Guest OzChris Posted December 19, 2007 Posted December 19, 2007 My younger brother was staying with my family and I over the last few days, thought Id take him out to lunch... So we flew down to Apollo Bay for burgers, chips and ice cream - mmmmmm ice cream.... The weather was perfect on Monday! It was around 20 degrees with a 16 kt wind from the south east. From Ballarat to Torquay it was a little bumpy due to the thermals, however, once over the ocean it was clear sailing, errr, flying... The scenery was absolutely breath taking (I have posted just a handful of the 200+ pics I took, in the photo gallery - have a look). We went right down to the 12 apostles and a little beyond before turning back up the coast to Apollo Bay, landing at around 1330. A leasurely stroll into town (approx. 2klm's) saw the pick of many places to eat, we chose a cafe in the center of the town where we gorged on the best darned hamburgers ever, finished off with a visit to the ice cream shop, where they make their own ice cream out the back - it was amazing!!! We left Apollo Bay around 1500ish flew back up the coast to Geelong and headed into the washing machine effect of the thermals back to Ballarat by 1430ish. Total flight time was 4.1 hours - and the best coast I have ever seen! If you are looking for some awesome scenery - the Great Ocean Road is your destination... I am flying back to Apollo Bay next Monday (wx pending), taking my gorgeous partner this time....cant wait to have another one of those burgers, let alone ice creams... :P
Robbo Posted December 19, 2007 Posted December 19, 2007 LOL Sounds like you went for a $100 hamburger :P Great oceon road is good but not when schoolies is on and dont park near shopping centres or you will get a trolley in your car !!! That reminds me havent even got the bill for the damage yet ! :)
Guest Glenn Posted December 19, 2007 Posted December 19, 2007 Check out the photo gallery for aeral shots by Chris. I wanna drive the GOR again. Even better to fly over it. Will take you up on that offer in the new year hopefully
Guest OzChris Posted December 19, 2007 Posted December 19, 2007 Even better to fly over it. Will take you up on that offer in the new year hopefully cool!! 8)
Guest Darren Masters Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 Great report Chris! :D $100 hamburger Robbo? Gee, at 4.1hrs it would have been a bit more than that. Chris, watch those hamburgers and ice creams in the bumps :shock:
Guest OzChris Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 Thanks Darren...it was all good until we headed inland through the thermals - then I wished I didnt eat quite so much :lol: I also put a photo story here: http://recreationalpilots.com.au/great-ocean-rd.htm
Guest Darren Masters Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 Good stuff Chris. Magic pics mate :D
Guest Chainsaw Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 I missed this one, Chris nice one! I love the Great Ocean Road. Apollo Bay, yea nice, and its great to see the dolphins catching waves there :)
Tim E Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 Excellent pictures Chris..what a great flight and great photography to carry on the memory. Thanks for sharing Chris Tim
Tim E Posted January 17, 2008 Posted January 17, 2008 I used to go down the GOR a lot many years ago..had a real interest in shipwrecks along there..back then, in the 1970's, you could still see evidence of shipwrecks along there..spars sticking out of the water and outlines of ships frames underwater under certain conditons. I remember one you were able to see from a hill near Apollo Bay..just an outline of the wreck underwater..also the 4 graves from the wreck of the W.B Godfrey just past Lorne..graves which they shifted when they built the GOR in the early 1900's. A great coastline..thanks for reviving the memories Chris. Good one. P.S Have never done the trip by air..maybe thats my next one! Yay!
Guest OzChris Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Thanks Tim - glad it rekindled the good memories... I would highly recommend doing by air Tim - it is a completely different experience!
Tim E Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 Sounds great Chris..was down at Lorne at Easter..seem to rememeber a brochure with flights mentioned..wonder where they do the flights from? :D
Guest OzChris Posted January 19, 2008 Posted January 19, 2008 I noticed that there are a couple of good operators out of Apollo Bay Airfield when I was there...
Tim E Posted January 19, 2008 Posted January 19, 2008 Thats ringing a bell with me Chris..think I saw brochures where we stayed in Lorne mentioning flights from Apollo Bay...roll on holidays..wouldn't mind getting back down there soon! :)
Guest g_i_jack029 Posted January 19, 2008 Posted January 19, 2008 At Anglesea the other day, lots of air traffic, more than i expected, joy flights, helicopters and nearly every day the shark spotter plane would fly over. i had the scanner on me, plenty of chatter! on the way down to anglesea had YMAV tuned in on my scanner, also had ATIS tuned in, about 10km from avalon still couldn't pick the ATIS, grrr The day we left the spotter plane spotted a shark and the beaches had to be evacuated. glad i wasn't there.
Guest OzChris Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 Not sure if its just me or not, but shark sightings seem to be increasing! Thats pretty scary for the swimmers and surfers... I am surprised at just how much you can see under the water from 500 - 1000 feet...its very clear! I wouldnt mind being a volunteer in the shark spotter aircraft. I wonder how one applies???
Tim E Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 Yes Chris..you must get a totally different perspective from up there..from plane pics you can see the sharks so much more easily from the air..wonder if any of the regular flyers along that route down there can still sight any shipwreck hulls underwater from that height on a clear day? I know there was one in the 1970's you could supposedly see but dont know what the current state is.
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