Great Ocean Road Day 2

DAY 2 LET'S GO!

... to Loch and Gorge.

 Our guide explained on the way there and then additionally on the way away the story of the place. It boils down to a shipwreck because of a storm and only a guy and a girl surviving. The guy saved the girl and climbed up an impossible wall to get help. In the end they didn't have a romantic relationship. Now of course our guide would fill in much more details but she needed half an hour to explain all of the story. One reason that it took so long is that she interrupted herself every minute or so in order to assure us that she knows she is rambling but she can't help it. It was fascinating. Diana of course slept through half of it.

Our guide also said that this was her favourite place we visit today but I don't see it. Perhaps if I was alone and I got to swim there but the place is so small, even with ~10 people it felt crowded.

Next stop: 12 Apostles again.

Now with a helicopter ride.

Diana didn't want to come with because she finds helicopters boring. It was my first ride and I liked it. I would get a pilot's license if it wasn't so expensive. It doesn't seem too difficult.

View from the Gibson steps.

Next we all went to the Gibson's steps in order to see the piglet stacks from sea level and appreciate their size more. It was a bit crowded but I liked it there. The reason you don't see any of the stacks in the photo is that I am tired of talking and showing the stacks by now, so I defiantly look in the other direction. Vive la resistance!

Next up, Diana's favourite place.

Maits Rest Rainforest

I didn't realize how much Diana likes forests until we arrived there. Apparently she has the same reaction to the view and smell and sounds of the forest as I have with the sea. She decided that we will live close to a forest like this when we settle down so that she can go for a walk every day. I feel my say having less and less worth in this relationship.

I forgot to take any pictures of Apollo Bay so here is another one of the rainforest.

We were let loose at Apollo Bay for lunch where everybody could do their thing. It was a small beach town. I went for a swim and we ate Japanese and had some ice cream that is apparently the best of the coast. I haven't tried anything else from the coast.

We went on and had a few more 15 minute stops on our way so that we could take photos with interesting views. It was beautiful but by now beautiful was getting pretty common.

 No idea.

We stopped at the place pictured in the photo above. I forgot how it was called. It is not on the list. We had tea and cookies. This is the part, believe it not, where I got to know the other people in our group better. That's shortly before the end of the tour. We had an a guy from Argentina, a guy from France that also lived in Canada and the US(?), an Chinese girl and a Korean-Japanese couple. The Korean girl worked as a masseuse and as she was working on her boyfriend I came and asked for her to teach me. Her boyfriend immediately stood up and ran away.

- Why are you going away? I can be gentle.

- You don't look gentle.

Initially we tried to go with the tour starting on a Saturday but that didn't work out because it was full. So we went to the one starting Tuesday instead. We were very lucky in that we were only 7 people in a bus with a capacity with 20. If we went in a full bus I wouldn't have enough space for my legs and/or bag and Diana wouldn't be able to sleep.

Diana asked me what the purpose of a lighthouse is.

The Split Point Lighthouse is apparently famous because there is a TV-series called "Round the Twist". Apparently there are people who book the tour only to see this lighthouse. Why not rent a car? Apparently there are other people who don't know that "their" lighthouse is on the tour and when they realize there is much hugging and crying. All this was lost on every one of us because none of us knew about the series.

Bells Beach

This is the most popular spot on the greater coast for surfers. And one dog. I am still on the fence about if I want to learn surfing. Even after getting good at it, it seems like a disproportionate amount of preparing and waiting for a few seconds of fun. But then again, so is sex with me.

We did a group photo with everyone and went on the final stretch of the road but not before a short break.

Kangaroos

A couple of hundred meters further we had our first look ata kangaroos. We should see more of them on Phillip Island up close but the first time always carries a bit more excitement.

The Great Ocean Road was great and doesn't need to be made great again. Thank you!