The past 24 hours in Portland has been epic with hikes totalling more than 15kms, riding the Portland Tram, climbing 125 stairs to reach the top of a re-commissioned water tower, and finally just to round off our time here in Portland, Maccas for dinner tonight - something we very rarely do.....
Let's start with yesterday afternoon when we were looking for a small walk before the sun went down. I had seen a most beautiful beach - Shelly Beach - on one of the Instagram sites that I frequent, and as it was only a 20 minute drive to it, we set sail. I have to tell you that this is one of the loveliest beaches we have seen on our travels, and you can throw in Lucky Bay, WA that we thought was the best! It is beautiful and we watch as fisherman drive right down to the waters edge to launch their boats. There is a lot of construction going on along the waters edge that looks like more parking and a boardwalk.
To get these photos we have walked a short distance along one of the trails that leads to the Seal Colony, and below us we can see a jetty and shed that looks vaguely familiar so we head down to it. I'm almost certain that this is the place where our friends (Kate & Mike) took photos of seals all around the jetty. Mike almost got taken out by one of the seals that wanted to join him on the jetty if I remember rightly. However, no seals here for us on this magnificent day.
We were back home before 6 so an early night for us as we needed to be at the Blowholes Lookout Carpark by 8am the next day for our 12km hike.
Today we woke to a coolish day (around 12 degrees) with clear skies so we were excited to be walking to the Seal Colony. It takes us around 25 minutes to drive to the Blowholes Lookout carpark and we alight the car right on 8am. We debate what jackets we will need but we both decided on our wind jackets for the first part of the walk knowing that they are easily stashed in our backpacks when we need to take them off. The first thing we come to is the Petrified Forest. Well, it looks like petrified wood at first glance but is in fact just rocks that have been eroded by the elements.
Continuing our hike we pass yet another wind farm. My goodness Queensland lags behind when it comes to renewable energy.....
We walk perilously close to the cliff edge on this exposed walk, but then we should not be surprised as it is described as a "Cliff Top Walk". Actually we have walked quite a few of these over the course of our travels and they are always enjoyable. This one makes up part of the Great South West Walk and the path is well defined with a mixture of terrain. Sometimes we are walking along a rocky path where we have to watch the ground carefully, and the next we are on a grassy path. The wildflowers are in full bloom and I still can't work out which flower is emitting a most intoxicating perfume. It is really quite lovely and all the while we have views that just take our breath away. The cliff faces are rugged but they are not eroding like the Limestone cliffs further towards the west.
In the distance we can see where the seal colony lookout is (photo above - the last point) and it seems like a daunting hike but it is a relatively flat hike with just a few undulations and we reach the Seal Colony lookout after hiking around an hour and a half. Of course the lookout is very high above the seal colony but we can see them very clearly and hear the sounds they are making, a bit like a dog bark. Some are frolicking in the water but the majority are sunning themselves on the warm rocks.
The return hike always goes much faster than the walk out, and today was no exception. The views though are much different when you come from a different direction. All the while we are keeping an eye out for the Blue Whale that is around this area, but we know that they are usually more than 10 kms out to sea, so the chances of seeing them are pretty remote.
After walking more than three hours we finally reach the Blowholes Lookout Carpark and walk the short distance to the Blowholes but as it is such a calm, magnificent day the blowholes are a fizzer. You need high tide and rough seas to see the ocean burst through the blowholes but it is still a lovely view.
My legs are tired after this very long hike but as soon as we get back to the caravan and take a long shower we feel revitalised enough to have a quick lunch and board the Portland Cable Tram. We are very fortunate that one of the tram stops is right out the front of our caravan park. I loved this tram ride very much. What is it about these vintage trams that makes them so appealing? I think the slow pace that they travel is a winner and you get to see things from them that you miss when you are driving.
The round trip on the tram takes around an hour and we alight at the old water tower that is now a World War 11 war museum. How clever is that! There are level after level of stairs to climb (125 stairs) and each level is full of war memorabilia. But it is the view we are here to see. Three hundred and sixty degree views out over Portland and beyond. It is breathtaking.
One more thing to do on our last afternoon in Portland and that is to go and park at the harbour so that we can once again be mesmerised by the unloading of the giant B-Double trucks, loaded full of wood chip, that will be shipped to Japan.
We have loved our time in Portland and would happily return here. It is a beautiful town that we haven't really had enough time to explore. There are some beautiful heritage buildings here that are just begging to be photographed so perhaps we will have to return so that we can do a heritage walk around the town. Tomorrow we start our journey east along the Great Ocean Drive and our next stop will be Apollo Bay.
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