03.april ---
today was GREAT OCEAN ROAD DAY! i woke up bright and early and began my excursion down the great ocean road.first we had to drive a bit to get there...we drove past Taurquay, which is the birthplace of quicksilver and rip curl as well as board shorts...nifty eh?
i also learned a lovely 'fun fact' that melbourne is equidistant from darwin (the most northern australian city) as it is from antarctica. crazzzyyy
alright site numero uno:there was a rip curl surf competition going on so the beach was closed to tours, but our first on bus site was the famous Bell's Beach. you know that final scene in the film point break? yeah, that was bells beach...and i didn't really get any good pictures since i was on the bus and all...sorry kiddlettes.
site numero dos:
the great ocean road arch...alright! this is where the great ocean road technically starts :]
next we went on to Lorne. we had lovely coffee tea and biscuits (australians love that...the little tea and coffee time...and biscuits are cookies, ps)
this is the home of the famous PIER TO PUB RACEEE! it all started with a few drunks, as most of the best ideas do (kidding mom)...anyway...some aussies were drinking and made a bet. whoever could swim from the edge of the pier back to the beach and run across the street back to the bar would win. the race is still continued each year, celebrities even get involved.
next we went to this koala sighting sanctuary esque place. and i learned a new fact! (imagine that) so i thought that koalas were so sluggish and tired because the eucalyptus leaves made them high...no, no...i thought wrong. the truth is that koalas eat these leaves and nothing else...meaning they don't get any protein ever...so they don't have very much energy. koalas average about 20 hours a day. They also don't have any relationships. the baby has a relationship with the mother until it's old enough to take care of itself and then it is bye bye momy never to associate again. although, sleeping 20 hours a day, i'd imagine, would make relationship development difficult.
after playtime with the koala friends, we went to apollo bay for lunch. this was such an adorable beach side town complete with a little market going on right off the beach and everything. i even saw a rescue helicopter save this guy in the ocean! there was also this MASSIVE dog just chillin at the market. we're actually like best friends now, she left me with a kiss and everything. her name was casper :]
after apollo bay, we went took the Mait Walk through the rainforest. this area was so beautiful. my camera was being lame so the pictures really don't do it any justice. i talked to a really nice couple from mexico and now live in brisbane. i absolutely love all the people i meet while traveling. these people always tend to be more open minded and friendly and great to talk with.
after the rainforest we finally made it out to the 12 apostles. this was incredible...absolutely beautiful. i can't even describe...the pictures and video tell it all.
Loch Ard Gord was nextttt :]
this area was gorgeous...there was a ship called Loch Ard Gord and they all got drunk and crashed into rocks here and everyone died but 2 people...yeah, a bit morbid.
London Bridge...There was a bridge that connected land to the island, but, in 1990, the bridge collapsed. There were actually 2 people out on the island when it collapsed, who then became stranded. Helicopters finally came, and they had cameras and the mand and the woman were strangely hiding their faces. they eventually found out that both this man and this woman were married...but not to each other.
04 April ---Today, i went to the Queen Victoria Market which is this huge fresh produce and meat market. pretend this picture is not sideways...
after looking around a while, i came back to the hostel for a nice nap then went back to the city to the EUREKA! skydeck, which is the tallest building in australia and then i went on "the edge" which is this glass box (walls, ceiling, floor) that pushes out the side of the building so it looks like you're suspended high up (88 stories). afterwards i got a bit lost on the southbank area trying to get back to the train station...but at least it was a really lovely place to get lost :]
and pretend this one isn't sideways either...
this kind of odd man (his persona screamed child abductor) walked with me a bit...he was from california.
then i met up with heather at the bar and we had mexican food from the hostel and sat outside and chatted for a couple hours. she was great to chat with and she works with a marketing agency in sydney, which is what my minor ism so that was interesting. there was this little family of some kind of varmint that were sniffing around trying to find food...they were actually really cute. they even would climb on peoples' shoulders to get food!
