We got there about an hour early (classic me giving myself way more time than I needed), but it was fine because they let us rent the car early. I thought there would be way more paperwork and stuff but they pretty much just photocopied my drivers license, handed me the keys and said 'have a good one'. Really? That's it? Easy as. And off we went.
First stop, gas. With a full tank for $60 and the weather still shitty we decided to do the trip in reverse and started with the Grampains. We made a quick detour and found ourselves back in Glenlyon so Claire could pick up her camera she had left behind, classic. But hey it was on the way and it was good to visit a familiar face, Peter even offered us some food for the road. After about three hours of boring stretches of brown fields we arrived at the southern Grampains, we made a quick stop at the information center where they offered us each a cupa and bikkies (cup of coffee and biscuits, quite European over here, oh and they shorten everything too). As we made our way to Halls Gap we saw over twenty dead kangaroos on the side of the road (it was like the deer back home). The kangaroos will literally jump out at your car whenever they please. You may be thinking wow cute, must have gotten so close, yeah we did but it was more nerve racking and scary. That evening we did some hiking to various lookouts. We had a very cosy night in our small camper, which was more like a car with a bed in the back...not quite what we were expecting but we loved it all the same. The next morning was spent doing some more hiking around the Grampains and some waterfalls before we headed south to the coast.
Time to start the Great Ocean Road. We started in Port Fairy a small coastal town (pretty much the only kind of towns along the GOR). We just kept driving until we found a small turn off by some crazy beautiful cliffs and decided, yeah this is where we will set up camp. We had the place all to ourselves and caught both a sunset and sunrise, looking out over the ocean and cliffs.
Day three: the shipwreck coast, it was a big day. Port Campbell, Loch Ard Gorge, The Twelve Apostles (well there are now only actually seven still standing), Johanna beach, Lavers Hill, and my favorite part of the day, our first wild koala spotting on our way to Cape Otway. Most of these names will likely mean nothing to all of you reading. So let me try to elaborate. The shipwreck coast (stretching from Port Fairy to Lavers Hill) is lined with rugged cliffs and many rock formations created by the southern ocean slowly eating away at the coast. The Otways is a national park covered in tall, wet, ancient rainforests, sandy beaches and not to mention a stretch of eucalyptus trees home to many wild koalas! That night we parked right by the beach (where else?) in Apollo Bay, gotten pretty use to falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.
Day four: Surf coast! For over 200kms it's nothing but perfect surf beaches! And trust me if the weather was better and it wasn't so windy and the waves actually looked worth it, we would have shelled out some cash to hire some boards and wetties (yeah you guessed right, wetsuits) to mess around. But just sitting on Bells Beach was enough for me. Never heard of it? The most famous surf beach in Australia. Only 4kms from Torquay, the birth place of brands like Quicksilver and Rip Curl. Bells Beach is also home to the world's longest running professional surfing event, that's right the Rip Curl Pro Easter Classic, and we missed it by just a couple weeks, damn. At least it was cool to know Kelly Slater was somewhere along the coast that day carving it up. Our trip was coming to an end we still wanted to get a koala hug. So I found a koala sanctuary, Jirrahlinga, that was closing in an hour so we booked it over there.
We were the only ones there so we got a privet tour. We got to be really close and observe the koalas in their natural habitat, they don't actually let people hold the koalas because they are trying to let the koalas live as wild as possible (hmm sound familiar? Elephant Nature Park comes to my mind), but we did get to pet one. So soft. It was hard to get us to leave. I actually stayed and talked to them for quite awhile about volunteering there. And if I ever find my own transportation and accommodation close by, they would love to have me. But I guess all I can do now is spread the word about this wonderful place and the amazing things they are doing for these animals. I think I left part of my heart at Jirrahlinga, those cuddly animals are so cute. Fun facts I learned about koalas; they only eat eucalyptus leaves, there are over six hundred types of trees and they only eat about forty types, picky huh? They rarely, if never drink water, the only water they get is from the leaves...yeah not that much, it would explain why they sleep for almost twenty hours a day and eat for the other four. I hope I get another chance here in OZ to work with koalas.
We spent that night in a small town called Queenscliff before we had to return the car early the next morning. We stopped at a gas station to try and clean all the sand out of the car. Time to freak out about the fact that on the first day I wasn't used to driving on the other side and parked too close to a pole and slightly dinged the passenger door. Oops. I started to freak out that I would have to pay more money than I had. But when we turned the car back in, it was quite like the way we got it. I parked, walked in, handed him the keys and I stood there waiting for him to say something or ask me to fill out more paperwork, but nope just 'how was the trip?' And 'so there is a bus stop right across the street and it will take you back to the Southern Cross Station'. Easy as, pretty sure he was stoned, ha, oh well not my fault he didn't check the car, but the dent wasn't even that bad so I guess I really don't have anything to worry about.
Our trip was a total of 1400kms, way over what we mapped out, but we ended up making detours that were all so worth it. After five days of constant driving it feels good to kick up my feet.
So now we are back in Melbourne, back in St. Kilda in fact. Tomorrow I get a ride over to Adelaide were I will start work on a winery, I'm stoked to get to a new state. Victoria has been great but I'm anxious to move on.
Tonight is also my last night with Claire as she will be returning home sooner than planned. It has been amazing to travel with her, don't think I could have asked for a better travel partner (I mean it). And while yes we have our ups and downs, traveling with her has been wonderful and I really don't know if I have ever been so completely comfortable with expressing my feelings to anyone. I'm going to miss her like crazy but I know when I get home we'll have so many more adventures! Time to celebrate our last night, convenient that our hostel has a bar on the bottom floor and on the roof!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment