The Great Ocean Road and the Grampians

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I want to begin by saying this trip was one of the most interesting few days I've had since I've been here. Also when looking at the pictures that I'm about to explain you need to understand they don't catch the true beauty that is Australia.

My weekend began when I got on the tiny bus of 20 passengers...mostly consisting of backpackers. The nationalities of the people were mostly german along with a few english, french and dutch and of course 1 american. So the journey began by taking a ride towards Bells Beach. Bells beach is a very popular surfing beach and the waves were spot on when we arrived. There were plenty of surfers out in the water. The next stop was at Aireys Inlet where we began by taking a view of the lighthouse before wandering down to the beach area. From here we drove a little further to where the Great Ocean Road officially began. From here we drove up and down and around the bends along the great ocean road. From here you can see a beautiful view of the ocean and houses built up along the hill which also have a great view of the ocean. From here we drove to Lorne to have some lunch. There was a pier here where they have a pier to pub swim. About 4000 people swim from the end of the pier to the beach which is about 1.2km or .75 miles. From here we ventured to Apollo Bay to have a swim or just look around. It was a bit chilly to swim but the view was nice. There were rocks that had beautiful shells, all with critters in them, and some mini starfish. The next stop was one of my favorites. It was called Cape Patton Lookout. There was a perfect view and you could sit on the edge and just relax. From here we headed inland through back roads, which didn't seem big enought for 2 cars. These roads were filled with green plantation covering both sides of the road. We stopped off at a trail that lead you through the woods to Marriners Falls. Here it smelled like the woods in PA on a cool fall day. The sound of birds was in the backgroud and the shade created the perfect temperature. It was about a mile into the woods. We stopped at a grocery store next to get some drinks for the evening where I split a case of Carlton Draught, a native beer of Australia. We then drove to another trail in the woods. Again the green plants and trees were everywhere. On this trail there were lots of trees that were large and had a huge whole in them at the bottom. We then drove to our campsite for the evening. This campsite was a little different than most I've seen before. If you wanted when you first booked the tour you could have chose to pay a little more and stay in a room with a bed but I chose to camp with the sleeping bag. The area that we set our tents up had a den immediately next to it with chickens and cockatoos. So needless to say at 420 am they were awake and chirping. Another animal was also in the area. There were koalas in the trees above us which was a litttle different. Also at this campsite you had to pay a dollar for 4 minutes on the BBQ and another dollar for 3 minutes of water in the shower. So the evening ended with a few drinks, some cards and a campfire with a guitar. It was a nice night with another adventure around the corner.

The next day began with breakfast before heading back out to the great ocean road. We made a few stops along the road at good lookout points before stopping at the 12 apostles and Port Campbell National Park. These are one of the many set of rocks that are up and down the coast. From here we stopped at a little cove that was really pretty. There was a beautiful view. We again were given the opportunity to swim but it was a bit to chilly for me. Here there was a very small inlet that allow a narrow pathway for water to get in so you could swim. There was also a small cave in the rock that dug back quite deep that was interesting but a bit scary to go into. The next attraction we stopped at was the London Bridge. The public used to be able to climb on it but in January of 1990 the middle part of the rock broke and fell into the water. So now you can't get out onto the far part of the bridge. The next point was the Bay of Martyrs before heading inland to a small aboriginal park that had wild emus running around. When then stopped off at another grocery store, again to get some moer Carlton Draught before heading to another trail that had Aboriginal art on some of the rocks. It was an ok site. It was all roped off and had been vandalized so there wasn't much to see. When we headed to our campsite the view here was amazing. You could see the mountains of the Grapian ranges in the distance. Also apon arrival to our campsite, Assess Ears, there were wild kangaroos running and jumping around on either side of the road. It was an unrealistic experience. At this campsite it was nicer than the last one with a full kitchen, stove and swimming pool but no showers if you are camping. There was also a nice lodge and bar as well. After cooking tacos everyone decided to have a few beers and play some cards before heading to bed.

The last day was a bit rough. After two days of staying up late, having some drinks, and camping out I was a bit tired. We began our day by stopping and Makenzie Falls. They were beautiful but cold. We had the opportunity to swim again and this time I decided I'd try it. The water was about 55 degrees but it woke me up. I thought when will I ever again get to say that I went swimming under a waterfall. When I first jumped in it was so cold that I couldn't catch my breathe. It was very hard to breathe but after you were in for a few minutes that began to go away. It was an awesome experience. After I got out of the water my skin was numb and red from how cold it was but I was definitely awake. I did take a view of the falls so look for that, that Sian (pronounced shawn) from England in the end giving the thumbs up. From here we stopped at a few more views along the way before hiking an hour up to the top of one of the grampian mountains to see the pinnacle and then an hour back down. We hiked up the not so steep side and then back down the really steep side. Some parts of the path back down were so tiny. I don't think any obese person would have fit through. Towards the bottom we also hiked down the path with the Australian Grand Canyon. It was no where near like ours. We then had some lunch stopped off at two more spots and then headed back to Melbourne.

Overal this trip went well. For each meal everyone on the trip worked together to prepare it by cutting up all of the vegetables and doing dishes at the end. I've neer seen such a wide variety of people pull together to get things done. Everyone got along well which was a bit surprising after 3 full days together.

One of the things I noticed while on this trip is that most of the public bathrooms don't have soap at all. I found this a little dirty and when I inquired about it the answer was because it was to expensive. You would never see that in the states. Another few things that I learned on this trip is to adapt about my speak with a few words. Instead of a bathroom or restroom its a toilet; instead of a jacket or sweatshirt its a jumper; instead of a flashlight its a torch; instead of potato chips they are crisps; and instead of french fries they are chips. I still use the american term but immediately after I say the american term I correct myself.

I hope you enjoyed the blog. Since I started my intership this week my traveling will only be on weekends. I won't be doing any traveling this upcoming weekend but I hope to the following weekend. I will keep you updated with anything interesting I find. Oh and by the way GO STEELERS!!!!!

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Photos

Bells Beach
the sufers

Bells Beach
more sufers

Lighthouse stop
this area was blocked off...but I wanted a shot

Great Ocean road
the official beginning of the great ocean road

Great Ocean Road
these houses have a great view of the road