October 2, 2011

The Twelve Apostles is a collection of eight limestone rock stacks jutting from the water in  Port Campbell National park  between Princetown and Peterborough on the Great Ocean Road near Melbourne , in the Australian province of Victoria. Tourism activities (including helicopter tours) are conducted from a visitor centre, situated on the inland side of the Great Ocean Road; with parking and viewing areas . These rock stacks are classified as nationally significant, with the area being one of Victoria's major tourist features; attracting approximately two million visitors a year.

The apostles were formed by erosion of limestone rock by the crashing waves and harsh weather conditions in  the Southern Ocean   The waves and weather gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 45 metres high. The site was known as the Sow and Piglets until 1922 , after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. The formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles, despite only ever having nine stacks. In July 2005 one of them collapsed leaving only eight now.

Port Campbell national park

Lord Ard Gorge

To reach Twelve Apostles, which is one of major attractions in the provine of Australia, one has to travel for about 5 hours on the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. Great Ocean Road along the south eastern coast of Australia (Popularly known as the 'Ship wreck Coast' for obvtious reasons) was built between 1919 and 1932, by the Australian Army veterans of First World War, to provide them employment. Till 1912 these lime stone stacks were known by different name but were named as Twelve Apostles after the 12 men who accompanied Jesus during the Last Supper.The winding road along the Ocean provides some breathtaking views of beaches , Ocean and stone formations. Along the road there is also a bronze memorial for the workers who built the Great Ocean Road through sheer physical labor in the absence of mechanized equipment those days.

Along the Great Ocean Road, there are rain forests and we found many eucalyptus plants which are inhabited by Kola, the Australian version of Panda.  These animals live high in the eucalyptus trees sleeping for major portion of the day and waking up only to eat eucalyptus leaves and go back to sleep!  Along the road we also came across a place called   Torquay  which is known as the "Wind surfing capital " of Australia. In fact Torquay is the beginning of the Great Ocean Road, which is about 243 km long and terminates in Warmambool. True to its name, we found a large no. of Australians both men and women, braving the high winds and waves enjoying the exhilarating experience of wind surfing.

The Port Campbell Park which includes the twelve apostles also has "Lord Ard Gorge" made notorious due to the wrecking of a ship called Loch Ard, whih ran aground on nearby Mutton bird island in 1878 while on a passage of 3 months from England to Melbourne. Of the 54 passengers and crew, only two survived.One was Tom Pearce, a ships apprentice and other was Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman, both of 18 years age. Tom was washed ashore and rescued Eva after hearing her cries for help. Tom then climbed out of the Gorge to raise an alarm to get help and they were rescued. We went down the gorge using the stairs provided  and experienced first hand the treacherous waters off the "Ship wreck coast".

For the adventurous, a helicopter ride of 6 minutes at about 80 Austrailan Dollars per head is provided. It takes you around the Twelve apostls and the Port Campbell national park and provids an breathtaking view of the blue ocean and the limestone stacks. It is worth every penny spent on it as the accompanying photographs show.