Leaving from Apollo Bay, I made my way west along Australia’s unbelievable southern coast, specifically, a section known as Port Campbell National Park. It’s basically a long strip of the coast with lots of little hikes and viewpoints to enjoy nature’s handiwork. First up, was the Gibson Steps Beach. Down the cliff via some steps of doom and onto the beach. It was a pretty overwhelming location, in a good way, but it was just the beginning of my long day of sight seeing.

Further up the road is one of Australia’s most famous sights, the Twelve Apostles viewpoint. The near constant wind and ocean waves carved this incredible coastline out of the limestone cliffs. I’m not sure which of these are apostles and which are just rocks, but there they are. I also got a pretty amazing view back toward the Gibson Steps Beach from here.

This also may have been one of the worst days to visit this place as far as the weather goes. All day long I was being pushed and pulled by howling winds and getting blasted by occasional downpours of rain. “The sea was angry that day, my friends!” The path out to the viewpoint passes under the road and while walking back I spotted this owl hiding out and people watching. No one else noticed him but me.

After the Twelve Apostles, which is the main event around here, the crowd really thinned out. There are so many little viewpoints to visit and each one is pretty awe inspiring in it’s own way.

With all these rocks and islands all along the coastline, it’s no doubt that it’s known as the shipwreck coast. One of those wrecks was the Loch Ard, which got smashed on the rocks just on the outside of the gorge seen below. The only two survivors ended up on the little beach at the bottom.

Mutton Bird Island is so called because of the massive colony of mutton birds that nest here every year. They like it because they have it all to themselves, free from predators. When they’re not here making babies, they’re migrating between here and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Talk about a long flight! Yowza!

The rough seas put on a good show this day by occasionally blasting water through that hole in the Bakers Oven.

I ended this day at the Grotto, a nice peaceful little spot. That is until the huge burst of sideways rain came. By some miracle, I managed to stay pretty dry all day only to get pummeled at the very end. So I drove the short distance into the little town of Port Campbell, checked into my guesthouse, had some pizza, and dried out.

Port Campbell is even quieter and cozier than Apollo Bay. There’s not a lot going on here, but my guesthouse was really nice and there’s an awesome fish ‘n chips place around the corner. Anyway, my one full day in Port Campbell started by continuing my drive west along the coast for some more coastal hikes and more jaw dropping viewpoints. My first stop was the Well.

The weather is much better today, but the seas are still rough. On the rare moments that the water receded a little, it revealed lots of cool rock formations. No wonder it’s called the shipwreck coast. I wouldn’t want to try swimming or surfing out there either.

I can only assume that this next rock feature is the actual “Well.” Other than the small signs in the parking area, I’m left to guess at most of these sights.

Hallandale Point had it’s own “wells”. They would fill up with water rushing in, then empty out before the next wave came crashing.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that they get a lot of tourists that forget which side of the road they’re supposed to be on. I’ve seen several of these signs around.

The last major coastal sight I visited was the Bay of Islands. This place was spectacular! What a way to top it all off.

There were a couple of different viewpoints here and a short walk down to a little cove. I know the Twelve Apostles is the star of the show, but I think this place may be better. And there was almost no one there. Crazy!

Even though I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this amazing coastline, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve for some more animal encounters. Not two minutes after driving through the entrance I spotted another echidna. Either spotting these guys isn’t as rare as I thought, or I have some weird karmic chemistry with them.

And right in the parking lot I spotted a pair of emus. I’m not even out of the car yet! I followed them for a bit before finding my first trail. This park is inside of an ancient volcano crater and there are several trails going every which way. I’m still looking for some close ups of kangaroos, though. Wish me luck!

The one thing this park had A LOT of, is koalas. They were all over the place and I lost count of how many I spotted while hiking around. It’s a koalapalooza!

I also got here pretty late in the day so I was here in time to see many of them waking up and being active. Well, as active as they get. They’re pretty lazy!

I didn’t see any kangaroos hopping around the park, but I still have a long way to go on this trip. Someone told me I would see a lot more as I moved further north, so there’s still hope. Then, as I was leaving the park I spotted some far off of the highway. I’ll take it, for now. That super zoom lens saves the day again!

On my way out of Port Campbell to my next stop, I went a fair distance out of my way to Cape Bridgewater. The plan was to hike out to the end of the cape to view the local fur seal colony. Unfortunately, the seals were nowhere to be found. They must’ve gone out for lunch. Oh well! The hike however, was worth the detour. What a beautiful spot and a great way to break up my long drive. I even managed to catch a rainbow.

Now I’m moving away from the coast, north into the hills for lots of hiking and hopefully, lots of kangaroos. Stay tuned…