It was Great, We Saw an Ocean, and there was Definitely a lot of Road

So apparently there's this road in rural Victoria. Its, like, great or something. I don't know. There might be an ocean involved? And apparently its sort of pretty?

After months and months of hearing about how awesome the Great Ocean Road is, how beautiful and scenic, how it renews your faith in a higher power and is made of sparkles and cupcakes and happiness, Theresa and I finally managed to see it. Along for the ride (driving, actually) was Ari, who had done the road in February but wanted to show it to her visiting boyfriend Cam. And having seen the road I can assure you that not only is it Great, it is also all that everyone said it would be (minus, perhaps, the cupcakes. I did eat a mad good scone though.)

And here is a snapshot of our cast of characters for this adventure:


I'm going to try to do this in order, but it will be difficult for two reasons: a) its been forever since this happened and now my brain is full of a mixture of Thailand and my American Politics exam and b) we actually drove the road in the reverse direction that most people take it, starting at the end and finishing up closer to Melbourne. Anyway, here goes.

We woke up early on Sunday morning to get the rental car (named Belle, for the famous Bells Beach - site of the Rip Curl Pro surfing championship and our home for our second night on the road), and after a few misdirections and stressful street crossings (Melbourne has the most ridiculous turning lanes) we were on our way. After lunch in a podunk town (there are a lot of those in rural Victoria) we made it to our first stop, the gorgeous Loch Ard Gorge at about 3 pm. Here it is:


It has been threatening to rain on and off all day until finally there was a short deluge. We managed to stay dry in the car, and when it all cleared I saw this. See if you can spot the rainbow:


After the gorge we made our way to the hostel. The Great Ocean Road is known for many things but perhaps the most famous part are the rock formations that make up the Twelve Apostles. You're supposed to see the Apostles at sunset so we napped until 5:30 and then drove the five minutes to the national park look-out point. It was breathtaking. My camera ran out of batteries (of course), but Cam was nice enough to share his photos with me, so the next one is his.


The Apostles are formed over centuries as the waves crashes into the beach, wearing away at the soft limestone of the cliffs. Little by little pieces of the cliffs chip away until there are whole columns of rock separated from the mainland. There are actually only eight Twelve Apostles, at least for now. The composition of them is always changing, however - one is set to tumble entirely soon, but a section of one of the look-out points is getting separated as well.

Watching the sun set over the Apostles was amazingly beautiful, but we came out for another reason as well - when the sun has well and truly disappeared and there are only a few tendrils of light illuminating the beach, gaggles of tiny Fairy Penguins emerge from the surf. It was freezing when we were there and we'd been waiting for thirty minutes with no penguins in sight. We were all ready to give up when suddenly Ari yelled that she saw something. Peering down into the gloom, I was able to make out a few small bodies scuttling up the sand. Suddenly they were all popping up from the shore and scrambling up the beach to the rocks. About half-way up they all reversed and ran back to the water only to reverse again and start the journey all over again. It was too dark to snag any pictures so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it was wonderful.

After a night at the hostel we drove east towards Bells Beach, were we spending the next night. Along the way we stopped at a forest populated by hundreds of koalas. They were hiding in the tops of the Eucalyptus so we drove by slowly, trying to spot them. Here is one that I saw (and hey, my camera started working again! Crazy!):


Isaac, I know I promised you a koala but I couldn't figure how to get this one out of the tree without a tranquilizer dart, and I didn't have any of those on me. I'm sorry I failed you.

We also hiked (well, walked, but it was down some stairs and at a slant, so I'm counting it) down to a waterfall. It was rainier than it had been the previous day, and all the moisture in the air lent a very rainforest-y feel to the entire experience. It felt almost primeval, or like the cartoon dinosaurs from The Land Before Time might step out at any moment.


We got back on the road and headed towards our hostel. Bells Beach is actually a little beyond the start (and for us, the end) of the Great Ocean Road, so we stopped for a picture of this iconic sign before making it to our hostel for the night.


The next morning we woke up real early in order to get the car back on time. As Belle rolled out of Bells Beach I wondered at the insanity of the other people awake at that hour and snapped some pictures of the sky as it slowly lit up.


An altogether fitting end to an utterly stunning visual experience.

P.S. For those watching at home, if you'd like to take a stab at recreating a Shoshi Roadtrip, just follow these easy steps:

1. find a stretch of extraordinarily scenic highway, preferably on a coast
2. search out the grubbiest, cheapest hostels
3. eat the greasiest roadside fries
4. come armed with an ipod loaded with hip-hop, classic rock, hair metal and a bit of country, and an adapter to plug it into the car stereo with

extra points if you manage to bring along three packs of Tim Tams and some pringles for car snacks. Oreos can substitute for the Tim Tams in a pinch.