Great Otway National Park

The Great Otway National Park sits approximately in the centre of the Great Ocean Road and at the southern end is Cape Otway, the second most southerly tip of Australia.  We were recommended to stay at a campsite called Bimbi Park on the road down to Cape Otway where one of the highlights was a natural population of Koalas.  We were there like a bear! (yes, we know they're marsupials and not bears, ok!?!)  

You've got to love the warning signs!

We arrived in the dark and sort of saw a few koalas in the trees along the road.  Then Geoff slammed on brakes as one crossed the road just in front of us.  It was much bigger than we expected and much more ungainly!  They're definitely more adapted to life in trees than on the ground with their toes split in 3-and-2 arrangement on their front feet and 4-and-1 arrangement on their back feet.  

We had a lovely and really well kitted out campsite where we based ourselves for 2 nights so that we could explore the area.  Unfortunately the weather was pretty wild with low temperatures and huge rain and hail storms so we were glad to have nice facilities out of the weather to cook and eat in.    Our little tent did well in the rough weather.

We spent many hours watching the koalas just outside the campsite where there were many all close together (apparently quite rare).  They were literally hanging in the trees like Christmas decorations!  As koalas eat such low nutrient food, they sleep for 16-18 hours a day and generally feed in the mornings and evenings.  We didn't envy them clinging to the trees in very strong wind and sitting out freezing rain and biting hail!  At night we were woken up by the males in the campground making their peculiar moaning grunt to signify their territories.  In the morning we would see how many we could spot in the trees between our tent and the ablution block!  They were much larger than we had expected and the males in the south (where we were) can apparently weigh up to 15kg.

Yum! Eucalypt leaves for breakfast... rather you than me, fella!

A cold, wet ball of koala.

They were literally hanging in the trees like Christmas decorations.

Mother and joey

It was amazing how they defoliated (ate all the leaves) off the trees that they were in. 

We were mightly glad for all our warm clothing!

How they managed to stay on the branches while they slept was amazing.  Even more so in the howling wind!

Every 3rd fork in the tree had a fluffy koala sleeping in it! 

Another mom and her baby feeding high up on the thin branches 

They were fascinating to watch

The forest around the campsite was lovely.

We had read up about the lighthouse at Cape Otway and were keen to visit it.  It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Australia and was built in 1948 by more than 40 stonemasons without any mortar or cement!  The lighthouse stands guard over the point where the Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean meet and was often the first land to be seen by people sailing from Europe to 'the New Land'.  Unfortunately we felt the entrance fee was rather steep, so we had to settle for a glimpse of the lighthouse from a walk nearby.

Cape Otway lighthouse.

We found a beautiful little cove called Blanket Bay for lunch and watched some Southern Right whales playing in the bay.  The surf was huge and the sea of the type that brings the words of John Masefield's Sea Fever to mind.

The little estuary at Blanket Bay

Before heading back to the koalas for the evening session, we headed down to Johanna Beach where the Rip Curl Pro relocates when Bell's isn't working.

The remote and beautiful Johanna Beach.

Sea Fever by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.