In 1958 Peter & Elisabeth Mayer with their son Helmut purchased a rocking granite outcrop in Anakie, about 30 north of Geelong, from a local farmer and began to transform it into their dream. Their dream became Australia's first theme park, Fairy Park, the land of fairytales, myths and legends. I remember visiting Fairy Park as a kid and was keen to reignite my inner child. Shovel wasn't overly keen, but played along, because he's awesome. We both ended up having the funnest day and really enjoyed running around the park, exploring all the attractions and re-learning the Grimm Brother fairytales. The park is quirky, eccentric and very un-modern, which is why it was so fun. We rely so heavily on high tech devices these days that the park was a refreshingly analogue attraction in our fast paced, digital age. I personally enjoyed Aladdin's Cave and continuously kept pushing the button, restarting the Arabian music and moving figurines. Shovel was impressed with the model train set and had a great time taking loads of pictures around the park.
I grew up believing Matthew Flinders was the first European settler to discover the area known as Geelong, having gone to a school named in his honour with the slogan, 'Looking Forward' my impression was of him looking out over the bay from the peaks of the You Yangs, about 30 kilometres from the city of Geelong. But, it wasn't to be, apparently a John Murray, Commander of the HMS Lady Nelson, was the first recorded European to visit the region in 1802. Matthew Flinders did visit the region a few months later and did climb the You Yangs, but he wasn't the first as I had previously thought and didn't actually settle Geelong. In 1803 a Charles Grimes mapped the area, but deemed it unfit for settlement, although the penal colony of Sullivan Bay was established. William Buckley, escaped from Sullivan Bay the same year and lived with the local Wathaurong people for 32 years. He was later pardoned and became an interpreter between the indigenous and europeans. The next Europeans to visit the area were Hamilton Hume and William Hovell arriving in the area known as Geelong on 16 December 1824, despite leaving two days later they did learn the indigenous name for the area was Corayo. It wasn't until 1836 that the area was settled by non indigenous and gazetted as a town in 1838, just three weeks after Melbourne. Geelong soon became a major wool exporter with many woollen mills operating in the area for several decades. Geelong officially became a city in 1910.
We ate an awesome Reuben sandwich at Red Beard's Bakery in Trentham then stopped by the market in Daylesford for a snack of roasted chestnuts and sampled various mineral springs at Hepburn Springs before settling on our favourite at Sailors Hill. Each spring has a unique quality and taste so it's definitely worth trying a few to find the one you most prefer. DaylesfordThe Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s most iconic roads to drive. Renowned for its endless winding roads and dramatically breathtaking ocean views, it brings tourists from all around the world to experience the beauty. Not only for the views, the challenging twists and turns make it entertaining for motoring enthusiasts. Construction of the road by 3,000 returned World War One servicemen, began in 1919 and finished at Lorne in 1922. The road continued construction to Apollo Bay and was announced officially completed on November 1932. We have driven this road to access many of our adventures whilst living in Geelong. The start of the drive welcomes you with a large Great Ocean road sign, which welcomes you with a warm up of slight bends before large cliff edges and hairpin turns. There is an endless array of natural beauties to witness along the drive like waterfalls, beaches and unique Great Otway National Park rainforest. Although congested with a lot of traffic, the views make the drive worthwhile. Our greatest distraction on the drive is the Great Ocean Road Chocolatier, not just for the chocolate, but the amazing scones, which concludes our day adventures out this way. We will forever enjoy our times travelled on the Great Ocean Road, it can sometimes be very busy, but we always come home fulfilled after a trip out to our Great Ocean Road and Otways destinations. It’s a pure Australian icon that everyone should experience once in their lifetime. Check out some of our Great Ocean Road and Great Otway Adventures
Two kilometres out of Lorne is a walking track that starts at the Sheoak Picnic area that takes you to a well-known Phantom Falls. Fed from the St George River, the falls are 15 metres high, which on paper would make for quite a spectacular view. Our day out began with beautiful weather and gorgeous views over the horizon of water on our drive through the Great Ocean Road. Turning off from Lorne with a couple of hills and turns brought us to the Sheoak Picnic area. We began our walk from the picnic area, our first stop was Won Wondah and Henderson Falls, when looked at hard enough you could see rocks were damp, giving indications of the dry season. Venturing on we walked through beautiful luscious green rainforest that passed through a shallow but spectacular canyon. As the Canyon disappears, the Phantom Falls sign arrives. As we see the falls in our sights there is not a drop of water, leaving a big stagnant pond with a 15-metre cliff behind it. Even with a lack of running water, you can imagine how spectacular the falls can get in the wet season. Our walk looped around and went back on to Allenvale Rd, taking us back to Sheoak Picnic Area making for a 9 kilometre walk. It was another great day along the Otways, a solid walk in the rainforest and breathtaking views over the ocean. Phantom, Henderson and Won Wondah falls weren’t too exciting over the dry season, but we’re sure they are a different story in the wet season and the walking track is good fun regardless. As this is blog on Otways, it means it ends with…… scones at the Great Ocean Road Chocolateria.
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The JourneyChoose Curiosity The Catalogue
November 2023
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