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Published: March 8th 2010
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"So, we thinking of renting a car and driving up the Great Ocean Road, next week. You in? It'd be good craic, like" The invitation came something like that from my Irish friend Bobby.It was an invitation alright but the plans were vague. Even on the day of leaving I had to make a call to make sure we really were going and at what time. I finished work a little before 5 on Friday, quick walk home, and an even quicker shower and pack. Jump on the tram to meet up with my Irish friends. We sorted out who was going in which car and made our plans to meet up outside the city in a town called Werribee. After Werribee there were absolutley no plans made, except that we had to bring booze and be up for what ever the road threw at us. Sounded like they travel my style. We left Melbourne and into it's suburbs and into Victoria countryside. It had recently rained, the air was fresh and cool and smelled of trees and other plants. With the air smelling like an air freshener, we drove with the windows down, sipping on some drinks, telling some stories
and just enjoying the drive.
In Werribee we rejoined to complete our two car convey with a grand total of 9 people (7 Irish, 1 English and me). Visited the local drive thru booze store, in which the staff come to your car and brings you your merchandise. We drove into the night until we reached a town called Lorne. We parked beside the beach and begin our assault on Lorne Beach. Boxes of wine (known as goon), beers, beach towels and my guitar were all put onto the beach. It was about 11 pm when we arrived, so it was full tilt til about 2 am when the first person knocked off. I was the 3rd person to call it a night and settled in to the back seat of one of the cars. I was woken at about half seven in the morning to the noise of some really drunk people getting in the car for a sleep. The sun was starting to rise so I decided to stretch out on a park bench.
Now the weather forecast for the weekend was dire. It went something like rain, cloud, thunder storm, rain cloud. The Saturday morning
clouds started to separate and the sun shined down on us. After a coffee with Jon and a talk about rallying up the troops to get moving, we were rallying up the troops for a morning swim. I rarely swin, I beleive the last time I swam in the sea was in Italy in 2006. So here I was walking down to the water, hungover, with a crowd of people that were either still drunk or hungover. The water was cool and ever so refreshing. I honestly didn't think it was going to be that great. Got out of the water feeling ready for the day.
There are problems with travelling in a two car convey. The main problem happens to be that everything takes much more time, for example a bathroom break, or a food break or making a decision. So getting everybody into cars took some time. Then the road trip started, we just drove. In the Victorian State sunshine, the windows down, all of us singing our little hearts out to the songs on the radio. What is it about roadtrips that turn resonably responsible adults into full blown children. The excitement leading up to a
road trip always out excites a trip to an airport or train station. The freedom of the wheel, the road, the sunshine and good company.
We did the tourist thing by checking out the 12 Apostles, which is a group of rock formations carved by the ocean with steep cliffs that line the mainland. We also checked out the London Bridge which is another rock formation that had two arches but in recent years erosion has claimed one arch of the bridge. So now it's like a little rock island and not a bridge. The scenery was beautiful but my favorite at these lookouts full of tourists was the countless Aussie impressions done by our group. The most famous being "There's a shark in the water!." Also our group like to bring their drinks everywhere, which made things interesting. Imagine this your admiring the beauty of the 12 Apostles, trying to rap your head around how this may have been created and thinking that the world is this beautiful place and then you hear it. "Theres a shark in the water" followed by a really loud drunk laugh (of someone you know) and maybe the sound of a bottle
hitting the ground. All that you can do is turn around and laugh because it is funny.
Saturday evening everybody was starting to crash, and and one point our convey was broken up. One car of five all decided it was nap time, so we just went driving. The days sunshine was giving way to dark evening clouds, we were all tired and the weather was helping to keep us cheerful and positive. In the pouring rain we had a decision to make, should we go back to Melbourne. Our car decided to check out another town and spend the night there. The other car was reluctant to join us, but eventually we all agreed. We rolled into Torquay found a place to park for the night and took refuge under two really large trees, that had lights at the base of them. The stories started, the sounds of laughter could be heard and everybody started smiling once again. Our tree cover was good, but when the downpour really happened we started to get wet. We retreated to the cars and told more stories then slept to the sound of rain on the rooftop of the car. The next
morning we were awoken by Katie opening the drivers door and say we were leaving. So moments later we were en route to Melbourne. Once were had actually woken up (maybe 20 minutes later) things got funny again and the hour drive was pleasurable as we recapped all the fun things we had said and done.
Roadtrips, the king of travel, are always a great time. The excitement that leads up to the initial departure, followed by the randomness and the freedom of what may happen and the return in which you recap and laugh about the previous days adventures. The Great Ocean Road was a must for me and to see it with this group of people well was just Great!!!
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Richie
non-member comment
Excellent
Well written lad, maybe we should let Katie see what the roadtrip actually consisted of :)