Trip Report, Great Ocean Road, Day One

After a brief trip to Seattle, it was quickly back to Melbourne and time for a quick holiday. For those keeping score (Joey), the return trip contained zero appetizers, one nice eye mask, and one competitive flight attendant, but only on the SYD-MEL hop.

Anyway.

We decided to take the drive down the Great Ocean Road, because 1) we hadn't, 2) we heard it was beautiful, and the forecast looked nice.

The road starts about 90 minutes southwest of Melbourne, in the town of Torquay, which in itself is worth a visit. We had been there before though, so we motored through. The coastline is pretty spectacular, and we stopped at a number of places throughout the day to take in the views, get snacks and have lunch, take pictures and the like.

The ultimate goal for the day was to make it to the Twelve Apostles. One might argue that we shortchanged some stops in favor of making the Apostles before sunset, but you've gotta make a choice sometimes. We wondered if it was one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but it turns out, not so much. I don't want to give the impression that the rest of the drive wasn't worthwhile - it was beautiful.

As an aside, someone we know once told us that he didn't "see what the big deal" was about the Apostles, and that they are "just some rocks in the water." This man is the epitome of a bogan.

The view of Split Point from the Great Ocean Road


Quality time with a magpie


Eagle Rock/Split Point Lightstation

Typically quality Australian signage





The Twelve Apostles - The changing light changed their appearance for the few hours we hung out. Sadly, there are limitations to point and shoot cameras.






Note the remains of a fallen Apostle in the foreground.


We didn't get the postcard-worthy summer skies, but we got a pretty good sunset all the same.

Later, day two.