The Bay of Islands; yet more Great Ocean Road

The Bay of Islands is a coastal park along that Great Ocean Road which stretches 32 kilometres between Warrnambool and Peterborough. There are a number of look out points dotted along the coast, some of which have their own parking so that you can stop, get out, stretch your legs, take some pictures, complain that the wind is making you cold, or just have a picnic. I took a few pictures on my way through, and wanted to share these with you.

As you would expect, in typical Australian fashion, the weather was all over the place. Half of the time it’s sweltering, the other half you don’t know if you should be running to the beach in your thongs or running towards shelter from a storm. It doesn’t make much difference though, the point is that regardless of the weather, it’s a pretty place to visit, and so peaceful that it’s probably one of the best places to sit down and relax that I’ve ever been to.

It isn’t all just you, some rocks, and the sea though. Some parts have special lookouts built, similar to the ones you can find at the Twelve Apostles. The steps give you access to explore a bit further, and to see some of the exquisite rock formations that have been chiseled away from the coast.

The steps lead you down towards the alcove, and a better vantage point for looking through the arch. The “inner” part of this area is almost perfectly still, whilst the waves are continually crashing against the the outer side of the cliffs. I’ve no idea whether they qualify as rock pools though, because when you’re there and watching it almost feels like the water is flowing outwards, rather than crashing in. This next picture might show what I mean a little bit better.

In this one you can see the stillness on the inner part. It does flow back out, trust me! You just can’t see it from this picture because I was zoomed to cut out a few friends ugly heads from the shot! (You know who you are!!)

Eventually there was the dreaded “oh my god there’s a storm coming” going on, but it made for some amazing lighting to take some pretty pictures! These came out much better than I had originally planned.

You can see how rough the water started to get. Would’ve been amazing to take out a boat or jetski, but hey! Probably a little bit dangerous too. The weather adds to the beauty, at least in my opinion. It isn’t every day you can say that a place becomes prettier with a storm, but this is definitely one of those rare occasions where it does.

Granted, when it comes to civilisation, you’re far from it here. I don’t recall seeing many (if any) cafes, restaurants, and even hardly any homes or other buildings. If you’re looking for that kind of place then you probably won’t enjoy the bay as much as I did. However, what it lacks in “human” things, it more than makes up for with the stunning views and serene atmosphere that it provides. If you’re heading down the Great Ocean Road any time soon, I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

And here’s a slightly sunnier picture of a rock, just because.