Great Ocean Road

This one is called London Bridge because it used
to have an arch to the mainland but it fell.


These are the Twelve Apostles (even though
there's not twelve of them).

My first real dose of some good old fashion Australian flora and fauna came two months into my trip as I travelled the Great Ocean Road. The road was built during the 1920s by returning servicemen from the first World War. The road is 243 K's which roughly comes out to be 150 miles long and stretches to the west of Melbourne along the southern coast of Victoria. The scenery was amazing and could best be described as a mix of the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California coastlines. Tall cliffs rise strait out of the waves crashing against the jagged rocks that seem to be still rising out of the ocean floor. You can almost see the tectonic plates in action as the slabs of layered rock diagonally jut out towards the cliff from the waves.

The road itself winds up and down and around the cliffs along the coast and is full of long views of distant rock formations stretching out into the water. There were a couple light houses and oddly designed houses perched on the cliffs that look as if they will crumble at any moment. The tour guide was knowledgeable about the road the history behind it but his ability to tell a story was lacking, which he attempted several times. We became buds though as the trip continued and shared our experiences of traveling we'd done, the jobs we'd worked, the people we'd met and yada yada yada. I also had some German friends on the trip as well who came in handy when an extra hand on the camera was needed. They were good company too.

The best part off trip though was easily the Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles are a group of limestone stacks that rise about 150 ft out of the water. The area is a massive tourist attraction and the fly's love it. I have never been so surrounded by swarming flys in my life and it really tested my patience. Every time I would pause to take a picture and hold the camera steady there would be about 10 flys that would bombard my head. Despite the fys though the views were amazing as we could look out from the overhanging cliffs down to the beach and go down to the beach to view the rock faces from below. And although there is a lot of driving time involved in the trip the Great Ocean Road is a must. And while I leave for Sydney on the 28th it was a good last trip for my time in Melbourne.