M-whY

My tour bus picked me up at my hostel around 9:00am. It was one of those large comfortable coach buses, and there were only maybe 25 people on board. Our driver, who doubled as our tour guide, was fairly knowledgable about the area. His presentation was dry and sarcastic, but in an amusing sort of way. After a couple stops at various hostels to pick up more passengers, we were on our way.

Immediately west of Melbourne is largely industrial wasteland. There really wasn't much to look at. Half the bus took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Our first stop of interest was Bell's Beach, known for the great surfing to be had there, followed by Anglesea, where some locals were angling for some fish. Both places might've been awesome in better weather. I might have to give this trip a bad review, even though it was no fault of the driver, I thought to myself.

The official start to the Great Ocean Road was marked by a sign, built to commemorate its opening. The sign has suffered quite a bit since it was first erected in 1932. It has been knocked over by a runaway truck, rebuilt, burnt down in a bush fire, rebuilt, run over by a runaway truck again, and rebuilt again.

"Watch out for runaway trucks," drawled our driver as we all jumped off for some photos.

Part of the problem with keeping a daily blog is occasionally you guys get to see all the mistakes I make. When I first arrived in Australia, I was so eager to see koalas that I wrote an entire entry about seeing them in a wildlife reserve. I had no idea I would actually get to see them in the wild. We spotted at least a dozen koalas at Kennet River. Most of them were sleeping and resembled large rocks that somehow got stuck atop Eucalyptus trees.

One woke up and stared at us for a few moments before climbing higher into the trees. Hey! Don't go! I showered last night, I don't stink!

Sitting 95m above sea level, we got perhaps our best look the coastline at Cape Patton Lookout. What followed was a long drive along miles and miles that coastline. It was fantastic, of course, but I'm ashamed to admit I actually fell asleep along the way. Well, it wasn't just me. Most of the bus dozed off. I was up late the night before 'working'. I wonder what everyone else's excuse was.

The skies had cleared by the time we reached Loch Ard Gorge. While exploring the cool rock formations, I got to know Yuki, the girl who had been sitting behind me the whole ride. An aspiring pastry chef, she had spent the last year and a half studying in Perth (all the way on the west coast of Australia). She had two weeks off from school, during which she decided to come east and see the sights. We wandered down to one of thebeaches , where I rolled up my pants and waded into the water. The best way to describe it? Cold...

Our final stop of the day was the Twelve Apostles. Originally named 'Sow and Piglets', someone decided that Twelve Apostles was a more inspiring name. A large crowd had gathered on the lookout platform to view Australia's most photographed attraction.

Yuki and I watched the sunset together. Every few minutes, we would take another photo. The sun finally disappeared over the horizon. As we walked back to the bus, we reviewed our pictures at 6:25pm, 6:27pm, 6:29pm, etc...

"So many pictures, and they all look the same," said Yuki.

Yeah. Which one am I going to feature? They're all so beautiful!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!