Stunning Scenic Drive, Take Two

Apollo Bay

I've come across more than a few people who have driven parts of the Great Ocean Road several times but more than once in less than a month? No, no I haven't.

Last month, some friends and I did a trip along the Great Ocean Road; however, it's a 150-mile stretch of road so there's a LOT to see, definitely too much to see in less than two days. Plus, one of my other friends had recommended a particular landmark to visit and we overlooked it the first time around.

Taking in the scenery

Autumn is in full swing so it made sense to try to arrange a second, more condensed trip as soon as possible to the Beech Forest area in order to bask in the beauty of the sequoias and Hopetoun Falls.

After asking everyone to be on time when meeting at the car hire company so we could get an early start on our three-hour drive to the Beech Forest area, of course the closest tram line to my apartment would have a massive delay. For anyone who knows me well, I'm typically late for........ everything, but I

Looking up at the redwoods

made an honest effort to be on time for our planned departure. After that minute obstacle, we were on our way to the sub-temperate rain forest.

On our way there, we made a pit stop in Apollo Bay, a small coastal town along the Great Ocean Road, to get lunch and explore the area. Even though we had spent a night there

Fun times

last month, we had arrived at dusk and by the time we were finished with dinner, it was dark. Since we left rather early the following morning, we didn't have time to see much while we were there so this seemed like a necessary place to revisit. I'm glad we did go this time around because with the rolling hills set as a backdrop to the bay, it's a truly beautiful place. After we shared a hearty fish and chips meal at one of the local restaurants and walked along a wall that explicitly forbade anyone from promenading on [breaking the rules in the name of photography....], we continued on our way toward Beech Forest.

Hopetoun Falls

Our next stop was the California
redwood forest, which is a sizable patch of sequoias that was planted in 1938 by a river not too far from the Great Ocean Road. It proved to be an excellent place to take photos and we had some fun slipping along the wet leaves on the ground. My shoes didn't have much traction so sliding down the shallow bank to the Aire River was a much easier task than making my way back up it.

Hanging around the waterfall

Following that, we drove the ten minutes or so to Hopetoun Falls and trekked down the countless stairs to view the breathtaking waterfalls. This sight was the main reason I had decided that I wanted to return to the Great Ocean Road and I'm more than happy that I did because it was well worth it. After spending some time enjoying the peacefulness of the atmosphere, we decided that it would be ideal to drive to the Twelve Apostles since three

Gables Lookout

out of the five of us had never been there. On the way, we made a couple more scenic stops:: the Gables Lookout, which was well hidden but gave us a spectacular view of Moonlight Head and some of the highest cliffs on mainland Australia, and Gibson Steps, a staircase that led down to a beach that featured more magnificent cliffs and one of the gigantic stacks of the Twelve Apostles at the far end of the coast.

The beach at Gibson Steps

By this time, it was almost dusk so the tide was higher than we had expected. This gave way to risky games with the waves as we attempted to simultaneously take good photographs with the brilliant scenery in the background while keeping our feet as dry as possible. Admittedly so, we lost a few times, but it all made for some precious memories. On our way to Gibson Steps, we also saw a wild wallaby! I was initially unintentionally close to it as it was hidden in the bushes near the path we were walking along, and it terrified me when it

Taking advantage of the low tide

made its first move to hop away. It reminded me of how I felt when I was in Colorado over North America's summer and had [unrealistic?] fears that a bear or a mountain lion was going to attack me. I'm just thankful that the time an animal actually did jump out at me, it was an herbivore.

Our final stop before heading back to Melbourne was the Twelve Apostles. As I've stated in a previous entry, this

Final destination: Twelve Apostles

attraction is probably the most well-known sight along the Great Ocean Road so it was only right to pay a visit there so that everyone would have a chance to see it.

We all thought the adventure would end there; however, once we returned to Melbourne, we almost ran over an injured cat that was lying in the middle of the road. It was well after midnight, but we immediately turned into pet rescuers and followed the limping cat halfway down the block to take her to the nearest animal emergency room since that's what we hoped someone would do for our pets if they had been hit by a car in the middle of the night.

I didn't get to bed until after 3am and ended up missing the highly anticipated Open House Day at Parliament, but what are you going to do?

Country Versus City

Exploring Ballarat's city centre

Victoria's Labour Day was a couple Mondays ago, which meant I had off from work, so I had wanted to do something outside of Melbourne that weekend. A few friends and I were meant to hire a car and drive to Phillip Island, but our rental fell through so we needed an alternative destination, somewhere that didn't require a car. In the end, a friend from work and I decided to take the Vline train out to Ballarat, a quaint country town about an hour and a half northwest of Melbourne.

Pretty scenery around the lake

One of my housemates is from there, and he had told me that it was a place worth visiting. Ballarat is an old mining city, where gold was found in the mid-1800s. There's an
attraction called Sovereign Hill there that demonstrates how life was lived in Ballarat from the 1850s to the 1860s, but Ben and I opted to skip that option and explore the Begonia Festival in the Botanical Gardens and the scenic area by Wendouree Lake.

Around the botanical gardens

 We had the perfect weather to walk around and explore a new place, and I have to admit that even though I just drove the Great Ocean Road, which required an exit from Melbourne, it was refreshing to be out of the city again. Despite the fact that I enjoy living in the city, sometimes it's nice to be relieved of the busy atmosphere. 

Moomba Festival parade

On Labour Day, a group of friends and I attended the Moomba Festival, which is the largest community festival in Australia. We started our day watching the parade go up St. Kilda Road and toward the city. After that, we meandered over to the actual fair grounds and debated whether or not to go on any of the extreme rides. We eventually found ourselves at the Yarra River, where we watched the water skiing performance.

At Brighton Beach

In a bit of a spontaneous turn of events, a few of us decided to take the train to Brighton, which is home to some of the wealthiest residents of Melbourne. We walked along the beach and were able to enjoy a unique view of the city skyline behind the ocean and next to the famous colourful bathing boxes. As I stood and observed the clashing mesh of colours all set up in a neat line, I couldn't help but think of the random colourful doors in Ireland.

Labour Day fireworks

Later on, we returned to the Moomba Festival and ended the day with some fireworks, which was nice because when are fireworks ever a bad thing?

As far as I was concerned, it was an excellent long weekend and it made me come to this conclusion: Extended weekends should definitely be the standard norm.

I can't think of a single person who would disagree.

G'day and Welcome to My Home

While I was living in the UK a few years ago, I learned about CouchSurfing from a friend. You can learn more about the organisation at www.couchsurfing.org, but in a nutshell, it's a network of travellers who provide accommodation and travel advice for each other. Although I was a little skeptical in the beginning [because seriously, how insane is it to stay with and/or host complete strangers?!], I did end up using it when I lived in and travelled around Ireland, meeting up for drinks with fellow CouchSurfers in Dublin and staying with hosts in both Galway and Limerick. Since I had had such positive experiences then, I turned to CouchSurfing again last year when I vacationed in the Pacific Northwest and met some awesome people, including an American who had lived in the South Pacific for three years and was able to give me some advice about Australia and New Zealand.

Up until now, I simply didn't have the facilities to invite anyone to stay with me; however, now that I'm living in an exciting city with my own place, I thought it would be a good time to give the other side of CouchSurfing a try:: hosting. Last week, I had my first CouchSurfers stay with my housemates and me for a few days. They were a couple from Lorient, France who had been living and working in Perth for the past several months and wanted to do some travelling around Australia before heading home. This past week, I hosted someone from a small town outside of Pisa, Italy who works with wine back home and is visiting vineyards in Australia. To show his appreciation for the accommodation, he even made me a popular pasta dish from his hometown.

The obvious precautions apply, but overall, it's a brilliant tool for those who love to travel and to meet people from....... everywhere. It's the perfect way to start breaking down cultural barriers, and I love it.

So Long Sweet Summer

Unfortunately, summer has left just as quickly as it had arrived, but we were lucky this year since it was extended by a day thanks to the leap year. Maybe it's psychological because the weather has been relatively warm and almost completely summery lately, but sometimes I thought I could sense the change of seasons coming long before 1 March arrived. I feel like the leaves on the trees have been changing for ages. To clarify, autumn is certainly in the air and a lot of the leaves are just starting to change from bright green to other brilliant shades of colour; however, for whatever reason, there have been piles of crunchy, golden leaves in the parking lot outside my apartment for weeks now. It was as if they were there to remind me, maybe even taunt me a little, about the fact that summer would be ending soon. Too soon.

Driving back from the Great Ocean Road, a highlight of my summer

This summer was such a gift and marked the first time I was able to avoid winter for more than twelve consecutive months, which in itself, made it one to be celebrated. It also brought about many other exciting firsts in my life, including a summer Christmas, a beach barbecue, Australia Day, seeing wild penguins and koalas, a summer birthday, and driving on the opposite side of the road. Honestly, the list could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. It's been a truly special time in my life and I feel so blessed and thankful for having had the opportunity to experience it.

Fall has always been my favourite season, especially in New York, but this autumn has hefty shoes to fill since it absolutely was a magnificent summer.

Ocean So Blue

The memorial arch

Last weekend, Caylee and I met my friends Albert and Jack in Southbank and then we set off on our Great Ocean Road adventure. The Great Ocean Road is a beautiful 150-mile drive that features the breathtaking Victorian coastline. Prior to moving to Melbourne, I hadn't heard of this well-known scenic drive, but it's comparable to the Pacific Coast Highway in California, which, regrettably, I haven't done yet. Now it seems silly that I didn't take advantage of it while I was living in Los Angeles, but I'm determined to experience it one day.

This was my first time driving on the left-hand side of the road so naturally, I was slightly nervous; however, some of my passengers were apparently even more anxious as they attempted to revoke my driving privileges. Since the beginning section of our trip from Melbourne to the gateway to the Great Ocean Road in Torquay consisted mostly of highway driving, which was easier to maneuver around than the narrow and windy roads that would come later, we decided I would drive first.

At Kennett River

Our first official stop was at the Anglesea Surf Beach, where we waded in the cool water and took stunning pictures of the scenery. After that, we visited the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet, which was an especially great idea since we ended up not viewing the Cape Otway Lighthouse due to the unexpected fees. Continuing along the Great Ocean Road, we made stops at Erskine Falls and Teddy's Lookout in Lorne and then Kennett River, my favourite stop of the trip since this is where we saw our first wild koalas. While we were at Kennett River, we also had the opportunity to feed colourful wild parrots of some sort, which I, of course, only photographed due to my slight fear of birds. Following Kennett River, we made it to Apollo Bay, which is where we stayed overnight. It was a quiet place, but the area by the water was worth seeing.

Twelve Apostles

On the next day, we continued on our route toward the Twelve Apostles, which is probably the most famous attraction along the Great Ocean Road. Before we arrived at that destination, we made other stops along the way, including one at Melba Gully, a tranquil sub-temperate rainforest that consisted of myrtle beech, blackwood, and tree ferns. We then made it to the Twelve Apostles, a collection of rock stacks close to the Port Campbell National Park that was formed by erosion. It's a stunning sight to see so it's no wonder why this attraction is so popular. After the Twelve Apostles, we visited Loch Ard Gorge and spent some time at the beach there before heading off to Port Campbell for lunch. Then we drove out past Peterborough to see The Arch, London Bridge, and The Grotto, all unique rock formations that were interesting to see.

It was hard to believe how rich of an aqua colour the ocean seemed to be from the beginning to the end. I can't say that I've ever seen anything quite like it, but it was absolutely gorgeous.