I've got a nice blue (the colour is important) hire car at $28 a day for the next 9 days. Wow, am i excited. It's been over a year since I've driven a car...but I'm not worried. Complete freedom, a huge country to lose myself in, places to discover, a car stereo and chocolate left-over from my Cadbury tour...it doesn't get much better than this (a girl would help i guess). It's on the eve of the 'historic' Geelong Aussie football massacre over Port Adelaide that i leave (if you were here, you'd know how massive it is). I'm glad I'm leaving, i hate the whole football cheering, stand around a TV screen thing. I leave the even madder than usual Melbourne for the B100...the Great Ocean Road.
Amazing coastal scenery, strange awe inspiring, limestone caves and rock formations, natural parks, koala bears out of their tiny brains on toxic leaves, kangaroos and their young, emus, cockatoos, cute German girls, lots of red wine, wind, rain, and the open road. A lot has happened in the 3 days it has taken me to drive this route.
Day 1
Leave Melbourne, get confused by the 'turn right from the left-hand lane rule'. Arrive Geelong, have nice lunch, appreciate the new esplanade, drive to Torquay, appreciate the cool surf town and the amazing waves and beaches. Watch the surfers for a while, desire to be a cool surf dude. Great scenery, great music, loving life, arrive Lorne to stay for the night. Amazing hostel, surrounded by parrots, cockatoo's, gum trees and a river. Meet hippy Canadian, and cute German student girls. Sleep badly, hippy Canadian sleeps very loud, cute German girls applaud him several times very loudly - "well done, nice snore". He sleeps, i don't.
Day 2
Leave lovely Lorne and the 'no worries dude' surfer manager, by checking out at the same time i check in. Go to some guys lookout, go wrong way, go to waterfalls, get wet. Oooh, aaah, sweet - see lots of great views. Arrive Apollo bay. Rain, rain, wind, wind - have hot soup and hot drink, yum, warmth. Arrive Otway NP, have to stop as koala blocks road. Honking the horn repeatedly and revving engine doesn't make it move. Feeling ignored, go to 'Round The Twist' lighthouse - can't see lighthouse, it's too foggy. Go down Gibsons steps - hand carved into the cliff face, but now all concrete...hmmm. See 12 Apostles, wow, awesome, windy, cold, rainy, good though. See Loch and Gorge, interesting tales of shipwreck, cool views, windy, cold, rainy. Stop, enough, need hostel.
Arrive Port Campbell, hoorah, little town, cute hostel, soon full with tour group, lots of noise, lots of drink, disrupted sleep...bugger.
Day 3
Late start, tired, last to check-out, more views: The Grotto, London Bridge (has fallen down), The Arch, Bay of Islands...camera batteries dead, too many pictures, memory card full too...bugger. Long drive, finally arrive Warranbool, go whale watching, see no whales :( Skip seeing town, weather too bad, arrive tower Hill, weather now good. 2 walks, lots of animals, sweaty tired, hot, happy. Off to Port Fairy, smile at name, decide to check into hostel and drive onto Portland. Not impressed, have cake and coffee, feel much better, feel fat, arrive tower hill again, run around walking track, sugar rush, feel good, great music, great scenery, lots more animals - emus, koalas, birds and kangaroos with young. Back to Port Fairy, have food and wine...
So ends the Great Ocean Road, a tumultuous time...lets do it again!
