Our Helicopter Flight Over The Twelve Apostles

Our first full day on the Great Ocean Road had us making our way to The Twelve Apostles.  The Twelve Apostles are giant rock stacks that rise from the Southern Ocean.  They are located just east of Port Campbell, Victoria and are along the Great Ocean Road. 

They were formed by the constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the coastline.  Over a period of 10 to 20 million years the stormy Southern Ocean and the blasting winds slowly eroded the soft limestone forming caves in the cliffs.  The caves eventually became arches that eventually collapsed creating rock stacks up to 45 metres (148 feet) high that were left isolated from the shore.  The limestone stacks of the Twelve Apostles are harder in their top layers than on their bottom layers.  The softer bases allow the initial undermining that creates overhangs, arches and eventually new stacks. 

The Twelve Apostles were originially called the Sow and Piglets until 1922 when they were renamed The Apostles because the named sounded better for tourism purposes.  Over time the site became knows as The Twelve Apostles even though there were only 9 rock stacks. 

As of today, there are only 8 Apostles left standing.  On July 3, 2005 a 50 metre (164 foot) tall stack collasped.  The Apostles are still susceptible to erosion and erode away at rate of 2 centimetres a year.  On September 25, 2009 another Apostle was thought to have collapsed, but after further investigation it was found to be a smaller stack that comprised the Three Sisters formation.  Due to the waves constantly eroding away the cliffs, more rock stacks are expected to form in the future.

One way to view these magnificent forms of nature is to take a helicopter flight over them.  The helicopter flight was a first for Jake, Gabby and me.  After a few instructions from the crew, we geared up and boarded our chopper for an experience of a lifetime.  The pictures posted below are from the helicopter flight.  It was an exhilarating and breathtaking experience to say the least.

The coastline and The Twelve Apostles from the helicopter.

A cave and archway that could one day be another Apostle.

The Twelve Apostles from the helicopter.

After our helicopter ride, we toured the National Park and walked along the boardwalk to the viewing areas.  Below are pictures from those vantage points. 

Looking west at The Twelve Apostles.

If you look closely at the sky, you will see the helicopter that we flew on.

Looking east at two rock stacks known as Gog and Magog.  They are not part of The Twelve Apostles.

TO BE CONTINUED . . . stay tuned for:  KOALAS AND KANGAS IN THE WILD

The Journey to The Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is deemed one of the world’s most scenic roads.  It is a narrow, two lane, paved road that twist and turns (sometimes hairpin turns) its way over 200 kilometres (roughly 124 miles) along the coastline of southwest Victoria.  On one side of the road you have mountain and the other is the rugged cliffs that drop straight to the beach or ocean below.  It is divided into four regions:  Geelong, the Bellarine, the Surf Coast and the Otways Region. 

The disgruntled Thomas Family started our journey, with Izzy and friend for Jake in tow, by driving south 46 kilometres (29 miles) to Sorrento.  From here we caught the Queenscliff – Sorrento ferry; named that because it runs between the two Victoria cities.  The ferry connects the Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island area of Victoria to the Bellarine and Great Ocean Road area of Victoria by crossing Port Phillip Bay.  The 40 minute journey across the Bay shaves about 3 or more hours off your trip by not having to drive north through Melbourne and down and around to the Great Ocean Road. 

We purchased our tickets for the 7:00pm ferry, ordered our fish and chips for dinner, boarded the ferry, enjoyed our dinner and then headed out to the deck.  We were greeted with beautiful views of Port Phillip Bay and by playful dolphins swimming along side the ferry.  Once we arrived in Queenscliff, we made our way along the Great Ocean Road with Apollo Bay set as our destination in the handy, dandy, life-saving GPS.  The 134 kilometre (84 miles) drive took about 2 hours.  We arrived just after 10:00pm and were greeted by our friends the McMichaels.  After room assignments and some quick unpacking, we hit the sack!

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast on the strip across from the beach.  We then walked back to the house making a stop by the beach to test the water and sand.  We then set our GPS to The Twelve Apostles (They deserve a blog of their own.)  As we made the 2 hour drive, we stopped at Castle Cove lookout to admire the beautiful coastline. 

TO BE CONTINUED . . . Stay tuned for:  Our Flight Over The Twelve Apostles

Cape Schanck

Cape Schanck is a favorite spot of the Thomas Family.  It is located at the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula and is only 20 minutes from the house.  We enjoyed showing off its beauty to our Heinz friends that have visited and I thought I would share it with the rest of our family and friends.

(Gary is not in this picture because he was back in Pittsburgh at the time.)

Obviously, I’m going to start this blog off with a little bit of history.  In 1859 a lighthouse was built after several shipping disasters happened between the waters of Western Port and Port Phillip Bay.  The lighthouse was the second one built in Australia therefore making it one of the oldest in Australia.  It is known for its stone, spiral staircase instead of the usual wrought iron staircases you normally see.  The lighthouse and the cape are named after Captain John Schanck, who was an officer of the British Royal Navy. 

Cape Schanck is now a state park.   There are several walking tracks, tours of the lighthouse, a lighthouse museum and picnic facilities. 





One of the walking tracks is a boardwalk that descends from the clifftops to the rocky beach below.  There are several lookouts along the way that offer stunning views of the rugged coastline (made of basalt, which is igneous volcanic rock) and the rough waters of Bass Strait.  At the bottom you will witness waves crashing over the rocky beach, rock pools full of marine life and Pulpit Rock, which stands at the tip of the cape.

The air at Cape Schanck is said to be the cleanist in the world.  Gale force winds blow pure, uncontaminated air directly from Antartica.  With that being said, it is always windy and a few degrees cooler at Cape Schanck.    

We have yet to catch a sunset at Cape Schanck, but it is on our to-do-list.  Hopefully with daylight savings time over and the evenings coming much sooner, we will be able to catch one.