On Friday I went on another tour with Go West. This time we headed to the Great Ocean Road. This is a road that was built by WWI soldiers/veterans. It's a very long and winding road that is right along the coastline, so there are lots of beautiful things to see. After meeting my tour guide Isaac and hopping on the bus, we headed off towards the Great Ocean Road. We saw some kangaroos jumping around out in the wild. It was nice to see them free in a natural habitat. The little joey was the cutest! Then we headed for the famous Bell's Beach. There we had a gorgeous view of the beach and scenery. We watched some brave surfers battling the waves and took our photos before heading back to the bus. This is a famous beach that has a huge surfing competition every summer.
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| Kangaroos in a meadow |
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| Bells Beach |
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| The hardcores surfing in the cold water |
Then we made a quick stop to see a lighthouse that was used in filming a popular Australian TV series. The next stop was the official beginning of the Great Ocean Road. Here we were able to see amazing scenery and view the monuments made about the road and for the soldiers. I took a lot of photos out the window of the bus while we were driving, to show the great views we had and the winding roads. It was a very bumpy ride and there were lots of turns, but it was really fun.
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| What we saw along the drive |
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| Official beginning of the Great Ocean Road |
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| Memorial for the soldiers |
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| Lots of winding roads |
We stopped at a beach where we shared some Milo (Australian hot chocolate) and cake. Here we were able to explore the beach and relax for a bit. This beach was interesting because it had a lot of rock that reminded me of the moon. It had what looked like big craters in it. The weather was gorgeous, and the waves weren't too high, so we were able to walk out for a bit towards the ocean. It's at this stop that I met my new friend Jane from New York. She was really nice and here for work, so I got her information so we can keep in touch. When we were having our Milo and cake, we had to stare in awe at all the cockatoos in the trees. Here in Australia, they are a wild bird. We saw about 10 different cockatoos just flying around from tree to tree above us. I told the tour guide that in Canada, these birds are pets and kept in cages. It was so different to just see them flying around free.
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| Lovely beach! |
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| Wild Cockatoos hanging out in the tree |
Our next stop was a place where we were told we could feed tropical birds. We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived, but after getting a handful of bird seed and then jumping out of the bus, we were immediately swarmed by a bunch of gorgeous birds. At one point, I had about five or six of them on me. It was such a neat experience! They were literally landing everywhere - on our shoulders, heads, cameras even. I felt like I could have just stayed there all day feeding the birds. But, we had lots more to see still, so after feeding the birds we were off again. Since we were making good time, Isaac stopped at a special spot that had a great view for us to see and take a few quick pictures. The views on this trip were absolutely breathtaking. Once again words could not do justice to what I saw. It was amazing! We drove to Apollo Bay for lunch, where Jane and I shared flake and chips on the beach (flake being shark).
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| Loved feeding the parrots! |
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| Gorgeous view! |
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| Lunch |
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| Beach at Apollo Bay |
After lunch, it was off to do a nice and relaxing rainforest walk. In here there were plenty of eucalyptus trees that smelled fantastic. We got to see some of the world's largest hardwood trees and kept an eye out for the black snail. It is a carnivorous flesh-eating snail. Unfortunately we didn't see any of those. We did see lots of really neat trees though and really enjoyed the walk. It was very refreshing after having lunch. After that we drove for about an hour to get to one of the main attractions, The Twelve Apostles. It's a world famous attraction of giant rocks made of limestone. Originally it was called the sow and her piglets apparently, but someone changed it to The Twelve Apostles - they aren't sure who. There are only seven Apostles left out of the 12, and one could fall at any time according to Isaac. It was a beautiful view, and the gorgeous weather made it even better.
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| Rainforest walk |
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| The Twelve Apostles |
The next stop made was to the Loch Ard Gorge. This was also a very beautiful sight to see. There was a story behind it as well. Apparently a ship of 52 people went down there and there were only two survivors, Eva and Tom. Tom somehow battled the waves and swam to shore before hearing the cries of Eva out in the water. He battled the waters for another hour before getting her to safety. They took refuge in the gorge before getting help the next day. It was interesting to go visit it and stand in a historic place. As soon as I was on sand, my shoes came off. It feels amazing walking barefoot in the sand! I was wondering how cold the water was and eventually curiosity killed the cat. I rolled up my pants and went to investigate. When the water hit my feet, there was an initial shock because it was a little cold, but I got used to it really quickly. I decided to go out a bit further since the water wasn't coming in as much where I was standing. Just as I did that, a big wave of water came splashing at me, soaking the bottom half of my pants. It was a surprise but all part of the experience and totally worth it. I walked around barefoot for nearly the rest of the time at that stop and loved every minute of it.
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| Gorgeous Gorge! |
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| The water wasn't so bad once you got used to it |
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| Didn't expect the water to come up so fast |
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| The aftermath |
Our final stop of the day was to see the London Bridge. There was also a funny story behind this one - whether this story was true or not we weren't sure, but it was funny regardless. Apparently this couple was out on the London Bridge the one day and the middle part of it collapsed, leaving them stranded. Someone ran to the police station after seeing them and told them that London Bridge had fallen down. They didn't believe them at first, but then eventually went to check it out. The realized it had fallen down and the only way to rescue the couple would be with a helicopter. Unfortunately, the rescue helicopters in Melbourne were off helping fight forest fires at the time. They called channel 8 news and told them they could have exclusive coverage of the story if they brought a helicopter to save the couple. In about an hour the helicopter landed where the couple was stranded. Apparently as the camera man tried to talk to them, they kept running away and he wasn't sure why. He chased them down (they didn't have far to go) and then after some investigating, realized why they were running away from him. Apparently the two people had called in sick to work that day, and the lady who was there with the man was not his wife. His wife however did see the story on the 6 o'clock news. Isaac said their relationship was on the rocks after that - pun intended. The view of the bridge was gorgeous as the sun was setting. Once again, it was another great ending to another amazing day in Australia.
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| London Bridge |
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| Beautiful sunset to end the day |
