Great Ocean Road Trip Part I...

​What would you do if there was a band you wanted to see, but the gig was interstate? You’d turn it into a week-long girlie road trip, wouldn’t you? Course you would, you’re only human. Unless you’re a bloke, in which case it would be a bloke-y road trip probably involving less loo stops (because, you know...trees). Anyway, so it was that me and Flashie decided we’d have a crack at camping our way to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road. 

Bay of Islands, Peterborough

First things first: Before we left, Flashie set up the tent that we’d taken to Reeves Beach back in October 2015 and napalmed the crap out of it so there’d be no ‘guests’ of the 8-legged variety ruining our buzz and making us sleep in the car again. Because I have the IQ of room temperature when it comes to camping, I followed her instructions and got the essentials: water, coffee, snacks, burgers, sausages, buns, snacks, cheese, milk, snacks, noodles, assorted condiments and snacks. After packing the car like I was the last (wo)man standing at a Tetris Championship, we headed off to Kennett River for the night. We pitched a tent, made some tea, befriended a possum and then went to see glow worms. A group of people wandered off to the glowy embankment before we did and when they hadn’t returned about 15 minutes later and we realised we couldn’t hear their voices (there was about 12 of them including kids), we began to wonder where they’d gone. Perhaps they’d been picked off, one by one, by a quiet, forest dwelling troll or even a bunyip! The glowies were near a creek after all, so you never know.

But before we had time to really crank up our imaginations and conjure up a forest dwelling madman who might have been roasting the children at this very minute, they all turned up again, safe and sound, waving their torches and shouting their heads off. Oh well...

It’s very tricky to photograph glow worms. It’s almost pitch black so you have to shine a torch to get any kind of focus but you obviously can’t focus on the glowies because they’re miniscule. I adopted a ‘focus on the trees, hope for the best’ approach, which yielded results.

I didn't say they were good results

​The following morning, we trundled off to Otway Fly Treetop Adventures in Weearproinah (yeah, you didn’t really know where it was, did ya?), where we had a fabulous walk through the rainforest. The elevated walkways give a great perspective on the vegetation below, plus they’re great fun to bounce on! 

​Several hours later, we rejoined the Great Ocean Road and were delighted to discover that we’d managed to avoid the busloads of tourists that swarm here en mass throughout the year. We decided to camp overnight at Port Campbell, so we got ourselves sorted and then went to Gibson Steps for a mooch around. We thought it would be a good idea to get down on the beach (not in a Bob Marley kind of way) at Gibson to photograph the sea stacks at sunset, but the haze and mist had other ideas. Bloody atmospheric conditions! We left just after the sun set and headed to the 12 Apostles.

Where are those sea stacks!?!?

Gibson Steps: I only stopped to stave off a heart attack once.

​By this time, most of the people who had been at the Apostles for sunset were hustling to their cars and buzzing off, which was fabulous for us because no people walking on a boardwalk means no bouncing tripod!  Hanging back in the carpark, we watched as the full moon began to rise over the eastern hills behind Princetown. I didn’t have a long lens with me so I didn’t get any good shots of the moon, but Flashie got some great ones. I spent ages on the boardwalk overlooking the Apostles waiting for the moon to get high (in the sky!!) before eventually giving in and heading back to the campsite for the night.

Apostles in moonlight