It's all about the coastline. Between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell the coast is lined with mighty limestone cliffs which have ben eaten away by centuries of tides and wild seas. The result is a series of spectacular free standing rock formations which sit close by the adjacent beaches.
The locals must have been of a religious bent as these forms take names such as Bay of Martyrs and Twelve Apostles. Nearby Port Fairy was originally named Belfast and still hosts the largest celtic folk festival in the country. Many of the local sites still defiantly carry the Belfast tag. Although Belfast, Northern Ireland is Protestant, the local Port fairy flavor is very much Catholic Celtic.
The best story of our Twelve Apostles visit came as we checked into the Port Fairy YHA the following evening. Allison, the host, made a comment assuming Andrea was my wife then checked herself observing that of course that might not necessarily be the case. She was a bumptious girl who showed no sign of recognizing that this exchange could have put me in an awkward situation, being faced with continuing the lie (of wife and marriage) or joining in and confessing that I was there with my mistress. In my case I had brought the right partner and was able to freely join her stories of deception without guilt
She told the story of the collapse of one of the Twelve Apostles a few years previously which had an unexpected outcome. 
A romantic couple had walked across the land bridge to the formation called London Bridge. As it implies, this consists of two pillars of rock sitting in the ocean joined by an arch. On this day while the couple were on the farthest pillar, the gods of deceived wives decided to collapse the bridge section leaving the couple stranded on the remaining pillar. This triggered an emergency rescue with helicopters and national media coverage. The couple were instant celebrities.
Unfortunately, the man’s wife was at home bored and at a loose end (her husband being on his annual fishing trip) and watching the saga unfold while her husband shivered with cold and cursed his ill timed walk over London Bridge.
2 comments:
Hey Steve (and Mistress Andrea)
Yous two are always off on some fab adventure. Even Melbourne to Robe sounds exotic!
Be sure to ring when you get home. It is too too long between drinks - and dinner.
Loani
Ha - love the tale, it reminds me of a story about a couple getting stuck in their car (whilst preforming); the Firemen had to cut them out - as she was freed the woman sobbed "How am I going to explain this to my husband?"
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