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The Great Ocean Road (GOR). It was a name that stuck with me ever since i heard of it, and was somewhere that i really wanted to visit. The thought of a road the hugged the great ocean as it took you on its voyage, sent tingles and great excitement within me. Added to that, I used to have a great picture of Bells beach (a la "point break") on my wall when i lived at the nuses quarters, and now i would get the chance of visiting the hallowed place for surfers.
Our first stop is Torquay, and this is the home of some of the most famous surfwear in the world. Ripcurl, Quicksilver, Roxy, Billabong, Von Zipper, you name them, they make them. This is where its at for surfers. To be quite honest, there's not much else to do here either. The beaches are fantastic, the surf wasn't bad, but its pretty quiet otherwise!!
Anglesea is our next stop, and we settle here for a few days. Bells Beach is situated inbetween the two little towns, and as it happens, the billabong pro world champs is on here. So we head on over and catch
the semi-finals and finals of the Womens champs, and this was an amazing event. There was live music, give-aways, its was just a great weekend. We tried to get some of the give-aways, but as expected, the kids and all just pushed there way to the front and got all the good stuff. Ahh well!! So i go and talk to carmen, who was eagerly waiting along the side for some stuff as well. A guy who was part of the crew, who looked a bit like one of the clown guys at the circus (baggy trowsers, fake looking moustash, and pommie accent!!), came over to us, and offerred us some posters. "have you got any tee-shirts for a fellow pommie" i ask without any guilt. "wait here" he said, and carmen and I looked at each other in astonishment that this had actually had any effect. He came back with thongs (which we call slippers/flip-flops), and surfing DVD, chocolate, some other tit-bits, but no tee-shirt!! "sorry mate, i tried, but there all gone!! I got you all these stuff thou!!" Well, i just had to shake his hand. I wasn't expecting anything at all, but there you go, if
the trophy
The Famous trophy given to the winner of the tournament. Only the winner can ring the bell. you don't ask, you don't get!!!
We missed the mens final, as the surf became flat as the proverbial, and with that, we headed to our next destination along the GOR, Lorne.
It is amazing that the GOR was built by the soldiers of WW1, who needed work on their return from war. Working by hand, the GOR is a testiment to how hard they worked. It is a wonder in itself, to think of the hard slog, after serving their country during the war. Almost 300 kilometres of road snakes past cliffs, scenic lookouts, waterfalls, rainforests and sunken ships.
Lorne was a bigger, more trendy beachside town, with more shops, some better surf, and some very cool walks. We took trips through areas with waterfalls (although very dry), and explored the nearby areas of wye and kennett river. at Kennet, we got very close and personal to wild Koala's. It was great, and we spotted about 14 af these creatures dotted all over the area, hiding amongst the eucalyptus trees. Some were so close you could touch them, but a sudden growl would often find you retracting your hand for fear of loosing it!!
We
free hat for everyone
Free giveaways at the Ripcurl pro champs, Bells beach stayed in Lorne for some days, before heading onto to Apollo bay and Campbell town. This was the most photographed section of the GOR, as it contained some facinating rock formations, better known as the 12 apostles, Or rather, if your talking in spanglish, the 12 puzzles!!!! Yes, the spic did it again, and this became the title for this publication!!
Infact the 12 apostles were something of a wonder. 12 great pieces of limestone rock, jutting out from the ocean floor, and standing sentinel infront of the road. Sunset is the best time to view these, as the vivid colours inflame the rocks to give awesome photographs. Infact we had somewhat of a cloudy, rainy day (as per usual), but got some pretty good, angelic pics. There is evidence that these formations will not survive too much longer. One of the apostles has already crumbled to the floor, and i suspect that there will be more to follow.
Amongst the rock formations are the Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge, the blowhole (a little cavern through which the ocean water comes flooding through and blows up towards unsuspecting onlookers!!), thunder cave (so called for the sound emitted from
the crash of the waves onto the rock), and many more. Infact after a while it all just became another rock formation, and became a little boring, but this pretty much became the end of the GOR, as we came towards the South Australian border, and on towards Adelaide.
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silvia
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i am sooo jealous!!
dear two! i am so jealous of you!! i wish i was there! here the weather is being awful: rain and more rain! at least Gianni and I are going to Palma de Majorca for a short break to get 30 degrees and sunshine!! miss u lots xxx