Cape Nelson Lighthouse Loop (Portland) (26/01/2013)

Portland is the site of Victoria's first permanent settlement back in 1834, with the town quickly prospered due to fishing, pastoral and agricultural industries.  Portland is the only deep-water sea port between Adelaide and Melbourne, making it a major centre for sea transport of goods and produce from the surrounding areas.  Situated on the far south west coast of Victoria, Portland offers a great range of activities, with great beaches, fishing, Whale watching, tours of Aboriginal sites, historical building, talking Tram tour & a Botanical Gardens.

I was camping here with my wife, and we took a scenic drive out to the Cape Nelson State Park, which offers spectacular cliffs, diverse bird life, picturesque walks and the working Cape Nelson Lighthouse are some of the attractions for visitors to Cape Nelson State Park, which is 243-hectares (600-acres.).

http://www.capenelsonlighthouse.com.au/Cycling.php

I was hooked, and drooling at the thought of riding through this amazing area.  Tomorrow was the last day of our holidays and I was pretty wrecked at that stage, but knew this would be worth setting the alarm for.

 I had a headwind to contend with for the first half of the ride, and was amazed at how quiet the roads were.  I kinda got lost on the way, but we’ll pretend that didn’t happen.  There are these massive wind turbines at the Cape Nelson State Park, and you feel pretty tiny riding alongside them.  Overall, it was a pretty flat ride, but the wind certainly made it a bit challenging.

 

The view riding up to the Cape Nelson Lighthouse was amazing, and well worth getting up at 5:00am to see.  I probably only saw about 2 cars for the whole ride, and this capped off an amazing week of riding different parts along the Great Ocean Road.  If you ever get the chance I would highly recommend riding through Cape Nelson as well as Cape Bridgewater, where I can guarantee that you will be blown away by the scenery.

Here is a link to my Strava Activity here:

https://www.strava.com/activities/38639912