Today we headed out of town to the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles. Brilliantly we decided to leave right during morning rush hour. Google maps told us to take a right onto a very busy road, which looked impossible had the road been filled with the types of drivers we were used to in the States.
The drivers in Melbourne have so far been the polite, non-asshole sort. They let you in when you signal, it’s possible to merge onto roads that are packed for miles, and everyone knows how to zipper merge. Road signs even say please from time to time.
I think it makes up for the insanity of the roads in this city. Who puts two one-way streets on either side of a six-lane road with a trolley in the middle? Crazy people, that’s who. Or the Melbourne city planners.
Today’s route took us the reverse direction from the regular tourist route, across Victoria to the 12 Apostles, cutting across farmfields and through rolling hills to reach it, and then back to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road.
We were on the lookout for kangaroos!
The 12 Apostles are a cluster of rock formations just off the Great Ocean Road. They were formed from millions of years of ocean endlessly beating at the stripey limestone cliffs. In the 70s, they were renamed from the Sow and Piglets, presumably to attract more tourists.
Regardless of their names, the limestone rock formations were a sight to behold, their white and yellow stripes standing in a stark contrast to the pure blue-green waves and brown beach and cliffs.
After ice creaming up at the visitors center, we took a half hour hike down to the beach on the east so we could feel properly tiny.
This point of the coast contains swarms of annoying flies. They fortunately didn’t bite, but they were so persistent and so numerous we came very close to eating or breathing a few as we hiked along the trail. They threatened my lemonade ice cream and so I vowed vengeance upon them by means of the car windshield.
Despite the flies best efforts to bug us (badum-tsss), we made it down to the beach to wiggle our toes in soft sand, cold ocean, and to gape up at two of the apostles.
From the Apostles, we slowly wound our way through steep switchbacks and eucalyptus forests. The forests were fragrant and eucalyptus-y in the best way possible. The trees towered overhead and formed a shady tunnel. A smelly, shady tunnel. We kept our eyes peeled for Koalas but saw none.
The hills on our left were a rolling, golden wave, similar to southern California in the summer. To our right, endless ocean. It was like a softer, gentler pacific coast highway.
Somewhere between Cape Otway and Apollo Bay, I saw a kangaroo briefly, sitting in some shade near the road. Yeah! I think I have properly Australiaed.
Near Wye River, the beautiful green trees were interrupted by brown, blackened, burnt trees. We saw a helicopter fly overhead, dip a container into the ocean, and fly off with water. We were near the wildfires.
There wasn’t a good spot to stop for pics, but the local news has some pictures of the Ocean Road bushfires. They tore through some of the towns near Christmas day, destroying some homes and cars and sparing others.
Our last stop was Airey’s Inlet and Split Point Lighthouse. We were mostly smelly and too tired to walk up to the lighthouse, but we did flip flop our way across the beach to explore the volcanic rock along the coastline.
We returned to Melbourne around 7pm, after 11 hours of sunshine, coast, kangaroo signs, and left-handed driving. By now, I’ve mastered the location of the rearview mirror, the other mirrors, and even looking at the GPS as I’m driving instead of forcing my navigator to hold it. Great success!