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Published: November 14th 2007
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Last week's blog was way too long, so I'll try to keep this one short....
Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road: The Final Days of Mid-semester Break
When I left Hervey Bay and my new found friends, I trekked 5 hours south to Brisbane and flew another 3 hours to Melbourne. Still on my own, I figured out a hostel as quickly as possible (at 11pm on a Saturday night, that's not very easy) and ended up in the Melbourne Central Business District. They were very welcoming.
With a day to kill in Melbourne, I worked on a 10-page research paper, saw parts of Melbourne (although I was shy with my camera), and eventually met Markus and Ari at the Crown Casino. While I was looking for them I threw a dollar in a slot machine and won $21. Oops.
Markus, a very down-to-earth 27 year-old Graduate in Physics, and his girlfriend Ari, a
25 year-old Kindergarten teacher, were great sights for sore eyes. Traveling alone, not having spoken a word to anyone (apart from the necessary operators) for a substantial amount of time, I was beginning to coil up inside my mind and get bored
of being alone. That all changed when we grabbed dinner, had a few Becks (German beer, of course) and mapped out our road trip.
The very next afternoon we loaded our packs in the back of our tiny rental Mitsubishi and headed to Torquay, home of Belles Beach, one of the most famous surf-beaches in the world! Our hostel was a bit of a dump, though it was right next to the outlet malls - something the German couple had been dying to explore since they arrived in Australia - so we called it an early night and got an early start the next day.
When we got up it was overcast and cold, but nothing stopped the surfers on Belles Beach from getting into their full-body wetsuits and ‘having a go.’
Outlet mall shopping was stressful. So many sales, so little time. Really though, I ended up walking away satisfied knowing I hadn’t bought anything stamped ‘Billabong’ or ‘Rip Curl’, and once we hit the road for Lorne, the beauty of the Great Ocean road unfolded before our eyes….
Imagine a coastline that stretches for hundreds of miles with a road that nearly spills
into the South Pacific around every turn. The direction you face when you look out across the sea is South, toward Antarctica, and lying below the surface are hundreds of shipwrecks predating the founding of the country. Turning away from the ocean, the hills crawl with cute, cuddly, and WILD Koalas! We took a dirt road into the country and spotted a few dozen of the furry little fellas just sleeping and hanging out in the trees. Once you get over the initial shock of seeing them you realize that all they ever do is sleep… Still, it was too funny listening to Ari snorting like a pig as loud as she possibly could to wake them up!
Each town we passed through had its own quirk. Torquay had Outlet Malls and Belles Beach; Lorne had Erskine falls and Teddy’s Point (the most photographed vantage point for the Great Ocean Road); and Apollo Bay had incredible fish ‘n chips, oh and incredible views.
Driving with the Germans was the most soothing part of my entire journey. They weren’t into partying and drinking, but were more curious to explore the countryside and really take it all in. We
woke up every morning around 7:30am, ate a hearty breakfast, and mapped out a new adventure.
The language barrier was no problem (considering the education of the couple), and I even had some of the most intelligible and interesting conversations with Markus that I’ve ever had. I had only known the couple for the week that we had spent living in tents in various National Parks just south of Byron Bay, and yet I was drawn in by a magnificent bond that I had never felt before with two complete strangers.
Since they were actually backpacking and not studying like me, I had to say farewell from Apollo Bay only 4 days into the drive and get back to Sydney for Katie Higgins’ 21st birthday. Here’s how I did that. First I took a 3 hour bus to Geelong (winners of the NRL), then jumped on a 1 hour long train (got yelled at by the conductor for not buying a ticket, even though I explained to him that I just barely made the train), took a bus from the train station to the airport (30 min.), then a plane from Melbourne to Sydney (approx. 2 hours), and
finally, a train and a bus back to school (1.5 hours). What a day. To top it off, I only had about an hour to shower, change, and make it to the city for the 21st!! Another bus into the city, a couple of drinks and introductions, and I could start to feel my legs giving out. Nevertheless, I made it home, crawled dutifully into bed, and dreamt about the Great Ocean Road.
The next night I met up with Alison and went to the Sydney Opera House to catch a 7pm showing of “Tales of Hoffman.” We grabbed dinner at a seafood restaurant in Circular Quay (which is adjacent to the Opera House) and ordered ‘oyster-shooters.’ Never having these before in my life (and probably ever again), I had no idea what they were. A mango-tasting alcoholic drink with a whole oyster soaking up in a shot glass was what we ordered. Hmmmm. I still kick myself for forgetting my camera, but you can only imagine how “interesting” those tasted. Nevertheless, the Opera was incredible. I never imagined I would like something like that, but listening to the size of the voices coming from those singers was truly
unforgettable.
When we left that night I remember looking out across the water at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and sighing a bit remorsefully that my break had come to its official end. Still, with the experiences I had just had, from surfing and roughing it; 4x4ing on Fraser Island; driving down the most gorgeous road I’ve ever been on with two extraordinary people; celebrating a good friend’s 21st; to drinking oyster-shooters and seeing a show at the Sydney Opera House….these were possibly the 3 most adventurous weeks of my life, and there was NOTHING sad about that!!!
As always, there's more to come!!
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Sam, duh
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hi coin! can you bring me that koala? just have peg smuggle it under her shirt, she will still look really skinny, and it probably won't bite that much. thanks!