Great Ocean Road

I woke up very tired this morning as I barely got 5 hours of sleep last night. After all the running around and getting myself settled in I was still looking at the clock @ 2am and I was up @ 7am for my tour!

When reading about things to do in Melbourne the *Great Ocean Road* was one of them. It is comparable to the Pacific Highway in California and people say it is just beautiful. I decided I needed to do it, but had a lot of trouble finding a tour I liked! All of them were at least 12 hours long (at best) and most included Koala and Kangaroo stuff which I had already done! I finally settled on this tour as it was one of the shortest I could find (8am-730pm) and didn’t include any animal stuff. I had scoped out where I needed to be last night so after a quick breakfast I was on my way!

Aaaaaaaand I was cold! Brrrrr! Granted it was in the morning and the sun wasn’t up, but ugh I was not a happy camper! It is their fall here and that’s what it feels like! I met my tour and was on the bus and on the road by 8am. Our tour guide/bus driver, Chris, was telling us about the schedule for the day (I was half listening) but my ears perked up when he said, “And we should have you back here around 10:30pm!” I COULDN’T believe it! All this research and somehow I had booked one of the later trips! Ugh! But that’s when Chris said, “Haha only teasing, how about we have you back here by 7:30pm”. That’s when I knew I was going to like him! Touché Chris, touché! He had the corniest “tour guide” jokes but I was cracking up in the back of the bus. I wanted to tell him when the tour ended how much I appreciated his jokes and I was laughing in the back, but unfortunately when it was time for me to get off at the end of the day it was a quick stop and not enough time. I will email his company! Anyway I am getting way ahead of myself!

The bus was pretty full but I was able to have the seat next to me free (yay!) We spent the morning driving along the coast and stopped every now and then to take pictures. The view was so beautiful, and luckily I got a seat on the left side of the bus so I could really enjoy it! It was getting around lunch time and I realized the bus had stopped, people were getting off and I had NO clue what was going on. I knew I was dozing off, but I didn’t realize it was enough to be CLUELESS! THESE are the times I miss traveling with someone! I went up to Chris and said I “couldn’t really hear him” in the back of the bus so wanted to double check what time we were leaving! We had an hour for lunch, so I got some pizza, walked around the shops and was able to put my feet in the water.

The afternoon was spent making our way through the jungle to the “12 Apostle” (now I think there are only 8) which jet out of the water and are really VERY cool. We also saw the London Bridge which just recently fell during the past few years. It is weird to think that as the water beats on it all of these will eventually fall into the water. The ride back was long, but it was definitely a cool trip. Even though we have the beach, this was a different type of beach.

We had the option of being dropped off at three different stops along the way and even though I was exhausted I figure this was a good time to do some exploring. I walked along the Southbank which feels a little bit like the Seine in Paris (yes, yes I am a travel snob) and made my way to the Eureka Tower. You go up 88 flights in 9 seconds (yes my ears felt every one) for 360 views of the city. It was REALLY cool to see the overview of the city like that!

It took me a while to walk around Southbank and when I got back I was so tired. After pressing the elevator button and waiting for a few minutes, I realized it was stuck on a floor and definitely NOT moving. Since the reception was closed, they had a sign that said, “dial 9 if any problems”. Did anyone pick up? Of course not! So I took out my cell phone to call their other number. I was sort of frustrated because what if I didn’t have a cell phone? Why should I have to waste my minutes calling them? Anyway that’s beside the point because I did call. I don’t even know who picked up as I hadn’t had any interaction with the “front desk” yet since they were closed last night and this morning when I woke up, but the guy said he would be down to fix it. When he came down he didn’t introduce himself or anything, but said sometimes the elevator does that and he would restart it. The whole situation was weird, but then it started working so all’s well that ends well.

I wanted to try the free wifi at McDs (which turned out to be SO slow..Vietnam style!) but as I was sitting there (waiting) I started overhearing this guy and girl in front of me (in their 20s) The guy was saying something like, “I don’t know if you’re my girlfriend anymore” and that got me hooked. I guess I am a very nosy person. I could only see her from the back and I couldn’t hear her, but then he said, “I can’t even drive anymore because I don’t remember how to get home, what did I do wrong? I didn’t drink, smoke, do drugs..I ate healthy and exercised..WHAT DID I DO WRONG?” At this point he was speaking VERY loudly to the point that I was even a little afraid. I was trying to figure out if maybe something happened in his brain where he couldn’t remember or something. Again I couldn’t hear her and I was trying to pretend I wasn’t listening, but then I heard him say the things again. At this point I thought maybe he had short term memory loss and didn’t remember he had JUST said this to her..and then it hit me. They were practicing for some acting thing! After his third time saying it they both laughed and I could hear him giving her acting advice. It was VERY strange..and I was almost tempted to tell him he did a great job as I totally believed him!

Anyway after my crazy night I headed back for a shower! Tomorrow I am off for a meeting at Swinburne and a penguin tour!

Hugs and kisses from the Great Ocean Road!