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During our recent holiday in Melbourne, we went on several tours. One of the most memorable was The Great Ocean Road where we saw fantastic ancient rock formations. Our first stop was Bell?s Beach: pounding surf ? with very brave surfers ? on a cold morning. This was followed by photo stops at Urquhart?s Bluff and Cape Patton Lookout. Shortly after, we joined the Great Ocean Road, which stretches for about 250 kilometres. Work was begun on this in 1919 ? providing employment for many soldiers returned from the Great War. In the first few years before it was widened, the road was so narrow that traffic was only allowed in one direction! For many kilometres, the road hugs the coastline; in some places just metres from the heavy surf. It twists and turns this way and that, zigging and zagging around bays and beaches, inlets and rocky promontories. In the early afternoon we reached Port Campbell National Park and walked under the roadway to gain access to the viewing platforms for the Twelve Apostles. These are absolutely mind-boggling rock formations, created by the constant wear and tear of the cliffs from the heavy surf of the Great Southern Ocean as well as the wild winds which blow straight off the ice of Antarctica. Many of the rocks have cracks in them and there are

warnings about the risk of cliff-tops crumbling away. In 1990, a huge section of the ?London Bridge? rock formation collapsed into the sea. No one was injured but two people were stranded on the outer rock until subsequently winched to safety by helicopter. The photo on this page was taken from the same spot as that used by the bystander who witnessed the collapse on July 3rd this year of the second of these great rocks in fifteen years. The witness?s photo was published in the Sydney Morning Herald. It is definitely the ?after? photo to my ?before? one. This wild coastline is known as the Shipwreck Coast and there are many stories about ships lost at sea. One of these ships was the Loch Ard. All but two of the 51 passengers and crew were drowned when she sank in 1878. Tom Pierce, an 18-year-old crew member and Eva Carmichael, also 18, were miraculously swept through the narrow opening of this gorge, which was later named after the ship. Eva couldn?t swim and Tom spent an hour rescuing her and dragging her into a cave before climbing the cliff and going for help. There is now a staircase with 72 steps built into the cliff-face enabling tourists to descend with relative ease to the sandy floor of the gorge. This was an excellent tour with stunning scenery, which provided

me with numerous photos for my family blog and web pages.