All We Are Is Dust In the Wind
Trip Start
Aug 23, 2007
1
17
60
Trip End
Jul 17, 2008
Princetown,
Australia
Thursday, October 4, 2007
I left Melbourne this morning at 6:25 AM coffeeless and unfed. I could never describe this trip as a vacation. I had joined a three day tour to Adelaide, squeezing in all the sights along the way as well as squeezing my scrawny self into a tiny bus with 24 other people. But it was worth it. The Great Ocean Road is something not to be missed. The drive passes more spectacular beaches with incredible surf and then the bus teeters precariously off a limestone cliff. We stopped at a Junior Surfing Competition and watched the boys ride the waves with commentary from the judges. They had a limited amount of time to catch the right wave and surf with the most tricks to gain points. The crowd was a good mix of local surfing dudes and tourists (mostly on big comfy busses).
After lunch, we headed inland to Otway National Park and its beautiful temperate rainforests as opposed to the tropical rainforests I had seen in Daintree. They had also built a tower to climb above the trees and view the forest from a different perspective. Is it wrong to say that, although beautiful, I'm tiring of the rainforests. Maybe it's the lack of tropical temperatures in Victoria that leaves me longing for Queensland, but it's not as inspiring to cool off in a rainforest when I'm already cool!
Later, we made our way towards Princetown to view the magnificent Twelve Apostles at sunset, but made a quick detour to the Loch Ard Gorge. This gorge is where two Irish survivors of the shipwreck of the Lock Ard spent time recuperating. I loved watching the waves slide down the shoreline and searching for small pieces of the ship that are still washing up to shore over 100 years later. I found a small piece of glass that my guide confirmed was a piece of that wreck...maybe just an old 7-Up bottle, but I like his version better. As the sun set, we made our way towards the incredible rock formations. The interesting thing here is that they have always and will always change. There are not 12 huge pieces of rock and one more fell down last year. Nature slowly erodes them until they collapse into the sea. The sunset was spectacular and it was a magical place to be.
Back at the hostel, The 13th Apostle, we had a Bar-B and headed to the pub. This is a great group of many cultures and languages and happy, adventurous people. Good fun!!
In the morning we headed back to the 12 Apostles and the Loch Ard Gorge. It is hard to describe the wind that blew this morning as we stood on the edge of cliffs trying to get the right picture. I have never felt wind like that. It picked me up and tossed me around. Even my eyelids were flapping as I tried to get a good shot. And of course, on the way back to the bus we were caught several times in downpours and hail. It takes time for 25 people to get on a bus and those of us who were waiting outside were drenched. How much am I loving my three-ply Gore-tex jacket? Two Canadians on that bus and we were outfitted the same way!! Predictable, eh?
