1. The Great Ocean Road

Probably the most famous Victorian landscape photography locations is the Great Ocean Road. Rated one of the best cliff-hugging drives in the world the Great Ocean Road was built back in the 1930s by returned servicemen. It starts at the beautiful seaside town of Lorne and hugs the cliff along the Southern Ocean to Apollo Bay before heading inland and winding its way through rolling, green hills to Nelson. Along the way, you will find spectacular views around every corner, beautiful rainforests, epic surf locations including the world-famous Bells Beach, waterfalls, wildlife, redwood forests, and epic hikes.

2. Princes Pier, Port Melbourne

Princes Pier is a 580 metre long, historic pier in Port Melbourne that was built between 1912 – 1915. It was the major arrival port for migrants to Australia during the post-war period. Its use declined over the years and in the early 1990s, it was closed due to its poor condition. Between 1990 and 2004 fourteen fires occurred caused by squatters or vandals. The State Government announced a $14m refurbishment in 2006, restoring the first 196 metres. The remaining decking was removed and the original pylons restored. It reopened in 2007 and is now a favourite haunt of photographers and anglers.

3. Dragon Head Rock

Situated at 16th Beach, one of the Rye back beaches, Dragon Head Rock is a rock formation just off the beach and accessible at low tide. From the front, it’s just a rock, but move to the side and it takes on its distinct shape. If you are a fan of long exposure, smooth water shots – it’s a fabulous location to hone your skills.

4. The Grampians

The heritage-listed Grampians, traditionally known as Gariwerd in aboriginal culture is a mountainous area close to Halls Gap and around 3 hours from Melbourne. It boasts world-famous hiking trails from gentle to challenging, waterfalls, wildlife and mountain panoramas.

5.Warburton

Warburton could be Melbourne’s best-kept secret. While it’s well known to Melbournites it rarely features on any list for tourism. Its set among the hills of the beautiful Yarra Valley and is an easy 90-minute drive from Melbourne. Down by cement creek you will find the Californian Redwood forest. Thousands of towering Redwoods set in rows with a carpet of leaf litter and dotted with mysterious forest art, and a fern gully along the creek at the back make it a magical place. Not far from the Redwood Forest is the Rainforest Gallery – a stunning, easy walk through the forest over bridges above the forest floor and down along streams with tumbling cascades.

Well, there you go, my favourite five, which is not to say there isn’t loads more epic locations. What are your favourite locations in Victoria? love to hear your thoughts.

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Redwood Forest

Determined to get that ever-elusive sunrise/sunset, we travelled down the GOR in December, January and again in February…

Heading down in December, we stopped off at the Redwood Forest in the Otway Ranges.  Beautiful Californian Sequoia Trees planted along the Aire River in 1939 now rise majestically up to a canopy towering above your head. The ground is covered with rusty red leaf litter; it’s a stunning, serene place to walk in, peaceful and silent like a cathedral of trees.  The Aire River meanders through at the back, lined with tree ferns. It cascades across rocks and under fallen logs. Its vibe is otherworldly. You almost expect to see Frodo or Gandalf walk out.

Peterborough

Leaving the redwood, we skipped Apollo Bay and headed towards Princetown. Being the height of the Christmas period, the coast road was packed with tourists, so we had decided to stay a bit further along at Peterborough, passing the Twelve Apostles. The roads were lined with barriers to stop parking on the side of the road, LED signs in both Chinese and Australian, and gazillions of people swarming over the boardwalks and lookouts. Staying further along was looking like a great plan.

When we arrived in the sunshine, the following day was very grey and overcast. So we decided to beat the tourist buses by getting out early. It was nice and quiet, just a couple of others out, not cold, but overcast and windy, not the best weather.

Princetown

Skipping ahead a month, we went back in January. This time the sun was well and truly shining as we headed down

revisited all the stops that we did in December, as well as taking in Lorne, but this in lovely sunshine with blue skies

We were staying at Princetown itself this time. It is a sleepy little place with a tavern (with great food). Accom (very basic) and a general store that keeps surprisingly short trading hours had dinner at the tavern (great food) and then went to the twelve apostles for sunset wasn’t bad but still not a box ticked.  I got back to the carpark well after dark and headed back to our accommodation at 9 pm, and everything was closed, a sleepy little place Accom (very basic), and a general store that keeps surprisingly short trading hours.

We were up for sunrise the following day at 5 am and should have stayed in bed. We were definitely out of luck or over-optimistic but going on the cars at the carpark, we weren’t the only ones that thought a sunrise at the twelve apostles on Great Ocean Road was a good idea.

ah well, there’s always February

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“The rescue of survivors of the Stinson plane crash 80 years ago was an iconic moment in Australian history, but the man behind the feat never felt he was a hero”

Damien Larkins, ABC News.

The Loss of the Stinson

Bernard O’Reilly believed he had seen the plane fly over his brother’s nearby farm. However, he was convinced it hadn’t crossed the border into NSW, so he searched on his own.  Making his trail through dense rainforest and up the steep terrain of the McPherson Range, relying solely on his bushman skills, he found the wreck two days after he set off and 8.4kms from the O’Reilly property.  The Stinson pilots and two passengers had died. Another survivor died going for help, leaving just two.  Of the two remaining survivors, one had a broken leg. The other was severely burnt from the fire that engulfed the plane when it crashed.

The Rescue

Bernard boiled the men a billy tea and gave them food before heading back down the mountain at night. He waded through creeks and hacked his way back down the mountain through the dense rainforest.  Thirteen hours later, he reached a farm where he was given a horse for the rest of the journey.  Arriving back, he organised a rescue party and doctor. Then led them back to the crash site and helped bring the survivors down on stretchers. Talk about a feat of endurance! 

A movie called ‘Riddle of the Stinson’ was made of the rescue starring Jack Thompson playing Bernard O’Reilly and the legend of the Stinson lives on with O’Reilly’s & The Stinson forever linked.

In the 1980s, the Australian Army removed much of the wreckage via helicopter. However, the skeletal remains of the aircraft are still there. This forms part of a hiking trail for very experienced and very fit bushwalkers.

Tree top walk

It was our last day at O’Reilly’s, so we headed off for the Tree Top Walk after breakfast. With Carole now on a walking stick instead of crutches.  A series of nine suspension bridges soaring up to 30 metres off the forest floor.  The walk is just across the road from reception and was the first of its kind in Australia.  The boardwalk through the rainforest leads to a fig tree, the start of the bridges.  It was drizzling, and the forest was shrouded in mist as we started. However, by the time we got back, the sun was shining.

We went for a massage and foot treatment at O’Reillys Lost World Day Spa in the afternoon- a fabulous treat.

Last night at O’Reilly’s

That evening, with Carole now off the crutches. We headed upstairs to the Rainforest Bar for our last happy hour and one and only sunset, followed by dinner and an early night.  We were off down the mountain to Springbrook National Park and the Gold Coast the following day.

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Byron Bay

We woke to beautiful sunshine. At around 5 am again. I had breakfast on the balcony and read for a while before heading off towards Byron Bay at around 8.00 am.  It’s only 90 mins from the Gold Coast, and we were there by about 9.30 am.  Arriving in Byron Bay, I couldn’t get over how busy it was. There were people out and about and heavy traffic everywhere.  Don’t people sleep in Queensland?  Heading up to the lighthouse, people out walking, pushing prams, jogging, I have never seen such activity at a lighthouse.  It was like it was the central meeting point for everyone in Byron Bay.  And it was only 9.30 am! 

Byron Bay Lighthouse

The lighthouse has around three car parks, each higher and closer to the lighthouse than the last. We drove up to the top one the parking attendant!? directed us to an empty spot. So we got out, donned hats, grabbed cameras and joined the throng to walk up to the lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is a beautiful little castle-like building at the base with battlements overlooking turquoise and blue sea.  We wandered around and down the other side to get shots from the lower vantage point. 

Crystal Castle

We stopped for morning tea from the lighthouse, then headed up into the hinterlands. Just 20 mins from Byron Bay is the Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens.  Entry is $25 and totally worth it.  A memorial gate to Tori Johnson is inside the gates, donated by his family.  Tori was tragically killed in the Lindt Cafe Siege in 2015. 

I would have liked more time here to take in some of the daily events… we missed the music of the plants as by the time we had walked around the gardens, it was quite warm, and we wanted a chair and cold drink 🙂

The Stupa

The gardens are quite large, and to be done properly, and you really need a full day here. We stopped at the Peace Stupa and availed ourselves of the umbrellas dotted around for protection from the rain or sun while we enjoyed the music emanating from the Stupa.

with our walk around finished. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the cafe before enjoying some retail therapy in the crystal shop. From there, it was back to the car and back to the apartment.

Our last night on the balcony, we finally took some night shots of the city lights.  The next morning it was pouring with rain, and all the next week too, but we were home by then 🙂

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We set off back down the winding, narrow road to Canungra and then diverted to Springbrook, arriving around 11 am.  The walk to the Natural Bridge is a loop. With the recommendation to do it in a clockwise direction or else you have a  lot of stairs coming back up, we were still worn out (and hot) by the time we got back up, but doing it clockwise was better. There were a lot of steps going down, and I would not have liked to do all those stairs in reverse!

Natural Bridge

By the time we got to the Natural Bridge at Springbrook National Park, the sun was high in the sky, and the rock opening was being hit but loads of sun.  It blew out the highlights even with five image HDR stack. We did find some interesting mushrooms growing on a log on the way back.

Fungi

Leaving the Natural Bridge, we turned left instead of right, and a few kms down the road came to the border. a quick photo stop before we turned around 🙂

Borders

We stopped for a quick lunch and then headed to the ‘Best Of All Lookout’, yep they really called it that.  The walk to the lookout was an easy 350 metres through the rainforest.

Goomahlara Falls

Our last stop before we headed down to Surfers Paradise was Goomahlara Falls.  It’s an easy 200m walk from the carpark that brings you to a little lookout with the waterfall off to the side, and you cant get to the bottom—crappy point of view for a photo.  Heading back to the carpark, Carole left the path, and we headed through the scrub to the stream. Goomahlara Falls, which made a much nicer shot 🙂

the edge of the rocks drops off to a sheer cliff, so this was as close as we went.  From here, we headed down to our apartment in Surfers for the next four nights. We had chosen one with a city view, and I was hoping to get some nice night shots and maybe a timelapse

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Moonlight Crag

We stopped at Moonlight Crag, but there was so much low cloud that we couldn’t see anything—we were completely socked in. The view over Lamington National Park is great when you can see it. Having no joy there, we continued to Luke’s Farm. This was lower down the mountain, so we were below the clouds. Now, the view was fabulous from here.

Matt made a fire and started boiling the billy. Morning tea was billy tea or coffee and damper with butter, delicious!

The Noisy Miners are well used to people calling in with damper, and they didn’t take long to turn up and start waiting for crumbs. With morning tea done, Matt drove us back to O’Reilly’s.

Birds of Prey Show

In the afternoon, the skies cleared, and the sun appeared. With Carole still on crutches, we headed over to the Birds of Prey show, parking as close as I could for her; she still had to hobble along a gravel path. The show was only about 30 minutes but quite good, with the bird handler very informative and full of humour.

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“I realized something on the ride. I realized if I wait until I’m not scared to try new things, then I’ll never get to try them at all.”

Marie Sexton, Between Sinners and Saints

The walk to the falls was pretty and not too arduous. But we were on a tight schedule as Rob, our guide, had to be back to ferry a heap of guests up to Moonlight Crag for a wedding. Therefore our pace was much faster than we usually do at a waterfall with lots of steps. 

Back up the top, it was off on the Segways again back to O’Reillys.  All went well until about 10ft from the end when Carole came off the Segway. No significant damage, but the knee swelled up over the afternoon, and she was on crutches the following day. We took it quiet for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed in our room before heading down to the dining room for dinner and drinks.

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“Four years after the arrival of the O’Reilly family in 1911 Lamington National Park was declared, effectively isolating the O’Reillys from the outside world. While Lamington wasn’t Queensland’s first national park it is the most significant, and was regularly referred to as ‘Queensland’s National Park”

https://oreillys.com.au/lamington-national-park/

A free upgrade saw us heading off in a lovely little Mitsubishi ASX instead of the Toyota Carolla.  Not that it helped with luggage storage … we had two large suitcases and two rolling camera suitcases, and the big suitcases held more camera gear!  Gone are the days of travelling light.

Canungra

The first stop was O’Reillys Vineyards, Canungra, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch before a wine tasting and bought some wines to take with us.  There was apparently platypus breeding in the creek, but with the skies getting darker and a storm predicted and 34 kms of very, very winding road up the mountain ahead of us, we decided to push on.  It was good that we did, as while Qld doesn’t believe it needs daylight, saying it would really help!  Daylight is around 4.30 am every morning, but it’s dark by 6 pm. 

Goat Track of a Road

Road crews were working on the road repairing damage from Cyclone Debbie. This made some sections narrower than they were already, and it was one lane all the way up.  Not one lane each way… one lane in total!  there were lots of little turnouts to pull over into, but a couple of times, we came around a blind corner with another car coming towards us…. a wine was definitely called for by the time we arrived. (we found out later the road was an old logging track they covered with bitumen!)

O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat is a village-like retreat high up the mountain in Lamington National Park, with a dining room, bar, cafe, discovery centre, church, mini-mart, gift shop, and accommodation options from self-contained through to guesthouse or camping. 

Birds Galore

We had decided to stay in the mountain view rooms with a little back deck overlooking the mountains in the distance.  It turned out to be an excellent choice as each morning and evening, we had such a myriad of birds in the trees around our room that we quickly bought some rice crackers at the mini-mart to attract them closer.

That night we strolled down to O’Reilly’s dining room… amazing food with massive portions…. not really overpriced for what you got, but geez.. our lamb share platter for two could have fed four; we did our best but still left half…. mind you we still made room for the pavlova even if we had to share that too 🙂

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