March 27, 2001 - The Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia
I was getting a bit depressed with the gloomy weather and being stuck in Melbourne while waiting for a ride, so it was great news when Jens, a Dutch guy offered me a ride to go explore the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians.
We finally started our trip! Jens picked me up at my hostel at quarter to 9 and we were off on our trip. After snaking through Melbourne and the traffic in the suburbs, we arrived in Geelong for a refueling. I've never seen a car like it before but apparently, it's common for cars in Australia to have both a gasoline tank and a natural gas tank. We filled up both tanks and were off to our adventure.
Jens seemed like an alright chap with a sense of humor. He said, no, he doesn't wear clogs and there are no windmills and tulips in his garden in Holland. The weather was on the overcast side but it didn't rain at that time. We stopped by Bell's Beach(?) where they filmed part of the movie Point Break, and then drove along the coast toward the west. There was some spectacular scenery to be seen on the way there.
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| Lighthouse along The Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia |
The day was mostly cloudy with drizzles here and there. I think they shouldn't named it "The Gray Ocean Road". It's a magnificent drive though, best taken on a warm sunny day in a convertible. We stopped by several turn offs after that - all to our whim, which is something that cannot be done when you're stuck on a tour bus. It was great. We saw lighthouse in the distant that stood solemnly over magnificent cliffs, numerous bays and inlets. The weather started to take turn for the worse and it started to drizzle and shower on us on and off.
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| Wild Koala on a tree (in a forest off the Great Ocean Road), Australia |
We got information from a ranger at a waterfall about where to spot wild koalas, and after driving to the forest and looking around slowly for a while, we didn't see anything. We almost gave up but then we saw one sitting on a branch right over the road. We were pretty excited to see that and I spotted another one on the way down that we had missed earlier. We went on to the 12 apostles after that but missed the turn off. We were going to turn back but decided to come back on a nicer day since it was showering lightly by this time.
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| Jens on The Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia |
Also along the Great Ocean Road were some magnificent sandstone bluffs and cliffs with roaring waves below. The beautiful and interesting towers are a result of millions of years of wear and tear by the ocean and the wind. There was also a blowhole there but it didn't blow.
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| Seascape along The Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia |
We stopped by a small town, late in the evening for a quick bite of dinner. The woman who served us was very friendly. We found out she never saw the Great Ocean Road before, which was only about an hour drive south of her. It's amazing how some people can stay in one location and never see one of the biggest attractions in this state.
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| Seascape along The Great Ocean Road - Victoria, Australia |
We finally go to the Grampians at 9 in the evening, but not before dodging a kangaroo, a wallaby, a cat and several mice on the way. We didn't have a "Roo Bar" with us so we had to be careful. A "Roo Bar" is a large bar that you can install on the front of your car to smash kangaroos away so they don't damage your car.
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