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Published: July 29th 2008
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I have just returned from the most fantastic day travelling along the Great Ocean Road with 12 other backpackers in a minivan. Although initially the trip down the Great Ocean Road seemed expensive ($95AUD) it was worth every penny.
We left in the early hours of the morning for a long drive out of Melbourne and onto the Great Ocean Road. This little backpacker trip through Bunyip Tours was very well organised and we visited some fantastic little spots along the way.
Our first stop was at the world famous Bells Beach renowned for its surfing and appearance in the end scene of the movie Point Break! I spent some time watching insane Surfer Dudes bobbing around in the freezing conditions while trying to take on some massive waves. The surfer dudes are a bunch of mentalists, there is no way you would catch me out there in the freezing cold sea in the middle of winter. They are committed I'll give them that!
After wondering around Bells Beach I was invited to sit in the front seat of the mini van with the driver because I was the only one who could speak English. Somehow I had
ended up on a trip with a large group of Spanish and Portuguese speaking South American backpackers that have descended on Melbourne for the pilgrimage to Sydney for World Youth Day. Still it was a fantastic opportunity to make some new friends and line up some free accommodation over that part of the world, especially as I am heading that direction for the last leg of my trip.
Along the way we stopped at a familiar looking building called Split Point light house. Can any of you remember a children's TV programme called Around the Twist? Well it is the light house that used to feature in the 1980's TV Series. I walked around taking a few pics while singing the theme tune to myself; "Have you ever, ever felt like this? Have strange things happened, Are you going round the twist?".
After visiting Split Point light house, I went for a walk along a very long beach which is part of the Great Ocean Road. The beaches are incredibly rugged with large cliff faces dropping into the sea. The waves are huge and the beaches completely empty, but the sea is incredibly cold.
Our next stop
on the way to Adelaide was Otway’s National Park. We walked through the old rain forest and had little birds steal food out of our hands. While trekking I got to see some Koala Bears hanging out in the trees while getting stoned on bamboo leaves. Did you know that all Koala Bears do is sleep, shag and get stoned on bamboo leaves? Guess what I want to be when I am reincarnated ;-)
The next stop was at Shipwreck Coast for the chance to see the strange rock formations at Loch Ard Gorge Blowhole. The blow holes were an incredible sight with a large canyon feel to the cliff faces that take a regular pounding from the sea. The echoing sound is simply awesome as you can almost feel the power of nature while you watching the spray shoot high up into the sky. A fantastic place to visit, an awesome experience!
During the trip along the Great Ocean Road we were told that I would be visiting a place called London Bridge. I kept quiet not wanting to appear stupid while thinking to myself why a bridge similar to Londons would be along the coast of
Australia. I quietly sat there slightly confused until I ended up seeing the joke for myself. London Bridge is a rock formation carved out by the sea over thousands of years. Recently part of the bridge collapsed that connected it to the main land, leaving a few travellers stranded on top of the rocks requiring air evacuation. Its a very large and unusual natural rock formation.
Finally we got to see the highlight of the Great Ocean Road - the Twelve Apostles. Its arguably one of the most famous sights in Australia. It is 12 giant rock stacks standing vertically out of the sea adjacent to one another. They are absolute stunning, especially when the sun sets behind the formations. Its like the rocks were just placed there to create an incredibly magical view. Simply stunning!
The journey back to Melbourne was very long. The South Americans decided to do readings from the bible while singing all sorts of church music. Although I don't class myself as a religious person, it was quite entertaining listening to their singing. I really did feel like I was on some sort of hippy bus and part of the pilgrimage for World Youth Day. Although eventually I didn have to put on my Ipod!
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