The Twelve Apostles Rocks are a disappearing landmark in Australia. The Twelve Apostles Australia - the most famous rocks of the continent

The Twelve Apostles limestone rock group is one of Australia's most recognizable natural landmarks. These cliffs are located on the coast of Port Campbell National Park, 225 km southwest of. Today, the "Twelve Apostles" are a symbol of the Great Ocean Road, the length of which is more than 240 km. Every year, tens of thousands of tourists come to Australia to enjoy the picturesque landscapes of this area. For the convenience of travelers local authorities built on the route a modern tourist centre.

For a long time, the attraction was called "Pig and Pigs", which was changed to the current one in order to attract more tourists. It happened in the middle of the last century. The Australian authorities renamed the rocks "The Twelve Apostles" despite the fact that at that time there were only nine rocks in the group.

According to scientists, these rocks are at least twenty million years old and once they were part of the coastal monolith. Over time due to exposure natural phenomena Separate parts of the coast broke off, gradually turning into solitary boulders. Only eight such blocks managed to survive to this day. Eight years ago there were nine rocks, but one of them could not withstand the erosion and collapsed.

Unfortunately, sooner or later, such a fate will befall the rest of the rocks, as they are not able to withstand the negative impact. natural conditions. Every year, the rocks lose about twenty millimeters of their rock.

Tourists have the opportunity to look at the rocks from a bird's eye view. To do this, they only need to buy a ticket for a helicopter tour. Those who prefer to see the sights from the ground can walk along special paths that were built relatively recently. The rocks are fenced with special fences so that tourists do not climb them. Those who jump over the fence will have to pay a rather large fine.

Rocks of the Twelve Apostles on the map

Where is the Twelve Apostles Rocks on the map of Australia, how to get

The Twelve Apostles Rocks is a group of limestone rocks in the ocean near the coast in national park Port Campbell, located on the so-called Great Ocean Road in the Australian state of Victoria. Their appearance and a short distance from each other made this place a popular tourist attraction. The height of some rocks is about 45 meters.

At first the place was called Sow and Piglets ("Pig and Piglets"), which in the 20th century was changed to Te-Tuelv-Aposls ("The Twelve Apostles"), despite the fact that there were only 9 rocks in the group. Sow (“pig”) was an island, and Piglets (“pigs”) were detached rocks. Currently, there are 8 rocks left, since one of them collapsed in 2005, unable to withstand the effects of erosion.

Located between the cities of Port Campbell and Princeton on the Great Ocean Road. The Twelve Apostles is one of the main attractions in Victoria and one of the most visited in Australia. In the early 2000s, a tourist center was built along this route. Flying over the rock group by helicopter is also popular among tourists.

In 1964, the cliffs were included in the Port Campbell National Park, created to protect the unique limestone formations. The modern territory of the reserve covers 17.5 km².

Rocks Twelve Apostles (The Twelve Apostles)

The highest fragment of the composition of several separate rocks reaches 45 m in height. The height of the coastal cliffs is about 70 m, so it opens from here beautiful view for the entire composition.

IN different time days the same landscape looks completely different. The rocks seem to change color, but in the rays of sunset they are generally a bewitching sight. Waves crashing against the rocks constantly splash them with sprays that shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow.

Landmark of unique natural beauty

The rocks are one of the main attractions of the Great Ocean Road. Every year the 12 Apostles are visited by more than 2 million tourists, many of whom are professional photographers. And this is no coincidence. You can watch for hours how amazingly and uniquely the rocks change their color depending on the lighting. The most spectacular views open at dawn and sunset, when the sun's rays paint the coast and cliffs with bright colors, and then everything plunges into twilight. And in calm sunny days become magnificent monuments of sand color.

The age of the rocks is about 20 million years. The "Apostles" were formed by erosion: the wind and waves gradually washed away the soft limestone, forming caves in the cliffs, which then turned into arches, and those, in turn, collapsed, leaving behind rocks up to 45 meters high. Scientists believe that the process of erosion will continue, and in the future there will be several more "apostles".

From the rocky cliff to the sandy shore, you can go down the Gibson Steps, where next to the giant rocks, every traveler will feel small.

There are several interesting stories connected with the Twelve Apostles.

Firstly, visiting this place, you will count only 8 rocks. No, you haven't missed anything. Initially, there were only 9 rocks in the group, one of which collapsed in 2005. Then why the "Twelve Apostles"?

Initially, the group of rocks was called "Pig and Pigs". In the 1950s, the name was changed to "The Twelve Apostles", with a more pleasant association, in order to attract more tourists.

Helicopter flight tour of the rock group is especially popular. From a bird's eye view, you can enjoy stunning views not only of the cliffs, but also of the Great Ocean Road with its rainforests, gorges and sandy beaches.

This is interesting! Despite their beauty, the rocks of the Twelve Apostles also have a bad reputation. More than 700 ships sank here, and the exact number of dead could not be calculated.

On a note!

A visit to the Twelve Apostles should be combined with other attractions in Port Campbell Park. These include: "London Arch", Gibson Steps, Loch Ard Ridge and sinkhole Te Grotto.

This time we will again go to an amazing and interesting trip along the coast of Australia. Let's enjoy the beauty again seascapes and breathe in the fresh sea air. More specifically, we will visit the 12 Apostles Rocks in Campbell National Park, which will leave an unforgettable experience!

Where are the rocks of the Twelve Apostles

What is so interesting about Campbell National Park? He became famous thanks to the Twelve Apostles. I wonder what it is and why? Then read on carefully.

Close to Melbourne in Australia and our amazing national park. Port Campbell is famous for its unusual rocks right on the coast indian ocean who are called the Twelve Apostles.

And the road to the 12 apostles runs along the great ocean road.

The history of rock formation in Campbell National Park in Australia

Amazingly shaped rocks are scattered all over the coast of the Indian Ocean. And arches, and grottoes, and pillars you can see here.

Of course, this unique place has its own history. After all, such a miracle could not appear "for no reason at all." About 2 thousand years ago, the water level dropped, and majestic rocks"came to the surface."

It is known that the local climate is very interesting: wind, rain, and sometimes hurricanes happen in Australia. Therefore, periodically a “piece” broke off from the rocks and fell into the ocean.

Pigs and piglets

Do you know that the name of the 12 posts was not given immediately?

Initially, they bore the name "Pig and piglets." Interesting, isn't it?

And the name of the 12 apostles was given in order to attract the attention of tourists from all over the world. Although there are not 12 rocks, but only 9.

And on this moment there are already 8 of them. Since in 2005 one of them collapsed.

What the twelve apostles look like now

Today it is one of the most popular and favorite places for recreation not only among tourists, but also among local residents.

But the coast of the park is fraught with something unusual, something mysterious. This place does not look like Navagio Bay, Phuket or Bali, or even the cliffs of Dover. It's special. Something weird and magical.

By the way, it is interesting to visit this park not only for people, but also for some species of birds that have found their home here.

Perhaps this is the real pearl not only of Australia, but of the world as a whole.

Where are the 12 apostles located on the map

And from watching this video, even a cool breeze is caught:

The Australian continent never ceases to amaze with its natural attractions. Among them, one can single out a group of limestone rocks, which is called the 12 Apostles.

Location

The rocks of the twelve apostles are on southeast coast Australia, in the state of Victoria. Since 1964 they have been part of

Port Campbell National Park. The 12 Apostles are located on the Great Ocean Road, a tourist attraction that runs 243 kilometers along the coast.

Name

Initially, the complex of rocks was called Sow and Piglets, which is translated from in English means pig and piglets. But the local authorities decided that such a name would not be attractive to tourists and renamed the complex "12 apostles". Despite this name, initially there were 9 rocks in the complex, but in 2005 one of the bottoms fell apart right in front of tourists, and now eight "apostles" remain.

Story

The rocks of the 12 apostles were formed about 20 million years ago. This place was originally continuous coast. Over time, the erosion of wind and water turned the coast into separate rocks. Salty water has a detrimental effect on limestone rocks, so they gradually decrease. Because of this, one of the rocks, which was written earlier, collapsed.

Information for tourists

Every year people come to see this attraction. a large number of tourists . The closest towns to the rocks are Princeton and Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road, where tourists can book excursions to the rock complex. On the coast there are several viewing platforms, allowing you to capture the rocks from different angles. In addition to observing the 12 apostles from the shore, flying over the rocks in a helicopter and viewing from the water on yachts are very popular among tourists.

Each "apostle" is distinguished by its size and shape. The height of the high cliff is 45 meters.

It is best to come to the rocks of the 12 apostles closer to sunset. At this time the sun shines stone giants orange and red, making them the most beautiful to photograph.

January 15th, 2013 , 12:41 pm

For a whole week, I walked in circles around hundreds of gigabytes of photos brought from Australia, and was at a loss what to show first. The answer suggested itself - something most liked =). It was December 22, by that time we had managed to stay 2 days in Melbourne and were looking forward to a trip out of town to see real, non-urban, Australian beauties. Great ocean road has a length of 243 kilometers and lies on the southeast coast of Australia, southwest of Melbourne.

First, at the exit from Melbourne, it looks like this:

In the original plan, we thought to stop in all the small towns on the way to the Apostles, which we thought we would reach by sunset. The route was: Geelong - Torquay - Lorne - Apollo Bay - Great Otway national park- Twelve Apostles.

If you leave early in the morning, you can have time to go everywhere, because all these places are small. We received our car at Europcar at 4 pm (instead of 12 am - be sure to attach to Russian law notarized translation!), so our morning route did not take place, and we immediately headed to its main point - 12 Apostles, stopping along the way in arbitrary beautiful lookouts, which are specially marked with signs.

We met the sunset on the road, before reaching the Apostles:

We decided to stay at the hotel of the same name, and go to the Apostles in the morning at dawn. In general, I am not at all a fan of early rises, and at 5 in the morning I got up at last time I don’t even remember when, and whether it was in principle =). But as we drove up to the motel, the road began to pass very close to the rocks and the roadside, and I saw how huge blue-violet rocks remained behind us to the left, now and then covered with giant ocean waves. We drove fast, and I did not have time to take a photo, but it looked about the same as in my other pre-dawn photo:

It was the first time in my life when I encountered such a completely wild, unbridled nature and decided that I should definitely go for a walk at dawn, because how could I miss it! I was completely consumed by this strange excitement before something grandiose and even terrible. All night I tossed and turned in bed, thinking: “Here I am lying to myself, and THERE the Element is raging.” My husband thought I was going crazy. Quite possibly, I was not far from it =).

Getting up in the morning was even easier than I thought =). Here, get acquainted, these are the very 12 Apostles. These are rocks that, over time, “fell off” from the coast, because they were washed away by the ocean. Initially, there were 9 Apostles, but one collapsed under the pressure of the waves in 2005. In my photographs, this is a flat stone ridge in the center.

As you can see in the photos, the descent to the Apostles takes place through special wooden bridges - just leaving the car and going out into the open field will not work comfortably, because tall, tough grass grows there, in which there are snakes and a bunch of other not very attractive animals =). If you are driving here on your own, then drive Port Campbell National Park into the navigator, because the 12 Apostles are scattered along the coast, and there is a risk of wandering for a long time looking for the right entrance and parking.

This photo clearly shows that I have never been a lark =).

Slowly it starts to light up.

To my great surprise, we were not the only ones who had the idea to get up so early:

We did not find how to go down to the beach, although we read about Gibson Steps. One of the few options is by helicopter. Helicopter rides are also sold, by the way - they cost about 120 AUD for ten minutes (per person). In general, a helicopter is a very common way of sightseeing in Australia =). Average Height rocks - 45 meters. On average, these rocks are eroded by 2 cm per year.

About 5 minutes by car from the Apostles is Loch Ard Gorge (I think I wrote about strange Australian names before =)). This gorge is named after the merchant ship Loch Ard, which was returning from England to Melbourne and was wrecked here in 1878. During the shipwreck, only two teenagers survived - To and Eva, so two local rocks named after them. Once they were connected by a bridge, but it collapsed from the waves in 1990.

When you drive up to the gorge, at first it seems that you won’t see anything special there, but when you start walking deeper and deeper, stunning views open up. So instead of 10-15 minutes we spent an hour there for sure =).

It turned out that there is an exit to the beach:

The water here, as in all of Victoria, is very cold.

What a scale of nature! What I like about rural Australia is the lack of crowds in tourist places. The population here is only 23 million, so the density is very low, and there are relatively few tourists. Therefore, you can come here so calmly and wander along the beach almost alone.