Blogs from Torquay, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Früh morgens ging es mit einem kleinen Bus aus Melbourne heraus in Richtung der Great Ocean Road. Die 250 Kilometer lange Küstenstraße führt entlang an endlosen Stränden, faszinierenden Felsformationen, steilen Klippen, Eukalyptus-Regenwäldern, blauen Buchten sowie den besten Surfspots Australiens. Unser Tourguide führte uns an die spektakulärsten Aussichtspunkte der berühmtesten Straße Australiens. Zunächst bewunderten wir die wunderschönen Sandstrände mit meterhohen Wellen, die bereits vielfach als Filmkulisse dienten. Der nächste Abschnitt der Great Ocean Road führte uns in die Subtropischen Regenwälder mit über 200 Jahre alten „Mammut-Bäumen“, die bis zu 150 Meter hoch in den Himmel ragen! Durch die Nebelschwaden mit spärlich einfallenden Sonnenlicht und dicht bewachsenen Farnen wirkte der Regenwald auf uns sehr mystisch und märchenhaft. Durch die hohe Eukalyptus Vielfalt hatt... read more

There Are Easier Ways to See the Sights Prior to November 2008, I had never ridden a bike, but one day I walked into a bike store and asked them to point me in the direction of an entry level bicycle. I was determined that 2009 would be the Year of Fitness (until a couple of weeks ago turned it into Year of Travel - how things change!). So I spent the holidays training hard, with one event being the goal. I decided that my six month goal would be to complete the Great Ocean Road Otway Classic Ride 2009, a 145km bike ride from Torquay, down to Lorne and then back up the Great Ocean Road. Please keep in mind that i had not ridden 14km let alone 145km! The Great Ocean Road Otway Classic ... read more

So having spent a week with my cousins in Sydney (I'll write about Sydney in another blog), I decided I would take a flight to Melbourne - frequently voted the 2nd best city in the world to live from a quality of life perspective and it's easy to see why when it has churned out some of life's greats such as Mrs. Mangel, Harold Bishop and Helen Daniels. Don't pretend you don't know what/who I'm talking about. I know most of you would also have been glued to the television at 5:35 each evening to find out the latest gossip from Neighbour's Ramsey Street. Wanting to save the best till last however, I decided first to pick up the rental car and head south-west via Geelong and hit the Great Ocean Road. Hailed as one of ... read more

G'day mate, We made a stop off in Warnambool after Robe so Rob could recover from driving a bit before hitting the great ocean road. It would take all day to drive because all the stop offs to look at the coast. Unfortunately, the one day we wanted good weather it was overcast, rainy and very windy, so stopping at the great rock formations that the GOR is famous for was a bit more challenging and not as fun in the rain and wind! They were quite impressive though. The 12 apostles (now 6) were the best sight. It took a while to get through the first bit, as you are stopping every two minutes by the brown markers to look at something. We then drove for what seemed like ages in land which we a ... read more

With luggage stowed in the back of the wagon I was on the road early for the 8 hour haul down to Melbourne. Gene had provided directions that would have seen me on the highway back to Sydney rather than deliver me safely to his place in South Melbourne. Was it coincidence then that he phoned me on the road to explain that he had left Melbourne, not for Sydney but to spend the weekend in Torquay with a couple of friends. Sam entered the conversation and gave me some simple instructions to find Geelong where they would meet me, an hour further on. When I reached Geelong I was told to ask for some hotel, whose name I couldn’t remember. This would be our rendezvous point. So, here I was in Geelong some nine hours ... read more