The Great Ocean Road

So this took me a few days to get around to do it.. but, here goes!

Today, Sunday the 21st, Steven and I took a trip down the Great Ocean Road. It was absolutely incredible. It was an early Sunday for us, but we woke up at 7 and were waiting out front of UniLodge by 730 for our tour guide Bryan to pick us up. We went with the tour company A Tour With a Difference- run by a family- Grace and her husband, Bryan, and her son, who I think is also named Bryan. Anyway, we got picked up, and were on the tour with 2 people from Asia, 2 lesbians from Sydney who were totally awesome, a woman from California who was here on business who was really sweet, 2 women from Queensland, and a couple from Las Vegas, who were a bit irritating and way too American for me.

Steven and I at the entrance to the Great Ocean Road

The sun hadn't risen yet as we drove through the city and we saw some hot air balloons in the morning sky! It reminded me of when I went hot air ballooning in Arizona when I was younger, and having to wake up around 330am or 4m to go ballooning. It made me want to go again, in Australia. It took a little over an hour to get to our first spot, where we had breakfast. Breakfast for the day was crackers with Vegemite, and Lamingtons, which are like a spongy chocolate cake with coconut rolled on the outside. I also had some tea, since I was getting sick, and my throat was very scratchy and my voice was going. I stuffed my face with Lamingtons.. having 3 or 4. And a few crackers with some vegemite on it. I have to say, that stuff is growing on me.. it is great in small quantities... just not spoonfuls (which I actually ate once in New Zealand to prove a point- that Americans can handle it...)

Biscuits and Vegemite & Lamingtons for Breaky! Steven is enjoying his tea!

It was still quite chilly, but the sun was starting to get higher in the sky, and it felt nice with the cool breeze. Steven and I had a look around the gorgeous beach, ate our food, and then hopped in the van. After breakfast, we drove down the road to Bell’s Beach. Just as we got to Bell's beach Bryan pointed a field out to us that has kangaroos in it, a lot. Unfortunately there were none that day! Bell’s beach is where a famous surfing competition is held each year over Easter, so some parts were restricted and we only stayed for about 15 minutes. Enough time to get some nice photos.

Sun still Rising over the Beach at Breakfast

After these 2 short stops, we finally set out for the Great Ocean Road. We stopped at a lighthouse, which was picture perfect, with a little bit of red at the top. It reminded me of Rhode Island, I guess lighthouses do. As we drove more, Bryan handed out some lollies. They were SO delicious and were very soothing on my scratchy throat… We had many stops along the road throughout the morning, and Steven and I hopped in, but it was so nice to be able to see SO many things along the way.

Steven at the Lighthouse

After we saw some wild koalas in the trees, we ended up in a cute little beach town. We had a brief rain shower but it quickly cleared up, thank goodness. Steven and I opted not to do the lunch they provided, per suggestion by Katie, and we were happy we brought our own food. I had some left over pasta, and that wasn't enough so I got a delicious zucchini and cheese soup. It was a huge bowl and was served with some delicious herb bread. Steven got some fish and chips and we sat outside. We had a few minutes left, so we went down to the beach and got a beautiful view down the coastline and even could see the lighthouse we had visited earlier!

Wild Koala sleeping in the trees

After lunch, we drove some more and ended up in a temperate rainforest. At this point, Bryan stayed back in the car, and his wife Grace, or Mama Grace as Katie calls her, gave us a tour through the rainforest. This rainforest gets the most rain in all of Victoria. I ran into Tanya Sabharwal and Amanda McCarthy, who were visiting Nikita in Australia- and I had hung out with them in Melbourne Friday and Saturday. We had a feeling we would meet up somewhere along the way because we knew we were doing different tours of the Great Ocean Road.

Me, Tanya, and Amanda randomly meeting in the rainforest!

We kept on driving, and we ended at some of the best well known spots along the Great Ocean Road known as the Gibson steps, the 12 apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, and London Bridge. Steven and I enjoyed the Gibson steps the most. We walked down several steps and got to this huge secluded beach with enormous cliffs in the backdrop. We ran along the sand, and put our feet in the water. It was surprisingly warm, even the the air was cold it was so refreshing. We played around like little kids for a while, running away from the waves. We both agreed we could have spent the whole day there.

The best place along the Great Ocean Road

Next we went to the Twelve Apostles. All of these are huge limestone cliff formations, both on shore and out in the middle of the water, that have been shaped by the waves over the years. The formations were unbelievable. There aren't Twelve Apostles, like the name suggests. In fact, throughout the years, several have disintegrated into the ocean. Ran into Tanya and Amanda again! Stalkers, HAHA, just kidding!

Steven and I at the Twelve Apostles

Only a few minutes down the road was the Loch Ard Gorge, which was my second favorite stop on the trip. It was like a paradise, surrounded by cliffs. Steven and I posed for a photo, and we didn't realize how close we were to the water and we ended up getting soaked up to our knees- Steven more- so than I. It was breathtaking. We also saw an awesome rock formation known as the Razorback, and Steven and I saw a super huge Ant on the ground. I also saw a man that looked like my grandpa.

Me at Loch Ard

Our last stop of the day was the London Bridge. According to Katie Souza's blog: "The London bridge used to be a two-span bridge, but the section that connected it to land actually collapsed in 1990. Crazy story: there was a young couple on it when it started collapsing, and they had just enough time to run to the other side, where they were stuck and had to wait for a helicopter to rescue them! I think it would be crazy to see something like that crumbling down. Luckily the couple was not hurt at all but people aren’t allowed to explore any of the formations anymore, they have lots of paths leading to safe viewing areas". Thanks Katie! I am too lazy sometimes.

What remains of London Bridge

We stopped for dinner in another beach town where Steven and I had yummy salami, sun-dried tomato, olive, and pesto, paninis. Then we all hopped in the van and had our two and a half hour drive home. We arrived a little after 9, and we were the first drop off. I fell asleep for about 30 minutes in the car on the way home, listening to Muse, I was exhausted. Steven and I shared my ipod headphones, and it was really nice. It was so much fun being able to share this amazing experience with him. Unfortunately, I was starting not to feel good. My adrenaline that had been pushing me through the day had worn out. I was so lucky that my sickness held off- because I felt amazing the entire day, but when I got home, I had a fever, and was sick all day the next day.

The Great Ocean Road was a truly amazing experience, once which I will take with me wherever I go. Such beauty cannot be mimicked anywhere. I feel truly lucky to have been able to see everything I saw today.

Along the Great Ocean Road, it truly is Paradise...