Monday was a day of rest. I still haven't got used to the time change. I stil wake up at 4 every morning. Sometimes I can get back too sleep, but not usually.
Today was a great experience. We drove the Great Ocean Drive. This is a, approximately, 200 km drive which follows the southern shore of Australia. Spectacular scenery! There are small towns along the way, which are touristy; very tidy and attractive.
This part of the coast is known as shipwreck alley, very dangerous currents and lots of rocks. It makes for pretty viewing, huge waves breaking continuously.
Nowadays it is mainly surfers that take advantage of the waves.
The shoreline is made up of soft rock, so the waves have carved interesting shapes into the shoreline.
The most well known are a group known as The Twelve Apostles. They were originally known as "Sow and her piglets", but the new name is more dignified, although it takes a lot of imagination to see 12, and any resemblance to human figures. But you could say the same about the piglets.
On a religious note, I did see a bumper sticker "If he could walk on water, why did he need a boat?"
On the one side of the road is the ocean, usually, on the inland side there are farms, but also National Forests. We stopped at one that was a rain forest. Beautiful setting, no one else there. The highlight though was Sandy spotting a koala up in a tree. They apparently sleep 19 hours a day, so it was nice to see it raise its head. There also lots of beautiful birds, brilliant reds and green, and very tame.
The drive was gorgeous, but tense. Left hand drive, narrow roads. Luckily the traffic was light. Also there were no trucks, not even large tour buses. There were a few tour buses, but there were all mini buses, mostly Oriental tourists on a day trip. The driving was slow. It took 7 hours to drive the GOR.
We spent the night in Port Fairy, a lovely small town, one main street, 2 blocks long. Very quiet, very charming.
We looked for a place to eat, and even some of the restaurants were closed. I asked a couple of elderly ladies where to eat, and they suggested the old hotel. From the outside it didn't look open, but once inside it was a hive of activity. It was almost like speak- easy; and it was busy. There were more people inside than on the streets. Very homey, lots of families, good food. The steak was huge!
One thing to get used to is that the price includes everything, tax and tips. A 25 dollar steak seems high, until you realize that in Canada that would be 18 dollars, before tax and tips.
Hoping for a good nights rest,
Ralf
Today was a great experience. We drove the Great Ocean Drive. This is a, approximately, 200 km drive which follows the southern shore of Australia. Spectacular scenery! There are small towns along the way, which are touristy; very tidy and attractive.
This part of the coast is known as shipwreck alley, very dangerous currents and lots of rocks. It makes for pretty viewing, huge waves breaking continuously.
Nowadays it is mainly surfers that take advantage of the waves.
The shoreline is made up of soft rock, so the waves have carved interesting shapes into the shoreline.
The most well known are a group known as The Twelve Apostles. They were originally known as "Sow and her piglets", but the new name is more dignified, although it takes a lot of imagination to see 12, and any resemblance to human figures. But you could say the same about the piglets.
On a religious note, I did see a bumper sticker "If he could walk on water, why did he need a boat?"
On the one side of the road is the ocean, usually, on the inland side there are farms, but also National Forests. We stopped at one that was a rain forest. Beautiful setting, no one else there. The highlight though was Sandy spotting a koala up in a tree. They apparently sleep 19 hours a day, so it was nice to see it raise its head. There also lots of beautiful birds, brilliant reds and green, and very tame.
The drive was gorgeous, but tense. Left hand drive, narrow roads. Luckily the traffic was light. Also there were no trucks, not even large tour buses. There were a few tour buses, but there were all mini buses, mostly Oriental tourists on a day trip. The driving was slow. It took 7 hours to drive the GOR.
We spent the night in Port Fairy, a lovely small town, one main street, 2 blocks long. Very quiet, very charming.
We looked for a place to eat, and even some of the restaurants were closed. I asked a couple of elderly ladies where to eat, and they suggested the old hotel. From the outside it didn't look open, but once inside it was a hive of activity. It was almost like speak- easy; and it was busy. There were more people inside than on the streets. Very homey, lots of families, good food. The steak was huge!
One thing to get used to is that the price includes everything, tax and tips. A 25 dollar steak seems high, until you realize that in Canada that would be 18 dollars, before tax and tips.
Hoping for a good nights rest,
Ralf
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