I’m so tired this morning! It’s tempting to stay put here for
a day and just chill out. I make progress on the trip journal until my daughter
calls and we talk. I pack up and load the car in no rush. No huge agenda today.
The car is dusty. I look around for a hose without success. After heading to
Apollo Bay to top up the petrol and clean the windscreen properly I’m on my way
to Cape Otway Lightstation.
Having completely missed Maits Rest I make the turn
to the south. The forest is different than I expected, tall stately trees give
way to shorter ones and after a while I come to open fields and a forest of
dead trees “all tragic to the moon” as Dorothea McKellar would say. I wonder
what’s killed them all. Not ringbarked surely, perhaps fire?
A narrow entrance way and a short drive further brings me to
a very busy carpark. I almost give up but spot a place where someone is
leaving. Luckily I seem to have arrived as the earlybirds are departing. I line
up to pay and notice the no backpack rule, so save myself some grief by going
back to the car and swapping back to my handbag. Now just after 11 am, I am
advised to quickly take the staff only route on the map to the historical talk
which is just getting underway. I hurry down the gravel track encouraged on my
way by a staff member who lets me know it’s not long now.
The little hut is full of people mostly sitting on benches
around the edge of the room. There’s a little scrum near the door and just
outside the door. I make my way across the open floor to a remaining bench and
settle in. The talk mainly covers the information that is arrayed around the
room on information boards but there are a few embellishments in the discussion
of the bounty immigration schemes back in the day and the motivation for people
to emigrate. Essentially, overpopulation and the agricultural and industrial
revolution. Many people were sponsored by the government to relocate to the
colonies. Within these broad brush drivers for immigration there were, of
course, nuances for individual circumstances. Some people came out for their health,
particularly from the heavily polluted industrial areas and cities. The talk lasts about 40 minutes. Next talk is
at noon in the Aboriginal learning area. Not sure of my way, I decide to head
over and grab a seat. There’s still about 10 minutes to wait but I talk with
the educator (sorry his name escapes me) about the Otways and the waterfalls.
Although Aboriginal people used rainforest resources they didn’t live in the
rainforest in this area and they have not discovered any Aboriginal names for
the various waterfalls. The local song lines run up to Gariwerd (The Grampians).
So I ask about the reasons that would prompt a journey from between Gariwerd and
the coast here at Cape Otway by the local Gadubanud clans. It may be for example
undertaken as part of the final stages of initiation and to meet the neighbours.
Eventually the official talk commences and there’s a pretty good
number of people present. We learn about the different language groups within
the broader Gunditjmara people. We are led outside where we learn the many uses
of a range of plants that have been planted around the learning place. Lomandra
longifolia (a woman’s plant, men won’t touch it), seaberry saltbush, dianella
and my personal favourite – kangaroo grass. The seeds of Kangaroo grass, wattles
and the lomandra were mixed to make a sweet bread or biscuits. Kangaroo grass seed
has 4 x more nutrients than the grain we now use for baking. We move on to pigface,
short leaved clematis, kangaroo apple… it’s a long long list. We even learn
that snakes won’t go under casuarina trees so it’s a safe place to leave your
baby. We taste various native plant foods, warrigal greens, lemonade bush
berries, native rosemary. The talk runs for about an hour and a quarter.
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| Cape Otway Lighthouse and race in a break in the foot traffic |
Bidding our farewells, it’s now well and truly time for
lunch so I head across to the café. There’s three savoury options, I go for the
bacon and egg on Turkish and am handed a buzzer which I take to a seat in the
shade and breeze outside, it’s a warm day and both are welcome. Done with food
for now I contemplate next steps. I’ve been sitting watching the swarm of
humanity buzzing around the lighthouse. After all the stairs and steep slopes
yesterday I’m not sure I can be bothered. Eventually shattered Snodge summons
the energy to walk down the human “race”, this is a long fenced pathway leading
to the lighthouse door. I peer into the entrance of the lighthouse, briefly tussle
with some Covid19 crowd aversion, and step inside. Well. I have climbed a lot
of stairs in lighthouses, monumental towers, castles and such and I am
absolutely delighted and impressed by the Cape Otway lighthouse.
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| The internal stairs, Cape Otway Lighthouse |
A plaque on
the central stonework describes the construction. No mortar was used by the
stonemasons. Every stone is hand carved and unique. Well, the budget may have
blown out after the Public Works department took over construction but my
goodness you can certainly see they did an outstanding job. The risers on the
stairs are quite low making the climb to the top barely noticeable from a
cardio point of view. What a dream. Up in the light chamber all around the
walls are beautiful brass ventilation fittings, necessary for the days when the
light was produced by burning whale oil or kerosene. The lighthouse attendant reminds
me to grab a hold of my hat (thanks) before stepping out onto the balcony. The
views are nice, a little better than from the bests ground level vantage points
but the breeze is very welcome. I don’t hang about, there’s a steady steam of
people emerging anyway so easier to leave them to it. The attendant is performing
a traffic control function now. When the way is clear we turn and climb
backwards down the ladder to the stone stairs. The width of the stairs is
comfortable too enabling people to pass one another.
My next objective is to check out the whale education area
and the WW2 radar station and the nearby viewing and whale watching points. I
enjoy a gnarley old shrub and the Brown Thornbills hopping about. The whale watching
position has useful signs for identifying the various whales that frequent the
waters below.
Only the Telegraph Station to go now. I walk down another
tunnel of shrubbery to avoid the head and sun. The Telegraph Station has
beautiful wide verandahs. It’s the pretty standard thing for a telegraph
station with some individualisation in the discussion of the schooling and
personal lives of inhabitants here. There’s cabinets of flags for communicating
with passing ships and a poster showing the international flag meanings. The
layout of the building is great, I imagine it would be a very convenient
arrangement to live with if you had it to yourself. I happily photograph the
plan they have erected in the hallway.
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| Parker Hill and Point Franklin Track |
Time to get on the road. I walk down to the exit and am soon
back in the car and on my way out to the Great Ocean Road. But wait. I’ll just
turn down to Parker Hill to do a bit of a reccie. This road is unsealed and
very sandy and I nervously travel along admiring the beautiful bushland in this
section. It’s a very pretty little drive. Purpley pink orchids shine
prominently by the track in one spot. I make it to the campground with no
problem. Go over and check out the national park sign with information about
walks here. No short options and I’m not up for something hours long. Time to
head back to the main drag.
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| Dipodium Roseum aka Rosey Hyacinth Orchid or Pink Hyacinth Orchid |
It’s quicker going on the black top but it pays to be
careful. I come across a couple of cars and seemingly dozens of people standing
in the road craning their necks and looking excitedly to the tops of the trees.
Koalas I suppose. I wait for a woman to get off the opposite side of the road
so I can at least get past and am on my way again, only to find some more
people doing the same a bit further on. I look up as I pass slowly and sure
enough a little huddle of fur sits in the crook of a branch, sleeping. No need
to stop. I’ve seen enough koalas in the wild.
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| Johanna Hill Lookout |
Next stop is the lookout at Johanna. This is a very quick
exercise of walking up a short path for views over pretty sandy beaches with
not a footprint on them. All business now until I arrive and miss the turnoff
for Gibsons Steps through procrastination. Ditto the Apostles and other
features along this road. They will have to wait for tomorrow, for now I need
to nab myself a place to sleep. The drive along this feature packed section of
the Great Ocean Road is spoiled by portable fencing that has been erected to
stop people parking and no doubt trampling the vegetation. This place is
obviously being loved to death. I’m glad we visted over 20 years ago and saw it
before it became so popular. Problems due to lack of toilet facilities seem
pale in comparison.
It’s still about 28C when I get into Port Campbell. There’s
a lot of smoke in the air and people are paddling at the pretty and protected
little cove that provides a town beach. Rooms available are thin on the ground
but I manage to land a room after going in to question their prominent no vacancy
sign outside reception. Oh, forgot to take that down. Glad I asked!
Dinner is a makeshift one in my room as I download photos
and try to upload and publish the journal. The internet is very slow, perhaps
throttled after I uploaded the photos. Anyway, time to sleep and I certainly
need it.
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