Twelve Apostles: Nature's Wonder Down Under

October 2, 2011

The Twelve Apostles is a collection of eight limestone rock stacks jutting from the water in  Port Campbell National park  between Princetown and Peterborough on the Great Ocean Road near Melbourne , in the Australian province of Victoria. Tourism activities (including helicopter tours) are conducted from a visitor centre, situated on the inland side of the Great Ocean Road; with parking and viewing areas . These rock stacks are classified as nationally significant, with the area being one of Victoria's major tourist features; attracting approximately two million visitors a year.

The apostles were formed by erosion of limestone rock by the crashing waves and harsh weather conditions in  the Southern Ocean   The waves and weather gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 45 metres high. The site was known as the Sow and Piglets until 1922 , after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. The formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles, despite only ever having nine stacks. In July 2005 one of them collapsed leaving only eight now.


Port Campbell national park


Lord Ard Gorge

To reach Twelve Apostles, which is one of major attractions in the provine of Australia, one has to travel for about 5 hours on the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. Great Ocean Road along the south eastern coast of Australia (Popularly known as the 'Ship wreck Coast' for obvtious reasons) was built between 1919 and 1932, by the Australian Army veterans of First World War, to provide them employment. Till 1912 these lime stone stacks were known by different name but were named as Twelve Apostles after the 12 men who accompanied Jesus during the Last Supper.The winding road along the Ocean provides some breathtaking views of beaches , Ocean and stone formations. Along the road there is also a bronze memorial for the workers who built the Great Ocean Road through sheer physical labor in the absence of mechanized equipment those days.

Along the Great Ocean Road, there are rain forests and we found many eucalyptus plants which are inhabited by Kola, the Australian version of Panda.  These animals live high in the eucalyptus trees sleeping for major portion of the day and waking up only to eat eucalyptus leaves and go back to sleep!  Along the road we also came across a place called   Torquay  which is known as the "Wind surfing capital " of Australia. In fact Torquay is the beginning of the Great Ocean Road, which is about 243 km long and terminates in Warmambool. True to its name, we found a large no. of Australians both men and women, braving the high winds and waves enjoying the exhilarating experience of wind surfing.

The Port Campbell Park which includes the twelve apostles also has "Lord Ard Gorge" made notorious due to the wrecking of a ship called Loch Ard, whih ran aground on nearby Mutton bird island in 1878 while on a passage of 3 months from England to Melbourne. Of the 54 passengers and crew, only two survived.One was Tom Pearce, a ships apprentice and other was Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman, both of 18 years age. Tom was washed ashore and rescued Eva after hearing her cries for help. Tom then climbed out of the Gorge to raise an alarm to get help and they were rescued. We went down the gorge using the stairs provided  and experienced first hand the treacherous waters off the "Ship wreck coast".

For the adventurous, a helicopter ride of 6 minutes at about 80 Austrailan Dollars per head is provided. It takes you around the Twelve apostls and the Port Campbell national park and provids an breathtaking view of the blue ocean and the limestone stacks. It is worth every penny spent on it as the accompanying photographs show.

 

Cdr GP Mallya - Archives:

By Cdr (Retd) G P Mallya, Kinnigoli/South Korea
Cdr GP Mallya (retd) is a native of Kinnigoli, now working as General Manager in Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea for the last 4 years. He is an alumni of Pompeii Junior College, Talipady, Aikala, National Institute of Engineering Mysore and Pune University. After graduation from NIE Mysore with a mechanical engineering degree in 1985, he served in the Indian Navy in various capacities till retirement in 2007 as a Commander, after which he joined his present assignment. He is married with a son. His hobbies include GK, Quiz, blogging, travelogues, travelling, music , volunteering etc. He has travelled extensively all over the world visiting over 26 countries during his Naval career and subsequently. He can be reached at girmallya@yahoo.co.in.
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Comment on this article

  • AUSTIN GOVEAS, Bejai/ Sydney. Australia

    Sat, Oct 08 2011

    Fantastic article Mr.G.P.Mally, I did visit this Place in Jaunuary this year. I drove around 825Km from Sydney to Melbourne to visit my nephew and from there we visited 12 apostles by driving another 530 km in one day with my nephew through the coastal line to visit this place. It was really a good expedition to see new places. By the way, the name of the Australian marsupial that inhabits in eucalyptus trees are called KOALAS, they are not known to be related of some kind of panda-like animal. We really enjoyed this fascinating place. Really worth seeing. Thanks for your wonderful article. SMILE & KEEP ON EXPLORING!

  • Tauseef, Mangalore

    Thu, Oct 06 2011

    Really good one sir...I honestly feel you have achieved alot already and hope you scale even higher levels in life...Way to go sir....

  • 12 Apostles Visitor Information Centre , Port Campbell

    Mon, Oct 03 2011

    Fantastic article and brilliant photographs. Very pleased you enjoyed your visit to our the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. If you have an opportunity to visit again drive to Port Campbell then on another 22 kilometers for many more amazing formations such as London Bridge and Bay of Marytrs.

  • U.V.Rao, Mulki/Mysore

    Mon, Oct 03 2011

    The photography is mind bogling must have been achived thanks to your Naval Base experiance. What ever said and done one has to have interest if life to achieve this. Thanks Girdhar keep going.
    Regards
    Vedavyas

  • rtn michael mathias shirva rotary, pilar shirva

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    congratulations.thanks for showing new scenery of the world.

  • Royston, Kinnigoli/ Boston

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    Hi there,
    The pictures are really beautiful to see. It is good to see a fellow Kinnigolian globetrotting.

    Cheers!

  • Anita, Kinnigoli

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    Cdr GP Mallaya, good to see another travelogue from your pen. The pictures are wonderful. It is good to see the places through your writing and lens. You bring to the reader's notice place we have never heard off and amazing locations. Do keep writing, best wishes to you.

  • Joyer Noronha, Kinnigoli

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    Aborigines who sailed a millennia before rest of the mankind, Flora and fauna like no where else and the tales of convicts who finally have dared to match their masters in trade, technology and riches make Australia a incredibly unique place.

    I am glad to see some glimpses of this wondrous land through a fellow Kinnigolians lens.

    Pleased to see you here , Sir.

  • A. S. Mathew, U.S.A.

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    Beautiful pictures and very
    interesting travelogue. Even though we can't be physically feel
    these beautiful GOD's creation, through the internet, we can atleast feel some of the pleasure
    of watching through the nice pictures and travelogues. Keep up the good work.

  • Jaimini P.B., Manipal,Sharjah

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    Congratulations Sir.Thank you for shwoing us new world. What a lovely photos. Very sorry that most of the readers ignored this article which should have been appreciated.

  • Richard Monteiro, Mumbai/Qatar

    Sun, Oct 02 2011

    Beautiful and scenic pics of the country side, thanks for the info N pics and the effort, keep posting.. All the best to Cdr GP Mallya..


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