway in southern Victoria. This lighthouse, a leading attraction on the Great Ocean Road, is a must for all visitors.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Apollo Bay“

Lighthouse entrance

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this lighthouse:

  • It was the second lighthouse completed on mainland Australia
  • The light house remains the oldest surviving working lighthouse in mainland Australia.
  • During winter to spring (My to October), as 25 species of migrating whales (Southern Right Whales, Humpback Whales, Blue Whales, Killer Whales, etc.) swim very close to shores, the lighthouse is a vantage point for land-based whale watching.
  • For many thousands of 19th century migrants who spent months travelling to Australia by ship, Cape Otway was their first sight of land after leaving Europe, Asia and North America. 

The author

Known as the “Beacon of Hope,” the 21 m. high Cape Otway Lighthouse, a conical tower with balcony, sits on approximately 200 acres of land, 91 m. above the pristine ocean of Bass Strait.  The solar lantern’s light characteristic is three white flashes every 18 seconds and 1 revolution per 90 seconds. It weighs 4,318 kgs.

Here is the historical timeline of the lighthouse:

  • In 1846, the construction of the Cape Otway Lightstation began using stone quarried at the Parker River, 5 kms. east of the lighthouse, and transported to the Cape by oxen.
  • On August 29, 1848, its light was first lit using a first order Fresnel lens, manufactured in London, consisting of 21 polished parabolic reflectors and lamps, in three groups of seven, mounted on a frame and each burning sperm whale oil.
  • In 1891, the original light was replaced with a modern revolving lens, burning a single colza oil wick lamp.
  • In 1905, an incandescent kerosene mantle replaced the oil and wick lamp, increasing the brightness to 100,000 candles.
  • In 1939, the light and turning mechanism was converted to electricity and powered by a diesel generator, increasing the brightness to 1 million candles.
  • In 1962, the lighthouse was connected to an electricity main.
  • In January 1994, after being the longest continuous operating light on the Australian mainland, the lightstation was decommissioned and replaced by a low powered solar light in front of the original tower whose focal plane is at 73 m. above sea level.
  • In 1859, a telegraph station was added to the site when Tasmania was connected to the mainland by a submarine telegraph line from Cape Otway to Launceston.
  • In 1942, the Americans built a radar bunker on the cape which is now open to the public.

Any visit here is not complete without climbing the lighthouse and, after climbing the spiral stairs to the observation deck, we were rewarded with a breathtaking view overlooking Bass Strait on the left and the Southern Ocean on the right.

The stairs leading up to the observation deck

The wind here was fierce and strong and we can hear the noise of the wind even over ordinary conversation. Still, it was an amazing and awesome feeling on the observation deck. 

View from lighthouse

Within the grounds is the Lightkeeper’s Café and Souvenir Shop housed in the former assistant lighthouse keeper’s cottage (Open 9 AM – 4 PM) built in 1858.

Metal Kangaroo Sculpture

Nearby is a metal kangaroo sculpture and the anchor from Eric the Red which was wrecked on the Otway Reef on September 4, 1880.

Anchor of Eric the Red

At the keeper’s cottages of Apollo Bay, accommodation is available in two double studios (suitable for couples) or in the Lightkeeper’s Cottage and Lodge that can sleep groups ranging from two to sixteen people.

Interior of lighthouse

Lighthouse lens

Cape Otway Lighthouse: Otway Lighthouse Rd., Cape Otway, Victoria 3233, Australia. Open daily (closed Christmas Day), 9 AM – 5 PM (last entry 4:30 PM). Admission: adults ($19.50, $18.50 online), children 5 -7 years ($7.50, $7.00 online),  family of 2 adults and up to 4 children ($49.50, $47 online), seniors ($17.50, $16.50 online) and children 0 – 4 years (free). Discounted tickets can be pre-purchased from Apollo Bay and Lorne Visitor Information Centres, or the Otway Fly. Website: www.lightstation.com. Location: latitude 38° 51’ south, longitude 143° 29’ east.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Apollo Bay (Australia)

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Apollo Bay

From the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, we again proceeded on a 1 hour 10-min. (57.3 km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the picturesque seafood village of Apollo Bay, a popular stop for package bus tourists at the foothills of the Otways, where we were to have our lunch.

This popular tourist destination and main fishing port is located between the Wye River and Cape Otway on the Great Ocean Road.

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Visitor Information Center

The town’s commercial center and main shopping strip, along the Great Ocean Road (Collingwood Street), features a good selection of decent restaurants, cafes and several lively pubs situated along one side of the Great Ocean Road, overlooking a wide, grassy foreshore which fronts the main swimming beach.

Start of the Great Ocean wall

Green rolling hills, overlooking Apollo Bay, create quite a scenic backdrop when viewed from the beach, foreshore and shops.

L-R” Cheska, Bryan, the author, Jandy, Kyle and Grace

Jandy and I tried out the 200-pax George’s Take Away, the largest restaurant along Collingwood Street, where we tried out their pasta.  Their menu also includes pizza, fish & chips, coffee, vegetarian meals and roast chicken.

Start of the Great Ocean wall

The Great Ocean Walk, which hugs the coastline and stretches for 91 kms., starts here and ends at Grenample Homestead.  A short walk from the car park, along a scenic mountainside pathway, is the lookout where there are views of Apollo Bay’s town centre, the harbor and beaches up and down the coast.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Lorne (Australia)

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The seaside town of Lorne and its surfing beach

During our 1 hour 10-min. (57.3 km.) drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, to the picturesque seafood village of Apollo Bay from the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, we made a short nature call stopover at the seaside town of Lorne, a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road (it extended to this town in 1922).

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This quintessential holiday retreat, attracting visitors for more than a century, has a relaxed Mediterranean feel, mild weather, charming picture-postcard scenery and beautiful Art Deco architecture.  Tall old gum trees line its hilly streets.

From the roadside, we had a panoramic view the 2-km. long, sheltered Lorne surf beach, the only patrolled beach in town, and bathers here were cooling off in the sparkling waters of picturesque Loutit Bay. On the foreshore, residents were picnicking under the trees.   At the pier, people fish for barracuda, whiting and trevally.

Great Pacific Hotel : home of one of the town’s two pubs

A tourist town, Lorne’s main shopping strip is filled with a large number of boutiques and clothing stores, boutique gift stores, cellars, restaurants (serving freshly caught seafood), sidewalk cafes and some art galleries/craft shops.

The foreshore

During the first weekend of January, the town hosts the 1.2 km Pier to Pub swim, described in the Guinness Book of Records as “the largest organized ocean swim in the world” with over 20,000 spectators.

The author, Jandy, Grace and Kyle

How to Get There: Lorne is located 140 kms. (a 2-hour drive) south of Melbourne. From Melbourne, daily coach services are available or rail/coach services via Geelong.

The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Memorial Arch (Australia)

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The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch

From Anglesea, a short 15 min./15.8-km. drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, 5 kms. after the town of Aireys Inlet,  brought us to our next stopover – the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road.  Possibly the most photographed spot on the Great Ocean Road, this is made evident by cars and buses parked on a car park on the ocean side of the road, with people hopping out to take photos.

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The iconic Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, the longest  war memorial in the world, was built in honor of the 3,000 returned servicemen who worked on the road after World War I and as a memorial to Mr. W.B McCormack, honorary engineer to the Great Ocean Road Trust.

Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch (Australia)

On September 19, 1919, they started construction on the Great Ocean Road and, in November 1932, completed the 243 km. (151 mi.) stretch of road which extends from the town of  Torquay to  Allansford, near Warrnambool, the largest city along the road.

Commemorative plaque

Due to the grueling task of building a road by hand, some soldiers lost their lives during the construction of the road. Their story is recorded on boards at the site.

Bronze statue of The Diggers

A bronze sculpture on the south side of the arch, unveiled on April 13, 2007 (the road’s 75th anniversary) by Bruce Billson (MP Minister for Veteran Affairs), features two returned soldiers working on the Great Ocean Road.  There are also commemorative plaques for the arches built and also plaques for the 50th and 75th anniversary of the road’s opening as well as an information board.

The Diggers plaque

Over the decades, the arch was replaced a few more times. The first arch, erected in 1939, weighed in at 50 tons.  To reimburse the cost of the construction, this first arch was one of the original toll points where money was collected from those travelling along the road. Once the cost of building the road was paid off, the toll point was taken down and a second arch, made mostly with wood, was built in 1973.  This arch was ruined when Ash Wednesday bush fires set it ablaze on February 1983.

 

Commemorative plaques

In the 1970’s, the government, seeing the arch as a hazard to drivers, had plans to take the Memorial Arch down but it was shot down as it was considered a lack of respect for the returned soldiers of World War I.

The third arch, made mostly with metal, was destroyed when a truck ran into the side of the arch.  The present Memorial Arch, the fourth on the site, was made out of wood and has sides made out of stone and cement for support. The original sign still sits on the top of the arch.

The author

From the arch, a sandy trail leads to easy access to the beige sand beach where we stretched our legs and took in the panorama of beach meeting forests.

Jandy and Grace

Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch: 689/721 Great Ocean Rd., Eastern View, Victoria 3231, Australia