Clovelly Beach, New South Wales

Clovelly Beach lies between Bronte Beach to the north and Gordon’s Bay to the south.  We’ve been to Bronte before many times but not to the Gordon Bay.  The beach is small and tranquil, located at the mouth of a narrow bay between two rocky ridges and there is a breakwater at the mouth of the bay that provides protection and creates a calm swimming environment. It is particularly popular with family groups and the elderly.  I don’t know why this is very attractive to the elderly, for the families, well, it is obvious.

The beach showing its narrow bay.

Clovelly beach is in the suburb of Clovelly which is located 8 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick, New South Wales.

Concrete platforms and promenades have been constructed on both sides of the bay. The promenades are popular sun-baking spots. There are access steps into the water, making Clovelly Beach more like a large ocean pool than a beach. The beach is a very popular snorkeling site with a diverse range of underwater marine life.  In fact, I saw guys just arrived at the car park about eight of them putting on their gears, and unloading more gears out from their van.

As I stroll down the seashore, I saw guys getting in and out complete with gears and snorkels.

Part of the beach where guys who love snorkelling take pleasure and enjoy the sports.

There is a ramp on the northern side of the beach that provides access for disabled people to the water.  Further north, the shore line is dotted with rocks and boulders that form part of the unique but picturesque shores.

At the north side of the beach.

Another part of the beach further north.

The eatery and coffee shop at the beach.

Some guys were having fun fishing at the beach, too.

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The Gap

The Gap’s beauty

This cliff is what they call “The Gap” which is a very popular tourist destination both for local and foreign in Watson Bay, Sydney.

Watsons Bay is located on the southern head of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. To the east is the Tasman Sea and to the west is the Harbour with a glorious view of the city of Sydney in the distance.

Visible here is the long line of fence and cameras to deter persons with suicidal intent.

It is a beautiful place that attracts visitors but it is also a place that records numbers of suicide.  When we came here last year the gap has a long line of fence at breast height and various cameras around it were installed.  When we were about to leave the place, a busload of tourists were disembarking and were focusing their eyes to the gap.

The gap has a great geology and obviously it was formed through the constant erosion of the rock’s face exposed to the strong waves of the sea below forming the cliff as we see it today.  Tessellated basalt rock platforms lie at the base of the cliff.

The anchor of a ship found 50 years later after it was shipwrecked 50 yards from here in 1857.

another rock at the gap, probably granite.

Lorne Pier, Victoria

Lorne Pier, Victoria

Lorne Pier is another stunning beach front for swimmers and fishermen alike in Victoria.  We had a brief stopover in this place when we travelled down the Great Ocean Road.  Actually, it isn’t an ordinary pier and as the buildings up the road implied visitors come here most often to enjoy the place with complete eatery and lodges to complement their travels, most notable are the Grand pacific Hotel and Lorne Hotel.

Grand Pacific Hotel at the background.

The Grand Pacific Hotel

Pier fishing is popular in Lorne Pier as well as salmon, silver trevally, garfish, squid, pinkies or barracouta.  As we have seen when we arrived here, some anglers enjoyed their day fishing down the alley walls of the pier.  The weather was good, sunny, and not too windy.

Lorne Pier, Victoria

Geelong, Victoria

Geelong, Victoria

We visited Geelong on our first day of Holiday in Victoria, around five in the afternoon when we went shopping at the Corio Shopping Centre to buy foods, and during the last day of our holiday.  We discovered the beauty and magnetic charm of the Geoolong waterfront with its extensive artistry and makeover in and around the park.  I was astonished at how they constructed the Cummingham Pier as a huge car park.  It was full with cars when we were there.  The waterfront is recorded as the main tourist attraction for the city.

Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, 75 kilometres south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia.

Geelong has a rich history dating back from the gold rush in Ballarat, to its transition to a manufacturing hub up to its present transformation as a great city.

The scheduled closure of Ford’s Australian manufacturing base in 2016 was confirmed in late May 2013 and is considered as major set-back there whereby hundreds of workers will be losing their jobs, pretty bad.

At the waterfront of Geelong

At the waterfront of Geelong – the pier converted into a car park.

Some tourists were also enjoying the beauty of the waterfront when we were here.  We too, spent a couple of hours here and that made us unable to visit the city centre of Geelong because our next stop will be the city of Melbourne after which we’ll drive straight out to the airport for our scheduled flight back to Sydney.  We would be glad to return here some other time to explore Geelong further.

 

Twelve Apostles, Victoria

The Kiosk at Port Campbell, Victoria

We arrived at this place late afternoon during our second day of holiday.  It was cloudy, windy and in any minute rain will fall.  The car park was full of visitors; two police cars were visible at the entrance and were seen busy checking out incoming cars.  Visitors are from all different nationalities but Indians were dominating the pack at that time.

The rock stacks were indeed stunning and captivating!  You can see at the faces of visitors a sense of awe and amazement, and most of them taking snap shots at every possible angle, the rock stacks as a background to their photos.  I rushed up photographing the iconic place from one sight to the other as the chances of rain was positive in a matter of minutes but people just ignore the coming rain and continued enjoying sightseeing and taking photos the easy way.

The Twelve Apostles

In geological aspect, the formation was created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland beginning 10-20 million years ago, the stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs.  The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore. The 12 Apostles at sunrise and sunset are at their best beauty as they change colour from dark and foreboding in shadow to brilliant sandy yellow under a full sun.

One of the viewing hills.

Half an hour later after we’re there, rain started to pour down, but I can still see people going out there to take a look at them.  I was already at the kiosk taking shelter at that time.

In a couple of minutes my other companions arrived.  Rain prevented us from enjoying and staying a bit longer in this famous landmark and since we can’t do anything about it, we decided to drive back to Torquay.

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Yes, this spectacular coastline is indeed awesome!

I would say that the place was completely developed including the construction of a Kiosk for travellers’ comfort and a huge car park, to which Australia receives recognition from foreign as well as local tourists as exemplified by the numbers of visitors it receives every day.  You know, there are also rock stacks around the world of spectacular beauty such as these ones mentioned in this link, the Dorset coast in the south of England, small German island Heligoland, located in the north se, Black Sea in Russia, at easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, Borneo island of Malaysia, Cannon Beach in the state of Oregon, in Thailand, northern coast of the island of Eysturoy in the Faroe Islands, and in Scotland.

Torquay, Victoria

Torquay beach, Torquay, Victoria

We had our two-night slept over here at Torquay on a rented two storey house close to the beach and to the shopping centres when we were on holiday in Victoria.  Torquay is a township in Victoria, Australia, which faces Bass Strait, 21 km. south of Geelong and is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road.

Many of the world’s most famous surf companies have their home in Torquay, including Rip Curl, Piping Hot and Quiksilver – all of which make up part of the Surf Coast Plaza, which provides shopping and eating, as well as the Surf World Museum.

The beach was cool, and I had the chance to capture its beautiful seascape during sunrise and sunset.  You know, my heart was throbbing ecstatically upon sensing the beauty of the beach and its surroundings, very captivating indeed, that I said to myself, these must be preserved in photo shots and be shared with to others.  For every shot I took at every angle of the beach, I know these could be another set of memories of great places I’ve been.  You can view more some photos of the beach in my photo galleries at the sidebar.

Torquay beach, Victoria

I would compare a part of the beach as calm and picturesque as the beach in Dee Why in Sydney.  Just above the road are holiday houses or beach houses which are readily available for occupancy by holiday makers.  According to people who already came here consider the beach as the photographers’ paradise and indeed is true!  I’ve seen one photographer’s photo taken here and printed on canvas as awesome and he did capture the beach well and perfect.

Torquay town centre.

The road just above the beach front.

Again, if I have the chance to go back here for another holiday, I will do so and explore more about the place.  There are a lot of holiday activities that you can enjoy and if you want to know more, just click this link for you to consider and make plans this coming December holidays.