Our mission to capture Cape Otway lighthouse during sunrise failed! We depart early and reach the lighthouse around 6am but the gate is locked (of course it is). We had hoped to capture it from far, but there’s no way to get that view of the tower at all. So in the end we just watch this beautiful sunrise with the companion of these huge black cows . . .
The lighthouse opens at 8am, so on the dot, we reach the parking area. The entrance was closed, but the gate beside the entrance was wide open. So we just walk straight in without realizing we have to pay for a whopping $17.50 for the entrance and tour. We only realized it when we exit the souvenir shop. Wow we saved a lot from there! The lighthouse tour has good stories and history of the shipwrecks.
This lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse on mainland Australia, built in 1848. Its purpose was to navigate ships arriving from United Kingdom along the shores due to a narrow passage between the mainland and the nearby Kings Island in which people use to call it eye of the needle’. This sea is treacherous as winds and currents are variable and the shallow average 80 metres of Bass Strait made it a grave yard for many ships. At least 18 ships were wrecked near the western entrance to Bass Strait. The Cataraqui was wrecked on the west coast of King Island on August 3, 1845, claiming the lives of more than 350 people. Only nine people survived. It remains as Australia's worst peace-time maritime disaster.
Near the lighthouse is an old telegraph station. The first news that spread through the telegraph system across the world was the sinking of Titanic in 1912.
Keeper of the lighthouse going to work. This lighthouse actually stopped working and replaced by a solar powered light beacon. In the old days, the keeper and his family only get supply (food and whale oil for running the lighthouse) from the government once a year. They had to make their own butter, teach their children and maintain the lighthouse and the premise. Imagine that!
Leaving the lighthouse, we saw this ‘don’t care’ attitude Koala on the road on our way back. It just stayed in the middle of the road and keeps licking the ground.
First time touching a wild Koala. Some people say they may get aggressive, but they are not. Maybe we’re lucky this time =) its fur is so soft!
Koala Info: They are solitary animals (no time to social, cause they spend as much as 19 hours sleeping! Hehe). They live within a favored area or home range normally less than 3 hectares in size. Koalas communicate with one another by marking trees with scent or through calls such as bellows, snarls and screams. Male koalas live for about ten years, with females surviving for up to five years longer. At birth, young koalas weigh about 500 mg and measure less than 2 cm.
From the lighthouse we travel to Apollo Bay**** It is a lively beach town, full of tourists everywhere. We had to jump in for a swim because it was so hot that day. Super sunny day, and the water is still freezing cold! Phew~~ What a refreshing dip =)
The view of Apollo Bay from Marriners Lookout**** This beautiful view of the bay is just 10min walk up hill =P
Cape Patton Lookout
The great ocean road was carved out of rock by returned diggers as a permanent memorial to those who died in World War I.
Green Rosella
Red Rosella?
We got some info on walks at the Apollo Bay Information Centre, one of the walks caught our attention particularly Kennett River Glow-Worm Walk. We’ve never seen glow worms before, not counting those we saw from discovery channel. We were so eager to see it!
The glow worm colony is at the Grey River picnic area. About 6km into the Great Otway National Park from Kennett River. There are many koalas living in Grey River too! At the picnic area, there’s a small bridge which has a walking track along the river and to a lookout. We ate dinner then familiarize ourselves with the tracks before nightfall, cause we know it gets really dark and we are not suppose to shine our torch directly at the worms! So excited, we hike in the dark with the help of head light. Once we’re on the track we could see many glowing worms on the embankment. Further into the river, it’s like a starry night~! All the worms glowing so beautifully =) unfortunately we didn’t bring our DSLR cause we’re afraid we might disturb them and it’s really hard to capture anyway. But even with the compact Canon camera, we manage to take this:
Look at the sticky silks!
Glow worm info: They are not worms! They are the larvae of fly like insects called fungus gnats. They produce threads of sticky silk which attracts prey. The end of their abdomen is luminous, the light is actually emitted from tiny tubes which open into the gut of the larvae and are visible through transparent skin at the end of its body. They are very shy and will ‘switch’ off their lights for up to 15 minutes. They are often found in dark damp places like caves and creek embankments. Females’ light is brighter than males’.
We decided to camp under these huge trees on the Kennett river picnic ground. It has wood BBQ. No toilets over here as this place is not meant for campers =P But we camped there cause we want to see the glow worms that night. And it’s free camping =P Eventually there was another group of backpackers camping there for the night as well. But there is a caravan park just off the Great Ocean Road at Kennett River which offer the luxury of hot shower and toilet =P
This camp is absolutely fabulous~ Not windy at all and laying under the starry night, it is so beautiful. And we saw the meteorite twice that night! Yes, we made two wishes =PP
What a tired day, with the sunrise ‘near’ lighthouse, koalas, the swim, the night hike, glow worms, ending with a starry meteor night! What more can we ask? =)
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