We were up around 6:30 a.m. to dress, checkout, take tram, and find the location where our tour bus was to meet us. Again, I was not all that excited about waking up during my vacation in the wee hours of the morning, but what could I do? Adayna insists we do this and I wanted to do all I could to avoid a squabble. I learned from my dad and other wiser men that it be best I just “go with the flow”. I sometimes think to question this logic, but I’m no fool. Sometimes concession avoids world wars. ;) He makes it sound like I’m Osama Bin Laden. Ask him if he loved the trip when you see him. In your face Trav.
Our tour guide, Shoni, had us heading West from Melbourne shortly after 8. She had nothing on our favorite guide Finn from Cairns, but she wasn’t dull either. Our girl speaks 5 lang
uages, just got back from teaching English in China and pole dances on her free time. Like many young migrants to the area, guiding tourists a couple a days a week is a great way to supplement income and explore the continent.
Our first stop on our Adventure Tour was Bells Beach. For those of you movie and sports film buffs, if you can recall Bells Beach was the fictional setting in Point Break. It was pretty cool to see, on this early Wednesday morning, surfers, many of them I guess from around the world, converge to conquer that one great wave. We even observed a surf couple cooking breakfast outside of their van where they clearly live.
There are no words to describe the beauty witnessed while traveling on the Great Ocean Road. Ocean and mountain landscapes like nothing I’ve seen in the states yet. I was always curious to find out where they film the many car commercials advertising sleek foreign cars hugging cliffs along coastal roads. In watching those commercials, I was more intrigued by the landscape than the car. (Not as if I could ever afford one of those cars.) I guess I have to settle for a ride along one of the most beautiful oceanic drive in the world. The Great Ocean Road created jobs for World War I veterans and opened the southern Victoria region up for tourism.
While on the Great Ocean Road we stopped to see the 12 Apostles, London Bridge and Loch Ard Gorge. The 12 Apostles are rock-like formations jutting out of the ocean that formed as a result of coastal erosion. We took tons of pictures and even had some Asian tourists catch on to Travis’ sailing pose. We caught them mocking my pose after our picture taking.
The London Bridge, named after the famous fable in London, was an extension of rock along the coast. The name derived from its resemblance of a short bridge. The story goes that as the linking portion of the rock collapsed 2 Aussies were stranded atop. They were not just any 2 Aussies, but co-workers who had told their significant others they were going away on business. They were stranded for hours in the cold and wet. And unfortunately for them, rescue came from the only helicopter available at the time - a news copter, thus revealing their identities and secret love affair. What a novela! Clearly nothing good comes from cheating on your partner. Great story, I think I would have risked the swim back. Fortunately for Travis, he’d never be found under such cheating circumstances. Right honey?
Loch Ard Gorge was a bit more exciting than our previous stops. Darn right it was. It was at this stop where I got my laugh of the day. The gorge is spectacular. Imagine an elevated edge as high as 150-200 feet parted over many years by the water’s strength. Thus opening a small beach within these walls. It’s obvious why this unique location was home to many shipwrecks. On this long stretch of sand, running waters pounding the cliff’s entry and rolling an additional hundred feet to shore I dared to take my shoes off to test the temperature of the water. Adayna, tagging along, still swatting flies, followed me to the shore’s edge snapping photos. After a couple of silly poses, a fellow tourist asked Adayna for a snapshot of her standing ankle deep in water. Adayna obliged. The next thing that happened changed my mood. A strong wave came and startled both Adayna and this woman. Thus, causing them both to turn and run. I witnessed the entire thing from just a few feet away. The wave, though stronger than previous rushes, was not something that would sweep you away. I quietly awaited and knew a strong one would come, but didn’t know when. Then it came (laughing). Adayna turned to run like those Friday the 13th characters when they run through the woods away from Jason, but then all of a sudden he appears wielding a knife. I think she took 3 steps and fell just like in the movies. The lasting memory I have of it was seeing her fall with one arm extended trying to keep her camera from going under. Way too funny. The first thing she said was “Oh my camera” then “oh her camera”. I fell to the sand laughing. They both were soaked and cameras were damp, but all okay. I made fun of the moment the rest of the day. Hardy-har-har... Yes, it was funny. Even I had to laugh. My camera made it out okay, can’t say the same for hers. What’s a trip to a gorge without a little splash in the water. I was a good sport.
An Australian tour is not complete without a sighting of animal or two. While on our Great Ocean Road drive we stopped at a national park where we spotted koalas in the wild and Travis fed several parrots who flocked to him at the sight of the yummy seeds in his hands. I abstained from the bird feeding because I’m only like to appreciate birds from afar and I wanted to capture some Kodak moments for Travis. They stood on his head, perched on his shoulder and grasped to his wrist - anything to get at him and his seeds. My koala pics are classic.
The 2-hour long drive back wasn’t very exciting. We slept on each other the entire ride. Quite uncomfortable, but good enough. We had each other after all :)
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