ANCHORS - Relax, Rejuvenate & Discover

Anchors - 2549 Cobden-Port Campbell Rd, Port Campbell, Victoria, 3269

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Port Campbell

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Port Campbell is nestled amongst some of the Victoria's most spectacular coastline scenery, including Port Campbell National Park and the Twelve Apostles. Sheltered by cliffs and Norfolk pines, it has the atmosphere of a haven on the edge of wild nature.

Named after Captain Campbell – a Scotsman in charge of Port Fairy's whaling station – the town began as a small fishing port with surrounding pastoral runs.

Today it is a great base for seeing the Twelve Apostles, the dramatic rock stacks that have made this coastline famous. Other stunning coastal features include Loch Ard Gorge, Gibson Steps and the Bay of Islands.

Creeks and the harbour offer excellent fishing and surfing is epic with Two Mile Bay revered as one of the best big-wave breaks in Australia. Join a dive tour and visit large canyons and gorges on the sea floor or a boat tour taking anglers and passengers close to the stacks, caves and arches in the area.

Activities and attractions:

- Witness the spectacle of a sensational sunset over the Twelve Apostles.
- Experience the immense size of the cliffs and rock stacks at Gibson Steps.
- Take to the air for a bird's-eye view of the Twelve Apostles, or:
- Join a boat tour around them to experience their immense size.
- Visit the Loch Ard cliff-top graveyard, final resting place for the many shipwreck victims.
- Watch as thousands of mutton birds return at dusk to their rookeries on Muttonbird Island (Sept. to April).
- Unlock the secrets to the many shipwrecks by following the Shipwreck Trail.
- Enjoy sunset at the Bay of Islands and the Bay of Martyrs.
- Dive to the depths where wrecked ships lie at rest, or go snorkelling on an organised tour.
- Enjoy a coffee or a meal with a view of Port Campbell Bay.

Port Campbell is 283 kilometres south-west of Melbourne travelling via the Great Ocean Road.

... above text taken from www.visitvictoria.com

The Great Ocean Road

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The Great Ocean Road region hugs the contours of Victoria's rugged south west coast and offers visitors one of Australia's greatest and most spectacular coastal drives.

Start your journey in Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula and discover beautiful beaches, great eateries, a fascinating heritage and an enormous range of recreational opportunities from fishing and golfing to diving and surfing. Take in the colourful and lively ambience of bayside Geelong, Victoria's second largest city, or visit quaint Queenscliff and discover the town's rich maritime history, excellent restaurants and heritage hotels.

Along the coast, seaside resort towns such as Lorne and Apollo Bay are the perfect base for a seaside escape. They offer stunning beaches and water sports as well as some of Australia's best rainforest scenery in the nearby Otway Ranges.

One of the most visited stretches of the road is Port Campbell. Buffeted by wild seas and fierce winds, the coastline around Port Campbell has been sculpted over millions of years to form a series of striking rock stacks that rise out of the Southern Ocean. Known as the Twelve Apostles, they are one of the most spectacular natural attractions in Victoria.

The Great Ocean Road region also has a rich maritime past. Historic towns such as Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland allow you to enjoy seafaring village life, with their fishing wharves, beautifully preserved colonial buildings and maritime museums recounting the stories of ships that have foundered off the rugged shipwreck coast.

... above text taken from www.visitvictoria.com

The Twelve Apostles

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The Twelve Apostles are a collection of natural limestone stacks standing just off shore in the Port Campbell National Park, on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. Originally the site was called the Sow and Piglets. The name was changed in the 1950s to the more majestic "The Twelve Apostles" to lure more visitors even though there were only nine left.

The Twelve Apostles are between the towns of Port Campbell and Princetown on the Great Ocean Road. In the early 2000s a visitor centre was built on the inland side of the road to allow for easy parking and access to the best viewing area. Helicopter rides around the formations are also available.

...the Visit 12 Apostles web site

Shipwreck Coast

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The Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia stretches from Moonlight Head to Cape Otway, a distance of approximately 130km. This coastline is accessible via the Great Ocean Road, and is home to the limestone formations called The Twelve Apostles.

Explorer Matthew Flinders said of the Shipwreck Coast, "I have seldom seen a more fearful section of coastline."

During the 19th century Bass Strait was a major shipping channel for supply ships and those carrying convicts or immigrants to the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales. Unfortunately this rugged and inhospitable coast, with its thick fogs, rough seas, and lack of lighthouses, made it difficult and dangerous to traverse, and claimed a great many ships. The most famous of these was the Loch Ard, for which the Loch Ard Gorge is named.

... above text taken from en.wikipedia.org

Port Campbell National Park

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Famous for the Twelve Apostles and historic shipwrecks, Port Campbell National Park contains the most significant areas of vegetation and fauna native to south-western Victoria. The diverse range of coastal environments includes woodlands, dunes, wetlands, coastal cliffs, limestone stacks and arches.

..... much more info available on site.

... above text taken from www.parkweb.vic.gov.au

Loch Ard Gorge

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The Loch Ard Gorge is part of Port Campbell National Park, about 10 minutes drive west of The Twelve Apostles. It is a visible example of the process of erosion in action.

The gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne.

All but two of the fifty-four passengers and crew perished - Tom Pearce, a ship's apprentice and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman immigrating with her family, both of whom were 18 years of age. According to memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help. Pearce then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists who immediately set into plan a rescue attempt.

The gorge is accessed via the Great Ocean Road, only a few kilometres past The Twelve Apostles. Stairs allow visitors access to the beach which is otherwise undeveloped. There are numerous plaques that tell the story as well and a small museum and rest area and a cemetery housing many of the people that were killed.

The uncommon Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti) is often observed around the Gorge.

This was the location for a number of scenes of the 1982 film The Pirate Movie and also the 1999 TV series Journey to the Center of the Earth with Treat Williams.

... above text taken from en.wikipedia.org

Corangamite Shire

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Lying in the heart of Victoria's South West, Corangamite is primarily a farming area, producing milk, wool, beef, fat lamb and grain. As well as being one of the largest dairying regions in the Southern Hemisphere, we are an economically vibrant area offering a great lifestyle with low unemployment and many opportunities for new business enterprises.

For tourists, Corangamite offers the spectacular 12 Apostles, Port Campbell National Park and picturesque towns and villages where fine fishing lakes and outstanding volcanic hills and craters grace the landscape.

.... web site aims to provide information about the Shire's many attractions as well as Council's services and facilities.

... above text taken from www.corangamite.vic.gov.au

Timboon

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Sixteen kilometres from the fishing village of Port Campbell and the Southern Ocean, Timboon is an attractive, timbered town which services local dairy farmers. You can taste and buy some of the local produce at on the southern limits of the town.

To take the scenic, Old Timboon Railway Line Walk you'll need a car and driver to drop you at the starting point and pick you up at the end of the 10km track up to four hours later.

The scenery is also a bonus on the short drive from Timboon to Port Campbell which is at the centre of the Shipwreck Coast and just a short drive from the camera friendly The Twelve Apostles. Eighty ships and hundreds of lives have been lost on the unforgiving stretch of coast flanked by the Great Ocean Road and 25 of those craft have gone down between Moonlight Head and Port Fairy. You'll find the Otway Ranges Deer and Wildlife Park about 20km east of Port Campbell.

... above text taken from www.travelmate.com.au

Apostle Whey Cheese

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Apostle Whey Cheese was established in 2002 by Julian and Dianne Benson after watching a story about cheese making on Landline. Julian and Dianne decided to investigate the possibility of making cheeses and enrolled into a cheese making course at Gilbert Chandler University in Werribee. After 2 years in operation chief cheese maker Melanie Pollock is producing some of Southwest Victoria s premier cheeses.

The cheeses are named after the Great Ocean Road iconic locations. Loch Ard gorgeous, Southern Briez, Apostle Crumble, The Grotto, bay of martyrs, just to name a few.

Your hosts Julian and Dianne Benson welcome tourists and visitors to their cheese factory 7 days a week. There visitors are welcome to an informative cheese tasting. Also available are hot and cold drinks, a variety of local wines and beers to accompany the cheeses on offer. Visitors are most welcome to sit back and relax with a cheese platter while watching a complimentary DVD on the making of Apostle Whey Cheeses or just enjoy the view of the Heytesbury settlement. Visitors are most welcome to visit the dairy at approximately 4.30pm to watch the cows being milked in a modern rotary dairy.

Julian and Dianne look forward in giving visitors a warm friendly welcome at Apostle Whey Cheese.

... above text taken from www.apostlewheycheese.com.au

The Timboon Railway Shed Distillery

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On any given day the distillery will be operating, bubbling and steaming and producing spirit behind protective glass for all to see.

Talk to the distiller and read through the History of Distilling in the area.

... above text taken from www.timboondistillery.com

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