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Published: August 6th 2007
The B100 (aka The Great Ocean Road)
does exactly what it says on the tinThe B100 from Geelong to Warrnambool ......
.....Is better known as the 'Great Ocean Road' (probably because it has a slightly better ring to it) and like most constructed sights in Australia has some connection to British convicts and slave labour.
This was one of the trips we had little or no knowledge of before hitting Australia's East Coast, but continual recommendations and its close proximity to Melbourne made it a 'must see' sight before our return to New South Wales, Sydney and our onward flight to New Zealand.
Tania and Chris' hospitality continued as they agreed to travel with us and spend Friday and Saturday night in a beach house 2 hours west of Melbourne in a small town called Moggs Creek (I say town, although even village would paint too large a picture of such a small place) owned by an activist friend of Tania's Mum, with views of the ocean and posters reminding us that schools should receive more funding, leaving armies to hold fetes to raise cash for missiles (here, here) and others promoting 'Change not Charity' and 'African Womens Day 1984'.
After arriving at 9.30pm we drank until 11 and then hit
Sunset at the 12 apostles
Picture postcard perfect views along the great ocean road (I only count 4 though) the
Sunset at the 12 apostles
Picture postcard perfect views along the great ocean road (I only count 4 though)sack with the sound of the ocean crashing nearby. After breakfast on Saturday we drove further along the Ocean Road to Lorne, a trendy yet laid back town where we window shopped and had lunch before heading back towards Moggs Creek and visiting Split Point lighthouse, which we later discovered (to much excitement) was the setting for the kids TV show 'Round the Twist'.
The remainder of the day consisted of playing frisbee, walking along a beautiful yet windswept beach, seeing our first seal (although dead and washed up) eating a ridiculous amount of fresh fish and chips, drinking Tasmanian beer and playing games. After proving our English dominance at 'Taboo' we moved onto a drunken card game called something like 'King of the sh@t-faced a-hole' where I proved to be King of the Beach house for 4 consecutive games before retiring a little worse for wear at 2am to a bed with a heated matress which made me awaken at 4am thinking I had wet myself (it was the warm sensation around my midrift).
We had arranged to
Me and my shadow
one of the many view points along the breath taking great ocean road collect a hire car on the Sunday to allow Tania and Chris to return to Melbourne and us to
Me and my shadow
one of the many view points along the breath taking great ocean roadmove further along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay and the 12 Apostles - the 'must see' limestone formations about 150km from Moggs Creek.
The drive is amazing, making the B100 one of the most famous roads in Australia - as it hugs the dramatic and rugged coastline the Southern Ocean comes so close it often laps against the tarmac.
Winky-pops and Wallabies
Our first stop was Bells Beach - renowned for its inclusion in the film 'Point Break' and one of the many hardcore surf beaches where the cool waters and dangerous conditions attract only the true adventurous surf dudes, looking for waves rather than women.
As we arrived at Bells, we both turn into giggling school children as we read a sign telling all visitors to park only in the 'winky pops' which we believe has something to do with a section of the carpark.
Our Automatic Toyota Corolla (christened Blue Steel) delivered us to Apollo Bay some
High above Appollo bay
worth the 2 hour hike......just !!! 2 hours later after one of the most spectacular coastal drives on planet earth, and after realising our hostels check in was a ridiculous 4pm we decide to continue onwards for another 100km to the 12 Apostles
High above Appollo bay
worth the 2 hour hike......just !!!and take advantage of the brilliant blue skies and what we hoped would be a spectacular sunset.
We weren't disappointed - the 12 Apostles are breathtaking, especially when viewed from the clifftop walkway with the enormous, undisturbed sun setting in the background - yet another of Australia's awe inspiring natural wonders - despite the crowds and colder weather.
The second half of our hour long drive back to Apollo Bay was spoilt when the light vanished and a child sized Swamp Wallaby decided to run out in front of our hire car, firstly hitting the bumper and then crunching under both tyres.
Checking the damage in daylight the following morning I found a cracked bumper, although my anger at turning down the hire companies reduced excess option only disappeared as I remembered the word Winky Pops (try thinking of this word when something p$sses you off, it works for me!).
That
Wild Koala # 10
this fella must be buddhist day (Monday) we walked a stupid distance up to the local Mariners Lookout to a view which was well worth the sore feet, overlooking Apollo Bay and the endless Southern Ocean. Here a Dutch couple informed us that we had passed an area 15km east of
Wild Koala # 10
this fella must be buddhistApollo Bay renowned for its Koala population and after an hour long walk back to our hostel the woman on reception confirmed this and we headed off in the Wallaby damaged hire car to do a bit of Koala spotting.
After pulling over in a layby where 4 Germans stood looking to the heavens we saw our first wild Koala since we began looking some 10 weeks ago, and after seeing wild Koala number 2 in an adjoining tree we decided to drive on and try to beat the hostel record of 8 Koalas in one afternoon (true Koala spotters go out after 3pm when the furry fellas are most active).
1 hour later we had beat the record and 10 minutes after that had reached 12 - a nice even number I was happy to stop at and return to Apollo Bay for a
It gets a bit colder along the great ocean road
this would explain the clothing and very close huddle L-R Tania, Chris, Carla and Matt celebratory pint (sorry Schooner) until Carla pointed out the unlucky 13th which gave this blog its title.
Our two night stay in Apollo Bay was back in a YHA, and proved to be the nicest of our adventure. Eco Beach YHA apart from being uber stylish reminded us how friendly hostels can be.
It gets a bit colder along the great ocean road
this would explain the clothing and very close huddle L-R Tania, Chris, Carla and MattThe best thing about YHA's is the diverse residents, many of whom have been doing the hostel thing since the 60's. In Apollo Bay on our last night we sat talking to an aging scouse hippy who probably hadn't done a decent days work in her life - so god knows how she afforded to travel the World. During our hour long conversation she sat eating a whole steamed cauliflower and then duely disappeared without even saying goodbye (I'm guessing she needed to break wind). We went to bed feeling very sorry for the people she was sharing a dorm with and woke early to make the 3 hour drive back to Melbourne as the sun rose over the mighty Southern Ocean.
Have you ever, ever felt like this.....
....when strange things happen are you going round the twist!! split point lighthouse at airleys inlet Back to Melbourne
On our return to Melbourne we decided to head back to Brunswick Street to sample a few of the bars and I continued my transformation into Chris Martin by eating at yet another Organic, Veggy restaurant before a few Schooners in one of those ultra cool bars with dim lighting and furniture/styling that would be best described as 'Granny's living room'.
Then after a tram full of mentalists back to St Kilda we
Have you ever, ever felt like this.....
....when strange things happen are you going round the twist!! split point lighthouse at airleys inletwatched a 7 piece band soundcheck for a whole hour at the famous 'Espy' hotel before realising about 4 bars into their opener that they were rubbish and we called it a night.
Our final day in Melbourne consisted of a run along St Kilda's sea front (the second in a week) and then yet another bizarre celeb spot which was over in a flash but went something like this:
Matt: "Jarvis??..." (smiles and reaches out right hand)
Jarvis Cocker: (looks down at hand slightly confused) "er.....alright?"
Matt: (shakes clammy hand of still slightly confused Jarvis)
4 portions of fish and chips, all in the same paper
Tania, Carla and Chris at the Moggs Creek beach house "Good to meet you, I'm a big fan"
Both walk off in opposite directions.
The last statement isn't technically true, but anybody who can claim to be a founder member of the Britpop scene and has bared his arse to Michael Jackson is alright with me.
Melbourne has been my favourite stop in Australia and one of the nicest cities I have been lucky enough to visit throughout the World. And as I contemplated our experiences I came up with a strapline, which I think sums the place up and I would be
4 portions of fish and chips, all in the same paper
Tania, Carla and Chris at the Moggs Creek beach househappy to lend to the Melbourne tourist board:
"Come to Melbourne - a place where you are equally likely to bump into Kylie Minogue - or that scruffy bloke out of Pulp"
Winky-pops
M&C
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Tasha
non-member comment
wizz pop wizz bang
Looks like you will be back to oz in the future then maybe? Are winky pops the result of one too many guff cakes? Love y'all Tasha x