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Published: February 14th 2009
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Base night club
Ross's bday!
(Me, Natalie, Louise, Ross) So, yesterday I decided that I had worked quite hard for four whole days, and deserved the day off to see the Great Ocean Road. Sigh, I love international elective rotations... =)
And what a trip it was! Louise, Natalie and I left our home at 6:30 am to start our journey (which was perhaps a bit easier said than done, since we stayed out until 2:00am the night before at a hostel/club called Base to celebrate Ross's birthday... free champagne for ladies or any man who DRESSED like a lady... yes, enough said). In any case, we were picked up in front of Flinder's Street Station at 7:00am by our tour guide, Chris, in a 10 seater van with "Wild Wombat Escapes" painted on the side. The van was full with a great group and we set out.
We saw EVERYTHING that day, and didn't return until around 8:00pm that night! Our first stop was the world famous Bells Beach, which was just as breathtaking as promised. The sand was so fine it was like silk. We then hit up the Split Point Light House (which I guess was featured in Around the Twist... some British sitcom or
movie... let's just say Natalie was very excited) and we saw a lot of kangaroo and wallabies along the way. Then on our way to the Great Otway National Park, we saw a koala! Those suckers are just the cutest things. They don't move much, but they sure are fun to look at. Rumor is that they poop all over you if you try to hold them, so needless to say I didn't risk it. The National Park holds a rain forest, which we walked through before lunch. It was not as tropical as the rainforest in Costa Rica, but had many eucalyptus trees and some very, very big trees akin to the Redwoods in California.
After lunch, we explored the 12 Apostles which is one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen. The "apostles" were initially rock bridge formations, but due to erosion and the waves, the inner caves continued to grow until finally the bridges collapsed leaving behind two large pillars in the sea. No one knows how many towers there were to begin with, and there is debate as to how many pillars are counted as apostles now, though it seems like 16-18
is a reasonable figure. Where they got 12 Apostles, I'm not quite sure, but they used to be called "the sow and her piglets" and I guess for tourist reasons, they picked a catchier name.
After, we went to the Lord Arc Gorge which is a famous shipwreck site in which only 2 passengers survived. We swam in the frigid water between two giant rock cliffs and explored the caves. We then saw the London Bridge and headed back to Melbourne, listening to Johnny Cash and aboriginal music with digeridoos on the way home.
It was a big day, and we came back EXHAUSTED but extremely happy. Chris says I get to go on another tour for free, so I'll make sure to keep you posted on that!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Koala
Just discovered your blogs. Enjoy reading from the beginning. Travel is so wonderful.