Success Great Ocean Road

After the first rather disappointing day of driving mainly through never changing landscapes and with the sea nowhere in sight our second road trip day took off with a better start. As I mentioned we had made it as far as Port Fairy, which is already in Victoria, so not too far off from Melbourne. Since we had gained some time this way on Friday morning we visited the information center for some maps on the Great Ocean Rd and advice on what to do in Port Fairy, before heading home. It is a rather sleepy little town with lots of old looking buildings. We didn't really care about those and instead took a walk over to... Griffith's island I think? to take in the sun and have a look at the lighthouse, which was nothing special. The water, however, ranged from a beautiful turquoise to a deep, dark blue hue (throughout our whole trip) and at the end of a jetty we watched a a little seal merrily catching fish.
In two days I took about 200 pictures, so be ready for them ;)

The little stick on the end of it, is the lighthouse.

This was our motel's sign.

A bird, just for Mama! I don't know which one it is though.

There is not much to tell about the Great Ocean Road, it is more a matter of looking at it! As soon as one has reached Apollo Bay the road actually leads right along the Ocean revealing spectacular bays and beaches, which only sometimes could be accessed. Before we got to Apollo Bay we pulled into a few gravel parking lots when we saw the sign for a "scenic" lookout and enjoyed different views. The twelve Apostles I must say we skipped, because it is a horribly obnoxious tourist attraction! Instead of just having a parking space on the ocean side of the road, there is a huuuuuge car park on the other side with a tourist information center, a ton of cars, and a helicopter base, in case you are a nutcase and think it's worth it. I don't know if they actually made you pay to access the path underneath the road and back towards the sea, but as soon as we saw this commercialized nonsense we quickly lost our appetite to see the seven (or how ever many are left) Apostles. They also only got two stars in our road atlas, whereas the Gibson Steps were rated with three! Why is that? You can actually walk down steps to the beach instead of staring down at it. Before I keep moving on to other excitements, here are some photos from the Great Ocean Road.

Oh! and guess what I saw way earlier on Thursday! :D Those who have read Frühstück mit Kängurus / Down Under by Bill Bryson will recognize the magnificent cray fish in the third picture! I certainly got very excited when I saw it. The first picture shows a salt lake .

The Great Ocean Road before passing Apollo Bay.

The London Bridge, whose second arch collapsed a while ago.

What a strange plant! I made Robin pull over for this one. Mama, do you know what it is? :D

One Apostle - sure good I didn't pay to see them ;)

The landscape changes a lot after leaving Apollo Bay, because the road starts leading through forests. I only have one good picture of it though.

A few spiders live inside Robin's car mirrors who create these beautiful webs over night.

On our way to Apollo Bay we took a drive through Cape Otway which instantly became the most exciting part of my journey! We stopped underneath a tree where I saw two Koalas hanging about, so I got out of the car to photograph them, until I heard a very distinct grunting behind me and saw two more Koalas! And then more and more! Overall I saw 14 Koalas in that area, including a mum and her baby! It was amazing, because they were so easily to see and so close, that I could have touched them if I had wanted to.

This one is the grunting one and his friend.

Although he looks like he is doing chin ups he is actually just scratching his other leg.

Sadly there was no way of getting a nice view, but this is the mum and her little one. 

As we were driving along we saw a sign for Sheoak Falls and pulled over to have a look at them. The walk itself is only ten minutes long but because of the many steps going up and down it feels way further. On our way back we met two groups of people each asking "Is it worth it?" to which we replied with a confident Yes. On man was carrying his daughter on his shoulders and asked us after the first set of steps, sweat covering his face. "Good god, I feel like my mother-in-law!" I don't actually know what that means, but it was hysterical.

The Great Ocean Road is a very windy street with lots of curves and due to all my singing and some luck I did not get sick. Unless you are starting in Adelaide anyway, it is not really worth it to do the trip from there but rather do one or two day trips from Melbourne. This way you also save motel money ;)

Otherwise, bring a camera and take in the landscape. Burn a few good CDs and make sure you buy food at a cheep Coles, because you won't find one along the way.

I had lots of fun on this little trip and was welcomed in a very friendly way by my other Great Cousin Chris, his wife and two sons, who I will be staying with for... I don't know how long yet. Our plans for the day are uncertain, but I would love to head into the city and pop my head into a few possible work places, although the thought does scare me. Last photos for the end of this post.

Hope you enjoyed,

Skipper

If a huge wave approaches you, don't fall - RUN!

I knew they had strange animals in Australia, but these species are new even to me! 

Beware of snakes with pointy heads. 

Beware of Florian.