Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017 – Start of Great Coast Road-Overnight on Cliff Above Road

Got up with the alarm this morning, as we anticipate a long drive today. Not sure how far, we're going, but we sort of have a plan to head along the Great Coast Road, apparently one of the most scenic routes in Australia, on our way to a place called the 12 Apostles, the equivalent of desert hoodoos, but along the shore of the Southern Ocean between the towns of Princeton and Port Campbell. What a gorgeous road! After driving through more beautiful countryside and forests, we turned out toward the Coast Road, and soon we were weaving along on a road reminiscent of 101 in California, a road literally cut into the side of a cliff, for miles and miles and miles! There were a number of cute little beachside towns along the way, but the road always went back to hanging just off the side of the cliff, which, being on the left side of the road, was the closest to the drop-off into the sea. Fantastic! After miles and miles of that kind of driving, and a stop in a little town for a fish and chips lunch, and later groceries, we found another free campsite (thanks Wiki-Camp Australia!) that literally was just above the Coast Road. So many camping areas are entirely unmarked, absolutely no signage, especially for the free ones, so if you didn't know it was there, you would drive right by. We turned onto a gravel road by a creek that immediately started climbing upwards, but not so dramatically that our rig didn't make it. There were several turnouts along the way, including one that actually overlooked the beach (that was already taken, darn it!), but we found an available spot near the top (there weren't many!) and settled in for the night, listening the distant surf pounding the beach below us. Fantastic!

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