It was another bright sunny day. I left Warrnambool around 1000 and rode along the Esplanade bike path. At the edge of the town is "Granny's Grave" - the memorial to the first white woman to be buried in this region, back in 1848:
The route east then crosses over the Hopkins River:
After about 10kms I reached the Great Ocean Road - one of the world's most famous tourist routes, renowned for its spectacular coastal scenery. I've been along it before by bus and car but never cycled it and had received mixed advice on it's suitability as a cycle route.
As the photo below shows, it's quite a narrow road, and it has little or no hard shoulder. Also it can get busy at weekends, and is therefore judged by some to be unsafe for cycling.
However, it is one of the routes in the Lonely Planet Cycle Australia Guide, all of which I am trying to complete, so I am going to take my chances. I should complete most of it before the weekend rush, and if it does get really busy I can always bail out at the nearest exit and find an alternative route. Today it was really quiet and the few cars that there were gave me plenty of room.
The scenic rewards are certainly there to be had from this road. First up were the Bay of Islands:
Then a few kms further on, the formation known as the Grotto:
The next stop was the famous London Bridge - when I first visited this spot back in 1988 it was joined to the mainland by a second arch and you could walk across it! The arch collapsed in 1990 leaving 2 people stranded; they had to be winched off by helicopter.
Nearby there was another interesting arch formation:
Around 1530 I reached Port Campbell - seen here from a scenic lookout on the approach to the town:
I found excellent accommodation in a small guest house and had a good steak, followed by a big chocolate dessert, at the hotel overlooking the small harbour.
Distance today 82kms, total so far 1119kms
No comments:
Post a Comment